As the founder of a software that oversees thousands of different patient browsing data points and the varying levels of profitability across hundreds of aesthetic clinics, I've had a few observations overtime on the topic of what makes a successful rewards program.

As a new clinic trusting our technology to host your rewards program, the least I can do is share those observations with you. That way, you don't repeat the same mistakes as hundreds of other clinics before you.

Let me start by saying this; many clinics get their rewards program completely wrong. Who can blame them though? Even if they had the idea of a rewards program for their clinic in the past, they've never actually built one (let alone see its effectiveness play out in the real world).

In this article, my goal is to give you a clear and actionable plan to make your rewards program as successful as possible. My hope is that by re-structuring the way you think about rewards with my frameworks, you'll be better equipped to come up with a rewards program that fits your unique business and makes you good money.

But first, what is a successful rewards program? Well, here's how I define it:

I think this definition serves many clinics well, because it taps into the two most important outcomes for any aesthetic business; better patient results and healthier profits. With that out of the way, let's get into it.

Here are some quick links to each chapter:

The first mistake I see clinics making is thinking rewards are 'random discounts' towards their different treatments. But let me ask you this: besides making your patients happy from a decrease in prices, how is this rewards program beneficial to your profit margins?
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I like to think of rewards as a way to introduce your patients to your other treatments. In other words, a reward should't be a random discount. Instead, it should be a strategic tool used to cross-sell patients into your clinic's profit centers.

Consider the following example for the many cross-sell opportunities made possible using the following reward; a FREE Skin Analysis Session (30 mins).

Why something like a free skin scan works so well:

Consider the following that is happening with this reward:

Executed meticulously in tandem with Step 6 of the App Introduction SOP, this is how rewards as lead magnets can be a real money-maker (and even the backbone of your MRR growth engine).

One last note I'll leave you with is on the topic of specialisation. Your rewards (like your entire clinic) should be focussed on solving one clear problem for one clearly defined group of people. If you're a skin-focussed clinic, and your goal is to sell more skin memberships while accumulating better before and after patient results, so a Free Skin Scan is the perfect reward. However, if you're a weight-loss clinic and your goal is to sell more weight loss memberships while accumulating more dramatic before and after results, a 15 minute empscult neo trial session would make more sense. My point is this; you've got to get good at one thing, and your rewards should feed into the one thing you're trying to get good at or make more money from.

A lot of clinic owners over-complicate points. In simple terms, points are a function of how and when your patients unlock their rewards.

Reasoning backwards, your 'points-to-reward sensitivity' is therefore entirely dependant on your goals. Referring to the previous example, you might want your Free Skin Scan reward to be claimed and scheduled by everyone on the spot right after their account creation. So what you might do, is make the Free Skin Scan reward priced at 190 points, which would force the patient to need to have accumulated 50 (sign up points) + 60 (check-in points) + 80 (Google review points), so that it can be unlocked (50 + 60 + 80 = 190), redeemed and scheduled directly within the app.

Another consideration when asking yourself 'how many points should this be?' is using the points as ethical bribes to make it easier for your patients to do stuff you want them to.

For example, you might want patients to download your app, leave you a Google review, refer a friend and use their app to visit and purchase more often. For that, you might want a point configuration that looks like the following:

Whereby the 50 points at sign up unlocks the first reward "£25 towards any service", and either 1 referral or 1 Google review + 1 check-in will unlock the second 'lead magnet reward' at 190 points.
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By the way, having the points-to-rewards structure this way doubles as an in-person demonstration for less tech-savvy patients who might not know how your rewards program even works.

To avoid this scenario, for the love of god, follow the App Introduction SOP. It'll be the single best decision you'll make for your clinic. The reason I say this is because you can mess up a lot of things in your rewards program, but if you get the in-person introduction right (and your staff can communicate it as well as you) you can still end up with an above average app performance.

Did you know that a patient considers themselves a lifetime patient after their third visit? With this fact in mind, I like to remind clinics that your first 3 rewards need to be really exciting to their patients. Because the consequence of a patient claiming all 3 rewards practically guarantees that they'll become lifetime loyal to your clinic.

Why does this matter? Because of the ALTV (average lifetime value) of a patient. This represents the total amount an patient spends with your clinic over their lifetime. If you can increase this number (which you can with rewards), you can afford to acquire more clients, and grow your clinic dramatically.

Not Introducing Rewards using the App Introduction SOP ❌ → Patients don’t understand the rewards program + no google reviews → Rewards don’t get claimed → No patient retention → You complain that marketing “expensive” (you don’t follow a client retention framework) → You don’t like spending money on marketing → You don’t get any new patients → Your clinic stays stagnant or dies.

Introducing Rewards Using App Introduction SOP ✅ → Patients understand the rewards program → All patients leave Google reviews → All patients actively unlock & claim their rewards → You retain patients and increase LTV → You see good ROI from marketing efforts → You rank #1 on Google for most reviews → Clinic explodes in new clients → More Google reviews → More clients → Clients pay you more → You command higher prices → Clinic grows exponentially.

This diagram might seem a bit simplistic, but this is exactly what I see with clinics over the span of their journey with Dermis. And I hope it serves as a cautionary tale or a wake up call if you've discarded the importance of patient loyalty when it comes to rewards.

With that said, the following is a structure for your first 3 rewards that we recommend you don't deviate too much from. These are engineered to be executed meticulously in tandem with Step 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the App Introduction SOP so that they can be a real money-maker (and even the backbone of your MRR growth engine).