Top 10 Questions to Ask When Buying a Cosmetic Laser

It has been 20 years that I have been in involved in identifying and purchasing cosmetic lasers for spas, medical spas and cosmetic medical practices.  Through the years I have either purchased for my companies or for Acara clients over 50 cosmetic laser devices.  There is nothing like practice to become good at something.  Earlier this week I held a Webinar to share my knowledge and expertise in the buying of cosmetic lasers.  The Webinar, “Top 10 Questions to Ask When Buying a Cosmetic Laser was so well received that I thought I would post the content here on our blog.

To help simplify the process, I focused on the 10 questions you should ask yourself and your vendors.  But before you even get that far your first step is to determine what services you want to offer or should offer based upon your market, competition and positioning.  Once you have that identified you can begin to ask these 10 questions.

1. What Laser companies do I want to receive quotes from?

• Do they offer a device that meets my needs?
• Manufacturer or Distributor?
• How long in business?
• Country of Origin?
• Do they have their own service team?
• Who are thier luminaries?

2. Who can I speak to that has used the same laser for at least 3 years?

• Receive a long list of references
• Check their website for additional references
• Ask the references:

– Service issues?

– Results?

– Ease of use?

– Responsiveness of Service Team?

– Responsiveness of Sales Team?

– Quality of Training?

3. Can I have a demonstration and test drive the laser prior to purchasing?

• Receive a demonstration
• Ask to test drive the laser (not always available or advisable)

4. How adaptable is the system for future upgrades?

• Can additional lasers be placed into the system?
• If you come out with a newer version how do I upgrade?

5. What marketing support do I receive from your company?

• What consumer advertising has been done?
• What marketing support materials are available?
• Is there an online portal to access this information?
• Will you support an event to launch the laser services?

6. Are there any consumables?

• List all consumables and their cost
• What is the cost per treatment

7. What training is included with the purchase of the laser?

• Who does the training?
• Where does the training take place?
• How many on my team will be trained?
• Can I buy additional training?

8. What type of warranty/service agreement is included with the purchase of the laser?

• How long is the warranty for?
• What does the warranty cover?
• Can I purchase additional years of warranty up front at a discount?
• What is the turnaround time for a service call?
• What is the number of service calls per laser per year?
• What is the process to place a service call?
• What internal diagnostics are in the laser to help with the service process

9. Clinical Questions

• What wavelengths or filters are available?
• What are the deliverable spot sizes/footprints?
• What is the range of energies at each deliverable spot size?
• What is the deliverable pulse time in milliseconds at each of those settings?
• What is the wattage ability of the cooling system for the patient?
• What is the cooling range in degrees C?
• Is this a 110v or 220v system and why that choice?

10. How much does the laser cost?

• Make sure you compare quotes “Apples to Apples” (same number of warranty years, etc.)
• Negotiate
• Special offers?
• End of quarter deals?

Make sure you document the answers to all of your questions comparing each company and or device.  Remember you are about to make a very significant investment, you need to give it the appropriate amount of time needed to make a sound business decision.

I’d like to thank Patrick Clark at Medical Laser Dynamics, one of the country’s top laser training companies www.mldynamics.com and Steve Witt at Sciton, one of the worlds highest quality laser manufacturers www.sciton.com.

FXA

MedSpa Insanity

As everyone knows, when someone is having a cardiac arrest they need immediate resuscitation or they will die from a lack of blood circulating oxygen to the brain and vital organs.  The life-blood of a business is cash.  If it stops flowing then a company begins to experience the equivalent of a cardiac arrest leading to its death or basically a business shut-down.

I realize that my analogy is somewhat dramatic but I need to make a point here.  If your MedSpa is losing money each month and draining your financial resources, it is important to act swiftly to resolve the issue.  Do not fool yourself into thinking that it will get better next month, it won’t, unless you are implementing significant changes to the way you operate and market your business.  And don’t get caught in the trap of believing you can bootstrap your way to success, that opportunity passed when you entered your 9th month and still continued to lose money.

If you don’t stop the bleeding your business will die and the only emergency care for a dying business is a very strong dose of solid management and effective marketing, both of which cost money. 

Every week I speak to Medical Spa owners that say they don’t have the resources to implement a marketing program, hire the staff they need or contract the right professionals to help them fix their problems.  Albert Einstein once said  “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.   Is this you?

I will be exploring what it takes to resuscitate a medical spa in need of a business turnaround this Tuesday, January 27th at 1:00 p.m.  Please join me for “Dial 911 Acara for MedSpa Resuscitation” Webinar.

FXA

Acara Exhibits at SpaClique’s Virtual Tradeshow

Online professional networking is exploding!  First we had website resources then came the professional blogs (SpaBIzMD being one of the top medical spa resources…of course) and now we have a very exciting new venue in the Virtual Tradeshow.

SpaClique, a social and professional spa networking site is featuring a Spa Tradeshow online.  Not only can you exhibit but also provide product samples to the virtual attendees.  All very exciting and a very fast, new way to reach your audience.

So, please visit SpaClique and check out the Acara tradeshow exhibit also, take a moment to rate us, it would be greatly appreciated.  You might also consider joining the site, it’s a great way to network with other spa professionals.

FXA