Three prices for the same treatment
A client books a skin booster treatment online at one price. When they arrive, the treatment menu at reception shows a higher one, because you updated prices in spring. Your website still shows last year's figure. An old Instagram highlight shows an introductory offer that ended months ago.
The client is polite about it, but they feel misled, and reception has to decide on the spot which price to honour. It is the third time this month.
Why prices drift
Prices live in several places, updated by different people at different times, and nothing ties them together.
- Website pricing page edited by hand, or by a web designer when they get round to it.
- Booking system prices updated separately.
- Printed menus at reception reprinted occasionally.
- Offers posted on social media and never taken down.
- Course, membership and 'from' prices that depend on the base price.
Advertising prices for prescription-only treatments is also restricted, so how and where toxin prices appear needs care. That is for you and your adviser; the system should make it easy to follow.
What inconsistent prices cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Different prices at booking and checkout | Awkward conversations and honoured lower prices |
| Out-of-date website | Clients quoting old prices |
| Expired offers still visible | Demands for deals that ended |
| Course prices not updated | Courses sold below intended value |
| No price history | Unclear what a client was quoted at the time |
Clients comparing clinics notice inconsistency. It makes a clinic look careless, which is the opposite of what anyone wants from someone holding a needle.
One price list, pushed everywhere
- A master price list for every treatment, course and membership, with effective dates, held in one place.
- Your website's price page generated from it automatically, whether it is WordPress or another platform with an API.
- Your booking system updated from it through its API where possible, so online prices match.
- Derived prices (courses, 'from' prices, member prices) calculated from the base price by your rules.
- Offers set with start and end dates, so they appear and disappear on time.
- A checklist of places that still need a manual update, such as printed menus or pinned social posts, each time prices change.
- A dated history of prices, so you can see what any treatment cost on any day.
Prescription-only treatments can be kept off public pages if your adviser recommends, while still being priced correctly in your booking system.
What your pricing looks like after
When you change a price, it changes on the website and in the booking system at the same moment, from the same list. Offers end when they are meant to. Reception can check what a client was quoted and when.
The awkward conversation at checkout about which price is right stops happening.
Planning a price rise becomes less daunting as well. You can set new prices with a future effective date, check the derived course and membership figures before they go live, and let every channel switch over together on the day, rather than spending an evening updating each one.
Signs you have outgrown the workaround
- Your website and booking system show different prices.
- Clients have quoted old prices back to you.
- Expired offers are still visible somewhere.
- Price changes take days to reach every channel.
- You cannot say what a treatment cost on a given date.