visionomics®

Helping Patients Buy

Visionomics®, a series of COPE- and ABO-approved business-building courses, will be held at this year’s International Vision Expo West show. The courses focus on strategies for assessing and maximizing practice profitability. In this series of articles, Eyecare Business—the official trade media partner for Visionomics—will feature some of the program’s speakers. This month Joy L. Gibb, ABOC, a consultant for The Vision Council, discusses her course, “Increasing Your Average Sale,” to be presented at next month’s show.

Here is something to consider: A patient who opts for a FT bifocal in his existing frame represents a $150 sale. Giving that patient a better understanding of the benefits of the myriad products available and a motivating buying experience could turn that sale into a free-form, photochromic PAL with a premium AR coating and a price tag of almost $600. And maybe even a new titanium frame for $250 or $300.

TOP SALES TIPS

Here are some tips for getting you on the way to more of those $600 sales and fewer $150 ones.

■ Experience. My advice is always to make it personal, make it fun, and make it “different” from other optical shops. Create an experience patients are willing to pay for!

■ From the chair. The OD in the office/store is the biggest resource when it comes to increasing sales. A doctor can sabotage sales with phrases like, “Your old glasses are fine, they just need a tune up” or “Great news, there’s no change; you don’t need anything.”

■ Presenting product. Your eyewear presentation techniques can make the difference between a small, lens-only sale and a multiple-pair purchase. Use your vendor sales representatives, trade magazines, and CE courses to arm your staff with product knowledge. Remember, no one buys the unknown.

Adopt a premium-product package-bundling technique instead of selling add-ons. Don’t pitch something as “the perfect pair,” because every customer has a need for at least a second pair. Present the multiple pairs as “your other first pair.”

■ Sticker shock. A long-reigning problem in optical is that we assume premium product is too expensive for our patients. If we don’t balance their checkbook, we can’t decide what they can afford, or want to spend. Recommend the best product for their needs, period. How would you recommend lenses and frames if they were free? Do it that way.

■ Tracking goals. Your staff can’t work toward a goal that isn’t clearly stated—and tracked. Lay it out for your staff and present the steps that will get them there. EB