Practice Managment Archives - Page 3 of 3

Backup before you Crackup

junk computers Ever have a patient run into your practice in a panic because they lost their only pair of eyeglasses and need someone now? The first statement out of your mouth is “Sure, I would be happy to sell you a new pair of eyeglasses.” The second is “You should always have a backup pair of eyeglasses, so let’s look at multiple frames.” We are always trying to get our customers or patients to buy that second pair. If you want to speak with someone who is masterful at that, my partner, Robert Bell can help you.

What about you though? Yes, I know, you probably have a dozen pair of eyeglasses. You are after all in the optical business. I was thinking about your computer files. I am amazed at how many people operate their practice with a computer system you purchased a half dozen years ago on sale and expect it to keep up with all the demands you place upon it.

I had this discussion more than once with an associate who couldn’t understand why the computers he bought almost 10 year earlier were in desperate need to be replaced. His argument was that he owned cars far older than those computers that worked perfectly fine. So I made him a bet. He could purchase any car he wanted. I wasn’t going to put restrictions on the type of vehicle as he did on the purchase price of the computers. The caveat was that he let 8 employees drive that car 10 hours a day every day of the week with no more service than gasoline and regular oil changes and tell me what […]

By Eyes4U|2017-05-22T11:11:31-07:00October 13th, 2012|Practice Managment|Comments Off

Thanks But No Thanks

So, looking through one of the optical forums the other day I came across this posting. The name of the author shall remain anonymous, however I have heard the same sentiment expressed multiple times…certainly enough to write this.

Thinking of putting up a sign in the office that basically states we don’t want to adjust or work on glasses no purchased at our office. Special circumstances like out of state etc will be made but I can’t have my staff spending time on these products at the expense of loyal patients. Anyone have a good way to word it?

My suggestion for a sign?

Yes, it is disappointing when someone buys from another retailer. It’s often more than disappointing. The first question to ask yourself is why did you lose that sale? If it was a pair of glasses or sunglasses purchased online, more than likely it was over price (or perceived price). We all know we can buy almost anything online cheaper than in a brick and mortar store. The difference most of fail to remember at the time we do buy online is the service we receive at local store (hopefully).

Let me ask you a question. What is the most famous amusement park in Southern California? Disneyland? Is Disneyland the cheapest amusement park in Southern California? Hardly. So, if it is all about price…how does Disneyland stay in business? What is the most famous ski area in Colorado? Vail? Aspen? Once again is either of those two ski areas the cheapest? Not by a long shot. They, like Disneyland thrive because they have created an experience that goes beyond price.

Are […]

By Eyes4U|2017-05-22T11:11:31-07:00August 21st, 2012|Practice Managment, Sales Training|Comments Off

Are You Biased?

I have visited literally dozens of opticals in the last several years. One of the biggest issues I find in the dispensary is what I have termed “optician bias”. This encompasses two different realms of concern: The act of buying frames, and the pre-judgment of potential customers. This article will focus on the first, and the second side of this will be addressed in a forthcoming post.

When I walk into a dispensary for the first time, I immediately begin assessing the inventory. A quick estimated count of frames, as well as manufacturers and collections. Inevitably, I find many lines that look alike on the frame boards, in some cases exactly the same, simply with a different name on the demo lenses. We have all been guilty of this, at one time or another. So how does it happen, and how do we fix it?

The Cause:

The reason this duplicate buying happens can be many reasons. We, as individuals, have our own tastes, and those tastes are reflected in our purchasing habits. We tend to lean toward what we like, and we end up with a dispensary filled with frames that appeal to us, but are not necessarily what our customers want.

Another mistake many frame buyers make is to become too “safe” in their buying habits. This results in a dispensary full of brown and black plastic frames, and similarly basic colors in the metal frames being shown.

The Solution:

The good news is that the solutions for ‘optician bias’ in frame buying are simple, and easy to implement.

1. Have more than one person order frames. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need […]

By Nikki|2017-05-22T11:11:31-07:00August 8th, 2012|ECP, Practice Managment|Comments Off

The Set Up

Much has been written about setting up a Facebook page. With over 850 million active members, it’s been done just a few times… The subject however keeps coming up. As recently as SECO and again at Vision Expo East we heard from many optical shops and optometrists who have yet to set up a Facebook page, or have yet to set them up correctly that we thought it worth giving a quick recap to setting up a business page and add to that setting it up for the new timeline structure all business pages will be converted to at the end of March.

Let’s start with the type of page you have. Many businesses have made the mistake of setting up a “friend” or personal page for their business. This is a violation of the TOS (terms of service) for Facebook and your page could be deleted without notice by Facebook, throwing away hours of your hard work, making you go through everything all over again. So let’s set up our page correctly. Point your browser to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. You will see a page that looks like this:

If you are a manufacturer, you would pick the Brand or Product button on the upper right. If you are an ECP, pick the Local Business or Place button on the upper left. For demonstration sake, we will pick Local Business or Place. We then get a drop down box with categories. We picked Health/Medical/Pharmacy and then filled out the information in the boxes provided for our business.

By Daniel Feldman|2017-05-22T11:11:32-07:00March 14th, 2012|Practice Managment, Social Media|Comments Off