Marketing help for optical practices
I spent my first career in optical. I worked in the lab, sold on the floor, and managed the store with a number to hit every month. Now I do the marketing side for practices around Southern California, so you won't have to explain your business to me first.
My Background In Optical
I started in the lab making the product, moved out front to sell it, and ended up managing the store with a number to hit every month. I did that in corporate stores, in franchises, and in small independents.
So when you tell me the frame board isn't moving, or the store was busy all month and you still missed your number, I know what you mean.
Optical is an odd business to market. Half of what you sell is a medical appointment and half of it is a retail product, and those two get bought for completely different reasons on the same website.
More About Me
Areas Overlooked
Most practices have two of these. Some have all four, and every one of them is fixable without starting over.
Your Website Looks Dated
The room is calm, the frames are good, and your staff know what they're doing. Then the site is a template from years ago, and it's the first thing a new patient sees.
Hard To Find On Google
Someone looking for an eye exam searches on their phone and picks from what comes up nearby. If your listing is thin or your hours are wrong, you're not on that list.
Nobody Can See Your Frames
You pick the frame board carefully and nobody sees it until they walk in. The part of the business with the best margin is the part nobody can look at first.
Reports You Can't Use
A report arrives with impressions on it. Nobody tells you whether it booked any exams, and you shouldn't have to call someone to get your own numbers explained.
How I Work
The same four things I do for any small business, aimed at a practice. Most owners start with one and add the others once it is paying for itself.
You Keep It
The point is to leave the practice easier to find, easier to book, and the numbers simple enough that you can read them yourself and keep it going.
Questions I get from practices
The ones that come up before we talk. Anything not covered here, ask me on the call.
Do you work with optometrists, or just optical retail?
Both. The exam side and the frame side pull on each other, so I look at the whole practice. If you only want help with one of them, that works too.
You were in optical years ago. Does that still apply?
The marketing has changed a lot since then and I keep up with that side for a living. What the years in optical gave me is knowing how the business runs day to day, which is the part most marketing people have to guess at.
Can you help if I'm part of a franchise?
Yes. I worked in corporate stores and franchises as well as independents. There's usually less you're allowed to change in a franchise, so we start by working out what's actually yours to decide.
What would you look at first?
Your Google listing, and what somebody sees when they search for an eye exam near you. It takes about ten minutes to check and it's where the quickest gains usually are.
Tell me about the practice
Half an hour on the phone. You won't have to explain optical to me.
- 01I read it myself.
- 02We talk for half an hour.
- 03I tell you whether I can help.
- 04You decide. I won't chase you.
San Diego, CA. Serving San Diego County.
Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
Tell me what's going on
Three boxes. It doesn't need to be long.