As former sales professionals, Kelly and I are both familiar with how much energy is required to “close a sale”. In fact, closing the sale is just one piece of a very long process where many sales are not closed. There is an actual name for this process; it is called the Marketing Funnel.

According to a quick search on the Internet, the Marketing Funnel is defined as the way of breaking down the customer journey all the way from the “awareness” stage (when they first learn about your business) to the “purchase” stage (when they’re ready to buy your product or service).

At SIMI, we are always talking about putting energy into the top of this Funnel. That “energy” is everything we do from writing articles to connecting with optometrists on LinkedIn to asking for referrals from current and past clients. Each of those activities, an effort to promote and build awareness about our company, is represented by one of the balls in this picture.

From all of the energy we put into the Funnel, we expect to see about 10% of that flow out of the bottom as sales.

Of course, like any business, we have times when we are really busy – and so we don’t put a lot of energy into our Funnel. We have to remind ourselves that this is short sighted. We will reap the rewards from the energy we invest into our Funnel now further down the road. And investing time and energy into growing our business has to be a consistent endeavour if we want to thrive.

The same holds true for your Optometric Practice business. Most practices will get some passive referrals from patients who are natural connectors. But in an age when information is shared so much more easily, it is even more important to put time and energy into sharing the story of your brand to attract new patients.

How you should spend your time and energy on promoting your business will, of course, depend on your strategy.

If you are offering a more specialized service, you likely need to connect with colleagues who can identify a need and explain the solution you offer to their patients. Promotional activities might include taking colleagues out for lunch, writing articles for industry magazines and speaking at Continuing Education events.

If you are offering Primary Care to your local population, you may look for outreach opportunities to connect with the community. Some practices set up “sunglass” booths at their local markets or sponsor a local event. These practices are more likely to spend on Google Adwords and have active social media accounts to attract new patients. Many practices host annual or biannual sales, which also create a lot of buzz and energy.

The key is consistency. As tempting as it is to lay off the gas pedal when you are busiest, it is these activities that will fill your schedule during the quieter times. So as we look to 2020, start planning how you will fill your Marketing Funnel and keep your business growing and thriving.

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com


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We have the privilege of working with the forward-thinking leaders in this industry. So when the opportunity presented itself, it seemed like a natural fit with our business mandate to host an evening with Lee Cockerell, the former Executive VP of Operations with Disney. Many of the leaders in the room have already adopted most of the principles discussed by Mr. Cockerell. As with any continuing education opportunity, however, there is always something we can take from it to grow and be better for knowing it.

One of the big messages from Mr. Cockerell was:  Leaders “be” and managers “do”. The fundamentals of being a good leader are simple. For Lee, some of these fundamentals are:

  • Ensure that associates are knowledgeable about their roles
  • Implement effective, structured processes for getting work done
  • Actively observe and react to the performance of your team and take time for recognition, coaching and counselling
  • Demonstrate a passionate, professional commitment to your role in the show

Actually doing what you have to do to be a good leader is much more difficult.

Ensuring that your staff understands their role and the responsibilities associated with it requires some dedicated time to writing out all the tasks that need to be completed in the office. Next, you need to assign those tasks to a role in the office. Once you have defined what tasks are associated with each role, you should sit with each team member and review the responsibilities. If there are tasks on the list that the team member is not comfortable performing, you need to figure out how to close the gap. This could come in the form of training through a 3rd party or it could be training from another team member.

Once all the tasks have been identified and assigned to a team member, you need to document how each task should be performed in your office. A good example is your accounts receivable process. Document step by step how you would like this task completed so that someone can follow along and check off the boxes as they get them completed.

It is easy in the busyness of the day to day to forgot to circle back on a regular basis to give feedback to your employees. For many, a word of recognition of a job well done is as rewarding as a pay raise! For others who are struggling in their roles, you need to spend time evaluating what the barriers are and trying to address them. It could be that more education is required or it could be that this role just isn’t a great fit for their skill set. And as hard as that conversation is to have, it is has to be had.  As other employees watch a toxic relationship develop, no matter what the cause, if the leader doesn’t stand up and address it, the rest of the team will lose morale.

Lastly, the importance of being an involved, interested leader cannot be stressed enough. How you engage with patients and staff will set the tone for everyone’s performance in the office. If there is a staff member who is arriving to work late every day, address it and be sure to arrive to the office early yourself! Introduce your patients to your staff in a way that builds confidence in both.

As you look at your week ahead in your practice, consciously think about what will you do and how will you be. Being a great leader takes a lot of energy and time. I hope you will take some time to reflect on what you are doing well in these fundamentals and what steps you can take to do better in others.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.


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The basic definition of branding is the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design. When a consumer interacts with your brand, whether through your website, social media presence or in the office itself, there should be a consistent look and feel.

There is also an intangible piece to branding.

On top of having a clear plan for generating leads from your marketing strategy, your marketing map has to include driving awareness of who you are and what your business or practice offers. Branding isn’t only your logo and colour, it is also how consumers feel when they think about your brand and interact with it.

One of the easiest ways to build brand can be achieved by getting involved in community. Things like participation in charitable events, donations, local sponsorships and the like. Look for events where your community spends their evenings and weekends, and sponsor those activities. My local dentist proudly supports the local baseball team. I look for familiar faces in those pictures every time I go into the office. That office is making team sports more accessible for every child in the community and that has value for me.

A little effort outside of the walls of your practice also provides you with unique content that’s sharable across all your social media platforms. Creating and promoting social media content that connects with people and humanizes you and your practice is at the heart of what defines branding. It works best if you choose an organization or cause that resonates either with you or the optical industry. For instance, I have seen one practice successfully campaign for the local Humane Society, a charity near and dear to the practice owner. In another practice, they run a great campaign fundraising for Optometry Giving Sight that involves every member of the team and every patient who walks through the door.

Branding, or creating awareness of your practice is more than getting a logo designed. It is my to get out there, support and involve yourself in your community and then brag proudly and share it online. The more your community knows about what you care about, the more personality your brand will have.

ERIC HARBOTTLE

With 15+ years of marketing experience, owner of Addison Marketing Solutions and co-founder of MarketingforOptometry.com Canada’s newest marketing agency option for Optometrists, Eric Harbottle knows what it takes to succeed in a robust and confusion digital world.

Coming from a strong background working and consulting with some of Canada’s largest marketing agencies to offering SMB solutions at the ground level with his boutique agency, Eric is able to understand the needs of every level of client with unique optimism and an experienced view as a business owner himself targeting KPI’s and goals to help every client achieve success.


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As a small business, overhead costs are just a part of doing business. While many of your overhead costs are fixed costs that don’t vary much year to year, it is still important to analyze these costs periodically.

Overhead costs include things like rent, utilities, office supplies and software maintenance. As a guide, aim to spend no more than 8% of your Gross Revenue on Overhead Costs.

How long has it been since you reviewed what you are currently spending on office supplies? You will be surprised how much you spend on this. Track it to see how much you spend. This category includes everything from pens and paper to snacks and refreshments. Ultimately, we want you to continue to offer all the extras that create your unique patient experience. We are just suggesting that you take the time to price shop your options. For many of these items, there is a bulk buying opportunity.  Creating lists and buying in bulk can save the office quite a bit of money versus buying ad hoc.

Sometimes “just in time” supplies can save you money too, depending on the situation.  At home, we have signed up for an ink service.  The printer is connected to WIFI.  When we are starting to get low on ink, a message is sent to the company to send out ink.   We are limited to the number of prints we can do per month (300) but if we don’t use them all, they carry over to the next month.  This ensures that we always have ink when we need it and saves me from impulse purchases at the store!

The Little Things Can Add Up.

Another way to save money in Overhead Costs is to retrofit your office lighting. For many offices, cabinet lights are on all day long and use a lot of energy. Consider replacing the GU19 bulbs in the cabinets with the LED version or LED strip lighting.  Replace your florescent bulbs in your grid ceiling with LED flat panels. This could save you between 50-75% of electricity costs used on lighting and will generate no heat. These bulbs are also less maintenance. They can last 50,000 hours (10 years) without any maintenance. The cost to do this has come down significantly so that is it almost equivalent to what we used to pay for traditional bulbs.

For some offices that provide cell phones to their employees, shopping cell phone plans can present another opportunity to save. There are bundles that will allow employees to share the data you are paying for.

We get used to using the same things but it is possible that there are better priced options. Often there is some down time over the summer as doctors take vacation. This could be a good summer project for staff with extra time on their hands.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.


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The normal attrition rate in an optometric practice is 13%. Patients move away, pass away or sometimes choose a new office. We advise our clients to aim for a 20% new patient rate to replace this loss and to continue to grow their practice.

There are a number of ways to attract new patients. The most common are word of mouth (WOM), referrals from other doctors, the location appeal of the practice, social media referrals, memberships to community organizations and Google searches.

Which method is the most effective for your office?   

If you aren’t already, put a process into place with the staff to ensure that you record where every new patient heard about your office and track this information every month.

Depending on your strategy, the sources can vary. For instance, if you have set up a medical practice, you are more likely to see doctor referral as your main source for new patients. If you are in an area catering to young professionals and families, you are more likely to see Google at the top of the referral sources.

Pushing the analysis a little further, we are also curious to see which referral source is the most profitable in each office. Again, there is going to be a correlation between the strategy and this result.

When you are clear about your strategy, it drives all other decisions to ensure you are offering all the products and services that the patient is expecting from the practice.

Tracking Can Optimize your Expenses

As many EMRs don’t easily allow this analysis, it is likely that a manual process is required, but it’s worth the effort.

Using a spreadsheet, record where all new patients heard about the practice and how much they spend at the office, including all services and products.  At the end of the month, sort by referral source and get an average RPP (revenue per patient) for each referral source.

We recently did this exercise in an office where we putting a lot of resources towards Google adwords. Interestingly, the analysis came back that the office’s most profitable patients were from WOM.

What does that mean?

First, we revisited their strategy. They have a long history in their community and their patients have a lot of trust in them. The people that they refer are their friends and family, who likely have similar expectations of loyalty and trust in their practitioners. Perhaps this is why they more readily accept the recommendations of the office and opt into their services and purchase their products.

With this information, we know that we need to spend more time and energy on encouraging more WOM referrals. Marketing efforts may include activities such as email blasts with “loyalty” coupons for referrals. We may let every patient know that we would be happy to see their friends and families as patients too.

This is such an exciting time for your business. There is so much information available to help guide your decisions. Tracking and analyzing your new patient information will take the guess work out of where to spend your time and money in marketing.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.


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We are finally approaching the well-loved and relaxing season of summer. Life seems a bit easier; you can get out the door with less layers t and you don’t have to worry about snow-induced traffic delays. Summer vacations and trips to the cottage are coming.

Of course, when you are running a small business, summer time can also present challenges, specifically around staffing.  Luckily, there are often university students who are currently registered in Optometry School looking for summer work. They are really ideal candidates to hire for the 4 months they are available. They are committed to the industry, they want to learn as much as they can and they are eager to do well.

In our experience, having this additional staff member has more than paid for itself. During the weeks when you are fully staffed, the summer student can tackle jobs that have been on the back burner; organizing the CL trial room, reviewing frame pricing, doing an inventory, price comparisons, the list goes on.

Further, many staff take summer vacations, and with an extra member on your team during this time, you don’t have to go short handed. The reality is, you want your patients who visit in the summer to have the same great experience in your office now as they would in the winter with a full compliment of staff ready to serve and assist.

Another advantage to hiring an OD student for the summer is the potential for grooming an associate for the future. Working in your practice, they will become very knowledgeable about the front end of your business. Understanding the flow from appointment booking to retail sales will make this associate a valuable member of your team very quickly.

It is tempting to consider going short staffed for the weeks different members are off on vacation.  This, of course, is not ideal. Not only will the patient experience be compromised but it will likely also have an impact on your Revenue per Patient (RPP) – the two are intimately related. Are patients receiving additional testing to improve their health care outcomes, are they finding glasses that they want to purchase, are they leaving with drops and vitamins for preventative measures? Discussing these solutions takes time and energy. Tracking and reviewing RPP will give you some reassurance that maintaining a full compliment of staff is in the best interests of both your patients and your business.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.


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We have been working on some interesting projects lately that have afforded us the opportunity to meet with a number of suppliers. These meetings reminded me of how important it is to understand the complete Supply Chain and further, the Value Chain.

To start, a supply chain is the process of all parties involved in fulfilling a customer request while a value chain is a set of interrelated activities a company uses to create a competitive advantage. As small business owners, ECPs want to understand both of these in order to identify opportunities themselves.

Let’s take the assembly of a pair of glasses as an example. The supply chain is familiar to all of us in the industry. We have the frame and lens manufacturers, the frame and lens distributors, the labs and then the opticals. There have been some fairly significant changes in recent history that have changed the supply change.

I would argue that the most significant change was in the lens industry with the introduction of Free Form equipment. It has allowed more customization in lens manufacturing. What does this mean for the optometrist? There is an opportunity here to differentiate by offering the latest in manufacturing technology. If your strategy is to offer the best technology, than this could be a key product to help you define your offering.

Frame manufacturing is also set to see a major change. Up until now, the vast majority of frames have been manufactured outside of the country. With the introduction of 3D printing, we are seeing the possibility of mass production of frames in our own country instead. Environmentally, there is an advantage to this type of manufacturing as it has the potential to reduce waste significantly.  For a practice that is strategically set up to cater to Millennials, this could be quite appealing to their target audience.

These are changes to the Supply Chain – the way in which the goods in the industry are made available to optometrists and opticians. Some owners are using Freeform lenses and 3D printing as a competitive advantage. Early adopters of this technology will certainly attract the more progressive consumers in the marketplace.

The Value Chain is a little bit different. To set themselves apart, these same companies may focus on offering better price, service or product in their category. Take a lab that offers overnight production of a lens product. Their value proposition to the marketplace is speed of service. This, however, does a cost a little bit more in both man power (imagine overtime hours, a second shift of workers and/or same day delivery costs). However, for a practice that wants to differentiate itself through fast service, paying a little bit more for this type of service from their lab makes sense.

The same holds true for frame manufacturers. One might offer frames at a lower price point but the trade off is the quality of the product.  If your practice’s strategy is to sell at a high volume, this frame manufacturer would be a good fit.

It’s an exciting time to be in the Optical Industry as offerings in both the Supply and Value Chains in the optical industry are creating many opportunities for ECPs to differentiate themselves and be supported. With an eye on your strategy, by ever aware of the changes and mindful of the opportunities.

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.


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We have helped a number of optometrists either start their own practices or take over ownership of an existing practice. Both come with pros and cons. How do you decide what the best route is for you?

An existing practice is appealing because the patient base is already existing. Appointments are already booked and there is a patient base to re-call from to keep the schedule more or less full. If the owner has done their due diligence leading up to the sale of the practice, then other pieces will be in place. The practice will have kept up with the latest technology, both in diagnostic equipment and their EMR system.

To attract top dollar on the open market, the owner will also have invested in keeping the office renovated over the years. They will have implemented a marketing plan that is making sure the right people are aware of all the office has to offer. An up-to-date website, a social media strategy and AdWord campaigns that are driving in new patients at a consistent rate of 20 per cent is all part of this.

However, if the practice owner has failed to keep the practice up date, there is a price to pay: a lower market value. The reality is that an office that is not keeping current and up to date is creating a gap in the marketplace that a competitor can fill. That competitor could be a brand new player that opens in the area or it could be an associate who decides to invest their money in a new space instead of renovating an existing one.

There are many factors that impact this number, but a start-up or new build generally costs anywhere between $300k and $600k.  On the lower end of the scale will be practices who have smaller spaces and number of lanes and use basic finishing materials and mainstream products. On the higher side, practices that have carved out a strategy based on investing in the latest technology, will open in a larger space with multiple lanes and use unique finishing materials and exclusive products.

On the other hand, if you purchase an existing practice, leasehold improvements on their own start around $125k and can go up from there. Now, the biggest thing is to figure out how much needs to be invested in and improved.  If you are generally looking at having to improve everything — from introducing an EMR to revamping the frame strategy, the worth of the practice diminishes substantially. While a case could be made for good will— in this day and age of digital marketing and referrals, that good will is not worth what it once was.

It’s an exciting time when you are venturing into Practice Ownership. It is important to look at all the opportunities and weigh them carefully — both from a financial perspective and a quality of life perspective. Both purchasing a practice and building a brand new one are great options — take the time to figure out which option makes the most sense for you.

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com


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One of our favourite things to do as Practice Consultants is to work with optometrists who are opening their own practices cold. This is an exciting, and stressful, time. There are many things to consider and decide on.

The very first thing to decide on is Strategy.

Will you be offering strictly primary care?  Are you going to offer other services, like specialty contact lens fitting or vision therapy as well? Once you have the answers to those questions, you can start to think about what your dispensary should look like.

If you are catering to Low Vision patients, you will want to ensure that you have a good selection of value priced frames. If you are offering Vision Therapy services, you will need a fairly substantial children’s section with great multi-pair savings options.

With a solid understanding of what you will be offering in terms of services, you can begin the process of looking for a location. If you are planning on concentrating on primary care, consider a more remote location with less competition. While it may seem tempting to gravitate to larger centres with denser populations, you will have the greatest competition in these locations as well. If you do it right, a smaller community will offer you patronage and loyalty.

If you are offering other services aside from primary care, you are decreasing the amount of competition you will have. In this case, it can make sense to locate in a more populated area where competition is higher as you will be marketing and pulling from a larger geographical area for patients seeking your other services.

A competitive scan of the area where you want to practice will provide invaluable insight. Who else is offering primary care within a 5, 10, 25 km radius? What other services are being offered in those practices? If you are offering only primary care, the denser the population in the immediate area of your proposed location, the better. If you will be offering additional services, which are not found in the local area, you can extend the radius from which you will be attracting patients.

After you have chosen your location, determined which services you will be offering, and done a competitive analysis on the competition, you need to decide on the strategy for your dispensary. As competition in the optical industry continues to grow from online purchases and big box stores, it is critical to create an intentional plan for the dispensary. If branded product is being offered in all of the primary care locations surrounding you, consider an unbranded approach. A la carte pricing is common in many optometric practices so moving to a flattened price structure can be a fresh approach.

Do you want to be all things to all people? Do you want to be the person for one thing? Do you want to be the low cost provider or the transparent practice?

Taking the time to understand what you want to be known for and developing a solid strategy at the beginning of your journey into practice ownership will make other decisions easier to make and guide you down the path to successful business ownership.

 

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com


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Most optometrists that we speak to agree strongly that Metrics are essential for managing their businesses well. However, they all have the same challenge when it comes to implementation—time.  Managing a practice in between patients is difficult, if not impossible.

While moving to an automated system to generate Key Performance Metrics can save hours of time each month, it is also crucial to have these metrics reviewed and a plan developed based on the results.

As we have written in past articles, it is essential that the practice owner be involved in this process. However, it can also be effective to bring in an office manager or other trusted employee to help with the management and implementation of goals.

One of the metrics that we follow in SIMI Analytics is the mix of patients. For instance, of all the patients seen, what percentage are children, adults and seniors for each owner and each associate? We also follow how many new patients are seen by each OD. As time goes on, the older the practice, the older the patient base. It is essential that ALL ODs have a growing practice, not only the newer associates.

These are relatively easy metrics for staff to have control over and track the types of patients seen and the appointment codes booked. Many software systems allow the practice to colour code specific appointment times. Using this, the staff can create a colour grid to help them achieve their goal of an ideal mix.

Once they have filled, for example, the new patient spot for one doctor that day, they may choose to schedule the next new patient with another doctor to spread out the new patients. Once the doctor has established what their “perfect day” looks like, the team can colour coordinate the schedule to make that the goal. Of course, there will be exceptions, and a filled schedule is preferred to gaps in the day. On a monthly basis, the staff can review the metrics for that month to see how closely they came to achieving the ideal on an average day.

Another metric that staff can have a lot of control over is diagnostic capture rate. While it is the doctor’s recommendation that often influences the patient’s decision to proceed with additional testing, the staff can ensure that someone is always available to conduct the testing. Again, the staff can see the accumulative results on a monthly basis. Whether tied to a bonus system or simply used for intrinsic motivational purposes, staff owning the results can have a large impact on the performance of a practice.

There are a number of metrics that can be tracked in the optical to encourage staff ownership of the results. Progressives sales, sunglass sales and second pairs are all metrics that should be tracked, and preferably by the staff. When individuals track results, there is more likely to be a desire to have an impact on them.

 

CHRISTINA FERRARI

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com


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