Alan S Adams's three core strategies to building & maintaining trust for your clinic's growth and success
Alan S Adams explains his three core strategies to building (and maintaining) trust and why connection is the foundational cornerstone to continued and sustainable growth.
If the last couple of years is anything to go by, connection is everything, especially in business. We’ve witnessed the importance of connecting with people even when we haven’t been physically able to, and we’ve seen the impact when businesses have failed to keep trust with those that matter most to them.
Nobody willingly buys from someone they don’t trust, and even if they have in the past, it probably wasn’t a comfortable experience or one that would be repeated. In the aesthetics sector, connection is even more important, especially when we consider how many factors influence the industry –whether it be our own personal desires on how we want to look and feel or how we want to appear to others.
Building trust is one of the most effective and proven ways you can grow your aesthetics business, not only by converting leads into patients but ensuring they become loyal to you, your clinic, and your brand long into the future - even if a more appealing offer comes along.
1. BE PERSONAL
When building trust, it starts with you. Prospective customers want to know exactly who they’re dealing with, what you’re all about, and who they would be seeing if they came to you for treatment. According to a study by Ipsos, doctors and nurses are the second most trustworthy professionals in the world, second only to scientists who scored just 4% higher on the trust index (1).
Due to our brains being evolutionarily hardwired to recognise and respond emotionally to faces, we must show more of who we are to really start connecting with potential patients on a deeper level.
Websites are one of the first things we check out when deciding what to buy and who to buy from, so it’s vital they show the real you. All too often, I see websites proudly promoting how a clinic offers a very personable and personal approach for patients but, in fact, include very little (if not zero) information about themselves.
For people who want to buy into who you are, using stock images of perfectly polished people in a generic clinical setting is definitely not going to help build that connection - they offer viewers no genuine insight into your personality or your clinic. To build trust effectively, use real images and videos of you to connect with people on an emotional and subconscious level, of you wearing your uniform (again, tying into the trust index), with a biography explaining who you are and what you do.
Familiarity is also said to be an important precondition for trust (2), which is another key opportunity to motivate potential patients towards (and not away from) your clinic. Show them around your equipment, your team, the reception area, and the treatment room they’d visit if they were to come.
2.BE AUTHORITATIVE
While it’s all well and good promoting who you are and what you’re all about, it’s equally as important to display your credentials and help patients understand your reputation. In the digital age, the first impressions people get of your clinic are most likely to be made online rather than in person, which means that everything that could positively influence a patient’s buying behaviour, such as your accreditations and qualifications, testimonials, and insurance, also needs to be included there.
We make around 35,000 decisions a day, and around 90% of these are fast and emotional, while only 10% are slow and logical. Understand the decision triggers for your patients and work towards helping their decision-making process easier by providing them with all the information they might need to start trusting you.
For example, your client might be driven to buy based heavily on the experiences of others, so you will need to include a testimonial on every page of your website to help them make their decision (you never know which web page they might land on).
Other third-party credibility boosters can come in the form of client case studies and reviews, award wins and shortlists, PR and magazine articles, qualifications, accreditations, and even star ratings such as Google Reviews and Facebook.
All of this works to strengthen your authority, credibility, and, importantly, your right’ to be recognised as an expert in your field.
Top Tip: To build trust even more effectively, ask your testimonials and case study subjects if you can include their full name and a photo.
3. BE HELPFUL
Being helpful and offering genuine support can go a long way in building trust. I’ve talked a lot in the past about the importance of reciprocity and gift-giving, both of which can play a significant role in building trust. Reciprocity is when a person responds to a positive action with another positive action.
Offering your patients a gift as a way of thanking them for being loyal to your clinic can go a long way - you’re effectively building a level of understanding and respect that will make them feel more inclined in the future to do something for you in return. It’s a gift without any ties, of course, but it’s a gesture that can be followed up with a request.
An example of them responding with a positive action may include repeat business, eagerness to try alternative (or higher level) services you offer, referrals to your clinic, or sharing positive feedback through a testimonial or star rating.
Once you’ve built trust, you must keep earning it - and communication is a very powerful thing. Nobody likes to be sold to, but most appreciate no-strings-attached support. You should be communicating with your clients on a regular basis - even those who don’t have the need to visit you often.
This type of educational support might include aftercare advice to help them get the most from their treatment, or they could be more general in the form of how-to guides, did you knows, and video tutorials.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Speaker, author and research professor at the University of Houston, Brené Brown said, “Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”
Building trust is crucial to your clinic’s growth and success, with each one of these playing an important role in connecting with people. But it’s not just about winning new patients; it’s about helping those that are already on board with you to continue feeling valued and appreciated.
REFERENCES
1. Ipsos Trust, https://www.ipsos.com/
2. Luhmann [28: Luhmann N. Trust and power. Chichester UK: Wiley, 1979. (translation from German)
Alan S. Adams is an award-winning business coach, professional speaker, and bestselling author. His third book, The Beautiful Business: Secrets to Sculpting Your Ultimate Clinic, focuses on the medical, cosmetic, and aesthetic clinic sector. He was a finalist in The Association of Professional Coaches, Trainers and Consultants’ Coach of the Year Awards and has been recognised by Enterprise Nation in 2020 and 2021 as a Top 50 Advisor in the UK (Sales Category).
