Did you know that your receptionists can help you grow or kill your business? Have you listened to how your receptionists answer the phone and handle call management, or how they conduct your check-in and check-out process? Maybe you should!
I was a secret shopper recently and prior to me going on location, I called the place to make a reservation. I heard some very interesting things.
In this particular situation, the receptionist informed me that they did not have availability and she told me she would look into it and call me back. I waited and waited… three days went by and I did not get a call back. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Other times, receptionists would only reserve what the caller was asking for. That is why I say, “Most are order takers, not revenue generators.” God forbid they may recommend an additional treatment option, or even bother to reserve a head-to-toe consultation so your providers can recommend an entire program leading to thousands of dollars instead of hundreds.
Also, receptionists allow guests to walk out empty-handed without retail products because they were not trained or didn’t have a system in place to follow.
I see this type of conduct and behavior over and over, and those practices are costing your business thousands of dollars each day.
Have you trained your medspa reception team?
Do you have systems, structure, manuals, and training modules to help them develop their skills and do a great job for you? In most cases, we see those missing.
These examples happen daily in your facility and others.
The fact is that the reception/guest relations team has major control over how much revenue you generate, yet most medical aesthetics owners view this position as the lowest position in most medical spas.
How much money is your team leaving on the table due to the fact that your guest relations department is not structured properly, and that the team is not trained on how to be more productive and effective in their position?
This is why I am doing this Dori Talks. You should be saying, “Enough is enough.” It’s time for change.
Follow the six shifts to transform your medical aesthetic reception department and begin seeing performance improvements.
1. Structure the guest relation department for maximum achievement
Structuring the reception department properly is a key success principle. Begin by identifying your vision, mission, and values. Clarify the team’s responsibilities by creating detailed position descriptions and expectations. Share with the team their roles and why they are important to the entire operation. Share the business model and how they contribute to the success of the entire operation.
2. Set goals and targets to reach higher revenue
Often when we start working with medical spa reception teams, we ask, “What are your monthly revenue goals? How many appointments do you need per day? How much should each client be worth? How many consultations should you reserve?” and the list goes on…. Often, they don’t know, because the leaders don’t set goals or expectations with them.
As a leader, it’s essential to set monthly, weekly, and daily goals with your team and hold them accountable to produce. If they don’t produce, train them over and over until they improve or cut your losses and seek another employee who is better suited for this position.
3. Choose the ideal team
Some leaders think, “I just need someone to answer the phone, how difficult can that be?” That thought process is very wrong. To me, the Guest Relations team holds a very important position within your medical spa. They need to have a great image, be good communicators, have the ability to make recommendations, enroll guests into your medspa membership program, and more. They are truly key players. Look for charismatic people with great attitudes for this position. Make sure you recruit and hire the right people.
4. Implement the 3 C’s
Having a system and structure for the team to follow provides you accuracy, consistency, and growth. When the team is trained on the 3 C’s, your department will soar!
What are the 3C’s? Call management, check-in, and check-out. They are essential components of this position.
Just take call management for example; you invest money into marketing to cause the phone to ring, then you might have an untrained person trying to manage the calls. If this person is not trained, the result is a low conversion rate for calls to appointments.
Often, leaders don’t even track how many new calls they receive per month and how many full consultations were reserved. The phone is a great sales tool, for incoming and outgoing calls. Some InSPAration Management clients have call centers and we help them train for both incoming calls and outgoing calls. This is your sales center and I am often shocked by how many leaders don’t see it that way.
Then, there is check-in and there is check-out, where more missed opportunity take place. The 3 C’s can make or break your business. It’s time to train the team on how to fulfill their professional obligation.
5. Maximize revenue through membership enrollment
Many leaders have great intentions when they create a VIP program, but in most cases the program is collecting dust because no one on the team presents it or enrolls people in it.
This position requires great communication skills and the ability to present treatments, products, and enroll guests into the VIP program.
Here is what often happens: One time, I was standing near the reception department listening and observing the process. A guest walked up to check-out, and the receptionist asked, “Are you a member?” Frankly, I was shocked that she was asking them this question.
If this receptionist was properly trained, she would have known to look in the software system to see if the guest was a member of not. She should have known that before the guest even checked-in. Instead of asking the client if she was a member, she should’ve had a totally different approach that would have been much more effective. She should have said, “I noticed that you are not a VIP member, allow me to introduce you to this amazing program!”
If this team member also had a target of how many VIP enrollments to achieve, and a bonus program to strive for, she would have been more proactive to achieve more. Do you want to teach your team how to enroll guests into a membership program? Check out the C.O.P.I.E. system and increase your membership count!
6. Increase retention by delivering a great guest experience
Today, guests have many options. There is no shortage of anything. That is why the guest experience must be top-notch. Again, the guest relations team plays a key role in the entire guest experience. From the minute the phone rings to when they walk in and walk out, the experience should be planned out!
Scripts and systems will set you free. The guest relations team must know their role with the experience. Train them on what they need to say, how to say things, rituals, and how to anticipate the guest needs and deliver a “wow” guest experience. Educate the team about the retention rate, how to track it, and why it’s so important to exceed the guests’ expectations.
Improvement starts with the leader. As a leader, you are responsible to provide your team with the proper training to set them up for success.
Erase old ways of running your reception department by implementing new and effective models that lead to success!
The one component we see missing over and over when we start working with medical spa owners is the lack of training material — especially medical aesthetic business training. Few medspas have training programs for their teams. Usually, the training consists of the new person shadowing a teammate who is ready to leave. That is a bad idea. The best practice is to provide the team with training tools to help them succeed.
I am happy to announce that we just revised the Guest Relations Department program. It contains everything you and your team needs to help become as productive as possible and succeed!
We invite you for a special webinar on May 5th at 4 pm EST
Six Shifts to Transform Your Reception Department
Read and accept the invitation to join us!
We are super excited to bring you this new program,
and look forward to helping you transform your guest relations department.