VISIONOMICS

Engaging with Customers

Including social proof and other messages in your dispensing conversation to boost sales

Visionomics^®, a series of COPE- and ABO-approved business-building courses, will be held at this year’s International Vision Expo East show. They focus on strategies for assessing and maximizing practice profitability. In this series of articles, Eyecare Business—the official trade media partner for Visionomics—features some of the program’s speakers. This month, Mark Hinton discusses his course “Capture More Patients Through Engaging Communication.” Hinton is president and CEO of eYeFacilitate, which develops, mentors, and coaches practitioners and opticians in effective communication and practice management issues. He has a degree in ophthalmic dispensing, is a COPE- and ABO-certified educator, and a partner in an optometric private practice.

Mark Hinton

people often find themselves skeptical in the presence of a salesperson. When consumers are in a situation where a price has yet to be determined, as in optical where the price is dependent on patient choices and needs, they can also feel discomfort.

Engaging communication strategies like social proof can help you—whatever your role in the practice or shop—make a personal connection and provide assurance that the product will provide a sense of peace-of-mind, advantage, and comfort that the patient is making the right choices.

USING SOCIAL PROOF

Simply put, “social proof” is the positive influence achieved when your consumer realizes that others have taken advantage of the benefit of what you’re prescribing or advising for them, too; it also allows people to relax and feel as though THEY get to make the choice. It’s also known as social influence—the endorsements of others delivered through your voice.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

When your patients feel confident that you aren’t trying to “sell” to them, they more often make the wise decisions you’re hoping they’ll make. When you express how your services and products will benefit your patients, but you express those benefits through the voice of other patients who are already pleased, you’ll be viewed as their advocate and you’ll have greater success. Try the following.

✔ Tell a brief story about an experience another patient had with the product in question, and close with a call to action question, like: “Bill, do those advantages make sense for you, too?”

✔ Avoid the word “recommend”; it’s passive and perceived as only a suggestion. When you want them to take your advice, say: “My best advice is…” And then use social proof: “And that’s why other patients have found it to be solid advice for them, too.”

✔ Fear of missing out is a great motivator for decision-making, so use other consumer examples and endorsements to influence your prospect market.

✔ Lead away from negative positions, show the benefits, and put patients in charge of their decision. “Ben, you’re not alone there, other patients have felt the same as you, but after they understood what they’d sacrifice without it they decided to include it. I’ll share the reasons and you decide?”

These strategies can be employed by everyone on staff. But being able to work them into conversation seamlessly takes practice. Schedule time for the whole team to review and rewrite their existing dialog at all patient touch-points and you’ll have a team of expert communicators.

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