Editor’s note: When running a successful MedSpa, most owners are laser-focused on growing their revenue and client base. But one MedSpa owner we spoke with had a different challenge “I already know what numbers I need to hit,” she said. “But I have to figure out how to provide affordable sales training for my lead injector.”
This got us thinking, are sales training the key to unlocking MedSpa’s growth potential?
Turns out, yes. And the more we dug into it, the more it made sense. This owner believed the gap in her lead injector’s sales skills was the single barrier between her current operations and MedSpa’s future success.
The Power of Sales Training for MedSpa Injectors
Marco Emilio Valle, a 15-year veteran of the medical aesthetics space and the founder of Aesthetic Influencers Media, LLC, sees this all the time. He’s worked with industry giants like Allergan and Galderma, and now he’s launching a revolutionary platform Aesthetic Sales Hero—a turn-key sales training solution built specifically for aesthetic practices.
During our conversation, Marco shared insights that could transform how MedSpa owners think about sales training. Here’s a closer look at why this training gap matters and how it could be holding your MedSpa back.
Why a Gap in Sales Training for Aesthetics Providers is a Problem
How could a lead injector with nearly two decades of experience miss basic sales goals?
Marco: We’re building in an assumption up front that the sales goals are, in fact, manageable. I think this is a fair assumption because Allergan (the manufacturer of leading aesthetics brands, like Botox) is the leader in collecting benchmarking data from around the country in terms of what injectors are producing.
Their latest data from one or two years ago shows that the average full-time injector should be grossing between $800,000 and $900,000 for the practice. The top 10% of injectors produce $1.2-15MM.
I share all of this to say that first, many injectors may not know what they’re capable of and what their peers are accomplishing. For example, if I’m producing half a million but you told me that the median is between $800,000 to $900,000, that’s very eye-opening.
However, in this case, based on the experience of the injector, I would conjecture that she has never fully embraced her role as a salesperson in the practice. Some people in the industry make light of this, joking, ‘Of course, injectors can’t sell’ But instead of doing anything about it, we continue with the status quo approach. We offer sales training, but that’s often more like product-specific training offered by reps whenever they’re available.
The Role of Sales in Aesthetics
Is it fair to expect injectors to also be salespeople?
Marco: Not only is it fair, it’s imperative.
Let’s take a step back. For far too long, our industry has had a very myopic view of sales training. A product rep comes in and trains providers on the products in their portfolio and how to consult on that portfolio. A competing rep comes in and does the same thing. It’s always very specific to a certain group of products and ultimately only meets the needs of that rep and that company.
It would be wholly unfair and completely beyond the scope of your rep or even their regional sales manager to go into in-depth sales training, right? They’re not going to spend hours with an office team, and that’s not their job. Nor is it their job to present foundational sales training on communication skills, personality types, identifying decision-making drivers, objection handling, and so on.
That kind of in-depth training barely exists in our space, and generally is provided through a handful of consultants via conferences, webinars, or videos. The sales enablement aspect has also always been extremely sparse: just binders or downloadable worksheets. So there are very limited options in terms of what injectors are learning to do in their role.
The Mindset of Aesthetic Sales
Marco: I believe the much deeper issue is mindset, and how injectors think and feel about selling (coming from a place of having coached hundreds of providers and sales reps).
The truth is that if you are a medical professional with a healthy moral compass, you are going to have a natural aversion to selling. Selling has all sorts of negative baggage around it, with regard to manipulation, pushiness, etc.
Medical aesthetic providers are naturally caring advocates and healers who want to make the best recommendations possible for their patients. This compassionate core should be honored and celebrated. What I’ve discovered, both in my own experience and with coaching hundreds of providers and reps over the years, is that the more you obsess over patient empowerment the more the selling takes care of itself.
That’s exactly how I designed Aesthetic Sales Hero: not only to be the first truly turn-key aesthetic sales training platform but to help providers harness the power of their higher purpose to sell ethically.
That doesn’t mean that Aesthetic Sales Hero won’t teach you very practical, usable techniques processes, and best practices. Sure, the platform facilitates all of that. But profitable, sustainable, and ethical sales growth begins with having a mindset that is truly obsessed with patient empowerment not with selling.
Aesthetic Sales and Patient Care Aren’t Mutually Exclusive
Marco: In the example of the injector with nearly two decades of experience who is underperforming. Perhaps she thinks she has been caring for her clients by offering them up-front discounts, not discussing other modalities, or even under-correcting them. If so, then is she providing her patients with the best care possible? She’s been undermining her sales progress but also under-serving her clients because the story she tells herself is that she’s doing it out of care. This is ironic because if she were truly obsessed with empowering her patients she would approach her recommendations and treatment planning very differently.
Here’s an eye-opening example of how crazy the current situation is nationally, as shown by the latest national data presented by Allergan at this year’s AmSpa Medical Spa Show. I call it the 75/75 Problem. Namely, 75% of providers are waiting for their patients to bring up additional products and services but 75% of patients are waiting for their providers to bring up additional products and services.
To bring it all together, let’s say a patient made an appointment for Botox. They got Botox, they left with Botox. Nothing else was brought up, mentioned, said, suggested, or asked. If I’m obsessed with patient empowerment, you come in for your Botox appointment, and I’m going to tell you upfront that one of the things that’s important to me as your provider is to make sure that I’m taking the absolute best, quality care of you as possible. And part of that looks like an integrated, comprehensive approach to aesthetics and wellness. So naturally we’re going to discuss other areas; additional products, services, modalities; and long-term treatment planning and maintenance.
How Aesthetic Sales Hero Bridges the Gap
How does Aesthetic Sales Hero address the need for a mindset shift and scalable sales enablement?
Marco: There are many benefits that Aesthetic Sales Hero brings to the practice. The primary one is that, for the first time, aesthetic practices will finally have a truly turn-key aesthetic sales training platform. Inexplicably, that has never existed until now.
Aesthetic Sales Hero offers scalability, consistency, and affordability that has never been achieved before. Anyone who’s ever been to a gym will be familiar with our pricing structure: you pay a low one-time-only enrollment per location and a low monthly membership for each user login.
There are tons of benefits to integrating Aesthetic Sales Hero into the practice, including:
- Everyone speaks the same language and has been trained on sales essentials specific to our industry. Everyone is going to get value no matter their role in the practice – whether a front desk, esthetician, injector, practice manager, or even an enterprise-level executive.
- You can access role-specific content created by our faculty members, all of whom are true subject matter experts. For example, if you are an owner/executive, you can access articles written by The Practice Companies about how to maximize your valuation.
- Access from anywhere. Aesthetic Sales Hero can be accessed through phone, desktop, or iPad. We’re even launching a dedicated app that will soon be available in the Apple App and Google Play stores.
A core objective for us, when we designed Aesthetic Sales Hero, was that it had to make practice managers’ and/or owners’ lives easier. After that, everything else flows for the injectors and providers.
Now for the first time, we can look harried practice managers and owners in the eyes and tell them
- You don’t have to take your injectors out of revenue-producing hours to get their skills refreshed.
- Now you have exercises, activities, scripts, flashcards, and role-play scenarios to ensure the training you provide is retained.
- You now have a one-stop shop for sales training onboarding, which includes animated videos and comprehensive guidebooks.
- You now have 12-month coaching calendars to guide your bimonthly check-ins.
- If you’re curious about real estate, acquisitions, partnerships, leadership, or any other topic, we’ve got articles and videos written by industry experts just for you.
Thank you, Marco! We are thrilled about our partnership with Aesthetic Sales Hero, as we believe it has the potential to drive positive change across the aesthetic industry. As part of this collaboration, Marco has generously extended a discount code exclusively for our clients. For more information, send us a message.
