Greg: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest in Erchonia's series of educational webinars. As you all know, we really strive to help our customers be as successful as they can with Erchonia lasers. And we found that doing these regular webinars has been a great help. So today we're gonna talk about the post-COVID success with the Zerona Z6 laser. We know a lot of people have had some trying times around the country, and indeed North America. So we thought this would be a great opportunity to share some knowledge with everybody, either who owns a Zerona Z6 or who's contemplating adding it to their practice.
Now, today, you're gonna be hearing from some of the best people in their fields. You're gonna be hearing from the clinical education and development coordinators. That's Alyssa Vincent and myself, Greg Mermigas. And then a little later, you're gonna hear from our corporate marketing specialist, who is Sarah Bell. And then we have a special guest today, and Dr. Jennie Gettys, who is a chiropractor from Greenville, South Carolina, is going to also hear a lot of what she has done both during the pandemic and now as we emerge from it, she's gonna share what she has done to be successful, not only in her practice, in general, but as a Zerona Z6 provider.
So, on today's webinar, we're gonna cover the following topics. And first, I'm gonna go over how statistics on spending for aesthetic treatments in difficult and stressful times actually increases. You're gonna also hear about the advantages of using a touchless device such as the Zerona Z6. You're also gonna learn about the successful office setup, how to do consultations, and then, of course, those Zerona treatments. And then as I mentioned earlier, Dr. Gettys will be talking about some real-world solutions that she has found in these unique challenges today. And then we'll hear from Sarah, who will be talking about the new Zerona Z6 marketing guide and also some exciting new marketing materials that have been released. And then finally, Stephen Johnson from Varidi will be talking about third-party patient payment solutions for your cash procedures. And that's not just for Zerona, it could be for anything you do in your office. So Stephen will be sharing some of those ideas with you guys.
So, while we're going through this, I wanna make sure that you know you are free to ask questions. So you will see on your control panel, there is a chatbox. And by opening that, you can type in questions that we will then answer as time permits at the conclusion of the presentation. So without further ado, I wanna get started. And as I said earlier, I'm Greg Mermigas, and I'm the clinical education coordinator for the Eastern United States. And one question you might all be asking right now is, "Really, money, this time, people spending on aesthetics? Well, I found some interesting research. And why does spending actually increase in difficult or stressful times?
So I've looked at a number of different sources. And one that kept popping up was Professor Sander Gilman, who is a Ph.D. at Emory University. And what Professor Gilman said is, "As people's external lives become more questionable, they actually look inside themselves. And what they're asking is, 'How can I maximize my personal happiness?'" He said, "They're actually searching for the easiest and most immediate way to change themselves, something to make them feel good." And along the same lines, I looked at Wendy Lewis, who is actually the CEO of Global Aesthetics Consultancy in New York, and what she said is that she notices her clients taking a harder look at their emotional bottom line. So they're examining their balance sheet, and they realize that there are some things that they are never going to give up, least of all their minor vanities.
Now, that might seem kind of shallow, but again, people... And many of you doctors already know this. People are much more willing to spend money to look good than they are to feel physically good. You probably have some patients that come in that bellyache about spending $20 or $40 for a copay, but they certainly find money to have Botox injections every 3 or 4 months, to get a new tattoo, to buy a new outfit. To look better, people will find the money. They just always do.
So what other positive effects do aesthetic procedures produce? Well, people feel better about themselves, right? And here's a quote by Cathy Solomon that happened to be a customer of a doctor that I'm aware of. And she said, "Truthfully, it took my mind off the fact that I was feeling in the dumps. The generalized anxiety of recent weeks, coupled with my own personal fears, certainly gave me pause. But let's put it this way. It wasn't going to stop me." Again, she wanted to feel better about herself.
A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Peter Fodor, said that he gets this from his patients too, and a quote that he said was, "Whether they have lost jobs or are simply feeling the diffuse anxiety that is increasingly common in an unstable environment, many Americans are undergoing aesthetic procedures as a way of taking control. It's a way of saying, 'I'm going to beat this thing.'" And remember, a lot of people have lost jobs today. And what do they have to do? They've gotta find a new job. So they're gonna find a way to stand out from other candidates. They might be just as qualified as another candidate, but people feel that if they can look better, and feel better, it gives them a leg up in getting this new position.
And again, from Dr. Fodor, "A factor in the rise of quick-fix procedures is that at times of economic peril, when many are concerned about job security, the rejuvenating promise of cosmetic procedures can be appealing as an investment in the future." People are investing in their future. And think about that when you are talking to your patients about adding Zerona treatments into their life.
So some questions you might be asking right now. So, who are these people having these procedures? Where are they located? Well, the answer to those questions are right in your community and they're probably patients of yours. All over North America, we see an increase in spending in aesthetic procedures year over year. Okay, so how much are they really spending? Well, in the U.S. alone, about $16.5 billion is the size of the aesthetic market, $16.5 billion. So for non-invasive fat loss, when we drill down even further, and that's what we're talking about with Zerona Z6, non-invasive fat loss, the total procedures in 2018 was 135,448 procedures. And that represented $163.6 million, $163 million. And that was a 42% over the previous year, 42% increase. So, think of how you can grab a piece of that pie. Because I can tell you, the competitors are out there doing it. And that's what we're here to do today, to really help everyone get restarted, restart that engine, get the Zerona fired up, get people in, get them happy, make them feel better about themselves.
Now, something else to be aware of is that in challenging economic times, it is difficult to deny that virtually any potential patient walking through the door is a welcome sight, right? However, there is an underlying danger, that in our eagerness to shore up our bottom line, we may be tempted to drop the bar a little regarding standards for patient selection and even patient safety. And thereby, we can jeopardize the very foundation that we've built our practice on, right? Your good name. So some extra soul searching is definitely in order during an economic slowdown if we catch ourselves doing any of the following.
And the first thing that I wanna point out is, you don't want to agree to treat a patient who has what we would ordinarily consider a contraindicating risk factor. Now with the Zerona, there's very few contraindications. But I think we all know that, number one, pregnancy is a contraindication. And certainly, a patient with an active malignancy is a contraindication. And once they fall into remission, we can certainly treat them then. But, you know, let's not lower our standards at this point. And remember, we can treat patients with implanted defibrillators or pacemakers safely. And we do wanna be careful with patients that might have photosensitivity due either to an illness, maybe an autoimmune disorder, like, lupus, or perhaps a pharmaceutical that they're taking, that can make them photosensitive. So we wanna be careful about that as well.
Another thing you don't wanna find yourself doing is cutting treatment room costs in ways that could compromise your established standards of patient safety. Now, Alyssa is gonna be talking about just that in a little bit, ways to make sure that in addition to operating a touchless device, how you can make your treatment rooms that much safer and make your patients feel that much more comfortable. Now, something else you don't wanna do is accept a patient with unrealistic expectations that make it unlikely that he or she will be satisfied with the results. Right? You don't want somebody bad mouthing you and your practice because they didn't get the results that they were expecting. And Dr. Jennie will be talking about that shortly and how she overcomes that.
And then finally, agreeing to treat a patient when meaningful cosmetic improvements from the procedure is unlikely. And this goes back to managing your patients' expectations. We don't want them to treat Zerona as a magic wand or a silver bullet because it is neither of those. We need them to understand what they are getting into with the Zerona, what their part of the deal has to be. Because you as a provider have purchased a nice expensive piece of equipment, right, the highest in technology right now for non-invasive fat loss, but you need them to do their part also. So make sure that they understand that there are some parameters that they must follow as well.
Now finally, before I hand this over to Alyssa, I wanna remind everybody that you can continue your education with Erchonia via live CE-accredited teleseminars, which we started doing at the outbreak of the pandemic. And we've since started on-location seminars again, and, of course, our webinars. And you can visit www.erchonia.com, click on the Seminar tab, and it'll show you everything we have thus far through the end of the year. And you can register right from that page or, of course, you could speak to your sales representative, and they can give you more information and get you registered. So remember, as you go forward, you're gonna hear from Alyssa, you heard from myself, and Sarah, Dr. Gettys. And you see our contact information, and I'll show this again later. But by all means, type anything you might have into the chatbox, and we will get your questions answered as they come up. So right now I'm going to hand this over to Alyssa Vincent. She is the Western United States clinical education and development coordinator.
Alyssa: Hello, everybody. My name is Alyssa Vincent. I am the clinical educator for the West Coast region. And I am gonna be going over a little bit today on office etiquette, but mostly about how you differ from all the other competition in this new normal. And part of that is gonna be how the Zerona has been so successful not only in its unattended treatments but now we can really talk about the touchless treatment aspect of the device. So when I start going through all of this different competition that we have out there against our device, I want to give you some ammunition, so to say, in your bank of knowledge to allow your patients and your clients to understand that just like everything else on there, this is the best option for them to receive true non-invasive fat loss. So, as I start to go through this, I'm gonna give you the difference between, you know, the cleanliness side but also some aspects between us and them when it comes to the actual procedure itself.
So jumping into that, I wanna talk about LED or light-emitting diode forms of fat loss compared to us as the Zerona. Though we may look the same, we actually are quite different in how we actually deliver the fat loss. One of them being the aspect of touchless versus touching. So as you see here, you see a lot of the devices here actually happen to be on the skin. So with LEDs, they are light-based versus laser, like we have. So laser is an acronym, and it stands for light amplification by stimulating emissions of radiation.
So what that's showing is radiation is the transfer of energy. And when we transfer our energy, we are light amplified versus light-emitting diodes. Where LEDs get about 3 to 5 millimeters in penetration, we are almost quadruple that amount when we deliver ours through a laser. Furthermore, that's why we do not need our laser to be on the skin, where with LEDs, they need it strapped down. So you see you in one of these photos, one of them is directly on the face, right? So when it comes to cleaning these devices, it's gonna be really hard for them to get any type of germs off of their devices and be 100% sterile. So when you start to look at these, not only are we different in our delivery of the fat loss but also touchless versus touching. In this new normal, you want to give your patients that reassurance that you are the best option for them to go about their fat loss procedures.
Now this gives you a little breakdown. I just like to show this. Some of you who've had trainings with me recently would have seen or have me draw this out for you. But I've also been giving these slides out to kind of give you a little bit of a rundown on where we lie at the Zerona Z6. We lie right at that 635 nanometers. And it's considered to be the safe zone, where we don't have any side effects where we lie at that 635 nanometers. Furthermore, you have that thermal aspect. So that 700-nanometer aspect is where the thermal change. So you start to get heat when you jump over that 700 nanometers. And that's where LEDs lie. They lie in the 700s, and then your infrared light, so your heating lamps, lie in the 800s. So you do have a thermal aspect. And with that, you can have injury, you do have side effects, but mostly you have water weight loss because of the sweating that comes to play. Now with the 635 nanometers, we are considered low level, or you'll hear cold laser or a couple of different terms for us, but we are truly non-thermal in our delivery, and furthermore, we have a lot of extra properties that come with that 635 nanometers.
Now going to CoolSculpting. So this is another huge competitor of ours, but there's so much in the difference of this. So not only are we, you know, touchless, and they are touching, but we also have the aspect of, we do not kill or remove fat cells, where CoolSculpting does kill and damage the fat cell. Furthermore, we have no side effects, where they do have multiple side effects under their belt when it comes to their treatment. And the price difference. So we do a series of 6 to keep the body healthy and to also develop healthy habits, where there is a one-time delivery and you have to wait 12 weeks before you're able to come back. And with that, you're gonna need anywhere from 4 to 6 treatments with theirs every 12 weeks to even get close to what we deliver in one round or in one series with us. So it's kind of one of those no-brainers when you start to look at the comparative aspects between us and them, but the big one, again, is that we are touchless, and they do have to touch.
Liposuction. So talking about liposuction, so not only we know we do not want to kill or remove fat cells, and in liposuction, you do that, but with liposuction, again, that's kind of the barbaric avenue to go nowadays when it comes to true fat loss, but they're obviously invasive versus our non-invasive approach. They are a lot more expensive compared to our inexpensive approach as well. Also with them too, is when you go into have liposuction, it's a surgery. So you're either gonna have to go into their surgery center or you're gonna have to go into a hospital to get these procedures done. When you do that, they use specific cleaners that kill everything. And when that happens, you create superbugs.
So I like to talk about how, when you get sick, you really do not want to be going into the hospital or anywhere else because their cleaning products create superbugs. So if you were to get sick...and I believe I heard this from Dr. Dan Murphy over the weekend, that 1 in 10 patients of the hospital get sick. They get some type of bacterial infection or some type of sickness. And usually, it's a 10 times worse sickness than you would get in your everyday, you know, colds that you would have, from, say, the grocery store, or from school with your kids, or anything like that. So just keep that in mind that you really do not wanna have to go into anywhere that is that sterile because that sterileness actually creates superbugs. So that's just one of the many things that kind of puts us against that change or, let's say, it has a difference between us and them.
The big one, too, right here is why you don't want to kill or remove fat cells. We do have a great video called "The Fattersons" video. If you do not have it, please message us in the comment section stating that you would like to have this video. This video is, I believe, on our Marketing Portal as well, but we can send it to you via email if needed. But it's a great video that explains why you do not want to kill or remove your fat cells. And I brought this up specifically for one of the reasons, is immunity. So your white adipose tissue has all different jobs, and when...that's part of your...that's your fat cells. So when we start to kill and damage these, not only are we messing with your body weight homeostasis or your reproduction system, which is your hormones, or your metabolism, or even your appetite regulation, but we are messing with your immunity. In this day and age, we want to make sure that we are on top of our immunity and that at its best function possible.
So if you're gonna be going and getting either CooSculpting, or liposuction, or even the ultrasound therapies that are bursting are damaging the fat cells, that is very counterproductive in this day and age. Not only is it gonna affect your appetite, but they actually increase your appetite when you are killing or damaging those. It's gonna slow down your metabolism because you have less glucose and lipids to help regulate that. But furthermore, you're gonna be damaging your immunity. And that's the last thing that you're gonna want when you are trying to stay healthy in the new normal. So these are some sort of, say, ammunition to help you with all of those questions. And when you're in those consultations, that you are really educating your patients. And if you need any of these slides, feel free to email us or state in the comment section that you would like these slides, and we will make sure that you get these.
And so kinda going over how the Zerona differs from everybody is, again, we understand that it's unattended and that it's a touchless treatment, but it's also very easy to disinfect. It's very user friendly. You just have a nice screen. Everything's nice and smooth. You don't have all those little weird notches, and the patient should not be touching the machine at all. But if they do, at least we have some nice rubber coating that you're able to wipe down, and everything's very easy to disinfect. We also talk about secondary benefits of that 635-nanometer wavelength that have the production, not only of the anti-inflammatory but the production of ATP. And that ATP production actually helps with the immunity and has immune-boosting effects with it. And overall, health increases when you are going through our program because of your healthy habits. Not only is your water intake increasing, you're now being more mobile, and you're walking anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes a day to get that lymphatic system regulating.
So all of these healthy habits that are in our program are also gonna help with your immunity. So talk about that with your patients and let them know that they are gonna develop healthy habits that in return will help them stay healthy, in general. And in this new crazy normal, a lot of people are having mental health issues because they are being secluded or they can't do their normal activities that they once did. And when they're able to come in and use the Zerona, they have, you know, 40 minutes to an hour to lie there and relax. I tell, you know, my doctors to talk about, you know, meditation and how that's gonna help with your brain health as well in making sure that you are in the right state of mind moving forward. And when you are in the right state of mind, your weight loss is gonna be on track, but also, you know, your work ethic and your work avenues are gonna be increased. And so just, in general, talk about the overall kind of that systemic effect that's gonna happen by them going through your treatments overall.
Now, this is just kind of going over our studies, but I'm using this slide mostly for the little red font at the bottom where it says, "No change in fat cell properties." So not only do we not have side effects, we're not putting anyone in pain, and you don't have to lie and, you know, have downtime after our treatment. You're able to go back to normal with the Zerona. And with that, you're able to see results a lot faster than you are with any of the other avenues. But the big one is, again, in red. So the no change in fat cell properties, which means that their immunity is not gonna be jeopardized. You know, their health, in general, won't be jeopardized by going through the Zerona.
And with this, I'd like to just show a quick before and after, but this one was someone who was a mother and she went through one session a week for six weeks, so six total treatments. But her big thing was that her overall wellness had increased after her treatments. And she said that she felt better after, but also her energy and everything, in general, was boosted. So this is just an example of someone who had gone through and had wonderful results. And her being a mom is gonna be, you know, your average patient coming to you.
Now, I'm now gonna jump into a little bit more information that, you know. kind of goes away from the COVID side and more just in general with long-term success with your Zerona. And some of those are don't just focus on your pay-in-full clients. And so something that I had discovered by talking and reaching out to providers that have already had the Zerona was that they were really glad that they used Varidi through the winter months and stuff for the holidays, and for their huge boost in the New Year's resolutions. They were really glad that they use Varidi because the long-term compounding of the payments really helped them during the downturn when COVID hit. So what that meaning is that even though they were wanting that pay-in-full client, but that monthly payment coming in from their patients using it during the winter months really came into play when they had to shut down during COVID, and they were still getting that monthly payment coming to them from the work that they did in the previous month. And so, don't discount that. Make sure that you are really utilizing every aspect that we give you. And Varidi is such a great option for your patients but also for you as a provider. So don't forget about that.
Also, get creative with your subscription plans. Again, using Varidi, you can use Varidi for all sorts of things. And so part of that could be, you know, they sign up for $500, you know, for a year's access to discounts with the Zerona, and from there, they can then take those discounted Zerona and put that on Varidi. And that could be part of their subscription plan. There's also the long-term wellness aspect with Zerona and your clients. So that's where I talk about, you know, some people will go through an 8-treatment program, and once they're done with that program, they felt so good that they bought an additional 10 treatments, but instead of using that for fat loss, they used it, if anything, to kinda keep up on their health, in general. So they would come to me once a month for 10 months, something of that aspect. So really understand that the Zerona is very customizable. And it's really a great addition to your office, you know, when giving this as a service for your patients.
Now also think of monthly incentives or networking discounts when you're talking about, you know, like, maybe they get a free massage if they sign up on, you know, a Zerona package, or you have networking with, you know, local gyms, and bridal shops, and all of those other networking opportunities that you can have with your community. And since, you know, a lot of them are all struggling, I'm sure they would all be glad to have a networking option with you, so you guys can cross-market and help each other as small businesses. And then again, always have a program survey to measure and reevaluate your program and how you can better it. I do have a program survey that I can email you, so if there is something that you are, you know, wondering about or anything like that, or if you do not have my program survey, please put it in the chatbox and say, "I would like the program survey," and we'll make sure that we email that over to you.
And again, attending a few big events every year, looking that a lot of the 2020 events are canceled. So look to 2021, but note that they're probably gonna sell out because everyone is pushing to 2021. So jump on that sooner rather than later, so you have that option next year to really boost your income. And then, again, be consistent with marketing. Sarah is gonna be a really...she's gonna go over a lot of great tips, but she's gonna be your go-to person when it comes to that marketing advice, but also she has really revamped our marketing as a whole on our Marketing Portal. So if you have not been on recently, make sure you get on and see what we have been doing with her amazing, you know, additions to it.
And then lastly, I really wanna go over the successful offices that I have talked with have these qualities. And so a lot of them have visuals in the waiting room, such as banners, flyers, table toppers, and brochures, but a lot of our providers have had to shut down their Zerona because of the COVID-19. And they still continue to do bookings, so they are doing booking for July. So advanced booking now, get, you know, 15% off your package if you book now for July. So keeping those banners and that visual still in your waiting room and then capitalizing on advance scheduling will really help you boost in those later months.
And then also looking at your treatment rooms, making sure that they feel relaxing and inviting but also clean. So your office from the time they walk in, from the front doors being wiped down hourly or what have you, all the way down to the bathrooms. So I really like to talk about when I go into my own doctor's office, if I were to use their restrooms and it looks like their restrooms have not been cleaned in quite some time, I'm gonna really question the cleanliness of their whole office. So making sure that you clean not only in your treatment rooms but even down to the front office and the bathrooms.
Furthermore, making sure that your front desk and staff knows how to talk about the Zerona. And they understand that if someone has a question that they go, "Oh, I don't know," they should say, "Oh, let me get you our Zerona specialist," or, "Let me get you an informative packet that we have, that you can go over while you're waiting for your other treatment." So just make sure that they have some way, so even if they don't have time to discuss it with that patient, that they even have a packet of, you know, Zerona FAQs, or the science behind the Zerona, or something of that manner, to really go over with your patients if they ask questions.
Goal setting is a huge part of this, making sure you're always working towards them. I even have a goal setting worksheet if you need one of those for your office that I can send you. Making sure you always have a marketing budget set each month. Even if it's $100, you have something set and you're using that to keep advancing your marketing when it comes to your device. Again, continuing word-of-mouth marketing is always great. I feel like the best form of marketing is always word of mouth. So I always had a system set in place that if you were going through the Zerona treatment or program, that if you referred a friend, you got a free treatment. If they signed up on, I will say, one of our Platinum packs, then they got two free treatments. So just making sure that you are using the patients that are on your program now for future marketing as well by giving them some type of incentive if they refer a friend or something of that manner.
So again, make sure that your office has a Zerona specialist. And if you are the doctor, you are the Zerona specialist, but I really always encourage you to find somebody in your office other than the doctor that can help you run these Zerona itself. And then last one is always measure and reevaluate your program to make it better on a quarterly basis. And then one little boost I wanna give you is that no one wants to be a salesman. A lot of people are like, "Oh, sales is just not my thing. I don't like it, I always feel really uncomfortable." So I like to break it down in the very beginning when I'm training my clients is that you just make it simple. Don't overcomplicate it. I used to tell myself before I'd go into my consultation, and I would say this to myself, "Facts may tell, but benefits sell." So knowing that, you know, your facts are gonna be almost a credibility aspect for your treatment, but it's gonna be the benefits to that individual that is going to really sell your packages.
So here's an example for you, and I like to kind of just bring this up, is you're at the front desk and then a patient comes up, and they see your Zerona banner, and they say, "What's the Zerona?" Well, you can respond by giving them the FDA trial rundowns, how it penetrates the cell to emulsify the fat out of the cell, and talk about the no pain, no downtime, and no side effects part. But what if instead, you responded this way. "It's an advanced laser technology that can help you lose inches fast and gain that confidence you always wanted." So you can kind of see the difference there. One was like, "Oh, okay, it's FDA approved, okay, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." That's great. But in the next option that I stated was that I said you lose inches fast, but that's what everyone is wanting. And furthermore, you're gaining confidence that you always wanted.
So a lot of people want to be comfortable in their body, especially in these summer months. So just note that you're looking for those benefits of that person in front of you. If they're an older client, maybe you're saying you're gonna get that energy to feel better and get out on those walks that you're wanting to do or, you know, play with your grandchildren. Or maybe it's, you know, a young mom, and she wants that confidence in her body again that she had lost by going through pregnancy. So just really find that benefit whoever's in front of you, and that's what's gonna sell your packages.
And I'm gonna finish up here by introducing someone that we have on our panel today. And this is Dr. Jennie Gettys, and she is amazing. She has been someone who's been with us for quite some time, almost a decade now. And she has been very successful in this troubling time. And she's gonna talk a little bit about what she's been doing to stay afloat and how she can help you give some tips of what she's been doing to stay successful. So I'm gonna turn it over to Dr. Jennie, and she's going to talk to you a little bit more about what she is doing. So thank you all for attending today. And over to you.
Dr. Jennie: Hello, thank you. I've been made the presenter, when I'm ready, show my screen. I think I'm good.
Alyssa: Yeah, you look great.
Dr. Jennie: Thank you for the pep talk. Hello, everyone. I'm Jennie Gettys, and today, I just wanna share with you what I use in my office when starting a new Zerona patient. What works best for me? I've had the Z6 since April of 2018. And by trial and error, what I have found works best when that new patient comes in on the first visit. Okay. A couple of housecleaning points because this is about post-COVID success. So, number one, don't be afraid to market your Z6. Alyssa just did a great job of explaining how we can safely treat patients. It's your responsibility as the doctor to reassure the patient that you're taking the appropriate steps to prevent the spread of COVID, whether that's an online document, an office document, or the words coming out of your mouth. So, reassure that patient that you're doing what you need to do to prevent the spread of the virus. Okay.
So if you're not using this Z6 on your own body, then you're probably not selling a lot of packages. So, you must believe in what you're selling. I mean, it's pretty simple, but I'm guilty of letting a couple of months go by and not even getting on it one time. So, guess what else happened during those couple of months? I didn't sell a lot of packages. Okay. And you must represent aesthetically what health is supposed to look like, at least on the outward, maybe not inner health, but the outward appearance of health, you should put your lipstick on. You should maybe go get a local organic spray tanning. If that's not already a client, the owner of that spray tan place, well, they should be your patient, right? Whether you're a... For me, I'm a chiropractor, and who do I know that has the same philosophy as I do? Who do I know that could benefit from what I have to offer, whether that's chiropractic or whether that's Zerona? And who do they know?
So I'll go into that in a second on how I marketed...how I've been marketing without publicly making these posts. Because I've been a little scared myself. I respect this virus, so I'm not trying to downplay. I'm not saying it's time to stop licking your wounds and let's get back to it. I'm not saying that because it is scary. But guess what? The days are gonna continue to go, and this virus isn't going anywhere. Everyone's gained weight, and everyone is potentially an ideal client. Okay, [inaudible 00:37:20] there.
All right, so people need, need, and they want a cheerleader. They need someone that is cheering them on towards the other side, towards health, now more than ever. So cheerleaders are not passive, they are not unsure. If your personality is not an alpha, then, I mean, you can't really change your personality, so I would find an assistant or a Zerona specialist to be that alpha for you. The patient will not sign up if your voice is unwavering...if your voice is wavering, if it's not steady. If your body language is unsure, they're not gonna be signing up at all. So you need to have a safe place for them to feel safe and sure because everything in their life right now is unsure.
So here's how I handle my Zerona new patient on Day 1. So, I offer the first session for free. I mean, I do. I didn't at first, and my closing ratio was sad. There wasn't even really a ratio to calculate. So what I decided to do is that, yes, I decided to allow them to come in and try it for free. They're getting to see how it works. They're able to see it work. And then they're also able to see how many inches they've lost in one session. So instead of doing a free consultation for 20 minutes, spending my 20 minutes, going over all my paperwork for the Zerona, and then walking out the door and thinking about it, I've spent my 20 minutes with them while they're face up on the Zerona. I'm also talking to them, you know, I'm asking the questions, and I'm listening for red flags and contraindications for care. Or, you know, maybe they're not gonna be an ideal client, well, I'm listening for things...so some key signs that I will know that they might not be able to achieve the results that they're looking for.
So, you're connecting with them for 20 minutes. You have them face up, they're kind of vulnerable. You know, they're probably not fully dressed. So it's your time to connect with them and to reassure them they're in the right place. And they should be able to feel your excitement, even if it's through a mask. I mean, if you're not excited about what's happening, why would they be excited about it? Why would they go and tell their friends? And I know this sounds kind of elementary. I just feel like times are serious right now and that people need some excitement. They need to know they're in the right place.
So I send them home after their first session. I take their pre and post measurements on Session 1, so they can see how much they've lost. Also, so I can see if they've lost half an inch or more, then I know that they're gonna have good results with the Zerona and that their lymphatic system is working decently. So, in my experience, I'm not saying this is written down in the law, I'm saying if they don't lose at least half an inch on that first session, either their liver is...I almost cursed, their liver is no good. Maybe a liver cleanse, you could suggest that. It doesn't mean that patient is completely tanked and can't achieve the results. That just means that we might wanna look at and identify some areas of stress, like their liver or the lymphatic system, maybe it needs to be cleaned out. So that's why I send my paperwork home with them on their first session because the paperwork is overwhelming. There's a lot of questions. And when I was using that paperwork for 20 minutes just talking to the patient during the consultation, they just felt like, "This is so unhealthy," and it's like you're beating them down, whereas you are letting them try it for free the first time, you are building them up. Anyway. Okay. So...
Greg: Dr. Jennie, can I interrupt you for a second?
Dr. Jennie: Yeah.
Gre: I have a question. It's Greg. So I just wanna make sure, so you're doing a one-treatment challenge with each of your patients before they start. That's awesome. And then you're able to connect with them during that first 20 minutes of their 40-minute treatment?
Dr. Jennie: That's right.
Greg: Does that help you in the closing rate? Like, I may have missed it, like, what percentage does that enable you to close versus when you weren't doing that consultation while the first treatment was occurring?
Dr. Jennie: Okay. So, I started doing the free one treatment...the first session for free before COVID. So, the numbers I'm about to share with you are statistics from before COVID. So when I stopped doing the consultation for free, I was looking at a...5 out of 10 people would sign up right then. But now that I do the session for free, I'm 99%, if not 10 out of 10. I mean, I would say 9.5 people out of 10 are signing up either that day, I mean, and they've already scheduled their second session. So I mean, I feel pretty confident, unless they're not an ideal client. The other thing is that, that time is really for you to be able to identify and ask the right questions. So it's not like you've taken their money yet, you've already pre-screened in your own mind before they filled out the paperwork, whether they should schedule their second appointment. But usually, most patients are paying for their package when they come in in a couple of days for their second session. Makes sense? Does it make sense?
Greg: Very much so. It does. That's a great way to put it. I mean, you're very unique in doing that, from what I've heard other people say. That's fantastic. Thank you.
Dr. Jennie: You're welcome. And so, the one-treatment challenge is what got me into doing this. I was doing a couple of one-treatment challenges, and I thought, "This is genius. I wonder why I don't normally measure after the first session." Because if someone comes in and they buy a package, for whatever reason, and they just buy it right then and there, we don't measure after the first session." So I began doing that. And that's what transitioned into let's do the first session for free, and then they're either gonna buy seven on the second visit or they're gonna buy more than seven.
So, again, I was hesitant at first, meaning, like, mid-March, and April, even in the end of April, I was like, "I'm not gonna post on social media about the Zerona because it's not essential and chiropractic is essential in South Carolina." So I didn't wanna, like, you know, be disrespectful, or I was unsure. But now that everything's kind of opened back up about three weeks ago here, and it's just booming, so is the virus actually right now. So, again, I respect that virus, and I'm empathetic and sympathetic for the patients who have lost someone. I mean, if you're in another state that's been hit hard, I'm not saying come over here and be, like, hardcore, you know, above down inside out. Nothing wrong with above, down inside out.
I'm just saying, know your market, know your client, know how they were referred in. If they found you off social media, in times like these, then you're already marketing Zerona, so good for you. If they more than likely are referred in by another existing client, then you have a heads-up to figure out what kind of patient is this. So I don't feel like I'm wasting my time because the question comes down to, if we set all that other stuff aside, what is your time worth? We all ask ourselves this question, but there is an equation for that. So, would you rather spend 20 minutes doing a free consultation at a 50% ratio of signup, or would you rather spend 20 minutes of your time allowing them to have a free session, connecting with the patient, and 99% sign up? Yeah.
So, if there aren't any other questions, I wanna just thank Greg, and Alyssa, and Ms. Sarah for allowing me the chance to speak. I feel like it kind of helps just knowing other people are out there kind of going through the same thing. And I'm just gonna introduce Ms. Sarah Bell, the corporate marketing specialist for Erchonia. And thanks so much.
Greg: Thank you, Dr. Jennie. And by the way, folks, any questions that you might have for any of us, go ahead and type them into the chatbox, and we will make sure that they get answered in a timely manner.
Sarah: All right, thank you, Greg. And thank you, Dr. Gettys, for sharing. I think that you definitely brought some great insight, and our providers have some takeaways that they can approach their Zerona programs, but that's great. Thank you. All righty. So I am Sarah Bell, our marketing specialist here at Erchonia. And I'm just gonna kind of go over new materials that we've released recently. One of them being our ebook. So it's our "What Happens Next?" ebook, "Simple Marketing Strategies to Elevate Your Business in the 'New Normal'". Now, this eBook is going to help you communicate with your patients right now, help you set up your digital presence, help you on where to spend your marketing budget, as well as Facebook and search engine optimization or SEO basics.
Now, making the transition to digital marketing right now is so important. And it was important before but definitely, you know, where we're trending with people going more towards the digital route is definitely very transparent. We do see that video content tend to get the highest engagement. With that being said, I definitely recommend Facebook, definitely, in your marketing strategy. I find it to be one of the most underutilized tools in marketing. It does have 2.4 billion monthly active users, and just say that again, 2.4 billion with a B, and it's still continuing to grow. You know, we're still seeing growth in the Facebook market. It is the third most visited site, only to be outranked by Google and YouTube. Along with Facebook, along with, like, organic Facebook posting, I definitely highly recommend doing Facebook advertising as well. And in the ebook that we did recently release to our Zerona providers, it does have a video linked in it that kind of takes you through the basics of how to create a Facebook ad and just some tips and tricks when doing that.
Another tool that we do provide to you as well in the Marketing Portal is our Erchonia Marketing Guide. Now, this is a very valuable tool to use. And just one section of it I do highly recommend is this page where it kind of just walks you through just how to build an ad that makes an impact and is very successful. So we kind of walk you through that. And one thing I do recommend as well is our Facebook Ad Library. So building an ad can be overwhelming. There is a lot to learn in it. But however, we put out a lot of ads ourselves for Zerona, so you can use the Facebook Ad Library tool. So all you need to do is go to Google, Facebook Ad Library, and type in Zerona. And you'll see all the ads that we're currently running. So it can be kind of troublesome, especially in the aesthetic market, to get ads approved sometimes. So, this gives you kind of an angle of we've already got this approved, the wordings approved, the images approved. So all you need to do is recreate it to target for your specific area.
So these materials are going to be available to you in our Marketing Portal. You will access this on the Erchonia website. If you see here, I just have a screenshot that you will access it in our eCommunity. Once you click the eCommunity, if you don't have an account, you just select the link Create a New Account, or if you do have an account, select Login. And it's very easy. I get a lot of questions because, once again, I think this is an underutilized tool that we provide to our Zerona providers. So we get a lot of people that forget their password, forget their username, and that's all very simple too. You can reset your password easily, or you can always reach out to me if you don't remember your username.
This is just an example of some fliers we just released. And I did provide a little video to show you how easy it is to download these materials. So all you need to do is click on the image and then select Download. And one thing we did also just released is several new email templates. And I did actually just create a video that walks you through how to download these templates and the easiest way to deploy them. So if you have any questions, if you would like to receive these email templates, please reach out, I will have my contact information here on the last slide. All right, so once again, I'm Sarah Bell, Erchonia's marketing specialist. Feel free to reach out to me at sbell@erchonia.com or our corporate phone number, 888-242-0571. I appreciate you all for attending, and I would like to turn it over to Stephen with Varidi.
Stephen: All right. I'm just getting my screen shown here. Hold on one second. Am I coming through okay, Greg?
Greg: Yes, you are. If you could just start your slideshow from the beginning. So there you go. Perfect.
Stephen: Absolutely. So, my name is Stephen, Stephen Johnson, and I'm with Varidi. We've been in partnership with Erchonia for a number of years now. Our main focus is trying to address that challenge when it comes to patients who want treatment, who want the Zerona Z6 treatment, but can't always afford or maybe have a little bit of sticker shock on what the cost is. And so what we're trying to do is increase patient acceptance. And by more people saying yes, we help you recoup that investment faster. And when you are saying yes to more patients or they're saying yes to you, we're driving additional revenue and just fostering better relationships between you and the patient. So, again, they can come back again and again for treatments like Zerona or any other services that you provide at your practice.
Our realized guaranteed payment program is unique in the sense that we provide a solution for you to approve 100% of patients for treatment, financially speaking, with no credit check. So the range that we operate is typically in that...our sandbox, rather, is [inaudible 00:53:23] the $500 to $2,500 range, which for Zerona, for instance, you know, fits very nicely, where, you know, it's outside of the traditional credit scenario. And I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that in a second. But when you sign up with Varidi, the discount to your practice is 3%. So essentially, you're saying yes to everyone. You're putting people on guaranteed payment plans, which means if somebody defaults on payment, Varidi steps in, and we continue to make that payment, and we manage the receivable, automating the process while eliminating the risk of what happens if somebody is unable to make their payment.
So oftentimes, Varidi is really compared to traditional third-party credit lenders, and a lot of you might use them. And that's not a bad thing. Honestly, you know, you should use financing, and it should be complemented with a service like Varidi because financing does not approve 100% of people. Statistically, it's a rejection rate of about 40%. Now, the interesting thing about, you know, this pre-COVID reality is that the financing world is a little bit into a tailspin. And truth be told, I don't know if it's gonna be one month, six months, or a year. At some point, we hope that it stabilizes. But Varidi is actually benefiting quite nicely from the fact that people aren't getting approved like they once were. So for that person who needs that $2,000 in order treatment and doesn't wanna pay $2,000 today, they might have been approved for financing yesterday, but they're not going to be approved for financing today. And so instead of letting that patient walk out the door, you can offer Varidi.
So this slide is just a comparison of kind of financing and various guaranteed payment plans. And like I said, I'm not against financing. I think financing is a great thing for you to have in your practice. But you should also have Varidi. So, you know, we don't impact their credit report, there is no credit inquiry for the patient. The discount with Varidi when you sign up is 3%. So you're getting 97% of your money. Oftentimes, it's 10%, 15%, or more that you have to basically pay back or that gets discounted from the CareCredit or some other company like that. And you can offer this as your own in-house solution. And it's very flexible.
So, wanted to run through a quick example, just a linear example. And I would love at the end of this call, you know, for you to take my information and contact Varidi, so you can schedule a demo so you can see a real-life practical example. But if we look at these 6 points right here, using Zerona, as an example, saying that it's a $2,000 treatment, and then you have the flexibility of creating it over whatever term you want. So, in this example, we'll say it's 10 months. Your patient is gonna pay a set-up fee of 15% to 20%. So, they're gonna pay $300 to $400 today for the convenience of payment over time, and the fact that they're not making a payment in full, which is what you would prefer anyhow, right? We're not trying to replace all the payments with payment plans. We just wanna make sure that you don't let anyone walk out the door without knowing what their financial options are so they can look and feel fantastic.
So, we would make 10 monthly no-interest payments of $200 directly into your account. And if the patient's not making that $200 payment, we step in and we continue to make the payment, providing you a risk-free way of offering payment plans. And the way the math basically works out is, you know, we charge practically 20%. We know that 10% of people are gonna default, and we live off that 10%. So when people ask, "Well, how do you do it?" That's how we do it. So you're gonna receive $1,940 over the course the payment plan, the difference being the 3% discount. And then your patient's gonna pay $2,300 for the convenience of a pay-over-time plan with Varidi.
So, in essence, you want to promote as many financial options as possible to grow your business. You've invested in a laser like the Zerona Z6 because you want to create, you know, revenue channels and provide a better solution for your patients. So you've already made the investment, get as many people as you possibly can to say yes, right? Don't let people walk out the door. Of course, them handing you their credit card is the best solution. But if they can't hand you their credit card today, and they can't pay $2,000 today, maybe they can pay $300 today, and then $200 a month for the next 10 months. So, when somebody is hesitant to schedule treatment, the best thing to do is ask them, "Well, what payment plan would be a better option for you?" Most patients aren't gonna raise their hand and say, "Hey, Doc, I'm kind of broke right now. Don't have a lot of money. Do you offer payment plans?" Some will. But you're missing an opportunity with you're not taking the action to at least initiate the question of, "Hey, would you like to look at some of our payment plan options?"
Getting signed up with Varidi is free, costs you nothing. So, again, we complement existing financing programs. We can be your number one funding or your number one payment plan option. So, sign up, it's always free to sign up. We're not gonna charge you anything. And then as soon as you're signed up, we make contact with you and set your team up so that you can be successful and know exactly how to leverage Varidi. And we'll go through that real-life training that takes about 20 minutes.
Here's my information, recommend anyone on this call to do a quick screenshot, take out your cell phone, take a picture. You give us a phone call, send us an email. We would love to schedule a demo. If you go to varidi.com, in the bottom right-hand corner it says, Schedule a Demo. So, real simple, risk-free way to kind of investigate if Varidi could be a good solution for your office. Right there, you can see Greg's information. There's my information, my personal email. If people have questions or need to know anything, we'd love the opportunity to, you know, answer those questions because in a short five minutes, I can only cover so much, but at the very least, we would love the opportunity to talk with you further. So, Greg, I believe I'll be turning it back over to you. And again, thanks for calling in and for being such great partners to Varidi.
Greg: Yes. And Stephen, actually, I had a question for you that someone typed in, and it's, how does their patient sign up? Do they do it in the office or with your people?
Stephen: Yeah. Yeah, they're patient sign-ups. And that's again, we would review that over our demo web training. It takes about three to four minutes. And the office...because we don't know the details of the plan. We don't know what the cost is. So you enter the basic patient information, the amount of the plan, and then capture their credit card information in our system that bolts it securely, and then you're done. But that's a great question, but really just, you know, schedule a demo by going to varidi.com, and we can walk you through that information.
Greg: Okay. Great. And by the way, just so everyone, all the attendees know, your sales representative, or Alyssa, or myself also have Stephen's contact information, and we can give you some Varidi information, and we can definitely give their phone numbers if you didn't get Stephen's contact information from his slide. So you can talk to Alyssa, myself, or your regional sales representative. Thank you very much, Stephen. That was great. Thank you. I did have a question for Sarah that came up too. "How difficult is setting up a Facebook page since I don't have one? Is there a way that I can learn, like a tutorial on Facebook?" That was for Sarah.
Sarah: Yeah. I also included...I did show the slide with a video on how to set up a Facebook ad, but also in that ebook that we just provided to you in the Marketing Portal, it does walk you through the basics of setting up a Facebook account. So yes, we provide that to you in that ebook, as well as our Marketing Guide. And there are several tutorials on YouTube as well that walk you through it. But once again, I am your Zerona support specialist, so I'd be happy to hop on a call with you as well to walk you through it.
Greg: Okay. Great. And, Dr. Jennie, there's a question here for you. I should have asked you earlier when it popped up. But does your method create much word of mouth because it seems like that would be a great way to make your patients happy?
Dr. Jennie: So can you restate the question? Wardrobe change. So...
Greg: And location. Does it create much word of mouth? Because, you know, that's a great way to make your patients happy. So I would imagine it's gonna create word of mouth, but that was the question. Does it create much word-of-mouth marketing for you?
Dr. Jennie: That was my only option. You know, six weeks ago, I was too, you know, hesitant, or scared, or unsure to, like, publicly market via social media post. So, I just wrote a list on who do I know? And so you definitely have a hairstylist, and the hairstylist has other clients. You should have an organic local spray tan place that you should be a client of. And what I did is I asked the owner of a local spray tan, you know, "Can I leave a flyer or a brochure about the Zerona in your studio?" And she said, "Yes, Give me a flyer." Oh, Sarah, I do need to get with you about the flyer because I struggle at the Facebook page, and the post, and flyers. I mean, I really probably am the world's worst at creating stuff like that.
So, before when I asked my patient, my chiropractic patient, who owns the local studio for spray tans, "Do you mind if I drop off a brochure about the Zerona and you could leave it in your studio?" She said, "Girl, print me out an 8 by 11 flyer, and I'll put one in every in every room." And I still haven't gotten the flyer to her, but she's already sent me three new Zerona patients, and this is, like, within the last week. So make a list of who do you know? Ideally, people like hairstylists, and massage therapists, and spray tan owners. Go, you know, support them, support their local business because they're all opening back up, and ask if you can leave a simple flyer brochure in their waiting room. You're not asking them to buy anything. You're just asking who you know, do they mind if you leave the brochure in their office? So yeah, it's all word of mouth right now.
Greg: Okay. Great. I don't see any more questions. If anyone has another question, pop it into the chat box or otherwise, we are going to say goodbye. And thank you again for attending. And if you have any questions for Alyssa, or myself, you see our information on the screen right now. And, of course, Sarah can be reached on her email or at 888-242-0571. Again, thank you so much. We at Erchonia really appreciate all of our customers. And we wanna do whatever we can to help you through these currently trying times. So, thank you very much. Have a great afternoon, folks. Bye-bye.
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