Allergan: consumer demand for injectables

I recently spoke at the AACS Virtual Annual Meeting and attended a presentation by Jason Gilmore, Senior Vice President of Allergan.

His excellent talk was titled: “A Year of Struggle: What 2020 Taught Me About Aesthetics and What to Do About It.”

These are the highlights to consider:

It started with these interesting statistics collected in 2018:

While 65 million people in the US would consider facial injectables, only 4 million have been treated.

That’s only 6% of the market, so the margin for growth is huge. And the international market is even bigger.

Demand for BOTOX has recovered and increased a LOT since COVID; However, Allergan spent a ton on marketing and upselling:

But Allergan wasn’t sure if this increase was due to the returning regular patient base or to new patients who now wanted injectables. So they were happy to hear these statistics on consumer demand for injectables:

22% of BOTOX in Q3 2020 were NEW patients to the brand

37% of JUVEDERM in the third quarter of 2020 were NEW patients to the brand

Consumer demand for injectables is likely due to the fact that patients are unable to spend on travel and restaurants, thus spending their disposable income on cosmetic rejuvenation instead.

WHY ISN’T ALLERGAN BIGGER?

Jason from Allergan wondered why if 65 million consumers are interested and searching like crazy for Botox and fillers, but not receiving treatment, there is a fundamental problem.

Actually, there are 2 fundamental problems …

PROBLEM # 1: LEADERSHIP CONVERSION

His statistics show:

Only 6 out of 100 phone contacts are converted! Best practices in the country only convert 18 out of 100!

Response time is crucial, as well as trained staff who know how to convert callers.

PROBLEM # 2: PATIENT RETENTION

Jason’s team reported:

50% of injectable patients never return and that continues to decline.

So why don’t they come back?

He said (and it’s so true) … In his mind, all his patients come back because those are the patients he remembers.

Those who do not return, you do not know and do not remember. That skews his perception, so he does not focus on this part of his practice as a topic to address.

The driver is the practical experience.

Not the function or the result because they assume that. It is emotional work that is not handled properly, which is why patients continue to go out to find another practice that they feel good about.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Jason concluded his talk with these action items:

Arrange your reception

Before spending $ 1, understand that your most valuable marketing channel is YOUR FRONT!

It is the most valuable ROI channel you have. Interaction with potential new patients on that first phone call has a lot to do with whether that patient chooses you … or not.

It’s your first exposure to your practice, so make sure it’s up to the task.

Patients don’t answer that phone lightly. That’s a big step, so your reception needs empathy and emotional elements are necessary.

For example, they can tell the caller, “I’ve had Botox” to make the caller feel more comfortable coming in and learning more.

Announce

Jason recommended paid ads on Google, Instagram, and Facebook. Suggest paying for clicks or impressions and test first.

Also, be authentic in your advertising so patients feel a connection to you.

HERE ARE MY COMMENTS ON JASON ALLERGAN’S PRESENTATION

Repair your phones – ACCEPT

I agree, and have been promoting it for years, to get their phones correct as too much money is lost at this stage.

Your front desk must be professionally trained to:

Link with the caller

Accredit yourself as the BEST OPTION

Make an appointment

If they need help, ask them to join The Converting Club for Receptionists. It’s quite common for phone conversions to increase by 30% in 48 hours when they have the correct structure and scripts:

Paid advertising – DISAGREE

Non-surgical injectables have been commercialized. It is too competitive and too expensive to advertise services that many others can and will do for a lower price.

Not only will you spend (waste) a fortune on injectables advertising, but you’ll also be forced to lead with price specials to get the attention you want, so that’s a fake hit to your bottom line.

A much cheaper and more effective approach is thanking your patients for their loyalty, so that they come back, recommend it, review it and share it on social media without discounting your prices.