buyer's forum
walking the walk
Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC, Senior Editor

There's more than one way to direct consumerism to induce profits, from guiding patients in your office to managing purchases in your practice. View your practice as not only an output of optical goods and services, but also as a consumer of those products and services. What you buy, when you buy it, and what you do with it all adds up to giving the best to your patients.

Start with that simple goal, and these three profit-enhancing to-do's from the EB archives, and you'll be well on your way to honing profitability.

February 1999. Ensure patients receive products that are tailored to their particular needs. Even if patients choose other lower tech, lower cost products, they've at least learned about two important things: Other product options and your expertise.

Alan Leck, president of Primary Eyecare Network, a California-based network of highly successful optometric practices adds, "We tell all our doctors it is their duty to offer the options." 

February 2000. Optical shops have a unique security problem compared to most other retail situations, so theft prevention is key. Every product is small and fits easily into a pocket or purse.

Sharon Katzman, owner of I-Optics, an optical boutique in Sarasota, Fla., battles this by providing plenty of attention to all visitors. "Customers are greeted upon entering the store, even if staff is busy waiting on other customers. We let people know we acknowledge their existence here. If you're selling to people, they don't have time to steal."

April 2001. Poor communications between labs and their accounts can become a hindrance to good service, and getting lab orders completed correctly is a priority.

Botched orders cost money and time, but as Carol Michael, customer service supervisor at Hawkins Optical in Topeka, Kan., notes, "The great cost to dispensers is the loss of the patients' confidence." Treat labs like your best customer and keep looking for new ways to increase lab communications.