How to Master Your Money Mindset for Success in Aesthetic Medicine
Have you heard of the ‘money mindset’ and why it’s key to your success in aesthetic medicine?
Navigating charging for a service can be particularly challenging as a new aesthetics practitioner. This is especially true for NHS healthcare professionals, as the NHS doesn’t often require you to have these conversations.
Harley Academy Director of Clinical Education, Dr Kalpna Pindolia addresses the elephant in the room. That is, talking about money as an aesthetics practitioner.
Her experiences in the NHS, private aesthetic practice and as a clinical trainer, backed with her mindset coaching background, provide valuable insights all new injectors can learn from.
Here, she writes step-by-step advice on how to ‘improve your money mindset’ as you get started in medical aesthetics. You’ll find some fantastic marketing advice gems for new aesthetic practitioners woven in, too…
What is the ‘money mindset’ for aesthetics practitioners?
Essentially, the ‘money mindset’ is about understanding your worth and accepting that you will be paid for your services.
Aesthetic practice, unlike NHS work, is a transactional process. Whilst you may not initially feel comfortable charging for medical treatments, this is a mental block you’ll need to overcome to have a successful aesthetics career.
Common money challenges new aesthetics practitioner can face
1. Feeling awkward or guilty when talking about the cost of treatments
2. Forgetting to charge for treatments
3. Being persuaded to discount treatments.
Having a positive money mindset is about recognising the value you bring to the table, setting prices accordingly and feeling confident in this. There should be no shame or embarrassment around you charging a fair price for the services you provide.
It’s common for healthcare professionals who’ve come from the NHS to feel uncomfortable discussing prices and taking payment. We’ve heard numerous examples of new injectors forgetting to take payment and having to follow up with the patient after they’ve left.
So if you find this element of aesthetic practice awkward, just know that you’re not alone. But you too can conquer this!
Why mastering the money mindset is crucial to your success
On their first day of aesthetic training - your Foundation Training in Botox & Dermal Fillers course - I often ask trainees “who's here to make money?” at the beginning of the day.
There’s usually a mixed response. Some enthusiastically put their hands up, but many either signal sheepishly or don’t own up at all. Others may even avoid eye contact, almost with a sense of shame at the prospect.
But why shouldn't you earn money for a service well delivered?
In the world of aesthetic medicine, mastering the money mindset is crucial for providing the best care to patients, as well as financial success. After all, it's ok to make a profit to sustain you, as well as your business.
How to improve your money mindset as an aesthetic practitioner in eight steps
Here are my eight tips to improve your money mindset, while staying true to your values as a medical professional. They’ll also allow you to continually invest in patient care, and promote long-term business success.
1. Self-evaluate your relationship with money
Your money mindset is from your core beliefs and attitudes. These develop with your life story, from your childhood circumstances, personal experiences and cultural background. When you feel discomfort discussing your aesthetic treatment prices, ask yourself why.
Once you know your triggers you can challenge them. Then you can work on shifting perspectives or beliefs that are not serving you. Why do you not deserve to be paid for the service you provide?
2. Focus on value rather than money
Make a list of reasons why you deserve financial reward. Keep returning and adding to it. Emphasise the value you bring to patients through your medical expertise, skills and impact on self-confidence.
Avoid the temptation to undervalue your service for example, by offering discounts that undermine your expertise.
3. Educate your patients
Being an aesthetics practitioner is not about selling. Cultivate an approach of guiding patients towards informed decisions on the best treatment options for their goals. This builds trust as you prioritise patient well-being based on principles of integrity.
Don't be phased by patients who may need more time to think. Let them have downtime to consider the information. I’ve had many a patient referred to me from others who I’ve decided are not suitable for treatment! This is because they truly understand that your recommendations are not financially driven.
There’s an article here on the Harley Academy website about the marketing power of being able to turn patients away that I recommend you read.
4. Communication and confidence skills count
Establish rapport and reassure your patient about the value you deliver during your consultation. Tell them about your education, the aesthetics training you’ve done, the injectables qualifications you have. Reassure them of your medical credentials.
These are all comforting qualities patients look for in an injector. They also signal and reinforce the value you bring.
When the money talk comes, confidently discuss your charges. Use your verbal and non-verbal communication skills to do this.
Don't fall into the trap of assuming patient silence means they’re thinking you're too expensive. They may simply be considering the proposition!
If you’re clearly nervous or self-conscious about discussing pricing, your patient may pick up on this. Some could use this to try to haggle, whilst others may be put off by perceived nervousness. After all, you want the person injecting your face to be confident! They’re unlikely to realise your discomfort may be solely related to the transactional factors.
Even if you aren’t feeling confident at first, this is a case of fake it til you make it! The more you get used to discussing fees, the more routine it will become.
5. Pricing strategy for your aesthetic treatments and services
Implement a pricing strategy that reflects the value of your services.
This may include charging a fee for your comprehensive consultation. Doing so can improve attendance rates and commitment, as well as the perceived value of your services.
You might offer more than one option at different price points, or provide opportunities to spread cost over time.
When you first start out and are trying to build your portfolio, you may choose to keep your prices at the lower end of the scale. This could be for your first year or until you’re feeling really confident in each treatment. Although this approach isn’t necessary, it can be a good way to attract your first patients and turn them into loyal clients.
It’s better to start with a slightly lower rate then put it up as you become more confident, than to offer discounts. Aesthetics experts will give you their price and that’s that. There are no discounts or special offers - even those that are legally permitted tend to be avoided.
Incentivise, don't discount
Once you start offering discounted rates for filler or skin treatments, it can be hard to get patients to commit to paying your full rate again. Think about all those retailers you always wait for the sales to shop with - because you know that sale will come. This is the sort of reputation you want to avoid as a medical aesthetics practitioner.
You can, of course, offer incentives within the bounds of professional conduct and legal marketing requirements. For example, you may include product goody bags after a procedure, where the cost is included within the treatment cost. Incentives are a very different approach to discounts, however. Discounts can cheapen your reputation and incentives carry the message of ‘added value’. Which would you rather be known for?
6. Understand a 'no thanks' is not personal failure
Patients who cannot afford your cost for the outcome they require, may not proceed to treatment. This will happen.
Remember the patient may return when they can, if you’ve demonstrated enough value.
They may also attend other consultations and ultimately decide on you after comparing their options.
Realistically, they may just decide they want to go with someone else - and that’s fine too.
Learn not to take patients not booking treatments with you personally.
What you can do, right from the start of your aesthetic practice, is implement ways of gathering feedback. It could be a short Google Form questionnaire that you send to help you understand where you can improve. Or you could simply send an email asking them a few quick questions about how they found your consultation, what they liked, what they didn’t like, what you could improve and why they decided to go ahead/not proceed with treatment with you.
All this data is valuable patient intelligence that will help you better position yourself and your business. Sometimes you’ll discover decision-making factors you hadn’t even considered. For example, they have to pay for parking at your clinic but don’t elsewhere.
Just try to bear in mind that any criticism is commenting on your service and you as the provider. They’re not critiquing you, the person.
7. Don't compete
Competing on cost alone with other local businesses may be detrimental to the level of service you wish to provide for your patients. Remember what I’ve said above regarding the value perceptions of discounting versus incentivising.
Low prices, especially for aesthetic medicine treatments, is a red flag and there are many patients out there who understand this.
Focus on marketing yourself professionally and authentically. This approach has shown time and again to connect you with genuine patients. These are also often the ones who stick with you over the longer term.
It may sound like an inspirational quote but it’s absolutely true that no one else is you - and that’s your super power.
By allowing you patients to connect with you, in whichever way works best for you, you’ll attract best-fit patients.
Whether your marketing involves sharing on camera via social media, or networking in person, if people warm to you and can start to build trust in you before you’ve even treated them, that’s half the battle won.
8. Seek support from your network
You may opt to have a mentor or network of colleagues that you can discuss real life situations with. Ask them how they’ve navigated the money mindset and business aspects of being aesthetics practitioners.
They can inspire you with hints and tips to help supercharge your confidence when talking about money and implementing the ideal strategy.
One of the great things I see whilst teaching at Harley Academy is the peer-to-peer networking among trainees. Sharing numbers and social media handles, building their networks from day one. This happens on all our medical aesthetics courses, not just among those taking our Level 7 Diploma in Botox & Dermal Fillers.
Additionally, if you feel you need further guidance from more experienced aesthetics professionals, you can turn to helpful resources such as the free Comma app.
Know your value to master your money mindset for aesthetics success
As an injector with medical experience, even at the start of your career, you have genuine professional skills that are valuable to your patients. Over time, as you gain more experience and continue your professional development, this value grows.
With this in mind, the questions to ask yourself is - are you worth it and why?
Once you really believe in your value, your professional worth, you’ll become confident in having those money talks.
No longer will you skirt around price discussions or allow your rates to be knocked down. It’ll become a normal part of your consultation conversations - not something you leave until last because you’re dreading it!
Truly believing in your passion, knowledge and skills is the root to mastering your money mindset in medical aesthetics. I hope you find this information helpful and if any of this resonates, or you try any of these tips out, let us know!
You can leave a comment or DM on the Harley Academy Instagram account or message us via the chatbot on the right of this screen.
