Ep. 21 – How to Keep Clients Coming Back to Your Med Spa (with Kerri Hellwig)

A Deep Dive Into Client Retention, Experience Design, and Membership Strategy for Med Spas

What makes clients stay loyal to a med spa — even with dozens of competitors around them? Why do some practices generate consistent repeat revenue while others constantly struggle with churn?

In Episode 21 of The Patient Magnet, host Jared Rhorer of Aesthetic Conversion sits down with Kerri Hellwig, a seasoned aesthetic business strategist and owner of Her Vibe Studio, to explore the systems, psychology, and operational principles behind creating loyal, returning clients.

This episode is packed with insights med spa owners wish they had years ago — from onboarding flow, to customer experience, to memberships, to the importance of hospitality and emotional retention. This blog breaks down the full conversation, adds expert commentary, and shows how these principles improve Medspa SEO, medspa digital marketing, and overall practice growth.

▶️ Watch the Full Episode on YouTube

Retention Is the Real Profit Center of Any Med Spa

Marketing brings clients in the door, but retention is what makes a med spa profitable.
Jared and Kerri open Episode 21 by emphasizing what many practices overlook:

Client retention is far more valuable than client acquisition.

Aesthetic providers pour money into ads, Medspa SEO, medspa digital marketing campaigns, and medspa web design — but often fail to optimize the client experience, which is the true engine of repeat visits.

Kerri explains that the most successful med spas operate like high-touch hospitality businesses, not procedure factories. The result? Not only do clients return more often — they spend more, refer more, and stay longer.

Key Takeaway 1: Most Med Spas Think They Have a Retention Problem — But They Actually Have an Onboarding Problem

Kerri makes one of the most powerful statements in the episode:

“If you don’t onboard clients correctly, they won’t stay — no matter how great your treatments are.”

What strong onboarding looks like (according to the episode):

A clear explanation of the client’s aesthetic journey
Setting expectations around timelines, skin cycles, and maintenance
Creating a customized plan that clients feel involved in
Building trust early through education
Making sure every client knows what comes next before they leave

Jared

Jared highlights that Aesthetic Conversion often sees this gap when consulting with practices: clients love the provider, but the practice doesn’t have a structured retention workflow.

Why onboarding affects your medspa marketing

Poor onboarding makes retention unpredictable — which impacts:

Revenue forecasting
Membership adoption
Repeat bookings
Online reviews
Word-of-mouth referrals
Conversion rate optimization (web & in-practice)

Aesthetic Conversion stresses that onboarding isn’t just a front-desk task — it’s a core component of Med Spa Digital Marketing, because retention results become your proof of success.

Key Takeaway 2: Hospitality Is More Important Than “Selling”

Kerri comes from a hospitality background, and she emphasizes:

“People don’t remember the treatment — they remember how they felt in your presence.”

This echoes one of Aesthetic Conversion’s main teachings: emotion creates retention.

Hospitality in a med spa means:

Remembering personal details
Making clients feel known, not processed
Clear pre- and post-care communication
Warm, consistent tone from the entire team
A sensory experience (music, smell, lighting, flow)
Predictable customer service standards

Kerri says the med spas that retain best are the ones where clients feel cared for, not rushed. This is why the “vibe” of the practice — culture, energy, and brand personality — must be intentionally designed.

This also ties directly into medspa web design and digital touch points. The same warmth, clarity, and experience must carry through your website, emails, and online booking system.

Key Takeaway 3: Consistency Across Your Entire Brand Is What Builds Trust

One of the strongest themes in Episode 21 is consistency:

Consistent messaging
Consistent branding
Consistent follow-up
Consistent experience from provider to provider
Consistent treatment plans
Consistent education

Kerri notes that inconsistency is one of the biggest contributors to client abandonment.

Jared reinforces this from a marketing perspective: when clients feel inconsistency, they assume the practice is disorganized — and disorganization kills retention.

Actionable takeaway from Aesthetic Conversion:

Document your client experience. Create a playbook. Ensure everyone delivers it the same way.

When the practice is consistent, you naturally become perceived as:

More professional
More trustworthy
More premium

Which increases client loyalty and retention.

Key Takeaway 4: Memberships Work — But Only If Designed Around the Client, Not the Practice

Kerri and Jared discuss the right and wrong way to design memberships.
Many practices make the mistake of building memberships around convenient billing — but clients won’t join unless the membership is built around:

Their lifestyle
Their long-term goals
Their maintenance needs
Their budget
Their treatment cycle

Kerri explains:

“Memberships should feel like a natural part of their wellness routine, not a sales pitch.”

Jared adds that high-performing med spas often use Aesthetic Conversion’s membership strategy framework, where:

There is one hero membership offering
The value far exceeds the monthly cost
The membership simplifies the client’s treatment plan
Staff can explain it in less than 30 seconds
Members feel like insiders, not subscribers

This episode makes it clear that memberships are retention accelerators, not revenue hacks.

Key Takeaway 5: Staff Training Determines Your Retention Rate

Kerri breaks down that retention failure rarely comes from the provider — it comes from lack of staff training.

Staff must know:

Exactly how to greet and onboard clients
How to speak about treatment plans
How to educate without overwhelming
How to offer next steps without sounding salesy
How to reinforce your brand voice
How to create a “wow” experience at every visit

Jared ties this back to medspa agencies like Aesthetic Conversion, noting that marketing creates demand — but retention requires operational alignment.

Without trained staff:

Your marketing ROI drops
Your schedule becomes inconsistent
Your online reviews suffer
Your churn rate rises
Your client lifetime value collapses

Kerri emphasizes that the best medspa owners train their staff the way luxury hotels train theirs.

Key Takeaway 6: The Highest Revenue Clients Are the Ones You Already Have

One of the most practical insights Kerri shares is this:

“Your current clients will spend more, more often, if you simply guide them.”

Med spas often chase new client acquisition without realizing their most profitable opportunities are:

Cross-selling complementary treatments
Upselling long-term treatment plans
Recommending seasonal services
Consistent skincare retail
Encouraging maintenance
Hosting events
Offering VIP experiences

Jared points out that retention-based growth creates:

Higher marketing ROI
Larger email lists
Stronger social proof
More referrals
Greater brand stability

From a Medspa SEO perspective, strong retention contributes to:

More reviews
More user-generated content
More repeat visitors on your website
Better conversion signals

All of which improve organic rankings.

Key Takeaway 7: Your Client Retention System Must Be Documented, Not Verbal

Kerri stresses the importance of clear documentation:

Client retention workflows
Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Communication templates
Onboarding scripts
Follow-up flows
Membership pitch structures
Treatment plan templates

This is where med spas often fail — they rely on individual staff intuition rather than predictable systems.

Jared explains that Aesthetic Conversion frequently builds these systems for clients because systemization is the difference between a profitable med spa and a chaotic one.

When your retention system is documented:

New staff can train quickly
The client experience becomes consistent
Your retention percentages rise
Your client lifetime value grows
Your revenue becomes predictable

FAQs Inspired by Episode 21

1. Why is client retention so important for med spas?

Because retention increases lifetime value, stabilizes revenue, boosts referrals, and improves your Medspa SEO performance through better reviews and repeat engagement.

2. What is the biggest mistake med spas make in retention?

An inconsistent or nonexistent onboarding process. Clients leave when they don’t understand their plan, their timeline, or their next step.

3. How does hospitality impact medspa marketing?

Hospitality creates emotional loyalty — which translates into reviews, referrals, repeat visits, and better conversion rates across all marketing channels.

4. Do memberships actually work for med spas?

Yes — but only if they are designed around the client’s goals and lifestyle. Poorly structured memberships fail because they don’t feel practical or valuable.

5. How does staff training affect retention?

Retention depends on consistent experience. If staff are not trained in communication, education, and hospitality, clients lose trust and drift to competitors.

Conclusion: Client Retention Is a System — Not a Guessing Game

Episode 21 of The Patient Magnet makes one thing clear:

✔️ Retention is predictable when the experience is intentional
✔️ Retention increases when the brand is consistent
✔️ Retention skyrockets when staff are trained

Kerri Hellwig and Aesthetic Conversion give med spa owners a blueprint to stop chasing new clients and start nurturing the ones who already love them.