Zerona vs Zeltiq: Melt or Freeze Your Fat!

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


I read an interesting article in the New York Times a few days ago.  It was discussing Zerona and Zeltiq.  Zerona is the low-level laser device that “melts” fat and the Zeltiq is the Cryo device that “freezes” fat.  The article was essentially a mixed review discussing how some people have achieved successes and others have not.

The one missing discussion in the article is that (this is specific to Zerona, since I have experience with Zerona in a few of Acara locations) there was no discussion around how these types of programs have to be lifestyle driven in order to achieve success.  As with Zereona, if you are willing to drink 2 liters of water, walk 40 minutes and take a Niacin supplement every day for 4 weeks in combination with your Zerona treatments, then you will see results.

Everyone asks the question: is it the lifestyle changes or the Zerona that “melts” the fat?  Well, does it really matter?  If by paying between $2,250 and $3,000 for 6 Zerona treatments you feel forced into changing your lifestyle thus losing 3 – 12 inches, then I’m not sure why anyone would care…Zerona or walking or water or Niacin: be happy with 3 – 12 inches.

The locations offering Zerona that are successful have someone on the team that is a great life coach.  When you have a team member that understands that this is not about performing a few procedures and the patient has less wrinkles or age spots its about coaching, coaxing, reprimanding, mentoring someone through a lifestyle process then it works.  Not all practices can accomplish this successfully.

Another approach to Zerona (or possibly Zeltiq) is to do it in combination with a Medically Supervised Weight Loss program.  We have one location that doesn’t charge for the MSWL program if you sign up for Zerona (they do charge for the food supplments).

Just a few thoughts on melting and freezing fat…for you to chew on over the weekend.

FXA

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Selling, the Highest Form of Customer Service

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


I looked online for a definition of “selling” and here is what I found.  Selling: to persuade or induce others to buy.

This definition is simple and understandable but it does not reflect what truly occurs within the best medical spas and aesthetic practices throughout the world.  I believe the Acara definition does…

Selling: the act of discovering client needs and identifying the most appropriate solutions.

It is based upon this definition that I always say “selling is the highest form of customer service”.

If you are not working diligently through a consultation and diagnostic process to discover what your client needs then you are doing a “dis-service” to your clients.  Selling, as in accordance with my definition, is truly the highest form of customer service.

To learn in detail about Acara’s Sales System, join our Sales Guru, Sandi Unkur starting next Tuesday February 9th for three consecutive weeks as she conducts a 3 session training:

Sales & Consultation Secrets: Training for the Aesthetic Medical Professional

FXA

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Listen to this Complimentary Webinar: How Acara Boosts Businesses to the Next Level

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


On Thursday, I presented a live webinar on Business Boosting Strategies for Your Aesthetic Medical Practice or MedSpa. I discussed the successes Acara has had over the past year and the Business Boosting Strategies and Tactics that we implemented to achieve the success.

I decided to post a recording of this webinar, for a limited time, for everyone that visits this Blog to enjoy and learn about Acara’s secret sauce.  The content provides you a step-by-step approach to building your business stronger and at the same time describes how Acara accomplishes this for our Medical Spa/Aesthetic Practice Clients.

In addition, if you want to listen to other recorded webinars you may purchase them here.  What’s great about the recorded version versus the live complimentary Webinars is that they are available for 30 days from date of purchase for multiple plays and many of your team members can listen too.

To listen to this Webinar go here.

FXA

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Why Medical Spas & Aesthetic Practices should be involved in Social Media

Posted on January 29, 2010 by debraroberts


Still think social media is just for teenagers. Not convinced social networking is in your business’ future. Perhaps you should think again – here are some recent stats from Facebook.

  • More than 350 million active users
  • 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given
  • More than 1.6 million active Pages on Facebook
  • More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
  • Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

Hey – it’s free! Social networks such as Facebook provide a venue or marketing vehicle that can take the place of or enhance more traditional methods of marketing.

Social Interaction with Clients / Potential Clients – this is one of the primary goals. Reach your target audience. You don’t want to be out of sight, out of mind.

Branding – enhance your brand image. Show the world or atleast your clients/potential clients who you really are. Cutting edge, super knowledgeable, a leader… and you care about your clients and what they think. You are in sync with them.

A hub feeder – if you website is the hub, then FB, Twitter, Myspace, Your Blog, etc… are links into the hub

Exclusivity – generate exclusive promos for your medical spa and cosmetic practice Fans

Events – promote educational seminars and special events to your fan base

Creating a page is easy, promoting it well is work. Do you have a successful fan page? What did you do to get the word out? How do you engage your clients?

Let me know -

– Deb Roberts

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Acara’s Top 7 Rules for Selling Gift Cards at Medical Spas

Posted on January 26, 2010 by debraroberts


I borrowed much of this information from Fran and added some marketing tips. He blogged on selling gift cards a couple of years back; not surprising it’s all still relevant.

1. Always sell services, series of services or packages not dollar amounts. This provides much greater up-selling opportunities.

2. If your location accepts gratuity then always recommend that a 15% gratuity be included. Acara’s standard script, “For the convenience of the recipient would you care to include the gratuity?”

3. Sell virtually. Boost your sales by making gift cards instantly available on your website. I like SpaBoom for instant gift card sales.

4. Have a gift guide setup in dollar ranges that lists services, series and packages available for the clients to peruse at point of sale.

5. Provide your team a gift card sales goal with incentive. Typically the incentive could be anywhere from 1 – 5% of the gift cards sales split pro-rata amongst the front desk team. Keep it fun and track the goal daily.

6. Don’t be too aggressive on your promotion. People buy gift cards for convenience, reputation, and credibility; not because it’s cheap. I like the give and you shall receive approach. For every $100 in gift cards purchased the client receives $20 of gift cards for themselves.

7. Promote online + offline. Go low cost by leveraging your Website, Facebook, Blog, Twitter, Email Broadcasts and of course don’t forget an in-house display.

Even though medical spas gift cards sales will not match those of a day spa or resort spa – gift cards should still be part of your offerings.

Good luck with your gift card season. Do you have and secrets or tips for improving gift card sales? Share with us!

– Deb Roberts

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Featured Online Training:Sales & Consultation Secrets: Training for the Aesthetic Medical Professional – 3 Part Series

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo

Join Sandi Unkrur, Acara Sales Guru as she shares her secrets of sales and consultation success

Session dates:
Session 1: Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Session 2: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Session 3: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Starting time: 2:00 pm, ET / 11:00 am, PT

Duration: 1 hour

This three session course is being presented by Acara’s Sales & Consultation Guru, Sandra Unkrur. Sandi, has over 7 years of experience selling procedures in medical spas and cosmetic practices. She was the Director of Operations for 37 Medical Spas where she oversaw the sales and consultation functions companywide. In addition, she has conducted numerous Educational Events with a high of over $75,000 in seminar sales for a single event. Sandi has personally trained over 100 Sales Consultants in the Aesthetics Industry in over 75 different practices.

Join Sandi for these three 1 hour information packed webinars to learn her secrets to Aesthetic Medical Sales Success. She will share how to become a great communicator, verbal & non-verbal communication, listening tips, the Acara 5 step sales process, understanding the consultation, overcoming objections, mock consultations, managing the sales pipeline, and proper sales follow-up. The course includes a series of worksheets to help you become a better salesperson.

Registration is limited to 25 so reserve early.  To save your company money, register once and have multiple team members gather around the computer to view and participate in the Webinar.

Each session will be recorded and available to anyone that registered for the live Webinar for 30 days in case you cannot attend one of the live sessions.

Session fee (USD$): $149.00

Register Here – space limited to 25

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Acara Expands its Online Training Program to Include Recorded Webinars

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


We now have available on our website many of our webinars recorded so that you may listen to them at your leisure.  The fee per webinar is $49.95 and you have up to 30 days to view the session.  To view the complete list go to Recorded Webinars.

The live Webinars are still complimentary.

FXA

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Business Leader Attributes for Success in 2010

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


I asked the Acara team “what business leader attributes (qualities, skills or characteristics) do the top Medical Spa Owners or Aesthetic Medical Physician Owners have that helped them to generate success for their business?”  They came back with the following list of 10 Business Leader Attributes:

  1. Listen and Communicate: with the experts you hire, your team and your customers.
  2. Motivate Your Team: Set goals and provide incentive when the team achieves the goals.
  3. Be Passionate, Driven & Committed: its hard work and it takes dedication to make a business successful.
  4. Insist on Quality: always raise the bar.
  5. Stay on Trend: be the market leader with new procedures and treatments.
  6. Invest in Your Business: marketing, facility, team; all necessary investments to grow a business.
  7. Lead by Example: your team will mirror your behavior to each other and your clients.
  8. Be Customer Centric: this should be an obsession; every decision needs to be customer focused.
  9. Be Consistent in day-to-day operations, sales & marketing of your business
  10. Focus on Training & Education: a highly skilled team is invaluable in building your business stronger.

Acara succeeds when our Medical Spa/Aesthetic Practice clients succeed.  This success is always a combination of Acara’s proven team and tools in the areas of operations, sales and marketing with many of the above attributes.

All of our successful clients have many traits from the above list.  They are leaders in the industry.  We just posted a few new testimonials…

Client Testimonials

“Acara does outstanding work in all areas of their field. They are true professionals, very creative and deliver top quality results. We have worked with them for over 10 years and will continue to do so in the future. I recommend them very highly.
–Bruce E.Katz, M.D., Medical Director Juva Skin & Laser Center, New York, NY

“In just 8 month Enhanced Images sales have doubled working with Acara.”
– Bruce Marko, M.D., Medical Director Enhanced Images, Charlotte, NC


“Because we built a solid relationship with an industry mentor like Acara, and a workable business and marketing platform to begin with, it has allowed us to survive and flourish when others in our area have not.“
— Paula Young RN, co-owner, Young Medical Spa, Center Valley, PA

Read More Here

FXA

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Acara Announces its Q1 2010 Complimentary Webinars for Cosmetic Physicians, Aesthetic Medical & MedSpa Industry Professionals

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


Acara, a leader in business education for Aesthetic Practices & Medspas, announced today its Q1 2010 weekly complimentary educational Webinars for industry professionals.  These Webinars offer insight into how Acara’s Team of Medspa business experts strategize and implement successful aesthetic medical business programs.

Our approach to the upcoming 2010 Q1 Webinars is to present education for Aesthetic Medical and Medspa industry professionals worldwide based upon our benchmarking 2009 best practices.  Acara’s clients experienced so many great successes in the past 12 months through the implementation of Acara’s Business Boosting Programs that we decided to tap that experience and share the knowledge. Education is critical during tough economic times when it is essential to act swiftly and accurately with your business decisions.  I so often hear that our online training provides the insight needed to help aesthetic medical leaders make better decisions.

Acara Webinars are typically attended by cosmetic physicians, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, medical directors, practice managers, entrepreneurs, and investors in the world of aesthetic medicine and medical spas.

There are five new Webinars in the series and some are back by popular demand and include topics on development, management, marketing and sales.

Here are the new Q1 2010 Webinars:

2010 Top Aesthetic Medical Trends

Thursday, January 21, 2010 — 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

Join Francis Acunzo, cosmetic medical business visionary as he discusses his top 2010 Aesthetic Medical trends and how you can stay on trend to build your business stronger in 2010.

Top Ten Medical spa business tips for 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 — 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

At the start of 2010, the Acara Team identified the top 10 most successful business tactics they implemented in 2009 that had the most impact on their client’s sales & profits.  Francis Acunzo, Acara CEO & Founder will share with you his insight into the success of these business tips in the areas of aesthetic medical marketing, sales and operations.

Building a Customer Centric Cosmetic Medical Practice

Thursday, February 11, 2010 — 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

The Acara team visits Aesthetic Medical Practices and Medical Spas nationwide on a very regular basis; most of the time we find great clinical services but mediocre customer service. This is a difficult problem to fix because most of the time it is cultural; deep rooted customs or practices in which business is being conducted day to day.  This is not a situation where a set of protocols will solve the problem.  So how do you implement this change?  What is the solution? How do you create a Customer Centric Medical Practice?  Join Francis X. Acunzo, Acara CEO as he discusses how to convert your Practice into a Customer Centric Organization.

Build Your Business Stronger, Benchmark Acara’s Client Successes

Thursday, February 18, 2010 — 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

In 2009 many of Acara’s clients achieved great success.  Join Francis X. Acunzo, Acara’s CEO and Aesthetic Medical Visionary as he discusses Acara client’s top success stories of 2009.  Build your business stronger by benchmarking your business against these successful Medical Spas and Cosmetic Medical Practices.  Learn how to mirror their strategies and tactics that lead to increased sales and profit growth.

New Cosmetic Medical Technology: Don’t Make it a Field of Dreams

Thursday, April 1, 2010 — 1:00 pm, ET / 10:00 am, PT

Most of the time when a new medical device is being added to a Practice, the physician and team do a tremendous amount of research on the technology, the efficacy and the outcomes for the procedures.  But what doesn’t happen is the research to determine if they will be successful implementing and launching the new services into their market.  An expensive piece of equipment is not a “field of dreams”, an “if you add it they will come” approach will only produce minimal sales results.  Join Aesthetics Industry Business Expert, Francis X. Acunzo, Acara’s CEO and Founder as he discusses the analysis necessary to insure a proper technology decision and the steps to a successful launch of new technology within your Medical Practice or Medical Spa.

Review all 14 Webinars being presented in Q1 2010.

FXA

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Bruce Katz, M.D. Smartlipo Pioneer Launches New Book

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Francis X Acunzo


I’m happy to announce that my first and longest standing Medical Spa client, Bruce Katz, M.D. board certified dermatologist and founder of the Juva Laser and Skin Center has coauthored a new book titled “Body Contouring” part of the Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology Series edited by Jeffery S. Dover.

The Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology series provides high quality, up-to-date and illustrated manuals on cosmetic procedures for dermatologist and cosmetic dermatologists.

In this new Body Contouring book, numerous studies in medical literature are discussed along with breaking new technologies.  A look back at where body contouring has developed from i.e., cellulite treatments to today’s ultrasonic liposuction.

Go here if you are interested in purchasing a copy.

FXA

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