Dermatology clinics · Referral marketing

Get the family physician down the road to write your name on the slip.

Referral for a dermatology clinic comes from two directions: the physician, paediatrician or gynaecologist who sends a case on, and the patient who passes your number to a friend. Both need help. GullySales builds the referring list and the note that goes back, and states plainly that no fee, gift or commission is paid for a referral.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of dermatology clinics at work in India

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing in a regulated practice is being the one a physician, a colleague or a former patient names, without being paid to, because paying for a referral is restricted in most of these professions. GullySales builds the ask into the moment a patient is satisfied and into the note that goes back to the referring doctor, and it never involves a fee.

Also for dermatology clinics

Sales and marketing for dermatology clinics, the overview.

Last updated 8 Nov 2026. Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. We describe restrictions in general terms, so check the current position with your own council or adviser before you publish anything.

For dermatology clinics

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

“A referral fee is not an option”
Paying a doctor, a salon or an agent for sending patients is barred for registered practitioners: the medical council's code treats commission and rebates as misconduct. The registration at risk is yours, so no such arrangement is discussed.
“A physician refers a condition, not a clinic”
A general physician will send you the psoriasis and the stubborn fungal cases and keep everything else. Tell the physician which conditions you actually want and what happens to the patient afterwards, or the physician will keep sending the same two.
“The bridal studio hears about pigmentation months before you do”
A makeup artist is asked about tanning, pigmentation and acne in the weeks before every wedding. That is a genuine route for cosmetic work, and it runs on a card and a name rather than on a commission.

What we do

What we deliver for dermatology clinics.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

A worked list of who could refer, within reach of the clinic
General physicians, paediatricians, gynaecologists, dentists and salons in your catchment, with who has already sent somebody and who has never been approached.
Result: The referral pipeline stops being three people you happen to know.
A note that goes back to the referring doctor
A short letter confirming the patient attended and what was advised, sent with the patient's consent, because silence after the first referral is why most doctors stop.
Result: The second referral arrives without you asking for it.
The conditions you want, written for the referrer
One page naming what you treat and would like sent, which doctor sees it and on which days, in language a busy physician can read between patients.
Result: Referrals arrive for the work you actually want.
A compliance check before any arrangement
Any shared clinic space or reciprocal promise put to your own adviser first, with no payment or gift for a referral under any name, and the page written only around what comes back.
Result: Nothing goes out that you would not want quoted back at you.
Referral source recorded on the enquiry
The referring doctor or studio captured at the desk when the patient arrives, rather than reconstructed later from memory.
Result: You can see which relationship is real and which is a lunch.

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How the result is measured

Referrals received
Referral conversion rate
Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals reach a dermatology clinic

A dermatology clinic gets patients from doctors down the road, from other specialists and from patients' families.

Family physicians: A physician sees rashes, acne and hair fall the physician does not want to manage. Give the physician a one-page note on the conditions you see, so they know when to send a patient and when to treat.
Paediatricians and gynaecologists: They meet mothers and children with skin complaints who need a specialist. Tell the sender that the patient attended and send a short letter on the plan, with the patient's consent.
Trichology, endocrine and cosmetic surgery colleagues: Hair and hormonal cases cross specialties. Agree with a few colleagues who handles which part, so the patient is not told two different things.
Patients' families: Ask after the follow-up visit, when the patient is comfortable: if someone in the family has a skin problem, they can book with us. Say it in words and do not hand out discount cards.
Source on the enquiry: Write the referring doctor's or friend's name on the enquiry at booking. Read the sources against the doctors you wrote to.
What never to do: Never offer cash, free procedures or gifts to a doctor or salon for sending patients, and never show treatment photos to attract referrals. Ask your own council what is permitted before any arrangement.

Who it is for

This is written for these dermatology clinics.

Solo dermatologist clinics
Multi-doctor dermatology and cosmetology centres
Dermatology hospitals with in-patient procedures
Cosmetic and aesthetic dermatology clinics
Hair transplant and trichology centres
Skin and laser clinics inside malls or commercial complexes
Paediatric and family dermatology practices
Multi-branch dermatology chains

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

You plan to pay a physician for each patient sent, which the council's rules bar and which can cost a registration
No doctor has time to write a short note back to a referring physician, so referrers would stop sending
You do not yet record who sent each patient, so you could not thank the right physician or know who has gone quiet

How it works

How the referral marketing work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

1
Read the margin and the relationship
We work out what a new customer is worth and what you can pay to get one, then check whether customers know others like themselves.
2
Find the referrals you already get
Your invoices, call notes and WhatsApp threads show who already sends people to you, and who they are. That sets the starting point and the first people to ask.
3
Write the offer and the rules
The reward, the definition of a valid referral and the payout steps are agreed in writing before anything is shown to customers.
4
Build the share path and the record
The message, the link or code and the referral sheet are built. Your team tests a referral end to end, from forward to reward.
5
Start with your best customers, then widen
The first asks go to people who have already praised you. What they say about the offer decides what changes before it reaches the wider base.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 7, after the sale. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need

Can we pay a commission to a clinic or salon that sends us patients?

No. Paying for referrals is barred for registered practitioners under the medical council's code, and the same reasoning covers a salon or an agent. We take no part in any such arrangement.

How do we ask a patient to refer somebody without it being awkward?

Do not ask them to describe their own concern to anyone. Give them something easy to forward instead: the clinic's number, the doctor's name spelled correctly and the days the doctor sits. A patient treated for hair fall will pass that to a friend without having to explain why they have it.

Can a patient refer a friend by showing photos of their own treatment?

Do not encourage it. Skin photos are private, and advertising rules for the profession limit how results can be shown or implied. Let the patient say that they were comfortable with the care, and give them the clinic's details. Do not hand out treatment photos to attract referrals.

What do we write in a thank-you to a physician who sent a patient?

Thank the referrer for trusting you, confirm that the patient attended, and share the plan only in general terms or with the patient's consent. Offer nothing in return for future cases. Ask what kind of cases the referrer would like to send and how they want to hear back.

How much does it cost?

There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.

How long is the contract?

The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.

How soon will we see results?

It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.

Who will actually do the work?

The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.

What do you need from us?

Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.

What if we are not happy with the work?

Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

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