Many optometrists and optometry students have reported receiving Chase Bank Amazon credit cards in the mail, even though they never applied for new credit cards from the bank or from Amazon. Many of these same people have received credit alerts on their accounts when they were contacted by credit reference agencies to alert them that there had been a failed attempt to open up … [Read more...]
Case Study of a Facebook Ad
Facebook can be difficult to navigate when initially creating a company “page”. With over 1 billion Facebook users worldwide, finding followers interested in your business should be easy, right? Wrong. While you can easily request for your friends to follow your page, it is much more difficult to find new, eager patients willing to follow your business. The question … [Read more...]
Are Your Sales Frozen?
Sometimes your world changes. Things happen that you don’t account for. Whether it’s a change in the business landscape, or your parents dying horrifically in an ill-fated sea voyage - things can go from ‘ok’ to ‘oh no’ quickly. Being able to adapt to new situations is necessary in both business and everyday life. As many have no doubt seen, the eyewear industry has changed … [Read more...]
A Lens Story
Let’s say you want to give someone a gift that you want them to remember. What you don’t do is give them a gift card, socks, or a fruit cake. Those gifts are overdone to the point of nausea. Not that there’s anything wrong with fruit cake, mind you. It can be quite delicious, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s common, expected, and not exactly the kind of thing … [Read more...]
A Hand-off is not just a Hand-off but a Transfer of Care
After many fumbled hand-offs between my optometrist and I, we decided to analyze how we perform our hand-offs and what it means to the patient. After much review, we found that a hand-off is not simply pawning the patient off from optometrist to optical (or check out), but a chance to transfer the care and expertise. We found that patients don’t want to have a first-class … [Read more...]
A Few Thoughts on Seeking Advice
Forward - Sometimes when we need help, we turn to those around us, even if they aren’t any more qualified than us to answer a question. These people may be colleagues, ‘consultants’ with no real qualifications to consult, or whoever will listen. One wonders, are these help-seekers creating more problems for themselves when they do this? Or should they simply go find a … [Read more...]
The Haunted Practice
How the Internet Brought Down a Private ECP An optometrist’s office sits empty in the Midwest despite the early afternoon hour. If one listens closely voices can be heard whispering though no one has entered. A stack of brochures scatters along the counter as if a breeze had passed through, though there are no open windows or doors. What was once a thriving business has … [Read more...]
The Economy (class) of Comfort
So, if you’re lucky, you get to see your patients every two years. That means that you have very few opportunities to give your patients a great experience. One of the key proponents to a great experience is not in overdoing everything, but is really about making sure that nothing goes wrong, and the patients are comfortable. Much of this can be seen when looking at the … [Read more...]
Are They Feeling Under-Depreciated?
So, I’m sure you know that piece of equipment you have in the shop that you just can’t wait to upgrade. Don’t get me wrong - it’s done well so far, but at a point, that 20-some-year-old piece of equipment just don’t cut it any more. Whether it’s an edger that’s on it’s last legs, or an exam chair with a few pieces of duct tape on it, there’s usually something that could use a … [Read more...]
Don’t Lose Your Head: How to respond to a negative facebook review
Facebook can be an eerie place. Like ghosts hiding in the night waiting for a good scare, social media sites can be filled with late night lurkers and hundreds of trolls. You hope to never awaken them... but all it takes is one bad day and BOO! You get a negative Facebook review. Here is an optometrist’s guide to properly handling a negative review. Take a deep breath A … [Read more...]