Aesthetic medicine clinics
In aesthetic medicine, patients take their time, compare clinics and put decisions off easily. A clinic rarely loses them in advertising: it loses them in the chat, at the consultation and afterwards. I find those points and set up the front desk so that enquiries reach payment, without adding to the ad budget.
How patients choose an aesthetic clinic
An aesthetic procedure is almost never urgent. A patient messages several clinics at once, looks through the doctors' work, reads reviews and asks friends for advice. A long time can pass between the first message and payment, and all that time they are deciding not only where, but whether.
The first questions rarely change: how much does it cost, can I see before-and-after photos, can I pay in instalments, how long is recovery. Some of these are medical and belong with the doctor. But if the front desk sends a stock “prices are discussed at the consultation” or goes silent until morning, the patient moves on to a clinic that talked to them.
Where the front desk loses patients
- The price question. Dodging it looks like a hidden price. The patient doesn't argue; they simply stop replying.
- Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Messages arrive in the evenings and at weekends but get answered in office hours, when the patient may have booked elsewhere.
- The consultation. The doctor explained everything, the patient said “I'll think about it”, and nobody agreed on a next step.
- The expensive plan. The total is given verbally, with no written plan and no payment options. At home, the patient compares it with other quotes and hesitates.
- The second opinion. The patient takes the plan to another clinic to check it. If nobody calls them afterwards, they decide without you.
What to change first
- Agree with the doctors how to answer the price question: a range, what it depends on, and a consultation at a specific time.
- Decide which photos of the doctors' work and which reviews the front desk can share, and where patients can see the rest.
- End every consultation with a next step: a written plan, a decision date and who will call back.
- Set up follow-up for postponed plans: who contacts a patient who said “I'll think about it”, when and how.
- Make one person responsible for incoming messages across all channels.
Since 2022 I have personally taken patients from enquiry to payment — more than 100 of them. So I start with a free express front-desk check: I call and message your clinic as a mystery patient and show where people drop off. You can gauge the scale beforehand with the loss calculator or a short self-check.
Where the money is lost
Price left unanswered
A patient asks about cost in a direct message and gets “prices at the consultation”. They don't push back; they just write to the next clinic.
Slow replies in the evening and at weekends
Enquiries from social media come in after hours and get answered the next day. By then the patient has often booked elsewhere.
Consultation no-shows
The appointment was made in advance, but nobody confirmed it or sent a reminder. The patient changed their mind and the doctor's time was wasted.
“I'll think about it” with no next step
The consultation ended without a decision date or a written plan. Later, the patient remembers only the total.
Treatment plan with no follow-up
An expensive plan was handed over, and nobody got back in touch. Doubts, payment questions and the second opinion go unanswered.
No booking for the next visit
The doctor recommended a further procedure or a check-up, but the patient left without an appointment. They come back only if they remember on their own.
Questions and answers
Should we give prices in messages?
An exact price often can't be given before the consultation, and that is fine. But patients read “prices at the consultation” as avoiding the question. What works is a range, a short explanation of what affects the cost and a specific consultation slot. I agree the wording with the doctors and the clinic's management.
Should the front desk answer medical questions?
No. Suitability, risks and recovery are for the doctor. The front desk's job is not to leave the patient without an answer: to say plainly that this is a question for the doctor and offer a consultation or a reply from them straight away. I write these boundaries into the scripts so the front desk doesn't improvise.
What does the express check cover?
I contact the clinic 3–5 times as a patient — by phone, on WhatsApp and on Instagram, at different times. I look at how quickly you reply, what is said about price, photos and payment, whether a booking is offered and what happens after “I'll think about it”. The findings fit on one page, and we go through them on a 30-minute call. The express check is free and needs no ad budget.