How Sperling Dermatology converted 10,000 people in 3 days with AskNeo

Our CEO Lio Slama had a chance to talk to Eitan Katz, Director of Marketing at Sperling Dermatology and ask about how Neo helped them propel their engagement strategy to the best it could be.

Why AskNeo?

Skincare is a sensitive subject, and Sperling Dermatology saw that customers were a little apprehensive about talking about such sensitive things over the phone or through email. Seeing a major way to improve relationships with those on their mailing list, Eitan decided it was time to try out SMS as a way to communicate with those who love their treatments.

“It felt like I hit the jackpot when I found Neo; it was like a light bulb went off!”

After trying a couple of other SMS marketing tools, Sperling Dermatology chose AskNeo because of our two way capabilities, segmentation, and the ability to make customers feel as safe as possible. With a 250x ROI and a gain of $250,000 using AskNeo, Sperling Dermatology knows that they made the right decision..

Mass Broadcast to One-to-One

One of Eitan’s favorite features about AskNeo is how easy it is to create one-to-one communication at scale. Every broadcasted message sent is instantly transformed into a one-to-one conversation. All messages between the brand and the consumer are organized into one thread. These threads contain all the messages exchanged between the brand and the consumer.

“[Before neo] we have not been able to find a really good solution that covers the two main things about text marketing, broadcasting to a specific group of people, and the ability to transition broadcasts into 1:1 messaging. I saw Neo and immediately said that’s what I need!”

These individual conversation threads work to Eitan’s advantage. He now has a history between the brand and consumers that is always available, waiting to be referenced if need be. Sperling Dermatology is never more than a text away, and that goes for all branches of the company. Whether it be customer service, help from a doctor, or the front desk to schedule appointments with their physical or mobile location; the shared inbox feature enables Eitan to delegate the texts he receives as he is able to transfer the conversation to whichever department can help the customer the most.

People’s phone numbers are unique identifiers of them, and help Sperling develop emotional relationships with those who love what they do. These relationships built on trust are what drive people to come back to Sperling Dermatology.

SMS Drives Sales

Looking at Sperling Dermatology’s digital footprint their phone number is everywhere. Eitan makes sure to put it on their website, shopify, social media pages, and anywhere else you read about Sperling Dermatology. They want everyone to know that all you need to do if you have a question is text them; because Eitan knows SMS drives sales.

“We added Neo to our shopify pages saying if you need us text us, which led to some high intense people that were very close to buying and we converted probably 80% of them”

Eitan uses AskNeo as a part of other tools such as mailchimp, social media, and email to interact with people; when these systems work together Eitan is enabled to follow up an email sent a couple of weeks ago saying “Hey did you see our 20% off offer?” through SMS. Most of the time the answer is no and Eitan has now put himself in the position to help this person as much as he can. If someone has credit with Sperling Dermatology, Eitan can reach out saying “We see you have x amount of credit left, this treatment you asked about is around that price and we have some appointments available. Do you have any questions we can answer?”

SMS eliminates the formality of email, and enables Eitan to directly talk to his customers and point them in the right direction of what services they need.

Segmentation

Eitan struggled with other SMS platforms as they had problems following up with customers individually after broadcasting a message to thousands of people. With AskNeo, Eitan segments all of his customers with as many colorful tags as he needs; including where they live, what services they are interested in, if they have credit with Sperling Dermatology, or their last purchase!

“We had a lot of success because obviously texting is more engaging than any other medium. If you do it well, it's far more engaging.”

For Eitan, texting well means making sure every text a customer gets is relevant to them. With segmentation, he can send out a text to all the people in his local area about open appointments or a coupon for a certain type of treatment to everyone that has asked about it. Segmentation is how Sperling Dermatology creates personalization for their customers, no one gets an SMS from Eitan that is random. This personalization is what builds brand authenticity and a positive emotional connection with consumers, helping create sales at scale.

A Seamless Experience

Sperling Dermatology operates in both the physical and digital space. Their business has multiple different branches, both physically and online, and has a large reach that has to be organized to be optimized. AskNeo keeps them organized by centralizing sales, marketing, and customer success all under one feed. Combined with singular conversation threads per person, Eitan’s business is now more efficient than ever before, enabling him to spend more time building relationships with those that want his help.

“We sell medical products, in a world without Neo we might lose customers because they don’t really know what they need”

For a product as complicated as cosmetic dermatology can get at times, any help Eitan can give he wants to. Sperling Dermatology can recieve pictures of peoples skin and recommend treatment appropriately. Without AskNeo, this process will have taken a couple of days from scheduling an appointment to actually getting an opinion. With AskNeo, Eitan will have helped out someone and pointed them in the right direction in a matter of seconds. The ability to accomplish these goals without the customer ever having to get on a zoom or phone call is a convenience they will always remember. It is the most seamless experience possible between the digital aspect of wellness and the physical aspect of getting treatment.

Consumers need instant replies and a trust with the brand they are interacting with. Sperling Dermatology builds trust through these quick replies and specific, helpful guidance they can give at any time. These relationships built are ones that result in people who always turn to Sperling for their wellness needs.