A woman books a consultation expecting to be sold to. She has braced herself for a hard close, a discount that expires and a deposit request.
What she should get is a surgeon asking why she wants this, what she expects, and whether she has thought about the alternative of doing nothing. The gap between those two experiences is the whole difference between a clinic worth attending and one worth avoiding.
1. Say plainly that a consultation is not a sales appointment
This is the single most reassuring thing a clinic can publish, and it filters the enquiries in a useful direction. People who are braced for pressure frequently do not book at all.
2. Explain the two stage structure
An initial discussion and a later consultation with the operating surgeon, with time between. Setting this out in advance tells somebody the clinic is not trying to close them in one visit.
3. Confirm who the patient will actually see
The surgeon who would operate, not a coordinator, not a nurse and not an adviser. Somebody assessing suitability who will not hold the instruments is not performing the assessment that matters.
4. Explain the cooling off period
A required interval between consultation and surgery, during which nothing is booked under pressure. Reputable clinics apply one as a matter of policy and it is worth saying so.
5. Refuse same day booking and say so
A clinic that will not take a deposit on the day of a first consultation is telling a patient something important about how it operates. Publishing that policy is a competitive advantage with careful people.
6. Explain the medical history stage
Existing conditions, medication, mental health history, previous procedures and lifestyle factors. This determines suitability and patients do not expect how thorough it is.
7. Explain that expectations are assessed too
A clinician establishing what somebody expects, and whether it is achievable, is doing the most protective part of the job. Somebody expecting a procedure to change their life is not a suitable candidate.
8. Explain that a clinic may decline
And that this is a sign of a good clinic rather than a rejection. Patients should hear in advance that not everybody is suitable, so that a decline is not experienced as a personal verdict.
9. Cover the photography at consultation
Clinical photographs are taken, why they matter, how they are stored and what consent covers. Patients are frequently unprepared for this part.
10. Explain the risk discussion honestly
Every procedure carries risk and a consultation that skips this is defective. Patients should expect to hear about complications, revision and what happens when a result is not what was hoped.
11. Set out the recovery discussion
Time off, restrictions and what the first weeks involve, which is the ground covered in recovery time questions patients ask before committing.
12. Say what the consultation costs
Whether it is charged, whether it is redeemable and what happens if somebody proceeds elsewhere. An unstated fee stops people booking.
13. Keep the price discussion separate and later
Finance and cost belong in their own conversation rather than in the clinical one, as set out in finance and price questions before cosmetic surgery.
14. Answer the pre consultation questions without giving advice
An assistant that explains the two stage process, confirms the surgeon is present, states the cooling off policy, sets out the fee and declines to give any clinical view is doing exactly what questions your assistant should refuse describes, and it reaches people at the hour they are researching. The same first contact pattern appears in specialist clinics and the questions before a first consultation. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under medical spas.