By now, you’ve probably heard that Alle by Allergan Aesthetics is revamping their loyalty and rewards program. Where formerly, patients were given the opportunity to earn and redeem dollars off of their Botox and filler treatments, now Alle is shifting to a model where patients will be earning points for their treatments to be later redeemed for dollars off (similar to Starbucks stars).
While this change poses a shift in how patients are interacting with your practice, staff, and the program, the new initiative seems to offer a better opportunity for patients to earn more rewards and provide a more seamless experience for patients – but there are some key notes practices need to be aware of and consider with this new change.
How Does This Change Communication with Patients?
Since many of your patients may be used to the old program rules, and expect to instantly get $20 off their Botox procedure every visit, it’s important that your staff be well versed in how the new rewards work.
Process Changes In Your Practice
At check in, staff should pull the patient’s Alle account to review any point balances, special “flash” offers, and convey details of how the new program works. Although you may be used to pulling up Alle at check out, reviewing the account at check in gives you the chance to share savings opportunities, giving the patient the incentive to opt for additional treatments if determined they are eligible for supplemental offers. This could be a great opportunity for you to capture incremental same-day treatments if your providers have availability in the schedule.
If a patient is not currently an Alle member, encourage them to join prior to their appointment by visiting alle.com/registration and direct patients to download the Alle app on their smartphone for easy accessibility to track points, manage gift cards, and view offers.
Product Redemptions
Although no direct statement has been circulated by Allergan Aesthetics to aesthetic practices, many are sharing concerns about communication from representatives on how to handle free product redemptions. Some of our third party sources are stating that redemption of products will be reimbursed to the practice in products, i.e. 50 unit vial of Botox redeemed will equal a reimbursed 50 unit vial of Botox, issued to the practice.
Per one third party sources: “Starting on Monday, September 30th, Alle Members will have the ability to apply their points towards complementary product (covered by Allergan Aesthetics)
Practices will also be eligible to earn monthly in-office rebates for meeting Alle Payment Plan.”
Additional Considerations
While this exchange covers the cost of the free product at the practice level, this does not cover the cost of administering the treatment (your payroll and overhead). Additional contacts stated they were encouraged to charge a service charge on the redeemed product (i.e. $200 service fee to administer a 50 unit Botox redemption). Though this would solve for some of the payroll and overhead costs, doing so may likely have an opposite impact on patient experience, discouraging patients from seeking redemption and hindering loyalty (what the program was designed to do).
While the change in the program may come as a surprise, it’s important that the entire team in your medical spa, plastic surgery practice, or dermatology practice understands the details and is able to communicate new updates to patients. Practices should consider any process changes needed to accommodate patients taking advantage of free products. If practices are aware that patients are redeeming services prior to or at the time of the appointment, it’s important that the providers and practice make the most of the time with the patient by revisiting consultations and discovering opportunities to enhance the patient care journey through a comprehensive treatment plan.
Where the previous program gave patients access to instant savings, the new program aims to shift patients to think about future savings encouraging loyalty and frequency of purchases. This could be a great thing for practices who are also working to increase patient loyalty and frequency of visits.
We’ll see if this ultimately is a good change for practices. In the meantime, to ensure a seamless interaction with your patients, it’s important to get your team up to speed right away.
Shatzman, C. (2024, August 14). The Newly Revamped Alle Best Friends Club Means Free Botox For You And Your Bestie. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/celiashatzman/2024/08/14/the-newly-revamped-all-best-friends-club-means-free-botox-for-you-and-your-bestie/
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