5 Things All First-Time Medical Aesthetics Managers Need to Know

With the rapid growth of the medical aesthetics industry comes a unique challenge: a shortage of experienced managers. More medical aesthetics clinics are opening than there are experienced managers to lead them. The health of the industry is thus largely in the hands of first-time managers who need to find their footing quickly. 

Let’s examine five things all first-time medical aesthetics spa managers should know before they start—but often don’t. 

SOFT SKILLS VS HARD SKILLS

The biggest mistake first-time managers make is overlooking the importance of soft skills when building out their staff. Yes, you need experienced aestheticians and practitioners with the hard skills necessary to provide high-quality treatments to your clients. But what will ultimately make or break your business isn’t the treatments you offer but the experience you create for your clients (more on this come), and soft skills are far more critical to delivering memorable client experiences than hard skills.

They’re also far harder—if not impossible—to teach. If you’re willing to invest the time, you can teach someone how to properly give an injection or operate a laser. But good luck getting someone who isn’t friendly, curious, compassionate, and empathetic to suddenly develop those attributes. When in doubt, hire for soft skills. 

CLARITY OR FLEXIBILITY?

Yes, employees want flexibility in the workplace. But there’s a significant difference between flexibility within structure and flexibility without boundaries. But employees don’t just want flexibility–they also want clear direction. 

This is especially true in the medspa industry where there aren’t historical norms to fall back on. Most of your employees are like you: this is their first time working in a medical aesthetics clinic. They’re looking to you to provide some structure and direction. That doesn’t mean you have to be overbearing, but even basic policies such as a dress code and vacation planning can go a long way toward creating happy team members. 

YOU NEED HELP WITH HR 

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can tack HR onto your to-do list as managing HR takes more time and mental energy than you initially think it will. Lots more.

Simply put, you cannot manage HR on your own. (And no, you’re not the exception to this rule.) Whether it’s through a full-time employee, part-time contractor, or an outside party, you should budget for and hire HR support. Doing so will allow you to spend more of your time and energy on creating great client experiences, which is important because…

CLIENT EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING

You cannot run a successful medspa if you fail to create a great client experience. Just as with the treatments you provide, an equal amount of time and energy should go into thinking about the client experience you want to create. 

If “client experience” sounds like a broad and encompassing concept, that’s because it is. From the moment a client decides to book an appointment at your facility to the moment they walk out the door after treatment, everything you do matters. Certainly, providing treatments that deliver the desired outcome is critical, but so too is ensuring that it’s easy to book an appointment online, that check-in and check-out are seamless (and ideally touch-free) processes, and that every time a client walks in the door they feel seen, heard, valued, and understood. 

DON'T DISRUPT THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE

You might provide the best Botox injections in the city, but it won’t matter if your clients find it difficult to book appointments online. You might have the best laser technicians there are, but it won’t matter if you make it difficult for clients to check in or keep them waiting after they do. You might offer an unmatched menu of treatments, but it won’t matter if you inconvenience clients by asking for the same information every time they come in. 

This is where technology can make a big difference: helping you automate and simplify the many aspects of the client experience with which you simply can’t afford to take chances. Remember, your client experience isn’t just incredibly important—it’s also incredibly fragile.  

AHEAD OF THE GAME

Being a first-time manager of any business is challenging. While medspas are no exception, by avoiding the mistakes others have already made, first-time managers can hit the ground running and set their businesses up for success.