Planning for Success

Going to a trade show without a plan, is like going to the grocery store hungry and without a list. Everything is going to look very tasty…and you’ll probably forget the milk.

Going to a trade show, whether for 1 day or 3, takes lots of planning, research and most of all discipline. Remember what happened the last time you wandered aimlessly through Macy’s or Home Depot? It was expensive and you came home with stuff that looked good at the time, or seemed like a great bargain only to discover that the stuff was on sale for a reason. I’m a “list maker”. I have to be because I’m an impulse buyer. Until we moved back to Virginia Beach, I was on a first name basis with the ladies in my local fabric store. I have two dressers full of fabric that was just beautiful and on sale…the perfect storm. Planning for a successful trade show trip should start weeks, if not months ahead of time. Rather than looking at your practice as one single entity, break it down by categories:

Equipment

• Do you need to upgrade to improve or expand the quality of services you can offer?

• Have you maxed out the depreciation on your current equipment?

• If you operate an in-house finishing lab, does the equipment help or hinder its efficiency and your profitability?

Fixtures

• How long has it been since your last remodel?

• Has the appearance or “feel” of your neighborhood changed?

• Have your demographics changed?

• Has your competition changed?

• Has your “message” changed?

Hardware/Software

• How old is your computer system, including peripherals like printers and monitors?

• Does your software allow you and your staff to move seamlessly through the day, integrating electronic medical records, insurance coding and billing, dispensary records, etc.?

• IF you are using an internet based system, how protected are you from attacks by viruses or hackers?

• Is your system vulnerable to power surges or outages?

• Do you have a back up system?

Laboratory Services

• Are you satisfied with your current laboratory?

• Do they offer you enough choices in products and services?

• Are they competitively priced?

• Are they responsive to your needs?

• How does your lab address breakages/delays/backorders/warranties?

Ophthalmic Lens Products

• Do you prefer to work with a single family of lens products?

• Do you use your lens offerings to differentiate your practice from your competitors?

• Do you and/or your staff need more training on new products/technologies and is it easily available?

• Do you have enough “patient friendly” literature?

• Do you need generic patient information or do you prefer manufacturer specific information?

Frame Inventory

• How many frames do you currently display in your dispensary?

• How many vendors are you using?

• What is your “mix” of frame styles?

  • i.e. men’s, women’s, unisex(classics), designer, teens, kids, sunwear, sport-specific, safety

  • price points

  • packages

• What are your dispensary demographics?

  • Gender, age, income level, purchasing history

• Do you utilize “board management” services from manufacturers’ reps?

• Do you use vendor-specific point-of-sale materials?

• How do your frame vendors handle returns, warranties, etc?

• Are you comfortable with “buy-in” or minimum yearly purchase requirements?

• Do you use your frame inventory to differentiate your practice from your competitors?

Accessories

• Do you carry resale eyeglass/contact lens cases?

• Do you have a “dispensing kit” (sample lens cleaner, cleaning cloth)?

• Do you carry eyeglass holders, sports bands, etc.?

• Do you carry low vision aids/magnifiers?

Sales Aids/Patient Information

• Do you have a website?

  • What information does it include/how often is it updated?

    • Location(s)/directions

    • Hours

    • Patient Education

    • Frame/Lens/Contact Lens Availability

    • Staff Bios

    • Insurance Information

    • On-line Scheduling

    • On-line Contact Lens Ordering

• Do you produce a practice newsletter?

• Do you utilize social networking, i.e. Facebook, Twitter?

• Do you use personalized shopping bags?

• Do you use a lens information center/counter top demonstrator?

• Do you use a recall system?

That’s a lot of information to sift through before you hit the show! In the long run, it will be worth it. You need to know your practice inside and out and you need to know how your staff functions and what they need to perform at their peak every day. The temptation is to find something, some system, some frame or lens product that appeals to you as the practice owner and then try to “make it fit”. While the economy may be loosening up a bit, it still doesn’t make sense to commit working capital to something that may or may not work in the real world of your practice regardless of bells, whistles or pricing.

Back to that shopping analogy, if you don’t plan your trade show visit, it becomes like that trip to the mega-wholesale club without a list…big bucks gone and a cart full of stuff you don’t need.

Now it’s time to address the other half of the big show—EDUCATION.

I just received the 2010 Progressive Identifier from the OLA. It boasts 585 lenses—54 more than in the 2009 edition. Do we need 54 more progressive lenses than last year? It doesn’t matter. They’re here and they represent the need for more and better training for your staff. The scary part? That’s just the number of new progressive lenses, what about the other new technologies like free form and digitally produced single vision lenses. Or newly developed anti-fatigue lens designs. Or new lens treatments.

Like it or not, your dispensary is the cornerstone of your practice. It’s where the real money is and your opticians and ancillary staff need all the training and in-depth education you can provide for them. The education available at the big shows is top notch and in a perfect world, every staff member should be enrolled. In the real world, that may not be possible, but it could be a reward for a job well done or a privilege that rotates through the staff. If you can’t afford the “big show”, find the smaller ones held in almost every state, or spend some time on the floor of the show scheduling training visits from your reps.

The education/trade show season kicked off with SECO in early February and will continue through the Fall. There are ample opportunities to educate your staff and there’s still plenty of time to plan for the next “big show” in early October. Along the way are numerous state and regional conferences for all three “O’s”. Not every one of them has a trade show, but all of them provide ample opportunity for education. The smart practice owner places as much value on an educated staff as is placed on the latest and greatest technologies.