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IMPROVING YOUR BUSINESS

FOLLOW THESE 12 TIPS TO ENSURE YOUR PRACTICE IS THE BEST IT CAN BE

YES, you’re a healthcare professional; but you’re also a business owner. As a result, you must have systems in place to make certain your business thrives.

Here’s a list of 12 tips that will enable you to safeguard the profitability of your practice.

1 DIFFERENTIATE

Come up with one or more services, such as specialty contact lens fits, which make you stand out from the other eyecare practitioners in your area. Doing so fosters patient loyalty.

2 REQUIRE SMILES/POSITIVE ATTITUDES

A smile and a can-do attitude can make all the difference to patients. Consider posting the poem “Attitude” by Charles Swindoll (bit.ly/1Q6AF3X) in an area your staff can see it to reinforce this.

3 HAVE A MORNING HUDDLE

Before opening your doors, briefly meet with your staff to discuss any events of the day and the dialogue you’d like them to use regarding the services and products you provide. This ensures everyone is on the same page when it comes to service.

4 SCHEDULE WEEKLY TEAM MEETINGS

Take a solid hour out of production to focus on your practice’s mission statement, and then split into departments and “role play.” No one develops expertise in any sport, music or team without lots of practice. Invest a little; get a lot!

Make everyone on your team a Board member, and make it the responsibility of all to hold each other accountable.

5 USE “ADVANTAGE” DIALOGUE

Remember: Consumers BUY the personal emotional feeling they believe they stand to gain from a service or product. Therefore, focus on the personal benefits for the consumer before explaining, “We’re vigilant with our patients when it comes to protecting and preserving sight. This is why we always prescribe …”

6 USE A CALL-TO-ACTION CLOSE

When people say, “Yes!” they generate their own closure. Therefore, ask, “Does this make sense?” after explaining the advantage of a service or product. This is a call-to-action close.

7 DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE HANDOFF

When giving the patient to a member of your optical team, briefly reiterate the benefits of what you’ve prescribed for the patient and why. Doing so shows the patient the importance of your prescription.

8 ACKNOWLEDGE THE PATIENT’S FEELINGS

Before trying to fix or explain, listen to what the patient has to say. People are most often willing to listen to an explanation AFTER they feel they’ve been heard, research shows.

9 MAKE A POSITIVE LASTING IMPRESSION

Checkout/pre-appointment is often the last impression patients have of your practice. To ensure it’s a positive one, patients should clearly understand their charges and comparative value — in other words, what would the service and/or product cost IF they didn’t have a vision savings plan or medical insurance? AND, does the patient understand why he or she will be seeing you again for a medical visit or in a year for “essential yearly care?”

10 FOLLOW UP ON CARE

Call your at-risk patients following their visit, and reassure them. It makes them feel important, which increases the likelihood that they will stick with you as their eyecare provider.

11 RECOGNIZE AND REWARD

When a staff member does an excellent job or meets or exceeds a pre-set goal, recognize that employee, and reward him or her for the contributions. This not only creates employee loyalty, but also inspires employees to want to continue to “wow” you.

12 CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY

Develop a yearly “Sight Day” in your community, and get your vendors to sponsor it. Create a program in which part of your profits go to a community-based outreach organization. Consider your practice a B-corporation. You’ll attract the future. OM

MARK HINTON is CEO and president of eYeFacilitate. Email him at mark@eyefacilitate.com, or to comment on this article, visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment.