Cosmetic Surgery Times: Article on medical spas.

Via Cosmetic Surgery Times: Medspa success demands wide skill set: In a noisy marketplace, surgical talent is no substitute for business and marketing acumen.

 
You'll get the obligatory 'the doctors need to be plastic surgeons or dermatologists' but a decent article none-the-less.

 "Doctors generally are not very good at service industries," adds Dr. Katz. While medical patients represent a captive audience, he says spa patrons "do not want to be kept waiting. They expect a nice facility, ambience, beautiful surroundings and music. If doctors can't manage that, they'll get eaten alive." To help physicians manage the entire spa experience, experts recommend several tactics. First, get feedback — incognito — about your customer service, advises Dr. Katz. "Send in secret shoppers — friends or family." Then have them complete detailed questionnaires addressing not only their treatments, but how they were treated beginning with their first phone call, he adds.

Dr. Katz advises using spreadhseets to capture data on everything from services sold, to each staff member's productivity, client return visits, and, if applicable, product sales. One must run a medical spa "like a business," he states, "and a high-quality service business at that."

Comments

[Swim Spa]

There is a distinct line in the way patient expect to be treated in a medical facility and that of a luxury spa. These are great tips for anybody who is trying to make it in such a competitive industry, especially the suggestion about sending in "secret shoppers."