Dr. Ran Stark, Live at The Aesthetic Meeting 2023

Max Baybak

Hello, hello out there. Max here, co-founder and chief growth officer at Influx Marketing, and today we're at the Aesthetic Society meeting here at the Miami Beach Convention Center. This is the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Every year I walk the aisles and I end up spending most of my time chatting with industry peers and marketing-minded physicians, and I always walk away really feeling like I have my finger on the pulse of what's happening in our space.

So this year I thought it'd be fun to take it a step further and have those same discussions that I always find myself having, but do it in a podcast format so that I can bring them to you at home. So if you're like me and you want to be dialed in on what's happening within the world of patient acquisition and digital marketing for aesthetic practices, follow along, and I hope to bring you some valuable insights through these conversations that you can use to take your practice to the next level.

Can't take myself seriously. All right, let's roll with it.

All right, we're back, and I'm now joined by Dr. Ran Stark from Philadelphia, who's also happens to be a lovely client of ours. Dr. Stark, thank you so much for joining us.

Dr. Ran Stark

Thanks for having me so much.

Max Baybak

Yes, I—I, um, I'm really—I'm excited when I get the opportunity to interview a surgeon, particularly one of our clients. I've been interviewing people from industry, um, from all around the show, people I've just met, people I've known. Um, but the whole purpose of this show is to talk about marketing, but I think we can't forget, when we talk about marketing, to make sure that we talk to the people who are actually on the ground, whether that's your team, but also you have—you have obviously a perspective on this.

So when—so I really want to pick your brain on your perspective from the other side of marketing. We're doing it over here, you know, behind the screen, and you're actually seeing the patients. So let's talk about that a little bit today. But if you wouldn't mind, would you just start by just telling us a little bit about your background and, and your practice focus and so forth?

Dr. Ran Stark

Sure, thanks. Um, so I'm a double board certified plastic surgeon. I did, uh, five years of general surgery, then three years of plastic surgery at UT Southwestern, and then I did another aesthetic fellowship. Currently my practice primarily is, uh, cosmetic—99%. I do a lot of breast, body, as well as face in the Philadelphia area.

Max Baybak

Beautiful. So now let's talk about your kind of career arc.

Dr. Ran Stark

Yep.

Max Baybak

You first—first began by joining a practice, is that right, in the area?

Dr. Ran Stark

Yes. So, uh, you know, I did a natural course that a lot of other young plastic surgeons do. I did a fellowship with somebody, it kind of matured into being an associate in the practice, and then we decided to part ways.

Max Baybak

Okay. And what—so that's when you went into solo practice.

Dr. Ran Stark

So at that point I had to, uh, establish my own practice, and, uh, I built up my own practice, um, started about three years ago.

Max Baybak

Okay, now, yeah, so you're three years into solo practice. So this is very interesting for us to talk about, and I know some of the story arc and I wanna—I wanna others to hear it too. But, uh, when you say you kind of followed a pretty typical path—joining another practice is pretty typical, but kind of parting ways and going into solo practice a few years into that is maybe not so typical, right?

Dr. Ran Stark

It's not typical, but, you know, a lot of times, you know, two plastic surgeons, you know—plastic surgeons naturally, you know, we're type A personalities, we're very entrepreneurial, we want to grow and, you know, pursue with our goals. So, you know, we came to agreement that's better for me to start my own practice. But, you know, when you hit the road and you're by yourself, you have to think of what do you have to do next, you know. And it's a very big accomplishment to open up a practice, you know, it's not a small thing.

Max Baybak

So some people, they like joining other practices and already having that infrastructure around you, you know. Of course it makes sense, but there's trade-offs both ways. So it must have been a daunting transition.

Dr. Ran Stark

It was, uh, built with a lot of experiences, but, you know, I reached out to specific people that helped me, you know, along the path. You know, it's how I found Influx as well.

Max Baybak

Yeah.

Dr. Ran Stark

Um, and I think it's okay to reach out to consultants, and not just one—maybe multiple consultants, to get different perspectives, um, and listen to what each one has to say.

Max Baybak

Yeah, yeah, I know some of the people we've worked with, and I think you—it seems like you've done a good job of building a support group around you.

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah.

Max Baybak

Which I imagine is so crucial if you're gonna go into solo practice.

Dr. Ran Stark

It is, it is.

Max Baybak

Right, kind of having a—a support team. I know that's also what the Society—we're here at the Aesthetic Meeting, that's what that's about too, right? Working with people from around the country that are not necessarily, right, your—your neighbor, and you can kind of lean on each other.

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah. And that's what's great about coming to the Aesthetic Society: you see your friends, uh, other past residents, and, you know, it's a big network, and it's—it's nice to hear and talk to people, you know. Sometimes you're by yourself and you think you're the only person going through these struggles, and to everyone's surprise, you're not—everyone has the same struggles, you know. Um, and it's nice to hear other people's opinion: "Oh, I do this, I do that. Talk to, you know, my guy." "No, talk to my guy." So it's a lot of fun.

Max Baybak

That's great. Um, yeah, we interviewed, uh, Sue, the president—yes—oh, I'm sorry, not the president but the chairman, uh, chairperson of, uh, of the Aesthetic Society, and she really—on The Technology of Beauty, which is Dr. Grant Stevens' podcast that we produce—and I really got a lot of insight into, she's very passionate, and how passionate they are about helping build that support group. And I thought—when I could really see the value—and this unique, it's a unique career, being especially a surgeon in solo practice, and just how valuable it is to have that group of peers. So I love seeing it from afar, just the brotherhood, you know.

Dr. Ran Stark

It's, yeah.

Max Baybak

Um, so now you have the solo practice. Looking back, do you regret it? How do you feel about it? Do you—are you happy you made that transition? I think I know the answer, but I want you to tell us.

Dr. Ran Stark

I'm very happy I made the transition. Um, you know, when it happens you're a little worried how you're going to make it, but looking back at it now, it was the best decision I ever made. Um, it's amazing to see growing my practice and how we've developed and evolved, and, um, how everything just kind of falls into place. Um, especially when you have a good marketing team behind you. Thank you, Influx.

Max Baybak

Thank you very much. I know there's a lot that goes into it. I'm glad that we can be one of those ingredients that has—that you will attribute some of the—the success to, but I know there's a lot, a lot that goes into it. How is it going now that you, you know, three years into it? How are things in practice?

Dr. Ran Stark

So the practice is very strong. Um, you know, we're busy. Uh, it took time to grow, but, uh, you know, our staff is, you know—we have a good amount of staff, about 10, 10, 12 employees. Uh, we, you know, we see on average, you know, about 15 to 20 new patients a week. Um, we have a great, um, you know, conversion rate. Um, you know, and like I said, you have to have the support network, right?

So yes, we use Influx as our marketing team, and, you know, I think what's good about—when you're young, you go to a marketing team and you're like, "I want to be the number one on the page." Well, you know, I use two other companies before I join Influx, you know, and, you know, they promised you, "Yes, I—I can get you number one," but in reality that's not true, you know. Uh, what I've learned is it takes time, right? Everything takes time. It took you time to become a plastic surgeon; well, your marketing is going to take time. Just, you know, trust the process, um, be a good surgeon, be a good person, love your patients, care for your patients, you know, and your practice will evolve.

You know, and we can see, you know, the amount of patients that come in now, uh, whether it's from, you know, Google, you know, search engine optimization, word of mouth. Um, you know, when we look at our numbers, I think we're around 50-50 now, you know—word of mouth and, you know, SEO and other Google things that, you know, and advertising techniques that help. But that's important, you know, and it's, uh, keeping your eyes over the horizon, because it will get better. It's just, you know, persistence.

Max Baybak

Yeah. Uh, well, that's the goal, right, is to shift over time to that word of mouth, to that, uh, reputation, right, and retention, right, loyalty, while still having those other sources but maybe less dependent on those things.

Dr. Ran Stark

Exactly.

Max Baybak

But that's all sage advice: be—just be a good person, be a great surgeon, put in the work, realize it's going to take some time. If I go back to how you were acquiring patients—so when you are, when you are joined another practice, what was the system there? Was it sort of just, once the other schedules were full you got this? I don't know, I'm not—I don't know.

Dr. Ran Stark

So, you know, it was like—I think every, uh, person that joins a practice, you know, they arrange a different system, you know. In the old practice it was, you know, they were nice, they were good. Um, you know, they put me on their website. Um, you know, if I got a lead directed towards me, I got it. But, you know, it was difficult to build a practice, and I understand there's, you know, someone else that was there for 25 years, you know. So a lot of the patients I got were through word of mouth, people directly asking for me. Uh, I wasn't really able to expand my practice more than that, because, uh, the search engine optimization and any kind of advertisement were really focused on, you know, the—the owner of the practice.

Max Baybak

I see. And now, when you went into private practice, what did you—what were the sort of best marketing channels you found for an immediate result to get you new patients now? Because that's kind of the position you're in, right, when you go into solo practice.

Dr. Ran Stark

Right. So, um, you know, with your guidance, you know, Influx, you know, search engine optimization really helped us. Um, we slowly increased, uh, we did, uh, various, you know, techniques with Google Ads. Uh, we found Google Ads to be very productive, but I think—I've used other companies before, when—before I joined Influx, and it wasn't productive. So it's also important that your marketing team understands, uh, how to use those, uh, machines for your benefit.

Um, we do as well as not just external market—internal marketing, uh, through, uh, web email that we send monthly with different, uh, offers, or just not even offers, it's just telling them what we do. Because I think a lot of people do not realize how expansive plastic surgery is. They think of us, oh, just as surgeons. Well, no, you know, we have skin care, we have injectables, we have, you know, different lasers. You know, we offer a huge breadth of opportunity for our patients. So that has helped us tremendously too, just internal marketing as well.

Max Baybak

I couldn't agree more. I was just—uh, we just launched a new website for ourselves. We have a blog on there where I've been writing some—some, you know, some of my thoughts after a decade or more in this space, and I was just writing something about how oftentimes we forget to even just tell people that we do something, and that is enough to get them to convert. But they didn't even know, they weren't aware. We have to get them past the awareness, right, stage. And it doesn't have to be high pressure, it doesn't have to be salesy, it's just, "Hey, by the way, you know—"

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, we do—we do X, Y, and Z, right? It's like, you know, a lot of my patients I operate on, like, "Oh, I didn't know that, you know, you guys do the Halo or the Moxi laser," you know. Because it's not like—it's not a restaurant with a menu, you know, where we try to give a, you know, that kind of Ritz-Carlton feel, you know. We want to make our patients feel special when they walk in the door. I'm not just gonna throw a menu at you, you know. So, you know, we want our patients comfortable, you know, so sometimes you just have to offer to them, like, the white glove service.

Max Baybak

Yeah, make sure. And—and then there's all kinds of things you can do to make sure you're offering the right thing to the right person at the right time, kind of tailor that, right? Internal marketing I think is a—is an area where there's opportunities left on the table, and I think we're seeing some cool innovation happening there.

Dr. Ran Stark

Yes.

Max Baybak

Um, more technology, not just the printed—stacks and stacks of printed stuff at the front desk. That's not gonna cut it now, right?

Dr. Ran Stark

Right now, so there's so much technology out there, and there's so many things for different people, you know. Before we weren't able to offer, you know, specific patients specific treatments, but now, you know, we can offer such a breadth of different procedures with great results.

Max Baybak

Let me ask you this: in terms of collecting email addresses and opt-in from your patients, is there a process you go through with that, or kind of making sure that you have them, so—so that you can remarket to them and tell them about this?

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, of course. So, you know, any inquiry, uh, that comes in, you know, we ask permission if we can, you know, maintain their email, their contact number, name. So we, you know, if they say—if they approve that, of course we keep it in a database, you know, and we keep it growing. And that's—I think, you know, we forget about that. I think, as a younger physician starting a practice, you know, the most important people are your own patients—all those patients that call, even if they didn't come in to see you, you know, they're still interested.

You know, you'll be amazed how—how many times, you know, maybe a patient didn't come in, but we sent them a marketing, um, brochure of something, and they respond, "Oh, great, you know, now I'm coming in." So don't—every patient that calls your office is, you know, a patient for life. And, you know, as long as they get—you know, you have the right front desk or the right patient care coordinator, they have to ask permission, but it's so important. I think people forget about that, you know: every call that comes in is a potential patient. Whether maybe they're not coming in now, but in a few months they'll come in.

Max Baybak

Yep, yeah, absolutely. And that's—that's, I think, the marketing is moving up the funnel, right, rather than just grab those hot leads. It's like, let's take—take people who are maybe, maybe a little more lukewarm in interest, but let's not forget about them. One day we'll get them in if we continue to market to them, right?

Dr. Ran Stark

And, you know, you asked a young practice—well, that's what's happening now. I keep looking at the amount of patients we have in our database, and in three years, I mean, I think I've close to 7,000 patients, you know. And it's incredible, you know, the amount of patients and the cycling. And, you know, we have the numbers through Influx of, like, how many, you know, searches come in, and those are all potential patients, whether, you know, they're just reading your website, collecting information. You know, you want to cater to all those, and that's a very strong way of growing your practice.

Max Baybak

Absolutely is. And—and I think I'm glad that more and more practices are embracing this, instead of, like I said, just kind of dealing with the lead when it came in, called it once, forget about it. And that ties me to the last thing I want to ask you here, is kind of: do you—do you have any advice for other practices around lead management and follow-up, and kind of how quickly you try to respond to those leads?

Dr. Ran Stark

Right. So lead management is such an important, uh, system, and I think some younger physicians forget about that, right? It's not just the call, calling them back, right? It's a process, right? If they don't answer, what are you going to do, you know? Like, yeah, you're gonna follow up—are you gonna follow up with an email, an SMS, you know? Um, whatever method you have, you have to have a method in place, and, you know, you have to reach out to them.

I always tell my patient care coordinators five to seven times, you know, and stage it over two, three weeks, you know, because maybe they're busy, you know, maybe they just can't answer, maybe they're working, maybe they're with their friends and they don't want to know that they called a plastic surgeon, you know. Good boy. So there's multiple times, and change times in the day that you're calling, or send them an email, you know. Most people respond to an email: "What is it—you know, what is a good time to call you? Thank you for reaching, you know, Stark MD Plastic Surgery. We look forward to speaking to—" Most of them respond.

So it's not giving up, and then, you know, following all the way through with those consults and seeing them. You know, you guys have a great platform on the back of Influx that we use for following patients. There's other programs out there, it's whatever works for your practice, but you have to have a lead management system.

Max Baybak

Couldn't agree more. We still see, unfortunately, the email inbox or the Excel spreadsheet, and it's just, um—it's just the lowest hanging fruit to—to getting, well, more revenue in the door.

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, but exactly. But, you know, some practices, it takes time from—it's technology, right? And sometimes you have, uh, maybe a patient care coordinator that came from a different office, they didn't do it that way, or, you know, they're—they're not familiar with it, and they're familiar with one way. So you have to, you know, be persistent and show them, or, you know, have your people come in and show us how to use it. And that's—that happened in our practice, you know. And now that we use your management system, I mean—I mean, 70 to 80% turnover, you know, that people are signing up for surgery. So it's—it's great, you know.

Max Baybak

Well, I'm glad we can be a part of that. Before we wrap it up here—and I really appreciate you spending some time with me—uh, you're three years into solo practice, your—your—you said best decision of your life. For any young surgeons out there considering solo practice, or kind of considering their career arc, do you have any—any key takeaways or advice you would—doesn't have to be marketing related, although that's kind of our topic here—but that you would want to leave them with?

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, it's, you know, it's so funny, right, before I, you know, uh, sat down, I was talking to another plastic surgeon, uh, who was thinking of leaving a practice, and she asked me, you know, "How do you decide?" And I said, I think—I think the most important thing you need to do is decide where do you want to live, where do you want to set your roots, and where are you comfortable setting up a practice. Because it's not just, oh, let's go to Miami because it's a hot town, you know. It doesn't matter where you set up a practice. If that's where you want to live and you feel comfortable with that area, you're—and you love what you do and you're persistent at what you do, you'll be successful.

Max Baybak

I think that's—there's a lot of power in that simplicity, yeah, of making the decision first around what you're gonna—what's gonna be right for you, instead of trying to find maybe an untapped town or—

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, exactly, like a hot town.

Max Baybak

And whatever one—either one.

Dr. Ran Stark

Look, you gotta do your research, you know. You know, you don't want to open up, you know, right next door to a thriving practice, of course, who already is well established in town, you know. You have to make those decisions for yourself, like, what is the best area. And of course, even though I, you know, I grew up in the Philadelphia area, my family's in the Philadelphia area, my wife was a physician at CHOP, you know, we knew that we wanted to be in that area. So I'll know I make it work, but, you know, I had to find the right place to make it within that—within that area.

Max Baybak

Yeah, well, I think, again, powerful advice, to sort of put your long-term happiness first and build around that, right?

Dr. Ran Stark

Yeah, because that'll make you survive.

Max Baybak

Yeah, yeah, it's really strong, a really, really good advice. Thank you so much, Dr. Stark, for spending time with us. I could talk to you forever, but I know you—you're—

Dr. Ran Stark

We should do this more.

Max Baybak

We will. We—I promise you, we'll do it again. Thank you so much, and enjoy the rest of the meeting.

Dr. Ran Stark

Great, thanks for having me.

Max Baybak

Of course. Awesome.

Dr. Ran Stark

My pleasure.