“Experiences are as different from services, as services are from
goods.” Read it again. Then, read it backwards. You now succinctly have the evolution of where we are as patients, consumers
and business people.
For years, businesses have met the demands of consumers and
patients by competing on products and quality. We differentiated
ourselves based on the brands we carried. This worked for many
years but soon consumers/patients became numb to quality and
brand availability. A new “norm” was established requiring business to change their service levels in order to further differentiate
and compete.
In optical, retail introduced one hour services, extended hours
of operation and flexible doctors’ hours to accommodate the
changing work place in America. Eventually, these too became
“the norm” as those changes resonated with the consumer and
were widely adapted
and implemented.
Consumers then
began seeking a
higher level of
expectation: The
Experience. Star-bucks epitomized
the shift from an
ordinary cup of coffee to one that
brought with it the
experience of a place
to congregate, a
cushy chair, music or
a book when savoring a grande latte.
PATIENT OR CONSUMER CHOICE
Today, we have choices and options. We have the ability to vote
with our feet and our wallets every single day on nearly every single decision we make. For instance, we have many choices of
restaurants when we want to go out for dinner. Depending on the
occasion, we may want casual or formal, ethnic or not, sit down
or stand up, inside or out. Not only do you have these basic choices, in each of these categories there are also more choices. What
determines where you ultimately go? Most likely it is the experience you desire to have, heard about or had in the past. For
patients or consumers seeking eyecare today, it is no different. And
yes, I purposely interchange the words patients and consumers for
a reason. Patients who seek eyecare have choices, they are consumers. So, what are the ways we can ensure that each patient
chooses your office and doesn’t go elsewhere? It lies in understanding your own brand, making everything that the patient
experiences in your office faithful to that brand, and turning those
experiences into a “Wow.”
CREATING THE BRAND
First, create an eyecare experience that is different than what has
been traditionally offered. It begins with understanding and defining what your office or practice is ultimately going to be known
for in the market. What is your brand and what are the effects of
the brands, products and services you offer? What patients tell
their friends about your practice will become your brand, your
professional identity.
Be sure that what you intend becomes reality. If they describe
their visit as “okay” “it was a nice visit” versus “Let me tell you
about the experience I had the other day at the eye doctor” will
speak volumes to where you are in brand and experience building. According the American Management Association, if you have a wonderful experience with a service provider, you will tell
about 10 people. Conversely, if you had a bad experience you
will tell about 80. That’s eight times the bad publicity and it
doesn’t take much to turn off a patient. So understanding who
you are in the market and what your employees and services are
conveying to your patients determines your brand. (For more
details on how to develop your brand, see the CE “A Brand is
More Than A Name” at 2020mag.com.) Once a brand is known
or has been developed, make sure that every facet of the office
experience exemplifies the brand message you want to convey.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
 The experience begins with the phone call for an appointment; it’s
the first touch point where your brand (identity) is exposed to the
customer. Physically, it begins in “reception”—this is the first
touch point the patient will have with the brand. In both cases,
these first few moments will set the tone for the entire experience.
Is it friendly? Is it inviting? Is it warm or is it clinical? Is it personal or transactional? Is it formal or informal?
Have you heard the expression “You only have one shot to
make a first impression?” Well, this is it. This quick interaction
will determine in the patient’s mind what kind of experience they
feel they are in for during their visit. You can create a “wow”
experience or a ho-hum experience for your patient. Taking time
to create the desired patient frame of mind is critical in establishing and maintaining the brand.
The customer experience is created through a series of touch
points that result in informed, loyal and enthusiastic patients. It’s
a continually rotating circle of visits with participation of your
office before and after. The more continuity that you introduce,
the more a part of your practice the patient feels. Look at all the
components, make them part of your process.
MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL
Next, use some form of lifestyle questionnaire. Make sure to
explain why the information is important and how it will be used
throughout their visit. Then, take that valuable information and
begin using it in conversation to learn more about them as a person as well as a patient. According to the AMA nearly 7 out of 10
people leave a service provider because they felt that employees
were indifferent to them while at a visit. The greatest disservice
you can give to a patient is to take all that valuable information
and never use it. “Wow” patients by making them feel special,
important and one-of-a-kind, based on the information collected
in the questionnaire. Refer to their answers and probe for details
throughout the pre-testing, exam and dispensing process.
ENGAGE THE PATIENT
Add to the “wow” with a special attitude. Don’t just apply an
office process to the patient, engage the patient and make them
part of the process. A very effective selling skill is to have a conversation with patients. It makes the process personal and sharing
of critical details that can get a pair of glasses completely tuned in
to that patient. It’s a simple three step process:
- Explain what we
want to do
- Detail why it is important and
- Ask if they are
okay with moving forward.
Try it; it’s essential to including them
in the process. Following this simple formula throughout each
phase of the exam and office visit, will take a patient from feeling
like they are being “processed” to one of being engaged and part
of the solution and the resulting glasses.
ASK QUESTIONS
Asking good questions enables the patient to respond with more
than a “yes” or “no” answer; this is a key ingredient in creating
meaningful conversation.
People love to talk about themselves and they hold all the
information needed to recommend the right products and
solutions for their optical needs. There is only one way to gather
that information and it is by asking probing questions. Probing
questions come in two forms: Open—those that elicit more than a
one or two word answer; and Closed—those that require a short
or definitive answer.
Always start with open probes so the other person feels comfortable and begins sharing information. Once you hear something
that is important and germane, follow up with a question that essentially repeats what they have said to confirm what you have
heard. For example, “So I understand correctly Ms. Smith, you
are in the garden several hours a day?” Ms. Smith would reply,
“Yes, that’s right.” The process of asking open and closed probes
allows you to gather the information needed and provides you
with a clear and complete understanding of your patients’ needs.
This is also helpful to determine if assumptions have been made
or if information was actually gathered. Take a few moments to ask
the patient questions about their lifestyle, their hobbies, interests,
profession and how much time they spend doing various activities.
When you feel confident that you have a complete picture of the
persons’ lifestyle, proper context will have been established for
recommending products and treatments to meet all their
optical needs.
IT’S PERSONAL
The more engaged the patient becomes in the process, the more
emotionally attached they will become with your practice, staff and
your brand. Emotionally attached patients are loyal patients.
One marketing source claims that we don’t just buy brands,
we join them.
One of the more emotionally significant moments during the visit
is the patient hand off from the doctor to the dispensary. At that
moment there is an unspoken transfer of trust. Does the doctor
escort the patient into the dispensary, introduce the patient to the
dispenser, summarize the exam experience and findings, go over
the recommendations for correction and give them one final reassurance? If not, consider it.
A disturbing trend emerging over the last two years shows that
66 percent of the exams in the U.S. are given at an independent
doctor of optometry office. However, only 42 percent of the prescriptions for eyewear are filled at that the same office. A third of
all patients are not buying eyewear at the same office in which they
were examined. While we don’t expect that 100 percent of all
exams will result in an eyewear purchase (contact lens check, eye
health check, etc.) clearly a significant portion of patients leave to
purchase eyewear elsewhere. (Source: VisionWatch, a study
conducted by Jobson/Vision Council.)
How can you stop patients from going to another location to fill
their prescriptions? One way is making sure the patient feels like
their emotional and medical needs are being met. There is
nothing more important than a well-managed hand-off and
assuring the patient they can trust they will be best served by
staying in the dispensary. “Wow” them with personal attention.
POSITIONING THE SOLUTION
 There is an adage in sales that simply says, “People buy with
emotion and justify with logic.” In real time we translate that adage
into the skill of using features and benefits when describing
products and services.
Features are the facts or characteristics of a product and
therefore equal the “logic” portion of the adage. Benefits are what
the feature provides as a solution or answer to the question
“so that you can ___.” Patients buy benefits because it solves
their problems.
Think about how often we describe progressive addition lenses
or anti-reflective coatings. Often what is heard are nouns and
adjectives describing fitting heights, segment heights, wider
reading areas, variable corridors, glare, smudge resistant, digital
surfacing, etc., all things that mean little to a patient who sees an
eyecare professional an average of about two-and-a-half years. Features are simply facts or characteristics of products or treatments,
but they don’t convey any message that they will solve the patient’s
problem. In fact, stating features without describing the benefits
will arm the patient with a list of items they can either choose to
accept or decline. Not dissimilar to ordering off a menu at a
restaurant and ordering a la carte.
Position your solution with patients by focusing on the benefits
of each feature, as opposed to the feature. Patients want to hear
how you are going to solve their problem with procedures,
processes or products. Benefits, loaded with emotion because of
what they resolve or improve, are very difficult to decline.
Patients come into the office with needs. Needs are defined
as “having the desire to change something.” As an eyecare
professional, there are many procedures, processes and products
that can be prescribed to address those needs
TABLE TALK
 Conversations at the dispensing table are where sales are made and
many are lost. One common reason why sales are often lost
is because the patient doesn’t perceive the value in what is
being offered.
For instance, it may be heard “This pair of glasses costs how
much?” Discussing only the features of lenses, frames and treatments, and not about how it will solve their optical need, make
them look better, more attractive, more accepted, the patient will
opt out of what may be very beneficial to them and the right solution. However, if we link the features to benefits, a scenario is created that is much less likely rejected. “Wow” them by speaking in
ways that help them visualize life with their new eyewear.
Challenge each other to explain common recommendations of
products using only benefit statements. See if describing a PAL
with AR goes from all statistics to: “We recommend a lens that lets
you see clearly in all situations; while you read, doing your
hobbies and while driving, just like you did in the exam chair. This
lens is treated to give you crisp, clear vision helping reduce
distracting glare that can make your eyes tired. In addition, we’ll
put coatings on the front and back to insure your lenses will be
resistant to every day scratching so you can see clearer, longer.”
Attributes are the features of what the practice, products or
processes offer the patient. Emotional benefits are what the
patients ultimately seek from the solutions provided. Functional
benefits are statements describing solutions that have been created.
THE ASK
At each stage, careful consideration has been made to bring the
patient into the process. Efforts have made the experience more
engaging, emotional and meaningful.
Eliminate the list of features from the dispensing table conversation.
Focus on the benefits your products provide. Take away the options
of saying no by stressing what life will be like with enhanced or corrected vision. Benefits tell them why you are recommending the product and how it will help them live better over the life the prescription.
Now’s the tough part for many opticians, they struggle at this point
in the conversation. Some struggle because they feel the eyewear they
are recommending might be too expensive for them and therefore
must be as well for the patient. Others are uncomfortable asking for
money. If the previous steps have been followed, asking for the
order is just a natural extension of the groundwork that has already
been laid.
It should be noted at this point we haven’t discussed price and that
also means one would not discuss price until the patient has a context of value. Until your recommendation of all the benefits that await
them have been described, hold off on telling a price. If you lead with
a price, it is just like leading with features. A patient can say no and
opt out as soon as the price is given. However, when you build a
compelling value story by describing benefits, you will have created a
package that will be very difficult to decline.
I ONLY WANT WHAT INSURANCE COVERS
Enough has been written already about the role of insurance in
today’s marketplace. It is a down payment for eyewear—a way to
pay for the basics so the patient can get what they really want to
the benefits that they really need. All of us are accustomed to co-payments for medical and dental visits. We expect a portion of the
balance to be covered by insurance, with the final payment being
covered by the patient.
Present the eyecare solution in a top down fashion; best, better,
then good. Understand the difference in patient investment from
the best solution to what insurance will cover. Patients that understand benefits and learn the value of those benefits will also add
to what insurance covers. After all, they’ll have them to enjoy for
two plus years and who doesn’t want clear, comfortable and fashionable eyewear. “Wow” them with what’s possible.
CONCLUSION
Organizations that embrace creating an experience and challenge
the norm will be rewarded by the marketplace. Engage your
patients and impress upon them your sincere dedication to resolving their optical needs while caring to make an emotional connection. Focus on the benefits of all the products and services that are
part of your brand and be courageous enough to step out and do
something different. Give your patients an experience that wows
them so enthusiastically that they become your best advertisers,
marketers and storytellers. |