Insights from Tracie Duke, General Manager at AesthetiCare Medspa

As we move through the final quarter of the year, your aesthetic practice has a unique opportunity: the seasonal rush, laser-treatment momentum, year-end budgets, and new client demand all align. According to Tracie Duke, General Manager at AesthetiCare Medspa the key to a strong Q4 is going back to basics and laser-season focus.
MINT’s multi-location, high-volume sister clinic generates over $16 million annually, employing 70+ team members, and operating across 3 locations. The clinic’s long-time success has allowed us to fine tune the focus of our end of year initiatives.
Based on nearly 25 years of expertise, here’s how you should be structuring your Q4 priorities—both from the business side and the provider side—in order to end the year strong and set up the coming months for success.

1. Sharpen Business Focus: Transition from Fun to Fundamentals

Tracie points out that when revenue is flowing, it’s easy to get distracted by “fun things” — new décor, over-the-top marketing campaigns, fancy giveaways. In Q4, the message is clear: stop spending on fun things and start focusing on the laser season boom.

At AesthetiCare, we stop and ask “if we weren’t our size, what would we be prioritizing right now?” That question alone brings us back to the fundamentals of generating revenue. One of our main initiatives during this time is to operate as though our only means of gaining new customers is through referrals focusing heavily on amazing treatments, excellent service, and thoughtful follow up. As Tracie says, “We don’t talk enough about the basics.”

  • Shift budget from novelty to ROI-driven activity (laser treatments, upsells, rebookings).
  • Make sure your budget is tight, clear, and directed to revenue-generating activities.
  • Remember, the cost of retaining a current client costs far less than gaining new ones. Leverage those clients for referrals if they truly love what you do.

By refocusing in this way, you position the practice to capitalize on existing clients, returning laser traffic, and referrals — rather than chasing new clients during an already chaotic season.

2. Provider Readiness: Education, Confidence, Retail, and Follow-Up

Your providers are your frontline revenue drivers. Tracie highlights several key questions:

  • Are your providers educated and confident in offering your treatment menu (especially your laser devices which have the highest margin)?
  • Are they comfortable selling retail skincare (and do they know what they need to know about your product lines)?
  • Are they proactively reaching out to clients: scheduling annual consultations, following up on laser treatments, building six-month plans?

Why this matters in Q4:

  • Education + confidence = fewer missed opportunities, smoother consults, higher conversion.
  • Retail is often the “low-hanging fruit” that adds to the bottom line without requiring any treatment downtime.
  • Follow-up and planned continuity keep clients engaged beyond a single service (which helps stabilize revenue through subsequent treatments as you move into slower months).

Action plan for your team:

  • Hold a short refresher training on your devices and service: protocols, contraindications, outcome metrics.
  • Lean into your retail – talk about your top 3 retail SKUs, track each provider’s sales, call out amazing providers.
  • Encourage providers to connect with clients who are due for annual consults or laser follow-ups—set outreach goals.
  • Celebrate small wins (rebookings, adding more of a given treatment, retail upticks) to boost momentum.

3. Back to Basics: Referrals, Customer Service & Front Desk Excellence

Even in a high-performing medspa, Tracie emphasizes that success in Q4 hinges on the foundational elements that are too often taken for granted:

  • Do you operate as if your only growth opportunity comes from referrals? With approximately 80% of our business being referrals/returning clients, it’s a massive initiative at the end of the year.
  • Front-desk, customer service, and service follow-up—these aren’t “nice to have,” they are core. The little things matter: clear consult scheduling, greeting returning clients like VIPs, building customized treatments plans.
  • Ask: If we were smaller (or starting fresh), what would we be doing right now? That question helps remove the size noise and refocus the team on what drives growth.
  • Reinforce to the entire team (front desk, providers, managers) that the “little things” (warm greeting, accurate scheduling, amazing treatment outcomes) add up.

4. Leverage Laser Season and Device Capacity

With over 76 FDA approved devices in play at AesthetiCare, Tracie sees Q4 as prime time for laser and light-based treatments. For your practice, this means:

  • Make sure your laser capacity is scheduled out appropriately — block the prime slots, ensure maintenance is done, ensure your providers are ready.
  • Use this season to upsell from “single treatment” to “plan of 3-6” so that clients remain engaged into the next year.
  • Use referral business and returning clients to schedule out more aggressive treatments (with appropriate downtime) ahead of the new year.
  • Don’t forget: the same basics apply—retail after lasering (post-care products), rebook visits, track outcomes.

5. Celebrate the Small Wins & Build Momentum

Tracie recommends closing Q4 not just with big goals, but with frequent acknowledgements of the small wins. This helps build momentum and reinforce team morale.

Examples to celebrate:

  • A provider who increased their retail revenue this week.
  • A front-desk team member who booked consultations.
  • An aesthetician who scheduled out a six-month laser plan.

These small wins accumulate and often drive the kind of culture and output that sustains growth. When your team feels valued from their efforts, they will continue to work hard during the seasonal push.

6. Setting the Stage for 2025

While focused on Q4, keep one eye on next year. The shift in mindset that Tracie advocates (return to fundamentals, referral-driven growth, provider preparedness) isn’t just for now—it’s foundational. As you wrap the year:

  • Set realistic targets for Q1 of the next year that build on the loyalty and momentum you generated now.
  • Communicate: Q4 isn’t just about closing this year’s books—it’s about building next year’s pipeline. This is where the annual treatment plans come in!
  • Consider training opportunities for next year so you hit the ground running (for example: device refreshers, retail training, front-desk service excellence).
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In Summary

As Tracie Duke says, “We don’t talk enough about the basics.” In an aesthetic practice—especially during Q4 when demand is high and laser season peaks—the practices that wind up winning are those who nail the fundamentals: provider readiness, client retention, referral systems, service quality, retail sales, and device utilization. At the end of the day, your return on investment won’t come from specials or discounts, but from doing the foundational things well.

For your training-company audience: this is your moment to help your clients implement these principles. Whether you’re delivering hands-on training, virtual courses, or business-strategy workshops, you can anchor your Q4 message around these key areas:

  • Provider education & confidence
  • Retail product training
  • Referrals & customer-service excellence
  • Celebrating small wins

When your practice executes these, they’ll not only finish the year strong—they’ll be positioned for growth in the year ahead.