What is the Client Consent Form?

The Client Consent Form is the document that your client absolutely MUST sign prior to you performing any treatment on her/his skin. It is an important document that you review with your client to ensure she.he understands the treatment that is about to be done. It is a legal document that will be reviewed if a negative outcome is the result of your treatment actions. It will indicate that your client understood the risks involved when receiving the treatment.

Why the Client Consent Form Is Important

Any esthetic treatment involves some potential for an adverse result. If a client has a contraindication for a service and that service is done anyway, who bears the responsibility? A consent form will list the possible outcomes and the client’s signature on the consent form indicates that the client has acknowledged those risks prior to treatment and still wants to move forward.

How to Use the Client Consent Form

Taking the time to review the consent form with your client will help build trust and provide protection, if a negative outcome does, unfortunately, occur.

This easy acronym will help you cover all of the details.

PARQ - Procedure, Assess & Appropriate, Risks, Questions

P- Procedure. Discuss the procedure with your client. Make sure she/he understands the process of what is happening. This is your chance to discuss the benefits of the treatment and why you think this is the best option for your client. Be sure to discuss any social downtime your client may experience in the recovery period as well as the amount of time your client can expect to wait until she/he sees results.

A- Assess and Appropriate. Make sure you’ve done a thorough review of your client’s history as well as a physical exam of the skin. You should be confident that your client is an appropriate candidate for the treatment. This is your opportunity to double check with your client and confirm there are no contraindications for treatment.

R- Risks. Be honest about the potential risks your client could expect by having this treatment done. Possible hyper-or hypopigmentation, blistering, allergic reactions, erythema, swelling or other unfavorable results should be realistically discussed. You don’t have to frighten your client, but you should have pragmatic information - Here is a sample script you can use or modify for your conversations, “There is a small risk of redness and swelling lasting longer than two days. I’m going to do everything I can to prepare your skin so this doesn’t happen, I’m letting you know a small percentage of people are still red and puffy a week after the treatment. I’m going to check in with you in three days to make sure you’re not having any problems. I know of no instances where the symptoms were long-term.”

Q- Questions. You need to allow your client the opportunity to ask questions about the treatment and have those questions answered. If you spend the extra time with your clients, they should not have any problem signing the consent form. You can confidently perform the treatment, knowing you have done your best to give them a superior service.

To make things easier, we've created a client consent form template just for you to use. Download it here.

Photo: Olena Yakobchuk

Breaking It Down

In this post, we talked about why Client Consent Forms are essential to your business, and how they can provide legal protection for you and your client if needed. Communicating the importance of these forms and listening to your client's concerns are crucial to using them successfully. Use these two online classes to work on these skills:

Persuasive Speech and Communication Online Class
This online class takes your client consultation to the next level with a tried and true system that positively impacts your results, leaving your clients informed and satisfied every time.

Active Listening Online Class

Consultations are not just about talking, they are also about listening, this online class teaches you how to read nonverbal cues while building trust and rapport with every client, every time.