Why will people spend nearly $300 (up to thousands depending upon the model) on a YETI cooler but then complain when their eyeglasses cost the same price?
 
I would answer two reasons:  Marketing and Convenience.  Jon Scott, a leading Optometrist from Greensboro, NC, described the problem this way:
 
Tip of the hat to the marketing department at YETI. Didn't think I'd ever see people spending hundreds on a drink cooler plus a hat, window decal, and t-shirt to advertise that fact. Brilliant and I'm jealous. Jealous mainly because people complain about spending similar amounts for eye glasses. Glasses used for sight. Vision. Our most precious of senses. In fact, these same folks will brag about getting their glasses from China for $40. Glasses the quality of disposable 3-D movie glasses.
​Glasses the price one would expect to spend on a drink cooler. Well played YETI. Well played.
 
Yes, YETI has an incredible product, but people don’t always care about incredible products.  This is obviously the case if people are willing to wear flimsy sweat-shop frames instead of quality eyewear backed with a doctor’s guarantee. 
 
To make a difference in this economy and reclaim their lost market share, the local eye doctor must adapt and tackle the issues of marketing and convenience head-on.
 
Marketing:  According to Adage, YETI grew by going after niche markets like the hunting and fishing communities and even the Barbeque crowd.  They emphasized performance and reliability. This is the pathway for the local eye doctor to succeed against the online eyeglass world. 
 
Touting cheap frames in your office only pushes patients to an online retailer.  The patient thinks, “Well, if I’m going to get cheap frames, I might as well get them without having to go into the doctor’s office.”  The pathway to success and practice growth is distinguishing yourself from the online competition, not likening yourself to them.  If YETI was like the disposable cooler that you can find at the gas station, no one would pay $300 for their product.
 
Convenience:  Convenience is not just how quick you can get something.  Convenience is also durability.  YETI describes their product, "as a thing that was meant to last, meant to be used, and was built as tough as it possibly could be. The price didn't really matter." The local eye doctor must be absolutely sold, in person and online, that they create convenience because they sell a product that will endure.  People will pay money for something that lasts. 
 
For YETI, there are plenty of people who buy Styrofoam coolers at the gas station, but those are not necessarily their market.  They want to appeal to folks who want something that will endure, something that will be used for years.  The eye care professional must make that appeal as well, even use that analogy.  You don’t want to buy a pair of frames every six months because they break.  You don’t want to ship and receive glasses over and over again.  Buy a pair of frames that will endure, and in the slight case of a problem, the doctor stands ready to care for their patients.
 
YETI shows that people will spend money on quality, and they have marketed that message well.  The local eye doctor has to do the same.  Let the online world be the Styrofoam cooler of eyewear.  You have a different product to sell. 
 
Gordon Duncan is the CEO/Consultant of ProSight Success.  He has worked in and cared for the eye care industry for nearly 20 years.  His Prosight System contains helpful strategies like the one above, and His in-person and online consultations are intended to enable you and your practice to succeed in this competitive age.

​How do you rescue a bad hire?
 
We’ve all been there.  Your new employee isn’t jelling with the team.  They seem to lack the hustle necessary to be a productive team member.  They’ve been late a time or two.  Or worse, you just don’t like them.
 
What do you do?  Well, here are 3 steps.
 
1:  Give them an early review.
 
Give the new employee a review within their first 14 days, 30 days at the latest.  If necessary, re-align the company’s ethos with the employee’s expectations and let them know where they can improve.  Let them know what a “good” employee looks like.
 
2:  Assign them a mentor.
 
Make sure that employee has a trusted mentor who can communicate your “way” of doing business.  Make sure that mentor is objective and inspiring.  Entrust the mentor to train the employee and get regular check-ups with both.  That way the “bad” employee has someone to go to at all times.
 
3:  Communicate what a “good” employee is.
 
The mistake I see so many employers make is that they are constantly reacting to their employees.  Instead, make it clear what a good employee is. Make a list if need be.  A good employee gets to work on time, places patients’/customers’ needs above their own, helps out in other stations during down times…whatever.  Leave no doubt in your questionable employee what success looks like.
 
Not every employee is a good hire and not every employee can be rescued.  But, there is no need to waste your time or constantly let employees go.  These 3 steps are time-tested and might make a difference in your office/business/practice.
 
Gordon Duncan is the CEO of ProSight Success, a resource and consulting group working to make businesses and practices more enjoyable, profitable, and efficient. The ProSight system offers specific training/help in hiring, training, and improving employees.  
 
 

Doctor, what are your lunch plans? 
 
How do you spend your lunch each day?  I know some doctors get out of the office.  Some pack a lunch and catch up on email and charts.  Some hardly get a lunch at all because of their schedule. 
 
I even knew one doctor who went out to lunch every day, used the company card, and then discovered that he had inflated the practice’s credit card debt roughly $2,000 over the course of the year.
 
However you choose to spend your lunch, please take this advice:  Be purposeful with your time.  Don’t let lunch be whatever comes your way.
 
If you need to rejuvenate, make Mondays the day you go for a walk.
If you need to veg, make Tuesday the day you pack a lunch and catch up on Twitter.
If you need to read an article, make Wednesday the day you read industry blogs and magazines.
If you need to have lunch with a friend or colleague, make Thursday going out to lunch day.
If you need a short day, make Friday the day you work through lunch and get off early.
 
Either way, if you don’t control your day, your day will control you.
 
I’ll give you an example of a doctor taking control of their time.  Just the other day, I was Skype-consulting with an Optometrist.  She ate her lunch while we mapped out a few things.  She wanted to create a plan for practice growth, and she wanted to talk long-term career goals.  Through a series of Q & A’s, we ended our conversation with the beginnings of a 3 month, 12 month, and 5 year plan – a much better lunch than mindless Facebook scrolling.
 
So, how do you spend your lunch?  What’s your plan today, and how can you regain control of your time?
 
If ProSight Success can be a help in any way, please contact us as we book Skype-lunches and phone calls all the time in addition to our other resources like our practice growth curriculum.
 
But no matter what, try not to let your days be your master.  Master your time and watch personal and professional growth bloom.
 
Gordon Duncan is the CEO/consultant of ProSight Success.  He has worked in the eye care industry for nearly 20 years.