When trying to get more tattoo removal clients for your tattoo removal business, it’s important to think about what the prospective clients are looking for.
Prospective tattoo removal clients tend to look keep these main 2 priorities in mind when they are selecting a tattoo removal clinic:
- Effectiveness: Is the removal method and service effective? Will it remove the tattoo without scarring? Will the removal site look obvious? Will the tattoo still be somewhat visible?
- Price: How much is a tattoo removal going to cost? What considerations go into the quote? Will the cost change at any point? Are payment plans available?
The ability to give these prospects a quote is key to helping them decide whether or not your business is the right one for them. But before you can give them the quote, your business needs to establish credibility online. Prospects’ experiences and perceptions of your business start online, typically at your clinic’s website. In order to establish that credibility, your clinic’s website should have a seamless user experience that features appealing imagery.
Other digital touchpoints, such as social media accounts, should have the same level of professionalism. Inconsistency in messaging and images will raise prospects’ concerns and make them more skeptical of your business.
When leads decide to reach out to a tattoo removal business, they will probably have two quote models available to them: online quotes and the traditional physical appointment.
Both quote models have their strengths and weaknesses, and OppGen can help you decide if you should focus on one or the other.
Consider the following points when deciding which model is best for your business:
Online Quotes for Tattoo Removal
Some tattoo removal clinics and businesses have started a digital-first approach for just about everything, including quotes for prospects’ tattoo removal.
This entails a series of messages, which are typically done over social media platforms like Instagram, between clinics and prospects. Prospects will reach out to a clinic and ask about their pricing. Clinics then respond to prospects’ questions by replying with a request for a photo of the tattoo that needs removing and more information about that tattoo, such as:
- Age of the tattoo
- Size of the tattoo
- Types and colors of inks used
- Skin type and color
This information can be used to estimate the cost of removal and number of removal sessions.
Pro: Immediately Addresses Prospects’ Priorities
The online quote option can be very effective in that it gives information pertaining to prospects’ main priorities: effectiveness and cost. By including before and after photos on your clinic’s social media accounts and website, you’re demonstrating the effectiveness of your tattoo removal process.
Being able to give a quote within a matter of minutes gives prospects a good idea of how much removing their tattoo will cost. They can determine for themselves if that cost is within their budget or if they should seek tattoo removal elsewhere.
Pro: Easy to Do From Anywhere at Any Time
One of the perks of offering online quotes is that prospects can reach out to your clinic at any given time from just about any location. As long as they have access to the internet, they can message your clinic and request a quote.
Online quotes do not require prospects to travel or schedule a consultation, which is a solid advantage giving how things are changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when the pandemic is over, prospects may find themselves using online quote services more often.
Pro: Price Matching Made Simple
If a prospect has already gone to a tattoo removal business in-person or has discussed an online quote with another business, you can easily counter the other offers by matching their prices or going a little bit below those prices. This can give your clinic a competitive edge over other nearby tattoo removal services.
Pro: High Lead Volume
Due to the accessibility of online quotes, it’s likely you’ll receive a high volume of leads. Getting more leads potentially means you’ll get more business.
With a potentially higher lead volume, you’ll want to make sure you’re engaging with all of your leads and that your leads are receiving prompt responses and replies.
Con: Lower Quality Leads
Even though online quotes have the potential to bring in a high volume of leads, not all of those leads are going to end up as a treatment and sale. Leads may be shopping around at several different tattoo removal businesses that offer online quotes to see what the best price is. You might be “ghosted” by many leads before one decides to go with your clinic.
While this can’t be avoided entirely, you will have to work harder to close with leads when you’re working with online quotes. This may involve investing more time and sometimes more money into digital advertisements to close more deals.
Con: Need an In-House Specialist Who can Price Services
The ability to do online quotes is not a skill that can be learned overnight. It takes a lot of time to learn, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience in the tattoo removal process or experience for pricing services based on certain information.
This may mean you will have to have your technicians trained in pricing and digital customer experience — fields in which they tend to have minimal experience — which can be a hefty investment in time and involve trial and error.
Some clinics find the extra training and the risks involved (i.e., a quote that is much lower than it should be, resulting in a very unhappy customer when they get their first bill) not worth going through and will hire an in-house specialist who has skills in all of these areas. It might take time to find that specialist, but some feel it’s time worth spending.
Con: Cannot Gauge the Number of Tattoo Removal Sessions with 100% Accuracy
Even the most experienced in-house specialist may not be able to accurately determine the number of sessions a client needs. A photo of the tattoo can be very helpful but may not give all the needed information, particularly when it comes to size or ink colors. Some colors don’t appear quite right in photos due to poor lighting, which can affect the number of sessions and the cost, too.
Some prospects may not be able to provide all the information accurately, either — what one person considers to be dry skin or oily skin may not accurately report which one they have. They might not know the exact types of inks used. Maybe they’ve forgotten how long ago they got the tattoo.
It may be wise to include a disclaimer somewhere on your website or social media profiles regarding the accuracy of online quotes as well as at the start of the quoting process.
Physical Appointments for Tattoo Removal
Most tattoo removal clinics rely on in-person consultations with leads, which involve a lead coming into their physical location for a quote. This is the more traditional and likely most common model for tattoo removal quotes.
Pro: In-Person Quotes are More Accurate
Seeing a tattoo in-person gives you all of the information you need for a quote right off the bat. You’ll be able to see the tattoo’s size, colors, and estimate its age due to fading with your own eyes, along with the client’s skin type and color. Because you have all of the information you need right away and have accurate information, you’ll be able to provide a more accurate quote and estimate of the number of removal sessions.
Pro: Easier to Close
Because these leads are more likely to go through with your clinic’s tattoo removal service, it usually doesn’t take nearly as much work or effort to get the lead to close. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put in the effort, though — a prospect can get a quote in-person and still decide to not go through with it, which is a massive waste of time on your end that could have been better spent on trying to get other leads to go with the treatment.
One way to “sweeten the deal” is to say you can start the first session right there and then if they’re ready to start the process. Plus, that makes physical appointments worth the time for you and the lead.
Pro: High-Quality Leads
The leads who show up for a physical appointment are probably committed to getting their tattoo removed. They had to schedule the appointment, which means they’ve probably reviewed your website and social media accounts and were happy with what they found. These prospects are more likely to commit to your removal process than many of those who are shopping around online for digital quotes.
Con: Lower Lead Volume
With physical appointments, the number of leads will potentially be lower than they would be by relying on an online quote model. This is due in part to things like scheduling an appointment, travel time, and transportation. Online quotes are easier to get from anywhere, making it more accessible for more leads to get quotes. However, even with the possibility of lower lead volume, you’re probably going to be dealing with higher quality leads who are more likely to stick with you for their tattoo removal treatment.
Con: Appointment Scheduling and Travel
For people with busy work schedules or less-than-reliable methods of transportation, having to go to a physical location at a set time can be tricky. Depending on where a prospect lives can also make physical appointments less appealing and difficult to attend, particularly those living in rural areas who have to drive several miles out to a tattoo removal clinic.
Con: Slower Process
Compared to online quotes, the in-person physical appointment quote process takes more time. On the lead’s end of things, they have to take time out of their day to travel to your clinic’s physical location. It also requires more time spent on your end as you prepare your clinic for the lead’s arrival.
Which Quote Model Should My Tattoo Removal Business Use?
There is no cut-and-dry answer to this question. The quote model you choose should play to your clinic’s strengths. If you’re using a physical appointment model and have no problem getting leads to become clients, stick with it. If you’ve found success with the high volume, lower quality lead online quote model, keep going with it.
You do not have to choose one quote model over the other. You can combine both models to reap the benefits of each one.
Still, it might be a good idea to test out the online quote model and see how it goes. It’s a newer model that helps you will receive a higher volume of leads compared to the traditional physical appointment model. Plus, if you implement a solid digital marketing strategy for your tattoo removal clinic with online quotes, it’s likely you may start to get more high quality leads.
Contact Us for More Information
At OppGen, we create customized digital marketing plans for each and every one of our clients that will play to their strengths and weaknesses. We can help your tattoo removal business start marketing online for both online quotes and physical appointments and successfully find high quality leads and sift through the lower quality ones.
For more information about how we can improve your lead generation strategy with digital marketing, contact us today.
