To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

August 3, 2011

Executive Summary:

For consumers, online discount vouchers (like those offered by Groupon.com) have obvious appeal: discounts as large as 90 percent. But for retailers offering the deals through the site, does the publicity compensate for the deep hit to profit margins? This paper sets out to help small businesses decide whether it makes sense to offer discount vouchers.

Research was conducted by Harvard Business School professor Ben Edelman, Business Economics PhD candidate Scott Duke Kominers, and by Sonia Jaffe of the Harvard University Department of Economics. Key concepts include:

For retailers, discount vouchers provide price discrimination, letting merchants reach customers who know about the business, but wouldn’t ordinarily go there without a discount.
These vouchers also benefit merchants through advertising, simply by informing consumers of a merchant’s existence via e-mail.
For some merchants, the benefits of offering discount vouchers are sharply reduced if individual customers buy multiple vouchers.
As a marketing tool, discount vouchers are likely to be more effective for businesses that are relatively unknown and have low marginal costs. Read more

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Groupon and the Medical Spa

July 27, 2011

by Cindy Graf

I listened to a webinar last night regarding the ups and downs of Groupon Social Media advertising. I know that many of you have been tempted to or have done a marketing promotion with a Social Media Site. I have had about 7 medical spas almost go under due to poorly positioned Groupon marketing. At first glance, Groupon and Social Living seem too good to be true…500 new patients streaming into your practice… all that $money$!!!! “We’ll convert them into profitable clients” you say. Most offices are not staffed properly or positioned properly on the web to handle this temporary traffic. If you include any kind of a consumable service such as Botox and Fillers, you may actually lose a lot of money. The stress on your schedule and staff may infuriate the loyal full price customers that you have already worked so hard to gain their loyalty and disposable cash dollars. Read more

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Mastering the Cosmetic Consultation

January 3, 2011

Event Announcement: Learn the techniques to Create $10,000 Clients by “Mastering the Cosmetic Consultation” at the upcoming Vendor Alliance Workshop in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Description:
Practice Management Consultant, Cindy Graf presents a three hour workshop discussing the skills necessary to perform successful consultations that include multiprocedural packages to reduce marketing costs and improve revenues in the cosmetic medicine practice. A role playing exercise reinforces the learning experience. If you are new to cosmetic medicine practice, considering entering our business or just hoping to have a more financially successful practice this year, this workshop is a great catalyst to put your cosmetic medical business in the black fast!   Physicians, aestheticians, business managers and mid level providers are all welcome!

Speaker:
Cindy Graf, Practice Management Consultant

Time:
Registration: 6:30pm
Cocktails and Appetizers 6:30-7:00pm
Seminar: 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Location:
Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel
1 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601

There is no fee to attend the seminar but registration is required.

Please RSVP to cindy.graf@gmail.com for this seminar by Monday, January 17, 2011.

Sponsors of the meeting include: Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc., Envy Medical, Colorescience, and PCA Skin

Other Upcoming Seminars:

Wednesday, March 16, 2011      San Francisco, CA
Thursday, April 7, 2011              Dallas. TX
Wednesday, May 4, 2011          Washington, DC
Thursday, June 2, 2011             Miami, FL

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Taking the leap: 6 steps to successfully adding a new aesthetic service

September 4, 2009

With today’s uncertain economy, does it make sense in a “demand lull” for cosmetic surgeons to explore adding an aesthetic procedure to try to maximize revenue from their current patient base? One expert answers with a cautious yes, but stresses that such an expansion must be a specifically directed business move — much more than hanging an announcement in the reception area and hoping for patient uptake. Rather, physicians need to invest their energy, time and money into making it work.

Cindy Graf, of Cindy Graf Consulting, LLC, Milwaukee, Wis., says that physicians who are thinking about adding a new cosmetic service should first determine their goals. “I always say, start with the end result and work backwards….What do you hope to accomplish? What is your goal for adding this to your business? Is it to raise the profile of your business? Is it to add a certain dollar amount of revenue? Or [more] to keep your cosmetic surgical patients in your practice rather than lose them to medical spa competitor? All that really determines whether it is going to work or not [number one] and whether it should be done onsite or off,” she tells Cosmetic Surgery Times .

Read more

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A Successful Aesthetic Practice Needs a Marketing Mix to Grow

July 6, 2009

Aesthetic medicine is a lucrative business that’s created a fiercely competitive industry. Clinicians in core and non-core specialties, as well as corporations, want to capitalize on the growing demand for cosmetic enhancement. This means patients have more choices now than ever. So what would make them come to you and stay with you? It begins with marketing.

Various marketing methods exist. No one method works all the time, and all the methods work some of the time. Therefore, you need to develop the right marketing mix, which is defined as the methods you use to promote your services and products. This consists of using different long- and short-term messages and avenues, until you get the results you’re looking for. The methods must work synergistically.

Marketing your aesthetic practice starts with defining your preferred patients. You then have to be where they are consistently so that when they’re ready for cosmetic enhancements, they think of you—not your competitor. Read more

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How to Develop a Very Loyal Following

March 11, 2009

VIP (Very Important Patient) Promotion

We all know your best aesthetic patient is the referred patient. They are not as price conscious and are already pre-sold on you. You do not want to take these referrals lightly. Every aesthetic practice or medical spa has their group of cheerleaders and you do too. Read more

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Aesthetic Profits Releases the Highly Anticipated How To Series

February 26, 2009

After great anticipation Aesthetic Profits Inc. is trilled to announce the launch of it’s much awaited How To: Series - Effective Patient Attraction Tools for Aesthetic Physicians. This compilation contains essential strategies aesthetic doctors need to build a reliable database of returning patients, to enhance their presence within their community and see a steady boost in revenues. Read more

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Your Doctor Has a Blog - Local physicians helping patients make educated decisions

February 23, 2009

Dr.
Brett Kotlus and Dr.
Charles Mok of Shelby Township use Allure Medical Blog to share information about new cosmetic treatments and also to share information about procedures within their practice. “I find that patients at our medical spa are information gatherers, but it can be difficult to sort through the tremendous amount of information available on the internet regarding the cosmetic field. There are literally hundreds of laser procedures out there, as well as wrinkle reducing injectables and I can offer an educated perspective. If a patient asks a question about a new treatment, I can share my analysis within minutes,” explains Dr. Kotlus. “The blog is linked to our practice website, so all of our patients know where to look.” Read more

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CPR for the Aesthetic Industry

February 16, 2009

Feeling like you need to breathe some life into your aesthetic business? Want to raise cash to market your cash based procedures? It is all about C.P.R.: Consultations that Produce Revenues!

I have worked with over 300 health care professionals in the last couple years, and the hardest learning curve for most is “selling high revenue cosmetic procedure packages”. As healthcare professionals, we never thought we would be selling anything!   There is a way to present your products and services without being “salesy”. This C.P.R. style is consultative and mimics the patient interview that you do with your medical patients. Read more

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5 Things You Can Do Now to Grow Your Aesthetic Practice by 20% in 2009

January 12, 2009

The New Year is for new beginnings and what a perfect time for you to review your practice, consider new possibilities and open yourself up to fresh opportunities. Making minor observations and executing simple ideas can lead you to a great year.

Here are some suggestions to help you get moving in the right direction for this year: Read more

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