About a decade ago, I worked for a national magazine which loved to talk about its “core values”.
As you walked through the door, there was an immense ‘tablet’ listing these guiding principles – worthy ideas like respecting all people, inclusion, encouraging excellence and so on.
You couldn’t miss it.
The company instinctively and correctly understood that people want to work somewhere which gave them meaning and purpose.
But I’m sure you can see the punchline coming a million miles off…
It was the most awful place I ever worked. I hated every moment.
There was a horrible atmosphere in the office. Staff worked in silence – they didn’t even wish each other good morning. Managers didn’t stand by their teams.
I’d come into the office in the morning to discover that overnight, my boss – who had held my position before me – had “helpfully” commissioned some pieces on my behalf. I couldn’t do my job!
So the company’s ‘core values’ quite literally stopped at the door…
They sounded impressive but were meaningless in practice.
Aesthetic clinics and medspas are often equally open about declaring their values.
Almost every clinic’s website proudly proclaims its ultimate mission – whether that’s giving patients confidence, helping patients feel their best, creating “the best version of you”, friendly or superior service and so on.
Now, for the record, I’m not implying that most clinics are horrible places to work or don’t implement these values in practice – quite the opposite!
But you still face the challenge of taking these stated values and turning them from marketing slogans… or grand ambitions… into something which really infuses every part of your business.
There’s a lot at stake.
When people feel that they share your values, they’ll feel a deeper sense of affinity with your business and a much deeper loyalty long-term.
As Carrie Brinton, owner of the Elase chain of clinics in Utah, told me on our recent podcast, you’re not really selling physical beauty.
You’re selling people an experience… A relationship… A vision of who they really want to be.
Or as Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, once put it: “Perfume is made in the factory, hope is sold in the store.”
When people feel that they share your values, they’ll feel a deeper sense of affinity with your business and a much deeper loyalty long-term.
And even if you manage to embody these values in-clinic, do you convey them in your marketing?
There are very few clinics which can honestly say “yes”.
The majority of clinics focus their marketing on “pictures of pretty people with smooth skin” (as Carrie put it). And their marketing often relies heavily on discounts.
That does nothing to help patients relate to you and feel that deeper connection to you.
In fact, if that’s all you’re doing, it sends the wrong message.
Carrie Brinton’s clinics – the largest providers in Utah – have “empowering women” as their core value.
And she’s done a brilliant job embedding that everywhere in her business, from the way she trains staff right through to the way she markets to patients.
Miriam Shaviv is creator of Inbox Express, the library of marketing emails for aesthetic clinics and med spas, designed to make your marketing effective and easy – and send the right messages to your patients as you re-open after Coronavirus! Find out more here.
She is Director of Content at Brainstorm Digital, which helps aesthetic clinics and med spas get patients through their doors again and again – without the headache of costly online advertising.
