In the Optical
The industry has a new “Eyeglass Rule,” and this Federal Trade Commission enforcement requires that all eye exam prescriptions by optometrists or ophthalmologists be immediately provided post exam. Patients may interpret this as a new “freedom” to take their prescriptions out of the office. Capturing patient loyalty immediately is more crucial than ever. It is essential to assess the analytics of how patients flow in and out of the business, and how they spend within it, in order to adapt to changing behaviors. From the initial online search, the exam room visit, and right into the dispensary, this month we will look at how analyzing data will create a complete continuum of care and increase patient retention.
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1. Incentivize customer loyalty by creating a VIP program. It could be awarding points on dollars spent for future discounts, or offering exclusive multiple-pair incentives for clients who buy annually, complimentary upgrades, special credits for referrals, or household discounts for families that come consistently for eye exams, eyewear, and contact lenses.
2. Educate the public (and your patients) and create awareness about the differences between an in-person eyewear experience and the do-it-yourself online model. Create social media posts about key experiential differences. Try a campaign offering free eyewear evaluations to demonstrate how much better professionally fitted eyewear can be.
3. Pull a sales report from the last quarter of 2023 to identify the top-selling departments. Plan holiday inventory purchasing by evaluating which product categories and specific items performed well and prevent overspending on items that didn’t provide good ROI.
4. Collect customer feedback with quick surveys. Provide an iPad and ask for feedback while patients are waiting: How did you find our practice? What differentiated our office from others? What is the primary reason for this visit? Send a post-visit survey by email or text with questions about customer service and satisfaction.
5. Put survey answers into a word cloud generator every month and post the results in your staff area. This creates a visual of what is most significant to your clients and can help to identify areas for improvement.
6. Review new patient data for 2024, sectioned into age groups. If you are seeing more younger children, adjust inventory and offer kid-friendly activities and books in the waiting area. If it’s emerging presbyopes, focus on promoting lenses that help with digital device use.
7. Capture the attention of value-based clients with an offering of competitively priced basic frame and lens packages. Educate on product differences if online retailers are enticing patients away from the dispensary with inexpensive eyewear.
8. Articulate pricing policies for troubleshooting or adjusting eyewear purchased elsewhere. Differentiate the cost of eyewear aftercare (free or minimal cost) and the beneficial warranties for eyewear purchased in-house versus the cost of eyewear purchased elsewhere or online.
9. If you work with a website manager, ask for a report of your web stats. Review pages that get the highest traffic and longest viewing time versus pages with high bounce and exit rates. Discuss ways to optimize pages to improve user experience.
10. Focus on new products. Evaluate the inventory budget for the final quarter of the year and formulate a strategy. Many brands have instituted buying tiers. Look at where you stand with your vendors; allotting buying to reach new levels can result in better discounts or entitlements for 2025.
