Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, founder/CEO of BuildMyBod Health is speaking at the AAFE MedSpa Business Academy this weekend. What is the AAFE you ask?! The American Academy of Facial Esthetics (AAFE) is a leading Medical and Dental CE provider specializing in live patient training courses in Botulinum Toxins, Dermal Fillers, PDO Threadlifts, and TMJ/Orofacial Pain Trigger Point Injections. AAFE facial esthetic courses provide the most extensive non-surgical and non-invasive facial injectable training to doctors, nurses, dentists and healthcare professionals.

As part of their courses, the AAFE MedSpa academy also offers a full day of practice management instruction. So not only do you get hands-on training for services you might offer in your practice, you also hear from industry giants in regards to supercharging the business side of your practice.

Dr. Kaplan speaking at the AAFE MedSpa Business Academy

As shown in the agenda here, Dr. Kaplan’s presentation is entitled, “How to Convert a Patient for Life and Keep Them Coming Back.” He’ll review the benefits of using Memberships and Subscriptions. In particular, how they bring patients back frequently and consistently for treatment. This creates a loyal patient base and because they’re now receiving treatment consistently, they’ll have consistent outcomes.

While Dr. Kaplan uses the BuildMyBod Health Concierge program of memberships and subscriptions, providers have multiple platforms to choose from. One of the other speakers at the meeting is Audrey Neff. She’s the Director of Marketing at Crystal Clear Digital Media (CCDM). They also offer a memberships/subscriptions platform. You can hear Dr. Kaplan and CCDM CEO Tim Sawyer discuss their respective platforms on the TrueToForm Podcast here.

Dr. Kaplan will also discuss the benefits of offering these memberships and subscriptions online. Rather than the consumer calling and enrolling, these subscriptions can be purchased online. And even better, if they add a subscription to their online “cart” and don’t purchase, they’ll receive an abandoned cart email just like Amazon. In this case, the doctor will also receive a copy of the same abandoned cart email with the consumer’s contact information. So not only does the doctor capture the contact information for those consumers that purchase online, but also the contact info for those considering purchasing online!

If you’re in the New York area and want to attend the meeting, click here to learn more. Also, follow the AAFE on Instagram @facialesthetics (no ‘a’ before ‘esthetics’)!

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Dr. Kaplan speaking at AAFE MedSpa Business Academy (MBA) first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

The BuildMyBod Health Concierge Experience

This experience encompasses all of the e-commerce capabilities of the BuildMyBod platform. After consumers check pricing, they can purchase non-surgical services through the BuyNow or Promos feature. Taking it to a new level is the Subscription system. This allows the consumer to purchase a Membership or a Package.

A Membership is a monthly fee the consumer pays that gives them access to discounts on multiple products and services. Our founder/CEO, Dr. Jonathan Kaplan created the Bae Club to be the vehicle for his practice’s Subscription system.

For those of you not aware, Dr. Kaplan goes by Dr. Bae on social media! As silly as it sounds, this online persona has taken on a life of its own. He’s still the same person regardless, but being Dr. Bae in the Bay Area just made sense on Snapchat and Instagram​. Spelling it B-a-e rather than B-a-y is simply a play on words. But enough about that!

Here’s an example of the Membership and Package subscriptions that Dr. Kaplan created through the Bae Club. These can be a model for other providers considering a Subscription system for their practice.

The Bae Club Injectables and SkinCare Membership:

• Up to 20% off Botox/Xeomin, fillers, Latisse and Obagi skin care products.
• Get treated, or purchase, as much and as often as you like and always get up to 20% off.
• All you do is pay a low monthly membership fee (automatically charged to a card on file).
• Purchase must be made online by clicking the button below. Can not purchase in office.

Purchase your Membership HERE!

The Bae Club Wrinkle Reducer Package: 

• Come in the office every three months, get 20 units of Botox/Xeomin and walk right out of the office!
• Instead of paying a lump fee for treatments at each appointment, you pay a little each month with an automated charge to your card on file.
• You’re getting the treatments anyway but instead of paying the full amount every three months, you pay a monthly fee that covers your cost for the year – but at a 15% discount!
• Purchase must be made online by clicking the button below. Can not purchase in office.

Purchase this Package HERE!

The video below explains the benefits to both the provider and the consumer. If you’re a provider, click here to request an account and join the BuildMyBod network. If you’re a consumer, click here to check pricing and potentially purchase services from Dr. Kaplan.

Video overview of the BuildMyBod Health Concierge Experience

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Announcing the new BuildMyBod Health Concierge Experience! first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

When it comes to following up with leads, it seems like you can’t follow up with a lead fast enough! Every article providing advice recommends a quicker response time. But that paradigm is changing.

How fast to follow up with a lead

This article states that responding to a lead 5 minutes after receiving it will reduce the likelihood of contacting that lead by a factor of 10x! They go on to recommend “touching” the lead at least 6 times. Typically a lead is only contacted on average 1.3x.

By touching, they mean calling, emailing or any means of contacting the lead (texting?). I would argue that following up between 1.3x and 6x could be labeled as harassment!

Alternatively, this article argues for an even shorter follow up period. In their opinion, a lead becomes virtually worthless if it isn’t followed up within 60 seconds.

How the paradigm is changing within healthcare

When it comes to healthcare, for medically necessary or cosmetic services, the main question a consumer has through online channels is “how much does it cost?” Up to 82.2% according to this study by BuildMyBod Health.

Therefore, if you can answer the question of “how much does it cost?” in an immediate, automated way, wouldn’t that reduce your lead follow up time to zero?! A Price Estimator can do just that. By answering the consumer’s question accurately and immediately, that relieves the office staff from the pressure and disruption of trying to follow up instantly.

Office staff should still follow up with the lead but from a customer service perspective, the consumer already received the answer to their question immediately. So an additional  follow up in a timely manner (within hours) should suffice in attempting to schedule a consult. Or more importantly, if the consumer receives the estimated cost automatically, they’ll quickly determine if the price is within their budget and call the office on their own.

To check pricing from Dr. Kaplan, click here.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post How fast to follow up with a lead – the paradigm is shifting (and that’s good!) first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

Price is part of the customer service package

Within healthcare, good customer service is evident in several ways: the front office staff that quickly says hello to the patient walking in the door, offering them something to drink, returning their calls, bringing them back to see the doctor as soon as possible. But part of customer service in healthcare is also answering the patient’s questions about their treatment plan or diagnosis.

A patient would never return to a doctor that avoids the tough questions. How can I get my blood pressure under control? What are my treatment options? Well, in many cases, the toughest question a patient asks a doctor or doctor’s staff is avoided. How much will this cost?! It’s unacceptable that a patient is expected to undergo a treatment without knowing the cost.

Getting a surprise bill should qualify as bad customer service. If you’re upset that the front office staff was rude to you, you should be equally or more upset that they just screwed you by sending you to the hospital for an X-ray that could have been done for a third of the price at an outpatient facility. You paid more because the office didn’t take the time to see if a less expensive facility accepted your insurance. Or maybe it was less expensive just paying cash irregardless of insurance status.

Not assisting patients with determining their out of pocket expense is bad customer service, plain and simply. Granted, determining that cost is not always plain and simple but that’s becoming easier with online resource for price transparency.

Price is irrelevant, until it’s not!

As John DiJulius enjoys saying, if customer service is excellent, price becomes irrelevant. This is true in most cases because the consumer has an idea of what the expense will be for poor and great customer service. They have a baseline. They have a comparison. Not in healthcare. The out of pocket costs can vary widely. The consumer must do their research or better yet, enlist the help of an office staff that provides great customer service to determine their out of pocket cost.

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Price should be part of the customer service package in healthcare first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.

I recently attended the Ohio Valley Society of Plastic Surgeon’s meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a great meeting organized by the then-current President of the OVSPS, Steve Bernard and the meeting coordinator, Darlene Lyons. One of the highlights of the meeting was a presentation on customer service by President of The DiJulius Group, John DiJulius. Thanks to Dr. Raymond Isakov for recommending this speaker for the meeting.

When price is irrelevant…

One premise of the DiJulius Group’s X‑Commandment methodology is to provide such a world-class customer experience that price is irrelevant. In the example John gave, he works with a handyman that is so outstanding that he doesn’t know or care what the price is. The handyman does such a great job (and quickly) that John figures he saves money in the long run not having to hire someone else to fix any problems. Thus, price is irrelevant in this circumstance and many others.

I completely agree. I would gladly pay more for a great customer service experience….assuming I have an innate sense of the costs involved. That’s true in hospitality like a hotel or restaurant. Or every day experiences like a coffee shop or drugstore. But again, that assumes I know approximately how much it will cost with and without an upgrade in service. Let me explain.

If I want to pay more for a cup of coffee at a cafe that provides amazing customer service, I assume it will be more than the cup of coffee at a basic, run-of-the-mill coffee shop with mediocre customer service. In this case, I know a cup of coffee normally costs $2, so I can roughly assume the coffee at a world class establishment will be more. Maybe $5 or even $10! If a customer is willing to pay that price for that experience, price has clearly become irrelevant. Good for the proprietor of that coffee shop, good for the customer and good for capitalism!

…and when it’s not irrelevant

But what if you have no grasp of the potential cost of the service you’re purchasing. If you have no basis of costs or how much that will change with a great experience, then price is not irrelevant, at  least not with that knowledge gap. Once you have a baseline, then you can decide if price is irrelevant. Case in point: healthcare. Pricing is so opaque in healthcare that it’s almost impossible to know what is a “reasonable” price and what price reasonably represents a great customer service experience.

If it’s a life or death situation, a knee jerk reaction is to say, do whatever it costs. I guess price is irrelevant in that situation but there are two caveats worth mentioning here. First, cost is irrelevant to a lot of folks in a life or death situation because after they’ve paid the deductible, insurance is covering the rest. Second, not every healthcare decision is life or death. Let’s say I need an MRI for lower back pain. I could find a wonderful customer service experience and possibly pay $2000 for that service. But what if I could get the same MRI for $450?! Is price really irrelevant then?

Keep in mind that an MRI is a commodity. In other words, there is no difference in quality between an MRI at location A vs location B? Is there any level of customer service that an outpatient radiology center can give me to make price irrelevant?

So yes, we should strive to make price irrelevant because that’s a sign you’re exceeding the customer’s expectations. But with such a lack of price transparency in healthcare, the typical patient doesn’t have enough knowledge to determine if the price is irrelevant. In fact, I would argue that because healthcare as an industry is so stingy with pricing information, that if you’re one of the few providers that does offer pricing, then you’re closer to achieving a world class customer service experience!

Low hanging fruit for healthcare providers

Thanks for a great talk John DiJulius. It provided much needed food for thought and reminds me that here at BuildMyBod Health, price transparency for the consumer is an easy way for healthcare providers to offer a great customer service experience. And then the consumer can determine if the customer service is so great that price is indeed irrelevant!

Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.

The post Price is irrelevant, until it’s not! first appeared on Plastic Surgeon San Francisco | Pacific Heights Plastic Surgery.