How Eye Care Can Avoid the Frye Fest Debacle

Last week, the Frye Fest, a supposed luxury VIP musical festival made all the wrong headlines. 
 
Instead of finding an exclusive private island, attendees found a shared island that one attendee described as a “gravel pit”.
 
Instead of luxurious villa’s, the concert goers were told to “grab a tent” which resulted in a free-for-all sprint to find shelter.
 
Instead of sumptuous food and flights with Wolfgang Puck, cheese sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes were offered in a summer-camp type food line.
 
And as attendees fled to the airport to leave, they were locked inside to prevent people from walking on the runway.  One person passed out from the heat.
 
One person described the whole festival as, “a mix of total incompetence and the people putting it on really sucking at their jobs.”
 
What does all of this have to say about the eye care industry (and every other customer service related industry)?  Tons.
 
If you fashion yourself a high-end OD with a high-end selection of frames, then present yourself as promised.  Go the extra mile.  Treat each patient like they are the only one in the world.
 
If you promise great customer service, don’t tolerate poor employees who treat patients in any way but equal to your standards.
 
Make sure each patient leaves your practice ready to tell 10 people how great their experience was.  Give your staff the expectation that result is the only acceptable outcome.
 
Don’t give in to the “under promise and over deliver” mentality.  Over promise and then over deliver.  It is the best way to avoid Frye Festival type outcomes.  In the age of social media, every poor experience has the opportunity to be a public relations nightmare.  At the same time, every great experience is the opportunity for you to distinguish yourself and grow your practice.
 
Resources to help you improve your patient experience, as well as many other tools, can be found in our Prosight Success System.  Check it out, and let us know how we can help further.
 
Gordon Duncan
ProSight Success System
 
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