Turning Summer Slowdown into Strategic Growth
Every aesthetic business experiences seasonal fluctuations, and summer often brings a predictable lull for many med spas. Rather than simply accepting this slowdown, savvy practice owners and managers can leverage this valuable time to strengthen their business foundation and prepare for busier seasons ahead.
As industry expert Katlin Cauffman explains,
"We've all experienced slow periods in our business. Slumps happen, and there's seasonality to our business as well. It's just part of business and part of life. We can't fret about it, but I do want you to focus on what you can control—which is your activity level."
Instead of viewing summer solely as vacation time, consider it an opportunity to improve various aspects of your aesthetic business. When appointments start rolling in again, you’ll be perfectly positioned to maximize every opportunity that comes your way.
Here’s your comprehensive summer to-do list that will help drive revenue to your med spa practice:
1. Focus on Upselling and Cross-selling Strategies
Small improvements in your upselling and cross-selling approaches can significantly impact your revenue per hour. Don’t just tell your team to “try to upsell”—give them specific tools and strategies:
- Prepare for promotions: When offering summer med spa specials, thoroughly train your team on handling common questions and objections.
- Create comprehensive packages: Don’t sell standalone treatments—package them with pre/post-treatment skincare or complementary services.
- Practice value ladder navigation: Role-play how providers can guide patients up or down the value ladder based on their needs, budget, and timeline.
Katlin emphasizes the importance of patient financing:
"When it's broken down into smaller payments, patients don't even think twice about investing a couple thousand dollars."
This approach can significantly help your team close more high-ticket packages.
Want to improve your providers’ performance? Learn proven strategies to boost your injectors’ revenue per hour through effective upselling techniques.
Remember, even a small increase in average revenue per hour can translate to thousands of dollars monthly for your med spa and substantial income for your providers.
2. Utilize Reporting Tools Strategically
Summer is the perfect time to dive into your data and identify untapped revenue opportunities:
- Pull cardholder available reports from financing partners like Care Credit to identify patients with unused funds
- Contact clients with expiring rewards points before they lose them
- Create special summer med spa packages around inventory that will expire soon
Setting clear benchmarks and creating incentives for your team can dramatically improve performance. For a comprehensive approach to financial management, check out our guide on taking control of your med spa finances.
3. Conduct a Comprehensive Med Spa Audit
Use this slower period to thoroughly evaluate your business operations:
- Review all systems and processes for efficiency
- Analyze your EMR and CRM effectiveness—are they providing valuable insights?
- Evaluate reporting capabilities and follow-up procedures
As Cauffman advises,
"Now is the time to do it. You should be doing this quarterly, but really you should be doing it because we're mid-year. We have the time."
4. Develop Your Annual Marketing Calendar
Planning ahead is crucial for capturing business during busier seasons. A well-structured marketing calendar ensures you’re prepared for the busier fall and winter months.
Understanding the fundamental components of a med spa marketing plan will help you create an effective strategy that drives consistent growth throughout the year. Work with vendors to create content, schedule events, and coordinate marketing efforts with your business goals while you have the breathing room summer provides.
5. Plan a Strategic Summer Event
Don’t assume clients aren’t interested in summer events. Instead, focus on your most loyal customers:
- Host VIP or member-only events featuring summer med spa specials
- Target the top 20% of your clientele who spend the most
- Encourage guests to bring a plus-one with special incentives
"Those are your raving fans and are most likely to show up and engage in anything and everything that you do," notes Cauffman. "Most people hang with like-minded people or people with similar buying habits or income brackets, so that plus-one is a powerful thing."
Looking for creative ways to engage clients through social media? Learn how to implement an effective social media giveaway to complement your summer events.
6. Create Content in Bulk
Summer provides the perfect opportunity to build your content library. With fewer appointments filling your schedule, you can focus on developing high-quality content that will serve your practice year-round.
Creating an organic social media strategy for your med spa should be a priority. Plan blog posts about summer skincare treatments, prepare email campaigns, and record videos while you have available time.
If you’re looking to improve your email marketing efforts, our guide on creating a winning email marketing strategy provides actionable tips specific to med spas.
7. Schedule a Secret Shopper
Evaluate your patient experience through fresh eyes:
- Identify strengths and weaknesses in your client journey
- Ensure your team maximizes every opportunity
- Confirm that new patients receive exceptional care
Secret shoppers can reveal valuable insights about how effectively your team handles price objections and whether they’re implementing proper med spa lead generation and scheduling techniques.
8. Conduct a Competitive Analysis
While focusing primarily on your own business goals is important, an occasional market review provides valuable insights:
- Research what services competitors are offering
- Identify gaps in the local market you could fill
- Evaluate potential new treatments or devices
Cauffman cautions,
"For the most part, focus on you and what you're trying to achieve. The more we worry about our competition, the more we become like them. When we become like our competition, we're just basing things on price, and that's not the game we want to play."
Understanding medical spa pricing strategies can help you position your services effectively without falling into price wars with competitors.
9. Conduct Patient Interviews
Direct feedback from clients can reveal blind spots and opportunities:
- Talk to clients from various demographics
- Interview customers who use different service departments
- Ask about their overall experience and satisfaction
"Sometimes we are so in the day-to-day or so close to our businesses that we lose touch with some of the important details of what's happening," explains Cauffman. "When you become someone that loves feedback and loves the opportunity to fine-tune your processes, you are going to continue to grow and evolve as a business."
For comprehensive growth, explore our aesthetic business success strategies that incorporate client feedback into your business development.
10. Implement Changes Gradually
Don’t feel overwhelmed by trying to implement everything at once. As Cauffman encourages:
"I don't want you to think that you have to implement every single one of these things. My philosophy is always: how can we get a little bit better every single month? People highly overestimate what can get done in a month, and they underestimate what can get done in a quarter, in six months, in a year."
Setting realistic goals is crucial for sustained growth. Our guide on med spa goal setting strategy can help you create an achievable implementation plan.
Ready to Accelerate Your Med Spa’s Growth?
Implementing effective SEO strategies for med spas alongside these summer initiatives will ensure your practice remains visible to potential clients year-round. Combined with proven in-office marketing tactics, your med spa can thrive even during traditionally slower periods.
If you’re looking to implement these strategies but aren’t sure where to start, Diamond Accelerator can help. Our team of med spa growth experts specializes in helping aesthetic businesses maximize revenue during every season.
Schedule your complimentary strategy session today and discover how we can help you transform your summer slowdown into your biggest growth opportunity yet.
