In many ways, aesthetic practices and med spas are like restaurants. The core of the business is customer service, and oftentimes offering the right menu can make the difference between the success or failure of the enterprise.

Just as a first class restaurant strives to create a unique menu that will distinguish it from all its competitors, you should make it your mission to offer a service menu that offers not only all the most popular med spa treatments but also the most cutting edge, innovative procedures available.  Many of the prospects you will encounter are surprisingly well informed and will be looking for a med spa that can exceed their expectations. Some of these prospects already know the results they are looking for. They will look to you and your staff to guide them to the optimal combination of services, procedures and products to help them achieve their goals. On the other hand, many of your prospects will not have a clue about the specific technologies or procedures involved -- they will simply want to know they are in good hands and will look to you to recommend the best treatments and products for them.  

You will need to decide how broad a range of services you will offer. You may decide to offer all the popular services so your med spa will appeal to a diverse, market-driven client base. Or you may decide to carve out a more specialized niche. You will need to decide your basic positioning before you formalize your menu. One of the key factors will be to find the best service mix that matches your professional expertise. If you are a dermatologist, for example, you may wish to offer a range of specialized services for treating acne. If your background is OB/GYN, you may want to develop a specialty for the treatment of leg veins. Another key factor which you may determine from your research is your best estimate of the profitability of offering a wide variety of the most popular services compared with a more specialized approach. Heavy competition in some areas has driven fees for basic services such as laser hair removal to such low levels that such services must be evaluated merely as  "loss leaders" to help build traffic for your more profitable services.

In any event, you will need to keep current with rapidly growing technology and clinical applications by attending trade shows and workshops, subscribing to industry publications, joining various associations, and opening channels of communication between your medical and spa resources. Many practitioners pondering the question of what aesthetic services to offer have come to the realization that emphasizing treatments that require a high level of skill and/or experience is perhaps the best way to differentiate your clinic from the garden variety “medical spa” offering only “basic” treatments like laser hair removal that are available on every street corner. An excerpt from the 2007 national average fee schedule published by ASAPS clearly illustrates this point: 

Cosmetic Procedures        National Average Fee

 
Abdominoplasty     $ 5,350.00

Blepharoplasty                  2,840.00

Breast aug. (silicone)                 4,087.00

Breast aug. (saline)        3,690.00    

Facelift                   6,792.00

Hair transplantation                  5,874.00

Lipoplasty (suction)        2,920.00

Rhinoplasty                   4,357.00 

Non-Surgical Procedures      National Average Fee

Botox injection     $    380.00

Chemical peel           718.00

Fraxel          1,130.00

IPL Treatment           411.00

Noninvasive tightening       1,194.00

Injection lipolysis           905.00

Laser hair removal           387.00

Laser skin resurfacing- ablative      2,418.00

Laser skin resurfacing- non-ablative        580.00

Laser treatment leg veins          462.00

Microdermabrasion           130.00

Sclerotherapy           377.00

Collagen (Bovine)           397.00

Collagen (Human)           542.00

Hyaluronic acid (i.e., Restylane)         576.00

Sculptra         1,027.00

Srtecoll, Artefill        1,180.00 

Food for thought.