Running the Practice Revenue Jump-Start Your LASIK ... · Your LASIK Practice Marketing is the...

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22 AE Summer 2011 staff, internal marketing, and, of course, advertising. The cutbacks in marketing only worsened the drop in volume, leav- ing even less profit to invest. My consulting firm’s official stance was to only spend money in areas where we were certain we would see a posi- tive return on investment and to use this slow time to rebuild the internal processes while focusing on data mining. As 2009 came to a close and 2010 began, LASIK volume remained low, but some surgeons did start reinvesting in marketing. Eventually the economy started to improve and volume slowly picked up. This really W ith the economy on the rebound and con- sumers starting to spend once again, now is the right time to add life to your LASIK practice. In this article, we’ll offer some pearls that can help you jump-start your LASIK marketing efforts. The Last Few Years— Decline and Uptick In 2008, practices saw LASIK vol- umes plummet as much as 50%, with a few practices discontinuing LASIK altogether. Consequently, sev- eral practices cut back on LASIK mar- keting. These included cutbacks to Jump-Start Your LASIK Practice Now Running the Practice Revenue Paul Stubenbordt showed in the first quarter of 2011, as many practices saw the best vol- umes in several years. With the pent-up demand and an improving economic situation, I believe that now is the time for many practices to jump-start their LASIK program. Start with a Solid Foundation There are four keys to a solid LASIK program: (1) the refractive coordina- tor, (2) the telephones, (3) the sales skills, and (4) the follow-up. The refractive coordinator. In most practices, one or two people are continued on page 24

Transcript of Running the Practice Revenue Jump-Start Your LASIK ... · Your LASIK Practice Marketing is the...

Page 1: Running the Practice Revenue Jump-Start Your LASIK ... · Your LASIK Practice Marketing is the other key piece of a profitable LASIK program. If you’re like most practices, though,

22 AE Summer 2011

staff, internal marketing, and, ofcourse, advertising.

The cutbacks in marketing onlyworsened the drop in volume, leav-ing even less profit to invest. Myconsulting firm’s official stance wasto only spend money in areas wherewe were certain we would see a posi-tive return on investment and to usethis slow time to rebuild the internalprocesses while focusing on datamining.

As 2009 came to a close and2010 began, LASIK volume remainedlow, but some surgeons did startreinvesting in marketing. Eventuallythe economy started to improve andvolume slowly picked up. This really

With the economy onthe rebound and con-sumers starting tospend once again,now is the right time

to add life to your LASIK practice. Inthis article, we’ll offer some pearlsthat can help you jump-start yourLASIK marketing efforts.

The Last Few Years—Decline and UptickIn 2008, practices saw LASIK vol-umes plummet as much as 50%,with a few practices discontinuingLASIK altogether. Consequently, sev-eral practices cut back on LASIK mar-keting. These included cutbacks to

Jump-Start Your LASIK Practice Now

Running the Practice Revenue

Paul Stubenbordt

showed in the first quarter of 2011,as many practices saw the best vol-umes in several years.

With the pent-up demand andan improving economic situation, Ibelieve that now is the time formany practices to jump-start theirLASIK program.

Start with a Solid FoundationThere are four keys to a solid LASIKprogram: (1) the refractive coordina-tor, (2) the telephones, (3) the salesskills, and (4) the follow-up.

The refractive coordinator. Inmost practices, one or two people are

continued on page 24

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24 AE Summer 2011

ence between the two usually has todo with their background in sales,which can result in a low or highconversion ratio. Typically, a goodrefractive coordinator with salesexperience has a call-to-consultationconversion rate of 65–75% and aconsultation-to-surgery conversionrate of 75% and up.

Start by taking the same fre-quently asked questions list you gaveyour phone staff and role-play untilthe answers make sense and becomesecond nature. If patients sense theslightest bit that you’re unpreparedfor their questions, they might feeluncomfortable with your practice.

Follow-up. You’ll never find abetter surgical lead than a patientwho has expressed interest but nevermoved forward. On average, 50% ofall inbound callers won’t schedulesurgery, yet many are still very inter-ested in having LASIK at some point.How is your practice going to followup with these leads?

As with the phones, have a dedi-cated person who does this.Remember, patients think aboutLASIK for about 3 years before call-ing your practice and coming in.Don’t let them wait another 3 years.

in charge of the telephones andscheduling patients for surgery. Thisperson is generally referred to asa refractive counselor or refractivecoordinator. This position is criticalto any LASIK practice, and the per-son must be able to convert inboundcalls to consultations, convert con-sultations to surgery, and follow upwith those who don’t schedule sur-gery.

Telephones. How many timesdoes the phone ring? How long arepatients put on hold? Who isresponsible for taking calls? Youmust establish the primary personwho will answer inbound LASIKcalls, as well his/her back-up.Remember, each inbound phone callis potentially worth thousands ofdollars; don’t let it go to voicemail.Next, take a list of frequently askedquestions and go over it with thetelephone staff. How are theyanswering the questions? If they arerusty, have them spend time role-playing until the answers sound nat-ural and fluid.

Improving sales skills. Thereare two types of refractive coordina-tors: surgery schedulers (order takers)and counselors (closers). The differ-

Running the Practice Revenue

Call them 1 week after their initialconsultation, mail them a letter 3weeks later, and keep them on yourquarterly email list.

Next Step: Marketing Your LASIK PracticeMarketing is the other key piece of aprofitable LASIK program. If you’relike most practices, though, you’reunsure about spending money onadvertising at this point, and under-standably so. However, if you wantto jump-start your LASIK practice,you’ll need to start investing in yourmarketing program. After building astrong internal foundation, this isthe next step.

What should you spend? I typi-cally tell practices to spend 2–6% oftheir LASIK revenue on marketing.However, to really get your LASIKprogram off the ground and becauseyour volume may be low, that per-centage might be irrelevant. Insmaller markets, you might have tospend between $8,000 and $25,000monthly to get going. In major mar-kets, this monthly amount may be ashigh as $50,000 or more. Spend onlywhat you’re comfortable with, just asif it were an investment in the stockmarket.

Your message. What you say isso much more important than whereyou say it. Your message has to hithome with consumers, emotionallyand logically, all the while beingvery different from what your com-petitors are saying. If you try toduplicate your competitor’s message,all you’ll end up doing is confusingthe consumer and adding fuel toyour competitor’s campaign.

An example of standing out wasthe “wake up and see the alarmclock” ad. This hit home withpatients, as almost everyone whowears glasses struggles to see thealarm clock as it starts buzzing in themorning. It wasn’t long until manysurgeons were using this ad, making

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We have all been waiting for theright time to start investing inLASIK. That time is now.

ASOA Congress: NEW Speakers! NEW Topics!

ASOA cultivates new voices in ophthalmology. While we are fortunate to have returning speakers, ASOA is always looking to diversify our courses.

Are you passionate about a topic? Have you considered presenting or joining a panel?Email [email protected].

ASOA will provide you with mentors upon request.

Course Submissions: August 1 – September 26, 2011.ASOA Congress, April 20-24, 2012, Chicago, IL

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AE Summer 2011 25

the message essentially indistinguishable between multi-ple practices in the same market.

In the LASIK world, your creative message must begood, but your offer or “call-to-action” must be great. Ifyou’re running a campaign that just talks about the prac-tice, surgeon experience, and technology, then you’rethrowing away money. As mentioned earlier, studiesshow that patients think about LASIK for 3 years beforecalling your practice for a consultation. You’ll need astrong offer to get them off the fence and into your prac-tice.

Samples of call-to-action messages range from a con-servative approach of 0% financing and a free consulta-tion to more aggressive approaches that offer $1,000 offor free tablet computers. Mixing your offer into yourmessage to make it sound natural is tantamount to theoffer itself. Don’t make LASIK a “hard sale.” Make LASIKirresistibly enticing.

Social media. Social media adds a new dimension toyour marketing program. Social media pushes the enve-lope to a new limit: user-driven content. That’s right!Consumers—i.e., potential patients—want to hear whatothers say about your practice, not what you have to say.This is confidence in the patients’ choice for choosingyour practice for their LASIK procedure.

To launch a social media campaign, first createFacebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. Customize eachpage as much as possible by adding videos and picturesof the staff and physician(s). Create practice-driven con-tent and then start recruiting fans, subscribers, and fol-lowers. It’s important to keep your social media siteupdated—weekly if possible. Most of all, recruit fans andfollowers and try to get patients to post messages onyour social media sites. You might even reward patientswho post on your social media sites by offering a $5 giftcard or movie tickets.

Now Is the TimeWe have all been waiting for the right time to startinvesting in LASIK. That time is now. With just a littlework, and an initial reinvestment, you can knock therust off and get your LASIK practice jump-started rightnow. AE

American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators Focusing on the Business of Ophthalmology

WHY CERTIFY?As a professional in your � eld, you have spent

years acquiring the education, experience, and skills necessary to move ahead. Credentialing is the next logical step of your career path.

Certi� cation leads to better vis-ibility, opportunities, and jobs. In today’s complex and highly-spe-cialized economy, credentials are increasingly important. You know you’ve got the skills to do the job, but how do you convince potential employers? For many career-mind-ed professionals, certi� cation is often the answer.

The Certi� ed Ophthalmic Executive (COE) was created as a national standard for the ophthalmic practice management industry. Today a select group of the ophthalmic administrator commu-nity holds this elite designation.

Isn’t it time you earned a COE? To � nd out more or to � ll out an application, visit asoa.org/certi� ca-tion/certi� cation.cfm or call (703) 591-2220.

Your COE pin

demonstrates

your commit-

ment to

excellence

“All ph“All physicians should encourencourage their

adminisadministrator to takto take this

step tostep toward personal and personal and

professional professional grogrowth.”

Paul M. Stubenbordt (682-831-0900; [email protected]) is thepresident and founder ofStubenbordt Consulting,Roanoke, Texas.