Interactive Refractive

admin January 31st, 2008

Many Doctor’s and Refractive Coordinators are so swamped with the details of doing their job. The daily level of office activity leads to the false assumption that their phones must have been answered properly to have generated such a huge volume of work. Time and again, when real calls are recorded and reviewed, we see that Administrator’s and Doctor’s preconception of these calls does not necessarily match their reality.

In actuality, phones are often answered by unprepared, uninformed, unenthused and often uncaring staff. Most of us experience poor customer service in some form every day, but when delivered over the phone it is most frustrating. When poorly treated, the customer’s choice is to deal with it or go elsewhere. “Can you please hold?” Most people don’t want to!

Our goal as a leader in the ophthalmology industry should be to always stand out as exceptional. There are no second chances to make a first impression. A bad first impression in the competitive Lasik and IOL market, simply leads to your potential customer finding someone else. It’s hard to imagine how disposable your premium lasik services really are. On recorded calls from practices across the country, we often hear the same potential client shopping price at competing practices. We’re here to tell you from experience, you are disposable until the caller has decided that you are the right place for them.

But how do you make the consumer realize that you are the best choice? The answer is to match your perception to your reality, and to become as excellent as you think you can be.

We have made over 400 secret shop calls to practices nationally over the past 3 months. During this time, we were able to reach a counselor directly only 66% of the time! The other 33% of calls were either transferred to voicemail, or asked to leave a message. Of the counselors reached directly, just under 1/3 of them, or in total about 18% of the calls, resulted in any effort to keep us as an active lead.

With our ACE program, we have the ability to listen to real patient calls for practices, we monitor every call. On average, before the ACE program is implemented, most practices were losing 30% of their new lasik leads by not capturing any information from the patient before ending the call. With a few changes we can help “lost leads” become a thing of the past.

Many practices boast a 90% phone inquiry to consult conversion, but don’t actually capture every lead. In effect they only convert 50-60% of their inquiries into consultations because the only calls documented are those willing to commit to a consultation now. Everyone else became a lost lead. Talk about missed opportunity! The stakes are high when each incoming call represents upwards of $5000 a pair of eyes. If the initial caller does not enter your financial funnel, most likely they will find another. Our point, lead capture is essential when in today’s market every call counts. The ACE program’s crux is lead capture and cultivation, but that’s not all. There is much more involved in maximizing your potential along with bettering your potential client’s experience.

Treating Lasik and IOL callers as if they were regular ophthalmology patients calling for the first time is one of the biggest mistakes that practices make. Answering Lasik calls like this……“Can you please hold? ,” or “ The price? Oh it’s $2600 per eye. Is that all ?, ok then, bye now.” …are more common than you can imagine and have a grave effect on the bottom line. Remember, these folks do not consider themselves to be patients of yours yet, nor do they have the time or patience to deal with poor service.

Here’s nine ways to improve your lasik calls and avoid the average practice’s pitfalls.

1. Capture every lead routinely
2. Ensure that calls follow a format that maximizes the potential of gaining new business
3. Assign informed and well educated counselor’s to handle your lasik and IOL calls
4. Script your lasik calls in advance so you can dependably predict the outcome
5. Ensure that your staff is kind and correct on every call.
6. Call your own office as a patient to experience and improve upon your own front office
7. Research your competition and improve upon their style
8. Allow your staff to answer lasik calls uninterrupted
9. Prepare to make mistakes and accept that they will be made. The key is to learn from them while maintaining morale which ultimately reflects on your call quality.

Imagine if every call were handled as if the caller had reached the most knowledgeable person in your office, every time, without interruptions or unnecessary holds. That’s our perception. It’s up to you to match your perception to your own reality. You may soon be busier than you ever imagined.

About the author of this article: Bill Mercier is the president and CEO of OptiCall, Inc, a provider of consumer communications solutions for the refractive industry which increases conversion rates of prospective callers into viable patient consultations.

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mdobkowski January 24th, 2008

Lasik Price and Lasik Pricing Related Problems

Over the past ten years LASIK has become a very common form of laser vision correction. Millions of people have had successful LASIK eye surgery. More than 1 million Americans will most likely undergo LASIK surgery this year, and the majority will get improved vision. This relatively safe procedure can be very effective when provided by an experienced LASIK surgeon. With the success of this procedure has also come attempts to create the southwest airlines business model for LASIK. Although these corporate centers are not always successful, the state of the LASIK eye surgery business has moved closer to commodity levels. But has LASIK eye surgery become a commodity? Is this a good or a bad thing for prospective LASIK patients? What will this mean to the independent ophthalmologists and the small practices?

By definition a commodity is a homogeneous and undifferentiated product sold largely on the basis of price. Commodities are sold on price not on features and benefits or the quality nature of a product. Has LASIK eye surgery entered this realm? It is hard for me to grapple with the concept that this type of eye surgery has really met this level. It is hard for me to ascertain that someone would choose a low price for eye surgery over a quality surgical option. It does happen, however; the LASIK eye surgery business is not at the commodity stage yet! Some corporate LASIK centers would like prospective patients to think that getting LASIK is like buying sugar or electricity, however; the reality is that quality practices can still differentiate! Despite the surge of illegitimate LASIK advertising claiming “LASIK as low as $199.99″ or other bait and switch advertising techniques we somehow find the state of this medical procedure not in the depths of commodity, but in a position to add further differentiation. Although discount providers often advertise that LASIK is available for only a couple hundred dollars, many ASCRS members and leading market research experts, note and debate that the actual price of LASIK from a discounter averages $1000.00-$1500.00 per eye for the conventional procedure and in many cases higher than that for custom LASIK. (ASOA LASIK Marketing Roundtable ASCRS 2006)

There is no corporate center that has completely turned their business model into the southwest airlines of LASIK eye surgery. In fact many of these corporate centers have difficulty and have posted low earnings in years past.  The question for your practice becomes do we just surrender or do we differentiate and compete? As an Internet marketing consultant I hear a lot of stories about selling LASIK based on pricing and how unfair this is. The good news is that you still have time to differentiate your practice but the bad news is that you have to deal with misleading advertisers because Federal and State regulation is rare.

Misleading Advertising

Both Federal and State regulators have taken some action against misleading advertisers, but enforcement and regulation seldom occurs. It takes a lot of time and resources to pursue legal action against a corporation and not many doctors have this kind of time. The fact of the matter is that LASIK is surgery! Patients need a quality surgeon with experience and one that can determine candidacy! It still baffles me that lasik is still done on patients who are clearly not good candidates.

For More Information regarding deceptive LASIK advertising watch! Please visit www.savelasik.com

Can your LASIK Practice differentiate itself from the competition? TIPS for differentiating your practice

There are other differentiation ideas so check back with our website on a regular basis for NEW articles relating to differentiating your LASIK business.

1. Using Your Patients To Differentiate

Ophthalmology Social Search 101

In Internet marketing we are seeing increased results and awareness of social search usage. Social search can be detected on blogs, facebook, and even the new Kristin Cavaleri website developed by VISX (If you have not seen this it is a must see). I am often surprised to see very few patient stories on websites of refractive practices. This is a surefire way to differentiate your practice! Oftentimes practices will even have a book of letters at the practice. These patient testimonials need to become part of the overall differentiation strategy and eventually used on the Internet. With the increase in reality shows, and social networking it is important to grasp the value of a system geared toward attracting patients through this medium. There is a reason that word of mouth referrals dominate lead generation for practices all over the country.

2. Using EyeOR or Intraocular Refractive Surgery to differentiate your entire refractive surgery business!

Differentiate your practice with unique procedures

If we want to be able to offer refractive surgery to all perspective patients we must realize that LASIK alone will not get us there. For many years now the refractive surgery business has been under siege by price discounting corporate lasik centers driving this surgery to a near commodity level. The features and benefits of laser vision correction have become blurred. Product differentiation has been difficult for many practices to achieve. Bait and switch low priced advertising has been effective in attracting patients and the playing field has weak enforcement mechanisms to prevent this style of marketing. The overall effect is the commoditization of refractive surgery. With the advent of Intraocular multi-focal lenses,  practices now have a new opportunity to differentiate their offerings. SEE:  www.eyeor.com

3. Doing what is best for the patient!

Refractive surgery candidates come in many shapes and sizes with varying levels of age. Each candidate has a unique situation. Lasik is not right for everyone. By having a wide base of surgical choices for your patients you can open the door to a new value proposition. The new position is quite simple. Provide surgical solutions that are the best for each patient. If the patient is 50 years old they might consider refractive lens exchange, If the patient is very myopic with a thin cornea but young maybe consider the new Visian ICL. Practices can do a good thing for their patients by offering multiple solutions for their unique situation. As a surgeon you can feel good about suggesting the best procedure for them not the most convenient. This is the first step to differentiating your refractive surgery business.

4. Create a value proposition and differentiation statement

Practices need to review their current communication strategies and create a differentiation statement that will surely be different than others. Does your practice have a value proposition? If not you should consider spending a little time to create such a document and furthermore educate and train your practice employees as to the merits of such communication. If your team understands the goals of the practice and has methodology for implementing these ideas you may be surprised that your internal patients converting to LASIK increases or that your word of mouth continues to grow.

You may understand that LASIK isn’t a commodity and you may also know what separates you and makes you different from your competition. Have you ever asked your practice employees what the main points of differentiation for your practice are? Have you ever invited your techs and COTs to a marketing meeting that discusses the practice value proposition and differentiation statement? Your staff has direct contact with patients and routinely has the opportunity to educate patients and interject their opinions on the matter. If your employees are not empowered to do this then they will fail at delivering this information. A simple marketing meeting with a marketing manager may make a tremendous difference and as the practice makes progress in this area good things will happen.

5. Develop a great and informative ophthalmology website

Developing a nice website with great information, patient education, and easy to navigate page structures can not only help you find new patients, but it is a great method of practice differentiation. If you are a practice that uses state of the art technology but has a very ugly website, you have a double standard in effect. The patient will actually question the technological capability if you present a poor practice website just like they would if the office was dirty and messy. For a small cost any practice can have a nice and functional website. What you choose to do to promote the website is a whole other story (SEE Building Brand New Ophthalmology Websites Article)

There are many other differentiation ideas so check back with our website on a regular -basis for NEW articles relating to differentiating your LASIK business.

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Page Topics Include: Is LASIK a commodity?, LASIK pricing, LASIK commodity, alternatives to misleading LASIK advertising, differentiating your lasik practice, 5 differentiation TIPS for lasik practices, In office surgical suites, intraocular surgery suite consultants, LASIK patient testimonials, LASIK pricing

According to the FTC, an advertisement is deceptive under the Federal Trade Commission Act if it contains a material representation or omission of fact that is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances. Advertisers are also responsible for claims that are reasonably implied from their statements. These rules apply to all advertisements, including consumer testimonials. In addition, advertisers must be able to substantiate all objective claims they make about a product or service.

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admin December 2nd, 2007

Written by Doug Sims

They do have a role and do fit with each together.  But you have to have the right view. You can advertise all you want but there is a specific reason for public relations.  If you don’t have these two fields cleared up in your mind and how they work together you are losing a lot of your public reach.

Public Relations

Public Relations is not only making yourself known but also is, in fact, making your “Good Works” known.  If the public – prospective patients - know what you are doing in and for their community then they will already have a positive image of you and your practice.

Marketing

Marketing in a simple statement is the creation, packaging, getting to market your goods or product and advertising that they are there to be consumed.  While there is more to this, if we get down to brass tacks, this is what one is doing.

How They Tie Together

When starting your marketing campaign the preliminary step is Public Relations.  As a result when you start to market your practice and services they will be much more receptive to what you are saying because they know you and they know what you are doing in the community.

But how do you do that?  There is a multitude of ways. You can partner with a charity that is raising money for their program, or work with a non-profit and help sponsor their event by actual participation not just giving money.  You have to be out there working with them by either holding an event in your practice or at their event.  And then make that activity known.  And the list goes on.

An important aspect of this is your purpose.  If you are simply doing the Public Relations activity to get more sales it will be disdained by your potential public.  However, approaching this endeavor as a way to give back to your community, remember you would not be there without their support, is the best.  And you also will receive the satisfaction of making a difference.

One practice we work with recently held an event that resulted in the Doctor becoming widely recognized in his community.  There was radio coverage by multiple stations before the event and the event was reported on the 3 major TV networks in the area.  The result was the Doctor is now recognized in his community and some patients reported coming in just because of this event and what it meant to them personally.  But the marketing is now producing better results than ever with the highest-ever surgeries for a month of October, traditionally a slow month.

So they do tie together.  But in actual fact, Public Relations precedes Advertising.

About the author of this article:

Doug Sims is the President of Fast Track Marketing, which specializes in LASIK and refractive surgery marketing and advertising.  Doug has over 30 years of experience in marketing and now implements the Maximize Your Marketing System to the field of Refractive Surgery with clients across the United States. Doug can be reached at doug@fast-trackmarketing.com.  More information is also available on the Fast Track website: www.fast-trackmarketing.com

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admin September 20th, 2007

Written by Doug Sims

Their Fears and Concerns Versus Your Assumptions.

Why wouldn’t someone who is curious about LASIK come in for a no-obligation FREE consultation? After all they have nothing to lose, right? Wrong! Read these reasons and see if you have run into these blocks.

Reason #1

A Consultation is something most people would do only when they are fairly serious about having LASIK done. The problem is that at any given moment in time, only 5% - 8% of the candidates out there are at the point where they are that serious about having LASIK done. This means they are ready to sign up if they have their last questions addressed. Let’s face it, everyone has heard about LASIK. They all know it’s available and have an idea that it might mean freedom from glasses and contacts. So, why haven’t they investigated it further? All of the reasons line up under one or both of two headings; fear and cost. There are natural fears everyone has related to the thought of having a doctor work on eyes that seem perfectly healthy. There is also the cost element lurking and a good bit of confusion about that.

There is an educational process, which a person almost always goes through from the first time they begin thinking seriously about LASIK until the time they actually have the procedure done. We call this the Educational Spectrum. In the beginning they are just starting to look for information. In the end they are ready to come in for a consultation. 92% - 95% of LASIK Candidates are not far enough along their educational process to jump at the chance for a consultation. Almost all LASIK Marketing ignores those 92% - 95%.

Reason #2

Many candidates are reluctant to talk to a LASIK Consultant or a doctor for two reasons: Looking foolish and being sold. First, they don’t want to look foolish by asking silly questions. Second, because they don’t want to be sold something. They are afraid that if they meet with a consultant they may sign up based on emotions and they are NOT yet ready. They know that if they show up there is going to be pressure to make a decision, and they have fears and questions they want answered before they make a decision. What they really want is a no risk way to learn more about LASIK and about you and your practice.

Reason #3

Every LASIK practice already offers a FREE consultation so it has lost any value that drives Candidates to action. They know that any doctor will give one at anytime. In their mind they have plenty of time to think about it so why come right now when they are not yet ready. Incentive offers are only effective for “now buyers”, the 4 to 8% of people who have learned enough to satisfy their fears and are now seriously interested in investigating a solution.

The Solution Is a Convenient Risk Free Way for The Candidate To Learn More, on Their Own Terms.

You must offer potential candidates a means to address their questions and fears in a no risk format. In this way you give them a safe way to get more familiar with you and your practice in the comfort of their own home. Your offer now appeals to people anywhere on the educational spectrum, whether they are just starting to investigate or are picking which doctor they want to do the procedure with.

There are many ways to accomplish this – Educational DVDs, emails, educational mailers, newsletters, reports and others. But by doing any or all of the above you will be educating your future patients and when the time is right, who will they call? That’s right – YOU.

About the author of this article:

Doug Sims is the President of Fast Track Marketing, which is a marketing company specializing in LASIK and refractive surgery marketing and advertising. Doug has over 30 years of experience in marketing and sales. The Maximize Your Marketplace System is now being implemented by Fast Track Marketing in the field of Refractive Surgery with clients across the United States. Doug can be reached at doug@fast-trackmarketing.com. More information is also available on the Fast Track website: www.fast-trackmarketing.com

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mdobkowski March 27th, 2007

By Michael Dobkowski

As someone heavily engaged in refractive marketing I was disheartened to realize that marketing does not drive most practice leads in the case of comprehensive practices. From a purely speculative point of view I came to realize that the three main drivers of refractive surgery volume are 1. co-management relationships, 2. Patient referrals/word of mouth and 3. Search Engine Optimization. I have concluded this over the past 5 years of working on refractive practice marketing plans and tracking all inquiries from prospective patients. This is of course just an opinion and may not be the same for each practice. Practices tend to become very frustrated with marketing when they are engaged in marketing efforts but they are not returning their investment. This frustration typically leads to practices cutting marketing budgets and marketing related efforts. It makes logical sense to spend your marketing dollars wisely but the fact remains that putting your eggs in one basket is definitely no way to go. Despite frustration, practices need to create multiple pathways for patients to find them. Of course pursuing the previously mentioned major drivers of volume is a great start but a good marketing plan will entail diversity in effort. Creating multiple pathways for patients to find your practice will increase the opportunity to put your message in front prospective patients. This is certainly not rocket science but actually quite logical.

Diverse Marketing Plans

Creating diversity in marketing planning can be difficult and relative to the practice value proposition or marketing strategy. Brand based advertising and response advertising need to be discussed. Both types of advertising are great within a diverse marketing plan. Brand based and top of mind awareness advertising takes on a certain role in a refractive marketing plan. If you are a quality based producer you must be willing to accept a very low return on investment from this type of advertising. Radio and television with no call to action will fall into this category. Response driven marketing should probably be the focus of the marketing plan. Search engine optimization, direct mail, direct e-mail, event marketing, contest marketing, giveaways and other call to action marketing should be given priority and strategic focus within the marketing plan. Consider both models of marketing when planning but make certain you understand what brand based quality producer marketing means. It means no patients concerned about price will react but your identity will be presented.

Investing in Co-Management

If your practice has the opportunity to build relationships with optometrists and primary care doctors this could be a great usage of time and money. Patients trust their doctors and usually listen to the recommendations of the optometrists. Building relationships with these doctors can be time consuming and almost impossible of nurture by a busy ophthalmologist. Every practice should have a co-management strategy that both surgeons and staff can participate in. A sales based refractive coordinator may be a good employee to start forging these relationships. Investing in your OD relationships can help you win in your marketplace. After a face-to-face program has been completed with a presentable fee structure the practice needs to think of additional ways to prove value to the optometrist. By creating CE seminars with web portals to manage these events you can offer continuing education with practice promotion at the same time. MD/OD web portals with blog systems are an easy way to get the surgeon to interact with the optometrist. By answering the questions of your referring doctors you can sustain legitimacy and let them know that you care about their involvement. Is there anything wrong with pursuing world-class service with your referring optometrists as well as your patients?

Post-Operative Marketing

Your happy patients may be your biggest allies! Every practice should have a post-surgery system for communication system with existing patients with the intention of getting them to refer their friends and family.

Michael Dobkowski is an ophthalmology practice marketing consultant for Glacial Multimedia Inc. If you need assistance with an Internet strategy please contact us 207.878.5900

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admin March 7th, 2007

Understanding The Importance of Building Your Base in LASIK marketing!

by Michael Dobkowski

In today's competitive refractive surgery marketplace it is time to
clearly understand and implement an Internet marketing strategy that
will bring your practice into the future. If this is not done your
business will suffer. Working from the assumption that organic search
engine optimization and pay per click advertising on search engines
will undoubtedly bring practices the most potential patients from any
marketing medium it is easy to see why developing a long term strategy
makes sense. In order to launch a successful strategy you must build a
base of operations or a refractive website that can initiate all
strategy. Just getting to understand this point can be challenging for
practices .

Many practices have built their own ophthalmology or lasik
websites and are well on their way to successful web-based patient
acquisition. Creating your own practice website is the doorway to a
successful Internet strategy. Practices that choose an easier path and
opt for web positioning via directory sites as their core focus will
ultimately fail over time. Directory sites can be very useful and play
a role in the Internet strategy but the focus should not be on a
directory site listing. The reason is simple! When you pay a directory
website for a listing you are building web equity for another company.
You are renting a space and have no guarantees as to what will happen
with this space as the politics and pricing changes. Practices that
choose this path often neglect their core site and help these
directories to gain leverage and increase page rank. At the same time
their site lies fallow with no content updates, no link exchange, and
page rank that remains low. Why would you build equity for someone else
when you can have your own house? The core focus of your Internet
strategy should entail the practice site first and Internet advertising
initiatives second. Whether the advertising initiatives are pay per
click or a directory site it does not matter. Your website needs to be
the center of your strategy.

Once the Internet strategy has been developed and goals have
been set you must prepare this site for the task at hand. As with a
house you may want to paint it, fix up or plant some shrubs. Your
website should reflect the advanced nature of the practice work. Your
website should talk to your patients, Your website should offer
education and incentive offers. If done correctly your website will
return the investment quickly and keep on giving. The Internet is still
a marketing medium that delivers extensive returns because it is still
new. The impact of TV advertising and radio will become less effective
and cost more to make impressions.

Elements For Consideration

Designing a website for ophthalmology

Designing a website for LASIK

Is the website design and navigation patient friendly?
How easily can you navigate the website?
Do all of the procedures come on one long page?

Do you have multiple contact forms in key places on the website?
Are educational graphics used to explain ocular disorders?
Does your website contain self-evaluation tests?
Do you have patient satisfaction surveys?

Does your website collect OPT-IN email addresses?
Can you install a contest system and database on the backend?
Is your content custom written (not duplicate)?
How optimized is the code structure?
Do you have a link building plan?

Tips For Optimizing a Website for Ophthalmology

Choose a professional company that can show an ROI scenario
Talk with clients and people that used this company

Choose a company w/ results within your area of interest
Choose a company that can help with link building
Choose a company that uses white hat/legitimate SEO techniques
Choose a company that can design and optimize, not one or the other.

Choose a company that will explain what they are doing and not afraid to tell you about it!

Internet Promotion - What can you do?

Once
you have your website developed your work is not over. This website is
a base and all operations will work form this base. Additional website
work should be viewed as marketing and promotion of the practice. There
are many things that a practice can use a website for. Websites can be
used as backend databases for contest systems with voting. websites can
be used to track potential patients. Websites can be used to acquire
patients via SEO. Websites can be used to educate your patient base.
Websites can be used to open communication lines with your patients
with newsletters and e-mail. Websites can be used to  clearly explain
financing, website can be used to facilitate OD relationships, websites
can be used to differentiate you from your competition. The biggest
mistake practices make once a website is completed is to leave it a do
nothing with it. It must be made clear that this is a vehicle and you
must put gas in it to make it go!

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