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With apologies to my secret, guilty, pleasure – Sheryl Crow – no, I didn’t mean to say “Soak Up the Sun.” I meant sum, as in sum total…money…profit! |
Far too many eye care professionals think cash is a four-letter word. Oh right, it is, but you know what I mean. So long as we keep our patients’ best interest at heart, what’s wrong with increasing our bottom line along the way? Nothing!
Especially during these economically trying times whether you are a practice owner struggling to pay rent or make payroll, or an employee trying to avoid an inevitable layoff by out-performing your co-workers, maximizing profit with every patient encounter is the name of the game. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions to do just that.
Sunglasses. Though it’s been a few years since I’ve seen an updated study, the last time I checked, less than 20% of American prescription eyeglass wearers also own a second, separate pair of prescription sunglasses. That’s barely one in five. Over the last few years I have conducted an informal survey of licensed opticians while teaching continuing education classes all over the country. Guess what percent of opticians who wear prescription eyeglasses also own a second, separate pair of prescription sunglasses? Eighty-eight percent! What a huge disparity and disconnect. Now there may be some obvious reasons for that disparity (more knowledge with regard to the dangers of UV exposure and economics come to mind), but 68% more? We should be ashamed!
Perhaps we can take some wisdom from the late Bob Bieber. Bob was an engaging speaker and a knowledgeable, generous man whom we were lucky to have part of our profession. I once attended one of his seminars in which he claimed you could increase sunglass sales by 38% if you simply asked every one of your eyeglass customers one specific question when you were processing their initial order. By the way, if the customer answers the question “incorrectly,” you must ask it again when he or she comes to pick up their glasses. Here is Bob’s magical question: “When will you be updating your sunglasses into your current prescription?” This is a beautiful and powerful question. Why? First, it is open-ended, which means people cannot simply answer yes or no. They must engage. Second, it assumes they have prescription glasses already. We just learned that 80% of them don’t. So when they inform you of that, it allows you – the eye care professional – to respond with the appropriate level of horror. “What? You don’t have sunglasses to protect your eyes and vision? We need to talk…”
Polarized Sunglasses. I am amazed that I am still receiving emails and comments about my recent diatribes bemoaning all the “free” things we so willingly do for non-customers. Here’s an idea I personally came up with a few years ago that really works. Whenever I perform some small task like replacing a missing screw, an adjustment, a semi-rimless restring, or any other minor repair, I simply hand the glasses back to the person and say, “Here you go,” and nothing more. If you do that, 90% of the time that person will respond with some version of “How much do I owe you?” Rather than answering that question with the traditionally abhorrent, “Nothing…no charge…glad to help you…come see us when you need something…” I now say, “Two minutes of your time.” As you might imagine, that gets their attention! I say, yeah just two minutes of your time; I want to show you these really cool sunglasses we have now. At which point I drag them over to my NuPolar polarized lens demonstrator and give them what really turns out to be a one-minute demonstration of the benefits of polarization and the importance of protecting their eyes from the sun’s harmful UV rays – cataracts and macular generation gets mentioned at some point.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you. This procedure does not always result in a polarized sunglass sale, and not every customer is happy about listening to my spiel. But I promise you two things: First, in all the years I’ve been doing this, not one customer – not one – has denied me the time to show them. Why? They feel obligated! Second, this procedure has resulted in hundreds of people ordering sunglasses on the spot; sunglasses they had no intention of purchasing when they walked in for a “free” repair. And I don’t know about you, but I believe that’s a good thing for the patient and my practice’s bottom line.
Children. Of all of the different demographic groups of patients we serve, children are probably the one group that purchases the least amount prescription sunglasses. I must admit that until very recently, I too missed the boat on this one. Rarely did I try to suggest or persuade the parents or guardians of one of my juvenile patients that they should think about buying sunglasses for little Johnny or Julie – but I do now.
One of the most powerful pieces of information you can share with mom or dad is that the damage caused by exposure to the sun and its harmful UV rays is what causes cataracts and macular degeneration (one of the leading causes of blindness you might inform them) in later life. Why is that important for your child now? Because the damage that is caused by harmful UV rays is indeed cumulative – it builds up. Depending how effectively you communicate this information, many parents are willing to entertain the idea. If they still say no, consider moving into Transitions mode – after all, these lenses will provide UV protection without having to go the extra expense of a second pair, they are available in safe polycarbonate or Trivex® lenses, and most school districts allow children to wear Transitions lenses, but not dark sunglass lenses on school premises.
Those are three specific suggestions on how you might increase profits and patient satisfaction. I am reminded however, of a quote from the late Edwin Land, most famous for his contributions to instant photography (think Polaroid and the Land camera). He once said, “My whole life has been spent trying to convince people that intense concentration hour after hour will bring out in people resources they never knew they had.” What’s the point? The point is that while these few suggestions may be quite effective, if you sat and thought about it for a short time, you could probably come up with some creative ways that you could attain the goals you seek for yourself, your business, and your patients. Why not give it a try?
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