BUSINESS

  BY THE NUMBERS

COMPARE OPTICAL SALES

COLLECT NUMBERS ON OPTICAL ORDERS FILLED ELSEWHERE

JAY BINKOWITZ

NOT LONG ago, I had a patient ask for his prescription (a millennial too) who also needed to come back for testing. Despite my best efforts, he was not going to use his plan benefits with us.

No doubt we have all experienced this frustration. But the story continues! When this patient returned, he was wearing new frames from Warby Parker. (Ugh!) The cost of this eyewear was almost half of what it would have cost with his plan co-payments, and I understood that as the reason for his decision. But, when this patient returned, he chose to use his benefits to buy eyewear with us too! (A big win!) He realized the value of our products — and, of course, wanted to use his “entitlement.”

We have had similar situations with private-pay consumers. You can’t win them all, but when you talk the “right” talk (Check out July’s “By the Numbers.”), provide the right socially engaging environment (October’s “Consumer Corner”) and merchandise by collection (June’s “By the Numbers.”) you will ultimately win.

TRACK IT!

Nevertheless, it is critical to track patients in several ways.

1. Refraction to eyewear conversion. This is how many complete pairs of eyewear are sold compared with the number of refractions. It is a good idea to break this out by plan as well as walk-ins. Overall, your goal is 65%.

To calculate: Number of patients who purchased complete pairs of eyewear/number of refractions within a given period. For example, 20 complete eyewear purchases / 50 total refractions = 40%

2. Prescriptions with legs. Make a copy of every prescription that did not result in an optical sale (including contact lenses). Compare the ratio of number of prescriptions filled with the number of prescriptions with legs (see below). For example, 10 sold, two walked out. In this practice, they have a 5 to 1 ratio.

IMPROVE

Use the above to create your base line. (If you have more than a 10 to 1 ratio of prescriptions filled compared with those with legs, it’s time for a whole new game plan.) Next, use short/small goals for incremental growth through a six-month period. A 5% increase per month is a great way to create the behavior changes needed to obtain and maintain your goals.

Also, discuss these numbers with your team. Have your team review each prescription that left the practice. What was said? What was not said? What could have been done to stop the prescription from walking? Consistently refine your presentations as you review this number, monthly, and gauge change. OM

MR. BINKOWITZ is president of GPN, a leading business management company based in Farmingdale, N.Y. He has had extensive experience in retail operations, merchandising and marketing. Email him at jay@GatewayPN.com, or to comment on this article, visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment.