The 2024 TITAN Injector Compensation Report was published at the end of July and includes statistics, insights, and trends for injector compensation throughout the 2023 calendar year.   As usual, the report leads to additional questions from injectors and practices, so while the questions below were not covered in the survey, the answers reflect my experiences and knowledge from my almost 20 years in the aesthetic medicine specialty and can be taken as guidance.

#1 – My injector is paid differently (or “I am paid differently”) from most of the options noted in the survey report.  Do I need to change the compensation plan to reflect what I see in the report?

One thing that we want to always make clear is that there is no “right” way to pay an injector.  A compensation plan can be dependent upon skills, state laws, scope of practice, experience, job responsibilities, revenue generated, hours worked, credentials, practice needs, geographic location, and many, many more factors.   Each injector should be paid commensurate with the value they add to a practice.   If you don’t have a business without that injector, they might be worth more.  If the injector is very part-time and doesn’t continually update their skills and knowledge, they might be worth less.  So, the compensation data in the report is a guide, not a given.

#2 – I started at a practice as a new injector and paid for my own training as I have developed new skills.   I am grateful to the practice for giving me a chance as a new injector, but I’d like to have an increase in compensation now that I’m more experienced and bring in close to $750,000 in patient revenue.  How do we navigate this change?

A practice that hires a new provider with a plan to develop them as an injector may have a very loyal and supportive employee for years if that job grows with their skills and knowledge.  To assess this development, it makes sense to always have a review process in place.  At TITAN, we recommend using the TITAN Performance Management and Career Development resource kit to help you plan how employees will be rewarded as their contribution increases.  One of the reasons we often see injectors leave a practice is when their increased development or contribution is not recognized.  Allowing employees to create their own goals and the rewards for achieving those goals can help both the practice and the employee reap the benefits of career and skill growth.  

#3 – In my new practice, I’m paid only on commission.  This is fine, but the practice offers their very large team the benefit of being injected several times per year.  While I appreciate working in the practice and like the employees, this leads to me injecting for about 60 hours per year for which I don’t get paid.  How should I address staff treatments with my practice?

Treatments for staff and family/friends is such a tough situation for many injectors. While it is great to have them know your skill and talent, no one likes to give away their work for free.  If you are a hourly or salaried employee, this is not such a big issue because you are still getting paid for the time you spend doing those treatments – as long as it is “down time” and doesn’t take away from the time you would spend treating paying patients (I’m sure practices don’t want that either!)

But if you are paid only commission, you are essentially providing a free service to the practice and the employees and that is simply not fair.   It is perfectly reasonable to request your standard commission or some sort of injection fee when you are doing a complimentary service at the request of your practice or physician owner.  Most practices also ask the staff to do something to EARN this benefit – participate in staff training hours, educate, or refer patients to other services within the practice, spend time doing patient marketing support with social media or patient events, etc.   Too many people view “free product” as a right and not a true benefit.  And remember, pharmaceutical samples like neurotoxins fall under the PDMA act and cannot be sold, so while it is fine for you to inject sample product, you cannot charge for the sample.  You can, however, charge an injection fee for your time.  

#4 – Our practice is pretty generous in offering education options for all of our staff and we recently implemented an opportunity for injectors to go to an aesthetic meeting as a “thank you” for the work they do in the practice.   Is it ok for us to ask them to share what they learn with the staff when they return as part of our expectation?  

Great question and you should be commended for this idea!  Ongoing education is something that is SO valued by injectors and kudos to you for recognizing this.  In fact, the 2024 TITAN Injector Compensation Report noted that “Training and Professional Development” was ranked #2 in importance for why injectors STAY with their practice.  And of course, it is fine to ask them to share their key learnings with the rest of your team upon their return.  That helps them continue to develop as a leader AND may even give them better learning concentration if they know they get to share what they learn when they return to the practice.   In fact, at Learners & Legacies, the TITAN mentoring meeting for newer injectors and for practice owners/managers, the final session helps each attendee outline what and how they will share their key learnings with their practice when they get home.  Why go if there isn’t an implementation plan for what will change after the meeting?

#5 – I think my practice pays well but everyone else seems to be advertising and offering more?    

TITAN gets this concern/complaint from both practices and from injectors and the “looking over your shoulder at others” fear is real.  HOWEVER, it is amazing how many respondents to the TITAN Compensation survey each year do NOT know how their compensation is calculated or how much revenue they bring into a practice.  So be careful listening to what is on social media about compensation – much of it is filtered or touched up just like before and after pictures!   The only true way to know if you have a plan that is fair and reasonable for injectors and the practice is to have effective communication.  Injectors need to ask questions if they don’t understand how they are paid.  Employers need to be more open about how expensive it is to run an aesthetic practice.  It seems that everyone outside of aesthetics thinks that the specialty is floating in excess cash, and this is simply not true.  Employers are not greedy and selfish, and Employees are not lazy and entitled (in most cases!), so truly sitting down to discuss how each party can achieve desired goals is really the only way for everyone to feel heard. It isn’t always going to work, but communication is the FIRST step in long-term loyalty between both practices and providers.

Want more insights into resources or support for aesthetic injectors and the practices that hire them?   Reach out to TITAN at info@titanaesthetic.com

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