Let’s face it.&nbsp;Times have changed.&nbsp; It’s way too competitive to be mediocre.&nbsp;It’s also way too costly to attract new patients so&nbsp;you can’t afford to lose them.&nbsp; I know you’re painfully aware of how difficult it’s gotten to convert prospective patients due to the insane amount of competition and information available. This creates confusion and fickle prospective patients who know if they don’t like their experience with you, they can always call one of your many competitors.&nbsp; However, this is actually an opportunity for you to&nbsp;step up and&nbsp;be better than your competitors, so they choose you. But here’s the harsh reality… It’s not enough to have a gorgeous expensive website do all the heavy lifting for you. It’s also not enough to automate everything (even though that would be great). Chatboxes, Auto-responders, follow up funnels and artificial intelligence are helpful, for sure, but they have their own limitations. Remember you are in the people business. People with credit cards who want to look good and feel great. People with emotions such as skepticism, fear, hope, trust or distrust. These people who are using their own disposable income want customer service. They want to feel heard and significant. They want to know you care. Chatboxes and autoresponders do not give them those warm, fuzzy feelings. People do. So, in this podcast, I’m going to show you how to convert more cosmetic patients without spending more on advertising or hiring more staff or adding more technology.  Problem Let’s first start with this question... If you were to listen in on new caller leads your receptionist was handling, would you smile with satisfaction listening to her professionally credential you and book the consultation or….would you cringe hearing her lose the callers and hurt your image all at the same time? When you ask your receptionist about it, don’t they often say the callers were just price shoppers and weren’t serious about moving forward? And,&nbsp;Does &nbsp;this sound familiar: You do a string of consultations that you “thought” went well. The prospective patients you met with were engaged and interacting with you. You were sure many of them would book. However,&nbsp;when you ask your coordinator how the consultations went, she tells you:  "Oh, they had to think about it." "They were going on other consults." "They had to check their schedule." "They have to save up."  So now you’re either questioning yourself or your staff or the patients. Is it something you said or did? Is it something your staff said or did? Are patients today ridiculous and you’re ready to throw in the towel? It’s so deflating putting in so much time and effort, only to NOT get the result you expected. So now you decide to either spent even more on advertising to get more leads or you fire your staff or you do nothing and hope next month is better. Instead, here are some insights that should help: Agitate I have trained hundreds of receptionists and coordinators from around the world and here’s what I know for sure: Every practice has money-losing holes in their practice bucket (some practices have more than others) and the most common are disappointing conversion rates. And, even the most seasoned staff could use improvement. Actually, the seasoned staff has been around for the good times, when it was a lot easier to convert callers and consults so they may have trouble adjusting to this increasingly competitive landscape where they need to learn new skills and strategies to keep up. Frankly, too often the staff is winging it. They just say whatever comes to mind and that leads to them talking too much and confusing the patient and a confused patient is a no so that’s not a good approach. Because it’s astonishing to discover the reality of lost revenues leaking out of your practice that add up big time. For example, if your receptionist loses 1 caller per day that...

Tips to Convert More Cosmetic Patients (Ep.206)

Hello, and welcome to Beauty and the Biz where we talk about the business and marketing side of plastic surgery, and being in a solo practice within a group practice. I’m your host, Catherine Maley, author of Your Aesthetic Practice – What your patients are saying, as well as consultant to plastic surgeons, to get them more patients, more profits and stellar reputations. Now, today’s episode is called "Solo Practice Within Group Practice — with Sam Jejurikar, MD". Some surgeons dream of complete autonomy. They want to do whatever they feel like doing without having to answer to executive boards or other surgeons they work under.&nbsp; They want to set their own hours, hire and fire staff and buy equipment if they feel like it.&nbsp; They also want to make more money and assume they will in solo practice since they keep all of the profits and not just a percentage.&nbsp; However, the flip side of that autonomy means they also get to handle their own books and inventory, while also marketing to attract cosmetic patients.&nbsp; The business and marketing side of plastic surgery can be fun, daunting, uncertain and confusing.&nbsp; So, is Solo or Group practice better? Here’s a unique business model that allows you to run your solo practice as you want, but also enjoy the perks of being under the umbrella of a much bigger practice. Very interesting!  This week’s Beauty and the Biz Podcast was an interview I did with Sam Jejurikar, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and a member of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute that includes 10 surgeons, 4 ORs, 40 staff in a 45,000 square foot facility. We talked about their unique business model to buy into the practice but run as a solo practitioner and how they make decisions with so many surgeons involved.  P.S. Want Catherine’s book for free? Just leave us a review, text (415) 851-0172 and her book is on the way!  📲 If you’re thinking about making a change and could use a different perspective, let’s talk. Schedule a Free 30-Minute strategy call with me at:&nbsp; ✔️ STAY UPDATED!  Website:  Blog:  Podcast:  Videocast:  Apple Podcasts:   🤝 LET'S CONNECT! 🤝  Instagram:  Facebook:  Twitter:  LinkedIn:   &nbsp; Transcript: Solo Practice Within Group Practice — with Sam Jejurikar, MD Catherine Maley, MBA: Hello and welcome to Beauty and the Biz, where we talk about the business and marketing side of plastic surgery, and being in a solo practice within a group practice. I'm your host Catherine Maley, author of Your Aesthetic Practice — What your patients are saying", as well as consultant to plastic surgeons, to get them, more patients and profits. And today's guest is Dr. Sam Jejurikar, who is in solo practice within a group practice. Thank you. He's a board- certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who has a solo practice within a group practice, and a member of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute that performs cosmetic surgery, pediatric plastic surgery, breast reconstruction, and complex wound reconstruction. Now, the institute includes 10 surgeons. The Dallas Day Surgery Center of Cloisters Hope Post-Operative Recovery Facility, and the Epicenter Skincare and Laser Center. Now, Dr. Jejurikar received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and has been in practice for more than 20 years, and he also has the most incredible podcast name that I've ever heard. So, we'll talk more about that. And he also is very involved with Smile Bangladesh, so, we'll talk more about that. Dr. J, thank you for coming on and welcome to Beauty and the Biz to discuss on the topic of being in solo practice within a group practice Sam Jejurikar, MD: Thanks so, much for having me. I really appreciate it. Catherine Maley, MBA: Sure. So, just quickly, can you give us a recap from Michigan? How did you get from there to here? How did this influence your decision to have your solo practice within a group practice? Sam Jejurikar, MD: So, after I...

Solo Practice Within Group Practice — with Sam Jejurikar, MD (Ep. 207)

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Catherine Maley, MBA
Catherine has helped many practices double or even triple their revenue, all while creating a magnetic environment that encourages word-of-mouth referrals and repeat patients. Her proven, dynamic approach to marketing, advertising, sales and customer relations has been continually developed and refined for over 40 years.

Starting as an interdisciplinary Staff Coordinator with the Illinois State Medical Society and then as director of the House of Delegates for the California Medical Association, Catherine has been helping physicians and businesses reach their goals since the mid-80’s. This early experience laid the groundwork for understanding and overcoming the unique challenges, threats and opportunities facing physicians.

With this knowledge and experience acquired, Catherine spent the next 15 years developing and perfecting her marketing and sales techniques with various Fortune 500 companies. Her natural understanding of business gave her the edge to remain in the top 15% of all sales people nationwide. Her great successes would eventually land her the titles of National Sales Manager, Marketing Manager, and Product Development Manager for two Silicon Valley startups.

From her own personal experiences, Catherine witnessed a great need for practices to develop their customer service skills and learn the delicate dance of converting consults into patients. Now, armed with her top-performing sales and marketing experience coupled with her business knowledge of the medical sector, Catherine had all the tools necessary to begin coaching, training, and marketing specifically for aesthetic surgeons and their staff. She had the experience, drive, and passion to make her clients a great success.

With her stellar track record and solid business advice, Catherine is a rock star in the industry and is in great demand. Both as a consultant with word-wide clients, and as a speaker and lecturer at medical conferences all over North America, Europe and Oceania. She regularly contributes to the top medical trade publications in the industry and has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, ABC, ABC News, and others.

Catherine has consulted with the top surgeons in the world as well as with industry vendors. Her creative team of designers, copywriters, web developers, videographers, mail houses and print shops provide custom products, services, and consulting to aesthetic physicians who are ready to take their practice to the next level.

Catherine and her consultation practice are located in the San Francisco Bay town of Sausalito, California.

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