Read more from the Q&A issue

• Methodology: Keep the questions coming
• How can optometrists efficiently schedule ocular disease patients in light of the COVID-19 pandemic?
• How can optometrists create a successful dry eye disease spa?
• How can an optometrist include the patient’s opinion when it comes to glaucoma treatment?
• How can O.D.s differentiate the neovascular form of AMD from similar diseases?
• How can an optometrist obtain diabetic patient referrals from a primary care physician?
• What should optometrists know about effective management of myopia?
• What is the value optometrists can provide and communicate for the fee charged?
• How can optometrists set up an appropriate fee schedule for specialty contact lenses?
• How can O.D.s get more engaged in luxury frame sales?
• How can an optometrist create a successful practice sans third party health plans?
• How do O.D.s create a system for quick and efficient coding?

A: It’s a question our consultants get asked repeatedly, “How can I get more new patients?”

It’s a fair question, but with a simple follow up of “Why do you want to do that?” the answer can drive the conversation in different ways.

In my years of consulting, the response has never been, “Because I want to work harder and see more patients.” Instead, eventually, it often distills to, “Because I want to increase practice net income.”

Therefore, when attempting to answer, “How can I get more new patients?” the question should be qualified to ask, “How can I get more profitable new patients?” After all, if you could afford to, advertising on the Super Bowl would likely bring in a tsunami of new patients. But after paying back your $6 million advertising bill and seeing tens of thousands of new patients, you may find you have about $0.30 left in your bank account. The key, then, is to develop a cost-effective approach.

With that, let’s approach the answer more strategically with two bifurcations: established practices and new practices.

THE ESTABLISHED PRACTICE APPROACH

The most straightforward approach to attract new patients is to offer new services to your established patients, who will, in turn, spread the word to the community at large. This is no different than selling a unique pair of glasses to a current patient who brags about them to a friend who winds up in your practice wanting the same glasses.

The key advice here, when offering any new service or product, is to be fully committed to succeeding. For example, if you plan to offer a new frame line, this means taking in a large enough inventory, so the new line clearly stands out. (For marketing advice and ideas on adding new frame lines and specialties to the practice, see “Resources for Practice Growth.”)

If it’s a new customer service offering, like telehealth, it means building a huge social media and PR campaign around it. Your campaign needs to extend beyond a single Facebook post of, “We now offer telehealth appointments.” It requires repeatedly emailing your entire patient base, trying to get on the local news to create awareness and doing whatever it takes to be known as the practice that offers telehealth. In addition, you need to include your message in office signage and in recall communications. Also, you should mention it to every patient at check in/out; for example, “Next time, we can do this remotely,” and note in their record those interested. Use the same approach for a clinical specialty, such as myopia management, dry eye disease, etc.

If you don’t have the marketing savvy to build the campaign yourself, work with experts, such as colleagues who have already paved the way for you. The opportunity to locally “own” most clinical specialties is still there for those willing to focus and commit.

Resources for Practice Growth

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON:

Adding a luxury frame line. See “Optical: Stand Out in a Sea of Endless Opticals” by Jesslin Quint, O.D.

 

Adding a clinical specialty. See “Add a Specialty” by Karen Appold (OM December 2019. bit.ly/OMSpecialty2019 ) and “Expand Through Specialty Contact Lenses” by Stephanie Woo, O.D. (OM September 2020. bit.ly/SpecialtyContacts2020 )

 

Developing a dry eye specialty. See “Provide an Elite Dry Eye Care Experience” article on p.22 by Angela Bevels, O.D., and “Tools to Start a Dry Eye Clinic” by Cecelia Koetting, O.D., F.A.A.O. (OM July 2021. bit.ly/OMDryEyeClinic2021 )

 

Providing telehealth. See “Choose a Telehealth Platform” by Brian Rogoff, O.D., M.B.A., F.A.A.O. (OM December 2020. bit.ly/OMTelemedicine2020 )

 

Social media ideas. See “Develop a Social Media Marketing Strategy” by Gregory L. Garner, O.D., and Tara Keel (OM March 2019. bit.ly/OMSocMedMarketing )

 

Practice growth. See “10 Steps to Grow Your Business” by Chad Fleming, O.D., F.A.A.O. (OM July 2015. bit.ly/OMPracticeGrowth2015 ) 

Practice Improvement Questions Answered by Dr. Gerber’s Recent “Business Strategies” Columns

How much should your practice “go back to the way things were” prior to the pandemic? (OM July 2021. bit.ly/OMGerber0721 )

 

What timeless principles can help your practice grow, regardless of circumstances? (OM April 2021. bit.ly/OMGerber0421 )

 

What steps can your practice take to promote a healthier new normal? (OM January/February 2021 [bit.ly/OMGerber0121 ] and OM October 2020 [bit.ly/OMGer ber1020 ])

 

How do you overcome the challenge of adding myopia care to the practice? (OM June 2020. bit.ly/OMGerber0620 )  

 

How do you meet patient expectations in an age of warp-speed change? (OM April 2020. bit.ly/OMGerber0420 ) 

THE NEW PRACTICE APPROACH

Unless your practice hasn’t opened yet or recently opened and only has a handful of established patients, you should start your efforts as above. If you don’t yet have a significant base of patients, the underlying philosophy is the same: Don’t just add patients for the sole basis of a head count.

The only difference to the above approach is how you communicate the message, since you don’t have established patients to act as ambassadors and your budget is likely more restricted. To that point, a more face-to-face organic approach is going to be needed. However, make sure that the first thing you budget for is the creation of drop-dead awesome content and consumer-believable messaging.

This is not the place to go it alone. However, if such assistance falls outside your budget, then test messages on your own. For example, before you go down the path of creating a DIY brochure for dry eye disease or another specialty, first read up on the elements of a good compelling brochure. When you do, you’ll learn that headlines, fonts, color palettes and paper stock matter.

Take a look at content outside optometry for things that catch your eye: Is the brochure from the Audi dealership a trifold 8.5-inch by 11-inch piece of paper printed on a laser printer? What about for that big screen TV at Best Buy? Braces for your kid? Botox for yourself? What’s on the cover? Does the Audi logo or a message (headline) entice you to open the brochure and read more? Are there testimonials? Are the photos taken with an iPhone or done professionally? Use these observations to help create your brochure.

If your first iteration doesn’t work, stop using it and find out why. For example, inquire with non-responders and tweak things going forward. Be as analytical in your marketing approach as you are in titrating treatments! Social media can be the perfect cost-effective way to A/B test different approaches.

By taking advantage of word-of-mouth marketing and social media, you can generate affordable, effective campaigns that will bring new patients into the practice. OM

DR. GERBER is the founder of the Power Practice, a company specializing in making optometrists more profitable. Learn more at powerpractice.com .