As the summer comes to an end and we fall into a new season, it is the perfect time to prepare your practice for a refreshing change in routine. September brings the excitement of our industry’s busiest buying season as new product releases are plentiful. It offers practice owners and staff the settings to learn about new technologies, equipment, and eyewear in person, in the office, or virtually, opening our eyes to prospective additions to our business to help it grow to better meet the eyecare needs of our clients. 

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The #EBOpticalChecklist is breaking out of each issue with a monthly digital episode to our social channels. Join optical pro Sheena Taff as she applies these checklist items to real-world scenarios. Watch on EB’s Instagram (@eyecarebusinessmagazine) and TikTok (@eb_mag).

 

 

CONNECTION

Keep connected to your needs for any buying appointment—whether in the optical or at Vision Expo West. Make sure you balance keeping an open mind to viewing new collections, being mindful of the needs of your optical to ensure emotional buying doesn’t lead to overspending.

□ Know your inventory. Pull inventory reports for top sellers and slow movers and look over your board to know what styles you have represented to avoid buying redundancies.

□ Ask your optical staff, as they engage with patients and hear direct feedback. Find out what they feel is missing from your offerings.

□ If you are going to attend Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, make sure all travel needs are booked and your appointments are scheduled.

DEVELOPMENT

Developing a shoppable, well-arranged dispensary will increase capture rates. Organizing frames by styles and trends and adding branding and board signage are easy ways to refresh the boards and intermix new and current eyewear.

□ Flipping product locations will have both patients and staff seeing things in a new light. Whether by style, color, or brand, making a slight change will alter your patients’ perceptions.

□ Clear out surface clutter and dust and remove any old point-of-purchase items from the dispensary. Keep dispensing tables clean and let the frames be the focus.

□ Pull a sales report and identify any stagnant frames. Have a staff meeting and get your team’s impressions as to why specific product is or isn’t selling.

RELATIONSHIP

Create an environment that encourages an employee’s ongoing relationship with growth through work-related educational development. This can increase staff retention and improve morale because each party is mutually investing in long-term prosperity.

□ Have the manager select three to six online learning modules that would most benefit the location and let each team member choose three to six of their own. Set a goal to complete by year end.

□ Schedule staff learning during slower times or set overtime incentives for completing education outside of business operating hours.

□ During a morning energizer meeting, have staff members share one top takeaway from their most recent learning and how they plan to put it into an actionable practice.

REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Encourage staff to ask for reviews from patients to highlight their five-star experience. Every single review is a teachable moment and a way to recognize an outstanding job or an opportunity for improvement.

□ Make it easier for the “ask” by creating a QR code for reviews and printing it on business cards—an inexpensive way to remind clients to post a review.

□ Connect with patients who leave a review. Show your appreciation and use the response to reinforce your optical shop’s core values.

□ Recognize and celebrate any member of the team who is mentioned in customer reviews and incentivize staff members with coffee or lunch for being named.