Patient Loyalty Programs and Membership Ideas for Medical Spas

Patients spend HOURS researching which medspa would best fit their needs.

New patients are hesitant to get a new procedure done at a new medspa with a new provider. This is their face we are talking about, which is an emotional decision. For this reason, the consultation is EVERYTHING  and in a previous blog, I dove into how to provide the perfect patient consultation. While the patient is in your chair during a consultation, talk about your memberships and loyalty programs that can help the patient save some money while getting the BEST results. How can your patient receive the most VALUE (not discount)? Patients understand they are paying for the QUALITY and EXPERIENCE.

If medspas are not offering memberships or loyalty programs, they are missing out on additional revenue opportunities and building strong patient loyalty. These programs are incentive-driven with a multitude of benefits including discounts and product rewards. Don’t just give money away here. Think of what you want to incentivize your patients to do (ie. stay loyal, refer friends, purchase more treatments, book appointments more often, buy retail products, etc.) 

Let’s talk about loyalty point programs. The popularity that these programs bring show how well they work for businesses of all kinds. Spa loyalty programs give the business a powerful edge over competitors that don’t have them. Patients can be highly incentivized by these programs to spend money at your spa because they are earning something with every visit. Here are some popular formats for the spa loyalty programs. 

• Punch Card: Think of this like a coffee punch card. Each time you purchase a drink, you are working towards the reward. The “free” item. You can get creative, specific or general with how you approach this program. Instead of giving a free item, you can simply offer extra value within a package OR you can be product specific. For example, buy 3 Botox treatments within one year and get an extra 20 units free with their 4th regular treatment. This allows them to experience treatment in a new area and they are still spending money and staying loyal to you. You can also bet that once that new area wears off they will want to add this area into their normal treatments. Managing this digitally is the best way to keep track from clients, however it is the spa’s preference. 
• Point Based: Point-based programs are more advanced. Different services and purchase amounts earn a different set of points. Once the patient reaches the total number the practice has set, you give the reward. Then they start from 0 again. This can be harder to track for both the practice and the patient. 
• Tiered Points – Based Rewards System: VIP tiered spa reward programs are still more complex compared to the others. They usually have at least three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold. The tiers are typically based on patient spending that puts them in a specific tier with specific incentives or benefits. It has to be a no brainer for them and the benefits have to be value-driven. 
• Manufacturer Patient Loyalty Programs– Luckily, most vendors/manufacturers usually have a patient reward program that can give rebates back to the practice if their patients are earning and activating the rewards on their products. It creates more opportunities for marketing and up-selling when companies do promotions and it allows the practices to use the materials to their advantage. If you are not taking advantage of these pre-built loyalty programs, you are losing free money. Many patients will even choose to go to a medspa based on the availability of the manufacturer’s reward program. (No, this does not mean you should carry all neurotoxins; We recommend working with a maximum of two injectable vendors).

TO SUBSCRIBE, OR NOT TO SUBSCRIBE…

Let’s switch gears and discuss different ways your practice can sell subscription services. (Think Amazon’s “Subscribe & Save”)

It can be a regular product purchased that is auto-billed each month and either drop shipped or picked up in-house. Creating a product program can make treatment results easier to maintain (such as sunscreen after treating wrinkles) or you can add more value by creating subscription boxes. Depending on the type of subscription you want to offer, you can send the boxes monthly or quarterly. Make them unique to your practice and brand. My advice is keep them a secret – that is part of the fun! Oh and guess what… every time they receive their order, they are reminded of your practice in such a positive light and they are reminded to book an appointment!

FUN IDEAS TO ATTRACT NEW PATIENTS:

• Wellness Box– Wellness for the mind and body. This can range from full size aromatherapy products to organic body care products to lifestyle items like self-love articles. Scented teas, jewelry, salts, scrubs, and masks are a few that could be included in a wellness box. 
• Better Skin Box– Professional skin care products, along with makeup picks that have been handpicked by your beauty pros. Boxes can include serums, hair accessories, face wash, etc. A cute little card with regimen instructions and why these products were chosen will go a long way.
• Body Box– This should relate to the experience they get when they are in your spa. Things that can help your patients improve self care like a luxury bar of soap, bath bombs, oils, scrubs, salts, dried flowers for aesthetics, or even dried eucalyptus to steam while in the bath/shower. Get creative!
• Beauty and Fit Box– Spa goers and yoga fans love enhancing their internal health. They can be customized or can be a complete surprise depending on what the practice wants to offer. Discounted products, Recipes, workout QRL codes, affirmation cards, guasha, stones, scented eye mask, etc.
• At-Home Box– For those patients whom want to do at home style treatments, provide a fun questionnaire specific to their skin care needs. This allows you to create boxes based around those needs. Deliver a step-by-step targeted treatment with products such as a mask, peel/exfoliator, at-home dermaplaning tool, facial massager, etc. BYOB- Build Your Own Box- Let the patients take control and shop around for what they want! You can make it interactive and fun for them to educate themselves on key ingredients, application tips, and begin to learn about professional skin care. 
• Gift Bag with Package Purchase– Create adorable little gift bags that compliment your large package treatments. (HINT: talk to your product sales reps and see how large your next order would have to be to receive FREE GOODS. Some practices will place one big order per quarter and receive free goods along with their purchase to use as promotional items/ free gifts) Patients LOVE taking home goodies and this adds a tremendous amount of perceived value (we made a YouTube video on this). This gift bag should be an “insurance” to protect/prolong their investment.  For example, if you have a treatment package that includes neurotoxin and filler in the face with threads in the neck, include things like arnica (for bruising), pharmaceutical grade sunscreen, lip gloss, neck cream, and zinc (for longevity of neurotoxin). All of these products prolong their results and again, they think of how satisfied they are with their results every time they use these products. 

WHY MEMBERSHIPS?

“As a spa owner myself, I have found incredible results with a monthly membership program. This has given my spa dependable monthly income, loyal clients and a membership spa culture that has been developed through our membership concierge and spa service and reception team. Our members look forward to coming to their scheduled treatment/facial each month. They have added benefits including brow wax and product discounts that make the membership program a must.”

Monthly memberships are a must in your practice. If you don’t offer them, don’t worry because now is still a great time to start. Take a look at all of the products and services you offer and create a membership plan. Charge a monthly rate for discounted products and/or services. You are still rewarding your loyal clients, and also getting a predictable influx of cash. It takes great focus and organization skills to manage the memberships. Take time to build your program correctly and set up the backend. Nail down HOW you want to incentivize your patients to act and build it accordingly.  It is very important to reconcile these programs and ensure the payments are completed, scheduling their services with their desired service provider, and tracking what is remaining in each patient’s program. Memberships can be monthly, quarterly, or annually. It can be customized to how you would like it to look for your practice. Keep in mind that when you create certain packages, some patients will ask if you can change the package to better fit their needs. That decision is up to you and if change will make the most sense in what you have already built.

Annual Memberships– To become a rewards member, you would charge an annual fee for this type of membership program. You can choose to advertise through digital marketing or offer the membership in-house. Reward memberships give a percentage off services and products as well as exclusive monthly promotions. If you have an online e-commerce that has the capability to purchase products you can provide a special code and a unique link for booking services online if they are a part of this program. 

MedSpa Packages/ Passes– This is perfect for the patient who likes to get the most value for a series of the same service(s) by purchasing 5 services for the price of 4. They can also upgrade at any time to a different pass or package and pay the difference of the services. Sharing these passes with friends and family is encouraged so new patients can visit the practice and become a new patient. 

GET CREATIVE! Creating unique loyalty programs, subscriptions and memberships will enhance your medspa and set you apart from others. Your patient experience will improve, your revenue will increase, and your retention/reviews/referrals will follow. The patients are the priority and providing benefit programs will continue to grow your practice and build trust in the patient relationship. Start your memberships and loyalty programs today!