Eye Care Practice Management in Today’s Competitive Marketplace

Growing your practice in today’s competitive marketplace is no easy task. Traditional means of getting the word out to your patients—ads in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, and on the radio—are effective, but also costly. How can you expand your practice without also paying more? Does optical practice management need to cost a lot?

Fortunately, it doesn’t. You can harness the power of the Internet to do all of the things that traditional advertising did for you, and at a fraction of the cost. Your current patient list is like a pot of gold waiting to be discovered. By revising your optical practice management to be in step with current best practices, you’ll be well on your way to outperforming the competition.

Here are some ways you can market to your current patient list:

o Write a periodic newsletter and send it to patients via e-mail.
o Build a better website. Include special offers to visitors, and offer them the opportunity to sign up for you e-newsletter.
o Ask visitors to return. It’s amazing what a simple, “Thank you, come again!” will do for your optical practice management. Courtesy counts.
o Ask for a referral. In other words, if you can tell a patient is happy with the service you’ve provided, see if they can’t recommend some of their friends, relatives, or co-workers to visit you. Make things easier by handing them a few extra business cards for good measure.

A quick note on the e-newsletter—make sure you get permission from the people to whom you intend to send it. Federal spam legislation now requires that people give you permission before you send an e-mail to them. By creating an “opt-in” for these patients, you’re following the guidelines and showing your courtesy at the same time.

Want to market to your current patient base effectively? Following the eye care practice management suggestions listed above will get you on the right path.

Outperforming the Competition in the Optometric Marketplace

The optometric marketplace is a competitive one. No matter how long you’ve been in business—and no matter how strong of a relationship you have with your patients—the fact is that there will always be someone trying to do it better and more efficiently than you. If you’re worried about losing your patient base to local competitors, you should consider optometric marketing.

Healthcare reimbursements from insurance companies are decreasing, but costs are still going up. Reshaping your business strategies to reflect this reality is a must. Your business can surpass your competition by creating and seeing out an optometric marketing plan.
What kinds of things does the term “marketing” bring to mind? Do you think of radio and television ads and other media that come at a hefty price? These traditional forms of advertising are effective, but also expensive. There are simpler—not to mention cheaper—ways to get your message out.

You already have the most crucial part of an effective marketing strategy right in front of you: your current patients. To begin with, you should be sure you’ve got staff large enough to accommodate your client base. Secondly, give them an experience that will ensure return visits.

When you’ve got patients returning on a regular basis, you’re ready for the next step: asking them for patient referrals. While not seeming pushy, ask your current returning patients if they’ll recommend you to their friends and family. Satisfied customers refer other people, and if your patients have a good opinion of you, they’ll do the same! If a patient seems willing to give you referrals, handing them a few of your business cards never hurt, either.

Your patients return to you because you show your concern for them. They will refer other patients to you—their friends and family—because they know you’ll show them the same consideration. Make sure you keep your new patients on with you by keeping in contact with them after their visits. While they are in for an appointment, make sure that they receive a free copy of your newsletter.

A focused optometric marketing campaign is the best way to grow your practice—but it is only as good as the people and ideas behind it. If your employees aren’t on board with your vision, you won’t see the growth you’d hoped for. Make sure that your employees are friendly and caring toward your patients. A little customer service goes a long way

Eyecare Marketing and Email: What Do Your Patients Want to Know About?

Whether you’ve been broadcasting to your patient base for years or just getting started, figuring out what information to share with your patients can pose an interesting challenge.

As professionals, we spend a lot of energy on describing conditions and treatment plans in layman’s terms – for a live audience who generally need to know what we have to say – in the moment.
But what do you talk with your patient about when they are away? In other words, what do they want to hear?

Here are a few ways of ‘re-focusing’ on what people want to hear about from you…

1. Forums – Do a google search on ‘eye care forums’ and see what comes up. (Warning: Try not to get caught up in the debates you’ll invariably find regarding fees, policies, etc.)

2. Do a general google search on ‘eye problems’ – the most popular are a reflection of the most traffic…

3. Brainstorm/Reflect on the most common general questions people have for you or ask your staff what they often hear people ask…

4. Try the google ‘adwords’ tool below. Type in the name of a condition or simply, type ‘eye problems’ and see what comes up. Pay special to average monthly search volume.

Here’s the link:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal (Estimates total searches and AdWords clicks & CPC)

Once you’ve found a topic that you like, remember that effective eye care marketing and email starts with the ‘conversation’.