Announcer:
The Scalpel of Truth is presented for educational and entertainment purposes only. Leisa Krauss is a profit strategist and business consultant. She is not a licensed therapist, HR professional, attorney, or your mom. Strategies discussed are based on her extensive experience in the medical aesthetics industry and are not medical, legal, or financial advice. And with that, here’s your host, Lise, the Bitch’n’ Beautician and Profit Queen.

Leisa Krauss:
Welcome back to The Scalpel of Truth Podcast. I spend a lot of time talking about the business of medical aesthetics. I talk about practice management, branding, marketing, patient retention, memberships, profitability, some leadership, your systems. All the sexy little things that help you build a stronger and more profitable practice.

And I always come back to two things that I believe we need to do exceptionally well in this industry. We need to generate great results for our patients, and we need to generate revenue to stay afloat. So today I want to talk about the first one.

Because before branding, before that sleek marketing, the memberships for recurring revenue, before the beautiful Instagram feed, before you worry about somebody else walking through the door, there’s something incredibly important that I want to talk about. And today, we’re talking about skills.

Are your skills actually keeping up with this industry? Because medical aesthetics changes fast. Here’s the thing. Technology, techniques, products, protocols, patient expectations even. They change. What you learned three years ago may not be representative of what’s being taught today.

And yet sometimes we treat education like it has no expiry date. We take the certification, we attend the manufacturer’s training, we get the piece of paper, the certificate, we check the box, and then we go back to work. But when did learning something once become the equivalent of mastering it forever? It just doesn’t. And I think advanced education is becoming one of the biggest key differentiators in our industry. Because if you look at it, we’re all selling the same shit. You’ve got to have some key differentiators in there. Okay. So I want to talk to you about that today.

Your patients are becoming more educated than they ever have been in the history of this industry. They are researching, watching videos, they’re comparing technologies, they’re looking at before and after pictures. They’re asking some really good questions. And whether we like it or not, they have more choices than ever before, too. So that means good enough is getting very expensive. Because when everybody offers the same shit, Botox, fillers, laser, skin tightening, body contouring, GLP-1s, facials, skincare, simply having the treatment menu that you have is not enough. The expertise matters. You’ve got to crank out good results. The results you put out there matter. They matter big time. Okay? Your confidence in what you’re doing matters. The ability to educate your patient and stay current matters.

Y’all know I’ve been in this industry for more than 30 years, and I still invest in education. I still attend conferences. I speak at them, but I also attend them. I listen to other experts. I network with folks outside of our industry, in the business sectors. I still want to know what’s changing, what’s working, what isn’t working. What are some of the smartest people out there, in and out of our industry, seeing in the world today?

Some of my favorite conferences are the Vegas conferences. Vegas, you either love it or you don’t. But for me, they’ve perfected doing conferences. You can immerse yourself and hear people doing incredible things at these conferences. I’m a huge fan of the AmSpa conference, and I literally love everything that the folks over at AmSpa are doing. Literally love them, and the education and community that they’ve created around our industry.

I want to say in full transparency, I’ve traveled internationally for conferences. I’ve traveled internationally to speak. But I’ll tell you what, traveling internationally adds time away from my consulting practice, which means money out of my pocket, time away from my life and my family, to hear the same speakers deliver the same shit that I could have just gone to a Vegas conference for, or something a little bit closer. So that was just me. So was it a solid conference? Absolutely. Is it where everybody gathers and the place to be? Yes. Is it overcrowded? Yes. Overpriced? I believe it is. Now that’s just me. And I’m just saying, for people who love to travel, is it fun? Yes. I just don’t happen to love that, and others do. And I’m not saying those conferences aren’t amazing. Travel far and wide. What I’m saying is do what works for you.

And yes, conferences can certainly be expensive. You’re taking time out of your practice, you’re closing your practice, taking time away from it. That costs money. Flights are expensive, hotels, food, the tickets to attend are expensive. But there’s also a cost to not knowing what you don’t know.

Also, let’s look at virtual events and webinars. I know everybody was exhausted after COVID, where they’re like, “No more virtual shit. Let’s do in person.” Do I think in person is better? Yes, but all of this education counts. So do the masterclass, do the virtual webinar, do local dinners that vendors are putting on. All of it is good.

And the same applies to your clinical education. If you’re working with a laser technology, for example, the manufacturer might have included your initial training when you purchased the device, which is wonderful, but that doesn’t mean you should never train on that device ever again. If you’re injecting and you’ve taken your foundational injectable training, that doesn’t mean your education’s finished there either. Techniques evolve, product evolves, and anatomical understanding continues to evolve. And experience itself should make you want more education, not less.

One of the programs that I have had the opportunity to work alongside is the education developed by Dr. Andrew Dargie through the Botox Course. I love that he has built something that goes beyond education and simply teaching technique. There’s a community around continued development, practice direction, medical direction, building something that is stronger than just your foundation. It’s building stronger practices, stronger practitioners doing advanced trainings. I’ve also had the privilege of being a part of the faculty, sharing my own expertise in practice growth, in profitability, in scaling in that community.

I’m incredibly excited to be speaking at the Global Summit in Dallas, Texas. Because that is what I love about conferences. You get into a room where people are committed to doing better, you hear different perspectives, you challenge the way that you might be doing things. And sometimes one conversation, one presentation, one single idea can change the trajectory of your entire practice. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve also had people come up to me after a conference or a workshop that I’ve done saying, “Oh my gosh, I’ve learned something that’s going to completely change how I look at this.” That is why we keep learning. Because the minute you decide you already know enough is the moment someone else will surpass you.

Now, for my general listeners, I love you so much. I am going to wrap this bitch in a bow, though, and I’m going to stop sharing, because today, inside the Inner Circle, members only, we are going to get into the actual strategies. Okay.

My producer, Pete. I’ve got to give a shout-out. Guys, I know you want to hear from Pete. I refer to Pete. He’s the producer of the show. And I’ve got to tell you, Pete, you’ve got to come on and say a little hello. Tell the folks all about how you try and keep me in line, okay? I love this.

Pete produces the show. There’s a general listener portion, a bit of a teaser for what you’re going to see. What you’re going to see? Oh my word. What you’re going to hear behind the velvet rope. Where the sausage is made, if you will.

So today’s Inner Circle members-only episode is going to be talking about how I would structure advanced education inside a practice, how often I believe you should be refreshing certain skills, and what can be negotiated when purchasing technologies or bringing on product lines. Where I think owners waste education dollars. I’m going to cover how to choose conferences and courses strategically, how consulting can fit into your education funnel, and how you can actually turn all of that education into better results and more profitability for your practice.

Because education should not simply make you more educated. Done properly, it should make you better, and ultimately more valuable to the patient sitting right in front of you in your chair. If you already are a member of the Inner Circle, we’re going all in on this one. And if you have not yet joined the membership, these are exactly the conversations we’re going to be having back there. So join the membership. Let’s get into it. Because, babes, this industry is not slowing down anytime soon, and neither should your education. So Pete, producer Pete, whom I love, has put a link to join in the show notes. And for my VIPs, let’s go!