BRANDING a Successful Practice
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“I’ll have the house dressing…”
Expert after expert advise us, lecture us actually, that we should be branding something. Brand our practices, our lenses, our frames, or our service.
Just keep in mind that if you’re going to hang your hat on a particular product brand, yours won’t be the only one there.
If there are lots of hats on that hook, you’re going to have to find a way to make your hat stand out. A red hat in a sea of blue, so to speak.
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Creating Your Brand
Marty Neumeier in ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands suggests that we complete this sentence:
“Our (Practice) is the ONLY ___________ that ____________.”
Now realistically, we all have access to the same products; the same lenses, frames, coatings and labs and we offer the same services; eye exams, contact lens exams and eyewear. So how do we differentiate our practice from the one down the street?
There was a time when the lenses you used and the frames you carried were determined by the lab you used. American Optical and Bausch & Lomb had labs and carried their own lenses and frames. Some labs carried Univis products and some carried Universal. When the product offerings became too numerous, independent labs began to carry a multitude of lenses and frames. Then lens manufacturers began identifying labs as distributors, frame manufacturers hired sales reps and the battle for our loyalty was on!
Unfortunately the field has become so cluttered with brands and designers and trademarks that patients are beginning to shut us out of the conversation and opting for online vendors, where they can sit with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and browse to their hearts content. No pressure, no hundreds of choices to make, no smiling salesperson up close and personal. Just upload a photo, drag and drop images, a few simple explanations of options, a credit card and done. Can we compete with that? Of course we can.
There are a few simple steps to follow. Simple does not mean easy or quick, it means simple and effective.
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WHO are you and WHAT do you do? Write it down. If it takes more than a dozen words to cover this, keep refining the statement until it is 12 words or less. Having been involved with more than a few “visioning” meetings, I learned that the “vision” was usually what the corporate office wanted and had very little relevance to daily operations.
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WHO are your patients and WHAT is the benefit to them? Your patients are more than just hyperopes, myopes and presbyopes. They are more than the sum total of their vision plan reimbursements. If you’re not tracking your patient demographics, and that includes knowing likes and dislikes and most importantly WHY they chose your office, you are less likely to be able to identify your points of difference, the THING that you do that no one else does or does as well as you do.
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WHO is the competition? Competition is not a bad thing, unless you’re on the losing end. Competition forces us to keep our eye on the ball, our ear to the ground or any other maxim that fits. You must know what other practices are doing, not just what they’re doing well, but where they are missing out. Those places, the “white spaces” to use an art term, are where the opportunities are to build a brand for your practice.
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HOW do you define your practice? It’s called a trueline or a tagline. It allows you to describe your practice in a nutshell, the reason your practice matters to your patients. Remember, says Neumeier, it’s not what YOU say; it’s what your (PATIENTS) say that counts. It’s why “You Are Now Free to Move about the Country” or you “Just Do It” or why “Nobody Cares For Eyes More Than Pearle.” The power of a trueline or tagline is amazing.
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HOW do you spread the word? First you need to track the patients you have. How did they find you? Those are the touchpoints, the places where your name came up or into view or was overheard. Who does your recalls or reminders? Who administers your website? You do have a website, don’t you? Or a Facebook page? Outsourcing these activities may cost a bit more money, but the cost of not having them done properly is much higher.
This is how you link those steps into a plan, from ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High Performance Brands.
FOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON
WHAT: The ONLY motorcycle manufacturer
HOW: that makes big, loud motorcycles
WHO: for macho guys (and macho wannabees)
WHERE: mostly in the United States
WHY: who want to join a gang of cowboys
WHEN: in an era of decreasing personal freedom.
About the House Dressing
Why do I want the house dressing? There are 1) too many choices and 2) it’s reliable.
We are inundated with choices and information from the moment our eyes open in the morning until we turn out the lights at night. And just to be sure we don’t miss anything while we sleep; our computers automatically update our software.
What news program do I watch while I’m getting ready for work? Do I have time for breakfast at the table or just the closest drive-thru? What radio station do I want to listen to on the drive to work or relax to on the way home? Do I have time for the gym? Who’s making dinner or picking up the kids or doing the shopping? And don’t get me started on shopping; when did grocery stores become a maze? What can I turn off, the radio, the GPS or my cell phone?
When there are too many choices to be made, the average consumer will stick with what they know and what they’re comfortable with. So the idea of creating a house brand is very appealing. It does take considerable research into what your patients want, how much they’re willing to pay and how long they’re willing to wait for the finished product. On the other side of the ledger, you must decide how much you’re willing to pay, the level of technology you’re comfortable with, the skill sets involved in working with the product, the turnaround time and the return policies.
The brands you choose, whether you put your practice name on them or simply choose to carry and promote specific recognizable products are your “house dressing.” They must reduce the marketplace clutter and allow your patients to have the best possible person-to-person eyecare experience.
Now, take a deep breath…and start creating your “house dressing.”
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