Sponsored by BTL Aesthetics
Renowned for safe, effective, non-invasive aesthetic medical devices whose development and growth are based on solid science, BTL (Boston, Mass.) also boasts top-line customer 
support and marketing. Their devices use minimal to no consumables and pay for themselves rapidly due to the combination of manageable operating costs and appeal – an obvious product of safety, efficacy and convenience that both patients and practitioners love. Together with their suite of market-driving platforms, this winning combination is no better demonstrated than through the success of Emsculpt Neo®.
Emsculpt Neo is the next generation of Emsculpt (now commonly referred to as Emsculpt Classic®), which marries the powerful high intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) muscle building technology with radiofrequency (RF) energy within a single handpiece. HIFEM induces thousands of supramaximal muscle contractions in a 30-minute treatment session, with applicators and algorithms for virtually any body part (abdomen, buttocks, arms, thighs, calves and lateral abdomen) to strengthen both core and extremity musculature. While Emsculpt Classic’s HIFEM was proven to induce significant muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia,1,2,3 the marriage of this groundbreaking technology with RF, as seen in Emsculpt Neo, provides greater outcomes, also shown in the literature.4
The result is a device that non-invasively reduces localized adiposity by causing fat cell death, while simultaneously improving underlying musculature. The platform and its treatments virtually sell themselves. Zach Dancel, owner of Nava Health and Vitality Center (Columbia, Md.), shared that they did $99,000 at an Emsculpt Neo bus tour event they held last summer. “Emsculpt technology was new to our practice, so we pushed a lot of internal marketing, which drove a lot of our success,” he said.
The Nava Health clinic has two Emsculpt Neo platforms as well as Emsella. “Melting fat and building muscle in a painless, non-invasive way is hugely appealing, and Emsculpt truly delivers that,” Mr. Dancel expressed. “One simply cannot do in the gym what this device does. People are treated and can go right back to their 
lives.”
Nava Health is all about wellness, making Emsculpt and HIFEM technology perfect for the clinic. “We serve a varied clientele, more than just the aesthetic patient,” Mr. Dancel continued. “Many come in for wellness improvement. Because of their age or other factors, they cannot do the exercises, certainly not enough to get the enhanced physical functionality seen with this treatment. It is hard to put into words how it improves their overall function and quality of life, especially for older patients whose bodies and joints cannot easily tolerate so much physical exercise. Quality of life goes up, the chance of falling or other injury goes down.”
The tour bus itself is wrapped with visual advertising. It carries an enthusiastic cadre of motivated, trained staff to help explain things and get customers excited, as well as several devices on which attendees can receive treatments. They set up tents, signs, posters and more. The practice, supported by the stop, opens its doors to offer treatments as well, exposing as many as possible to the wonders of Emsculpt technology, and is encouraged to offer specials concurrently to drive sales.
“The bus parks nearby and everybody gets treated to the experience. They also get a free treatment before purchasing a treatment package. Locals know it is coming, so they get excited about the specials we offer with the tour,” explained Lacey Edwards, manager of Smart Skin Medspa (Homewood, Ala.). “Everyone, including patients and staff, gets swept up in the excitement. It is fun for everyone and is a massive marketing opportunity for us. We are deluged with testimonials and can pump up the hype before, during and after the event through social media.”
She added that they had just finished their fourth bus tour event and had to set up presales because it was so popular. “With last year’s bus tour stop, we did $80,000, and this year we did $104,000. We have had amazing results with Emsculpt Neo, Emsculpt Classic, Emsella and Cellutone. This has blown up our patient base in every demographic, including males, which in turn exposes them to our other offerings.”
By building awareness of Emsculpt among the general public, providing marketing solutions and support to its customer base, BTL has generated buzz that has helped build practices even as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on. Jackie Pantalone, certified professional accountant (CPA) of Studio Sculpt (Clawson, Mich.), is also chief financial officer of an automotive engineering company and a self-described health & wellness junkie who started a medspa to bring wellness to women 
and others in her area. “In my research I was totally blown away by what Emsculpt technology brought to the medical, aesthetic, and wellness arena with how far ahead it is compared to everything else out there,” she expressed.
Ms. Pantalone linked up with sports medicine specialist John Santa Ana, DO, who opened a small boutique but had to shut down for four months right after opening due to COVID. “When we were able to reopen, everyone was so sick of COVID and had not been able to get to the gym, so we were able to build a very robust business and grow from there,” Ms. Pantalone shared. “We are currently among the top three Emsculpt Neo accounts, which is bizarre to me because I still work my full-time job. This success compelled BTL to send Donna D’Errico as a celebrity guest for our bus tour stop last year. We made it a Baywatch-themed beach party, which generated a lot of buzz for a small town 45 minutes outside of Detroit. We had every machine from the bus and in our practice going the whole time, and it generated a lot of business both on the spot and online afterward. We really appreciate the direct-to-consumer marketing BTL has done throughout. It helped our business because the device’s scientific foundation and proven success brought the legitimacy we needed to get our practice going. A lot of the heavy lifting was already done to bring local patients to us.”
Emsculpt technology, and the bus tour, are giving a boost to small town practices everywhere. Sam R. Patel, MD, MBA, founder and CEO of LIV Wellness Lounge (La Salle, Ill.), used Emsculpt Classic, Neo, Emsella, and others, as practice builders. Dr. Patel also relied on BTL’s marketing support to promote his new practice, which opened in January 2021. “We are in a town of around 9,000 about two hours from Chicago, with many farming and blue-collar workers, so we are not ‘big city.’ Bringing a decked-out tour bus with that kind of excitement and sense of exclusivity to the area was incredibly appealing to our potential patient base. It brought us a ton of publicity and attention,” he expressed.
“BTL devices were the first we brought into our practice, so we leveraged the bus tour along with their marketing support to raise awareness through news, radio and social media,” Dr. Patel continued. “On a Saturday, we were able to shut down the block and have a party, get local businesses involved, and make it a huge event for the entire town. It was almost a health and wellness fair. Other companies involved with us also came out and set up tents. More than 500 people showed up, and we 
booked more than $70,000 in business within a few hours.”
“Unlike big city practices which focus on the aesthetic side, we are very much the opposite,” Dr. Patel explained. “Our niche is health and wellness. We offer ‘mommy makeovers’ to improve abdominal separation, reduce stubborn fat, and restore strength. We help people with rehab after injuries, improve urinary incontinence, and provide functional and quality of life improvement for older people. That is what attracts our patients, and it is fantastic.”
Rob Miracle is the practice manager at Lumera Regenerative Medicine (Tualatin, Ore.). “This practice is about two years old, we opened in June 2020, and within two weeks, we had our first bus tour event. We were just beginning to build our patient base as COVID was becoming a full-blown pandemic, so it was kind of unusual, but Emsculpt allowed us to treat without too much direct contact. We are near two busy thoroughfares, so we had a lot of visibility, and many people just showed up. The machines in the bus and ours in the office were constantly running to provide a free treatment to everyone who came.”
People hung around and got to know the practice, along with Rob’s wife and Lumera’s medical director, Roberta Huang, MD. “The majority of these people are still clients relying on our Emsculpt and Emtone devices who bought their first treatment package, kept coming back, bought long-term packages, had other body parts treated and referred friends. These devices deliver and have driven those people who are committed to fitness, health 
and wellness to our practice, motivating them to work harder and maintain health and well-being while losing stubborn inches. This fits in well with our whole-health mission and vision for the practice, and helps us do what we do best: counsel patients on how to best achieve and maintain the health and quality of life they desire.”
The tour’s overall result is best summed up with two words: excitement and conversion. “The bus tour is hype to drive awareness,” said Sally Razo, manager of The Beauty Crew Institute of Medical Aesthetics (Upland, Calif.). “It gets people interested and excited, compelling them to act. Even when people had not heard of the technology, they stopped in because they wanted to see what the buzz was all about. We actually had to limit the turnout because we wouldn’t be able to accommodate the number of people who wanted to participate.” To do this, Sally instituted a paid RSVP program, where people paid a deposit for the chance to be a part of the action. “That gave us that extra level of commitment from the patients that said, ‘Hey, I will be there,’ heightening anticipation and enthusiasm to produce sales, which is exactly what happened. Existing patients brought friends with them. I recall that we were able to convert about 80% of those who attended to purchase packages; I had several clients that bought more than one, and we have been easily able to retain those patients.”
As a medical spa, The Beauty Crew Institute caters to an aesthetics-driven clientele, according to Ms. Razo, but patients find the wellness aspect of treatment appealing also. “At least 90% of our clients exercise regularly and practice a healthy lifestyle but want something to put them over that edge to get them to the next level, so they are easily motivated by what Emsculpt technology can do,” she explained. “When I talk to them about how it can jump-start their healthy lifestyle, help them look and feel better, and improve wellness, that grabs and keeps their attention.”
This excitement, she added, is what makes patients so eager to purchase memberships offered by the spa, making them long-term clients. “Just as with dieting or regular exercise, if you stop, you will slide back. You need to maintain what you worked for. Our membership program allows them to come back for maintenance treatments at a discounted rate because they have already invested in the initial package. It is essential, and most people end up purchasing a membership. This gives us an infusion of cash in the short run and continuous cash flow over time. Patients can maintain their results and serve as walking advertisements for what we do.”
References:
1. Katz B., Bard R., Goldfarb R., Shiloh A., Kenolova D. Ultrasound assessment of subcutaneous abdominal fat thickness after treatments with a high-intensity focused electromagnetic field device: a multicenter study. Dermatol Surg 2019 Dec;45(12):1542-1548.
2. Duncan D, Dinev I. Noninvasive induction of muscle fiber hypertrophy and hyperplasia: effects of high- intensity focused electromagnetic field evaluated in an in-vivo porcine model: a pilot study. Aesthet Surg J 2020 Apr;40(5):568-574.
3. Kent DE, Jacob CI. Computed tomography (CT) based evidence of simultaneous changes in human adipose and muscle tissues following a high-intensity focused electromagnetic field (HIFEM) application: a new method for non-invasive body sculpting. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019 Nov 1;18(11):1098-1102.
4. Palm M, Kinney B, Halaas Y. Simultaneous emission of synchronized radiofrequency and HIFEM energy for treatment of lateral thighs: interim results of the MRI multicenter study. Presented at: 40th Annual Conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS) virtual meeting, May 15 – 16 2021.
