By Terri Ross, Terri Ross Consulting

For a medical aesthetics practice or provider, these are very uncertain and rapidly evolving times, due to COVID-19. And while solvency and cash flow are understandably your top concerns, there is no better time than now to motivate, communicate and educate yourself, and leverage and implement the following seven business strategies into your practice.

Be Proactive

Although it is easy to feel reactive due to the situation, you have the power to choose how you respond. Use this time to gather and motivate your team to review or create your business plan and set or evaluate your 2020 goals.

Communicate

Now more than ever before, open lines of communication with both your patients and staff are critical. Draft a concise statement that explains how your practice is handling questions and what your team can expect.

With your patients: If you have ever heard me lecture and train, you know that I talk a lot about reach and frequency when communicating with patients. There are several ways you can achieve this.

• Social media. If you have a Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn account, post regular updates. Go live and provide skin care tips at home. Host a Q&A session on your social media pages. Talk about particular retail products and lines you sell and how clients can order from your website if you have that option. Create a team member highlight post to keep your clients engaged. Develop a "Did you know?" series of posts about the various services you offer within your practice or highlight a procedure that clients may want to book.
• Patient newsletter. If you didn't have a patient newsletter going out before, now is the time to start one. Send something out weekly to keep your clients informed.
• Blog articles. Blogs can help educate your patients and add fresh content to your website to improve your search engine optimization (SEO), which, in turn, helps you appear higher in Google searches.

With your team: Make sure you communicate with your team. They are all facing uncertainty and need to be informed of their job status, how to handle patient inquiries and possible extended hours when you re-open.

Telemedicine

Get set up to conduct virtual appointments. Schedule your consultations over Zoom. Normally, I'm a firm advocate of charging a fee for consultations, but for right now, it is a great service to offer at no charge. You establish the "know, like and trust" factor and can convert these consults into paying services when you re-open. Make sure you promote this option to your client database through your newsletters and social media channels.

Create Ways to Generate Additional Revenue

This crisis will not last forever, and hopefully soon, everyone will be rushing back in the door. Be prepared by planning ahead and expanding your hours to accommodate additional patients. Your 45-hour work week might need to extend to 60 hours to make up for the lost revenue. Book appointments now and start filling your books. If you need to push it back, you can, but for now, get them on the books. Make sure you tell your patients that you will be offering extended hours when you re-open.

Use Your Time to Analyze Your Data

If you have access to your patient management software, now is the perfect time to learn how to use the data to your advantage and determine which reports to run. The data tells the story about the types of patients you see, what you are spending on marketing and equipment, the amount of revenue you are generating per hour, etc. As I always say, "Inspect what you expect."

The data should drive your goals for employees, provide information for forecasting, help evaluate your marketing, and reveal your best-selling products and whether you need to purchase equipment.

Revenue per hour is perhaps one of the most important numbers to know. For example, if you look at laser skin rejuvenation, you can analyze the cost of the laser or light, the time it takes for the treatment, and the fee you charge to determine the revenue per hour. It's a pretty simple calculation. Once you come up with the number, you can set goals and forecast.

List out what you offer in these major categories, what you charge and how much time it takes, and then come up with your number.

• Laser skin resurfacing
• Skin tightening
• Body contouring
• Injectables
• Aesthetician services
• Female rejuvenation
• Age management
• Hair restoration

Take the time to review your data now so you can have a fresh start when you come back and start tracking which categories of procedures are the most profitable.

Sharpen Your Sword/Invest in Yourself

Now is a great time to get your financial and legal houses in order. Review your standard operating procedures, job descriptions, marketing efforts, billing and collection systems, and compliance requirements. Develop your sales process and perfect your sales scripts. Review your treatment plans. Getting your clients in for even one extra treatment or add-on service can help make up for lost revenue.

Evaluate Your Full Financial Picture

The best way to combat financial fear or concerns is to confront them full-on and wrap your arms around them. Don't be an ostrich. Before you make any major decisions, it is critical to evaluate your entire financial picture. How long can you maintain your expenses? What are your fixed expenses per month? If you do not have a rainy-day fund or cash reserve, there are several things you can do.

• Call your lease companies and landlords and see if you can get extensions. This is not going to last forever.
• Communicate with your financial institutions. Take a small business loan if you need to and can't manage the expenses. The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved zero interest disaster loans for up to 30 years. Now is the time to put your pride aside and do what you have to do.
• Communicate with your team. They are worried about their jobs. Let them know the situation and gather resources for them in the event you have to make decisions related to layoffs.

As always, I'm here to be a resource for you and help you navigate through these uncharted waters. My team is anchored in place and ready to answer any questions you might have.

Terri Ross brings more than 20 years of sales and management experience to the field, having worked with leading-edge medical device companies such as Zeltiq, Medicis, EMD Serono, Merck Schering Plough and Indigo Medical, a surgical division of Johnson.

Ross' vast knowledge and experience as a sales director managing upwards of $20M in revenue and successful teams has allowed her to become a renowned plastic surgery management consultant helping aesthetic practices thrive.

To optimize revenues and business performance, Ross' practice management consulting services help physicians evaluate practice processes including, but not limited to, overall-operating efficiencies, staff skill assessment, customer service and operating efficiency strategies. The goal is to develop a comprehensive plan of action to improve productivity, quality, efficiency and return on investment.