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When it comes to the optical industry, staying updated and aligned with the latest trends and innovations is essential. Vision Expo East (VEE), Vision Expo West (VEW), American Academy of Optometry (AAO), American Optometric Association (AOA), Southern Council of Optometrists (SECO), and specialty conferences in general offer a plethora of opportunities for business owners and their teams, not just to gain insights but also to bond, celebrate, and widen their horizons. Here are the most compelling reasons to attend:
Discover Industry Innovations: Optometry-specific conferences are the hub of innovation and updates. Attending allows you and your team to gather vast amounts of knowledge in a condensed time frame. And remember, knowledge is power. Don't just attend; ensure you have a robust follow-up plan in place to capitalize on what you learn.
Foster Genuine Team Connections: It's one thing to conduct team-building exercises in a confined office setting; it's another to do it while exploring the vast corridors of optometry conferences. Navigating the expo halls together, discussing insights, and sharing perspectives can help foster genuine connections among team members.
Celebrate and Motivate: The conference isn’t just about work; it's also an experience. Take this chance to reward your team for their hard work. Enjoy the sights, sounds, and offerings of city's location. This not only serves as a treat but also motivates the team, making them feel valued.
Assess and Improve Your Practice: Use the conference as a mirror. It will show you what your business is doing exceptionally well and where there's room for improvement. By comparing and contrasting with the best in the industry, you can generate excitement among the team and motivate them to think outside the box.
Engage in Valuable Networking: VEW for example, is not just an expo; it's a networking haven. Engage with other professionals, learn from their experiences, and establish potentially beneficial connections. These events might pave the way for future collaborations or provide insights you hadn’t considered before.
Regardless of the conference, it's more than just an industry event. It's an opportunity for growth, bonding, celebration, learning, and expansion. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or a newbie in the optical world, every conference has something invaluable to offer to you and your team. So, mark your calendars and be sure to let us know if you will be attending. My colleagues at Williams Group and I would love to meet you in person!

Have questions about Vision Expo West or need more insight? Reach out to us, we're happy to chat! 

Robin Elliott

President of Consulting
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The world of optometry is as intricate as the human eye itself. For the optometrist who's been in the game for a while, you've witnessed the ebbs and flows of the business. But what if you're missing out on hidden revenue streams? What if, nestled between routine exams and lens prescriptions, there's untapped potential? We're on a quest of discovery for the invaluable gems hidden within the realm of your eye care practice.

Being in the eyecare sector, your compass predominantly points to patient care. That's commendable! However, don't be misled into thinking it's the only direction. Your practice thrives and sustains itself as a business, and it's crucial to shine a light on its financial arteries.

Would you believe if I said you could hike up your revenue, all without escalating your patient count or burning the midnight oil? The magic lies in how the currency flows to you.

Golden Revenue Boosts

1. Rethinking Service and Product Fees: A Balance of Value and Profit

It's easy to fall into a pattern of charging the same fees for years. But the world changes, and so do costs and patient expectations. Reassessing your fees doesn’t mean hiking up prices. It means understanding the caliber of service you offer. With the right data and competitive analysis, you can align your fees with the current market rates, ensuring you're both fair to your patients and securing optimal revenue. Be sure to align with the 2023 CMS Medicare fees.

Quick math: if you add just $25 more per patient with 2,000 annual exams, you're staring at a treasure chest of $50,000!

2. Preventing Loss Revenue: The Art of Efficient Billing and Insurance Guidelines

One of the most common places revenue slips through the cracks is in the billing process. Whether it's a result of outdated systems, not keeping up with insurance policy changes, or simple human error, these losses add up. Streamlining your billing process and staying updated with insurance guidelines can not only plug these leaks but create a smoother experience for your patients.

3. Exploring Premium Services: Beyond Traditional Exams

Your expertise as an optometrist goes beyond traditional exams. Envision expanding your brand around luxury frames, lens designs, wellness checkups, and the sought-after Medi-spa treatments. Utilize your passion to ascend patient experiences and boost revenue.

4. Engaging and Educating: Positioning Yourself as the Go-To Optometrist

Building relationships with your patients goes a long way. Regularly communicating with them, offering insights about eye care, and presenting the latest in eyewear fashion can create a loyal customer base. An informed patient is more likely to trust your recommendations and invest in premium products and services.

Let's grab the map to embark on the expedition.

Have all medically necessary contact lenses been billed post-consultations?
Were any additional services, such as spectacle lens edge-polishing, invoiced?
Are all services transferred to the patient's ledger?

This isn't a fault-finding mission, rather a hunt to getting paid properly for the work you do for your patients.

The hidden revenue within your practice isn't elusive; it needs a strategic touch. By adjusting your fees, tightening up your billing processes, exploring new revenue streams, and building trust with your patients, you'll not only secure your practice's future but also reinforce your position as a leading optometrist in your community.

Key Takeaways:

  • Reevaluate your service and product fees
  • Optimize billing and insurance processes
  • Diversify your offerings
  • Build and nurture patient relationship

By keeping these insights in mind, established optometrists can truly unlock their practice's full potential and ensure a prosperous future in the world of optometry.Download our audit worksheet to guide you through the process of finding your hidden profits.

Robin Elliott

President of Consulting
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Selling an optometry practice is a significant decision. It’s more than just numbers. It’s about understanding the process and feeling comfortable. Which is why our clients come back to us time again to guide them through the ownership transition process.
 Dr. Jennifer Davis shares her experience: 
What areas of your practice have seen the most impact? Do you have any statistics you can share? 
Jennifer E. Davis: "The most impactful aspect was being able to feel comfortable with the process of the buyout. I don't have any statistics to share per se, but Bill Nolan was our facilitator and he had years of experience leading practice transitions and um acquisitions. I really wanted a neutral third party. So, emotions wouldn't get in the way. And Williams consulted, consulting, created a fair and professional environment really to have those often-tough conversations and just a platform to know which questions to ask. Um for me having a sounding board to express my concerns and to ask questions to an experienced professional was everything it just really gave me the peace of mind that I needed."
Why did you choose/continue to choose Williams Group? 
Jennifer E. Davis: "I actually wasn't the one who chose Williams Group. Um The doctor whose practice I was purchasing, chose Williams and he as a practice seller and I as the practice buyer split the consulting fee 50 50. Um Throughout his entire career, the practice seller had always recognized the importance of practice management. And the Williams group was one of the consulting companies he had used in years past. Um but because he remained impressed with what they had previously offered and what they consistently brought to the table, having them be the ones to facilitate, facilitate our practice transition was a no-brainer."
At Williams Group, it’s important to develop a strategy for your ownership transition, to understand the fair market value of your practice, address all of your complex questions, receive the guidance and attention you need, and to help you achieve a successful practice transition.  
If you’re seeking an ownership transition within the next 12 months, we invite you to learn more about how we can support you.  
Schedule your complimentary call with Tammi Sufficool, Executive Vice President of Practice Transitions today!

We've partnered with Optify!

Jakob from Optify wrote an excellent blog post explaining how to boost your optical sales! Read more now.

Are you looking to boost your practice's optical sales this year? Making business decisions for your optical practice without knowing your numbers is like attempting to read a letter chart with your eyes closed.

Data provides valuable insight into how your optical is performing, both as a healthcare resource and a successful business. Figures such as your capture rate, average order value per patient, and staff time spent with customers will help you understand your current operational climate and reveal clear directions for improvement or change to boost your optical practice sales year after year.

4 Expert Tips To Boost Your Optical Practice Sales

So how can knowing your numbers enhance your optical’s selling power, and what are some figures you should pay special attention to? Here are a few tips and examples to set you on the right path, along with expert advice from our partners at Williams Group Consulting.

1. Know Your Capture Rate

Your practice’s capture rate (the percentage of patients filling their prescriptions at your office) will give you a snapshot of how patients currently view and interact with your offerings. If something is off, the data will demonstrate that. In return, you can make more accurate business decisions that actually make a difference in your metrics and patient perception.

Example: Is your capture rate low? Use the data to identify where you should start. Are walk-outs not being recaptured? Are second-pair sales nonexistent? Can patients order easily if they break their glasses in-between exams? Ask these questions, check the data, and look at improving one sales opportunity at a time.

2. Create Attainable Goals

A big part of using your business statistics involves dialing back your expectations and creating goals that can be realistically met (incrementally, if need be) based on numerical feedback.

For example, your numbers might indicate that your sunglass sales are lower than RX sales. In response, you might provide better education, doctor-driven recommendations, and additional training for your opticians. These practices can keep your staff feeling confident when conversing with patients and ultimately boost your brick-and-mortar game.

Learning how to evaluate your practice’s current outlook to make realistic adjustments sometimes takes a good deal of industry wisdom to pull off, but can ultimately keep your business moving in the right direction.

As President of Consulting for Williams Group, Robin Elliott, put it:

“You don’t know what you don’t know. If you don’t track and understand what the numbers are telling you, it’s difficult to move both the top and bottom line. It is difficult to make confident decisions that impact the profitability, culture, and success of your business.”

Executive Management Coach of Williams Group, Michelle Bogeart, echoes this sentiment:

“Measuring key metrics is the best strategy for measuring success within your business. Understanding the metrics within your practice provides you with knowledge you need to monitor your practice health, measure productivity, and helps you to identify areas of opportunity with your practice.”

Take a hard look at your analytics and decide on a course of action to set goals that strengthen your practice.

3. Find a Business Consultant

A business consultant has the know-how to gather your most important optical statistics, interpret them objectively, and offer advice based on your current operational outlook.

Consultants specializing in optometry, like Williams Group, are masters of business management and possess the experience to see the opportunities and red flags that might be invisible to you. Good consultants will also stick with you long-term to make sure your business is thriving with their recommended changes.

Keep in mind that optical private practices are quite different from other businesses. Most patients view frames and contact lenses as considerable buys, meaning they tend to invest a great deal of thought into their purchases and aren’t willing to shop outside of specific stages in their buying journey. A specialized optical consultant knows this upfront and can provide recommendations accordingly.

Don’t be afraid to seek help from experts. The success of your practice isn’t something you want to risk. To stick the landing, objective advice from experienced professionals who can help you interpret your data and adjust practice strategies accordingly can be a game changer.

4. Track Progress with Good Software

Boosting your optical practice sales will require refining your numbers and gradually implementing changes for the long haul. This introduces two key elements to your optical success formula: time and persistence.

Shifting your sales figures will require actively keeping up with your business statistics as time goes on. Keep a close eye on your optical sales behavior relating to the time of year, your competition, and any new initiatives (marketing or otherwise) you and your staff are taking to attract buyers. Log these findings to see what works and what doesn’t.

Optical eCommerce technology can make this process easier and ensure accuracy. You’ll want software, like Optify and EyeCarePro, that records and compiles your sales, capture rate, website traffic, inventory, patient spending habits, and much more.

“When joining Williams Group and beginning to implement technology like Optify and EyeCare Pro’s Ring Analytics,” Bogeart said, “you are providing your consultant with real-time data and practice details that allow us to be more specific in our consulting strategy. We are quickly able to identify opportunities and are able to help you find solutions, and guide you in implementing those solutions with your team.”

Director of Operations and Education of Williams Group, Bess Ogden, states a clean EHR enables tech solutions like Optify to really shine:

“Make sure your EHR’s inventory system is super tight! Then Optify is well worth the investment, as it is easy for the practice to set up and administer, makes the frame select process smoother, is patient-friendly, and is efficient. Receipts per purchase tend to be higher for patients who pre-shop vs those who don’t.”

Final Thoughts

Knowing your numbers also means knowing what to do with them. Without a clear plan, the numbers won’t really mean anything. This is where a professional comes in.

Williams Group Consulting has helped many practices achieve success no matter what stage of development their clients find themselves in. Our industry experts know what it takes to compete in the optical market, from the technology you’ll need to the investments you should make to improve your patient experience. Williams Group knows that your data is the key to unlocking your practice’s full potential.

Ready to boost your optical sales? Join our Intensive Growth Program.

Already a Williams Group client? Gain access to Optify today!

 

I recently had a fun conversation with Dr. Cockrell, CEO at Williams Group, about how vision-related treatment modalities are like arrows in the optometrist's quiver. Just consider the metaphor as it relates to treating your patients... 

  •       You definitely want to have enough arrows available for a prolonged fight 
  •       They better be in good, clean, working condition with sharp arrowheads 
  •       The arrow is no good if you don't have a good way to deliver it! (how's your "bow"?) 
  •       Sometimes other warriors design BETTER arrows and you'll want to consider that new design 
  •       Once you've chosen your arrows, you better do some frequent target practice so you know how to use them when the time is upon you to fight! 

What's in YOUR quiver? Medications, surgical procedures, vision therapy, neurovisual medicine, innovative lens designs like Neurolens or GSRx’s ND4, aesthetic treatments, dry eye management protocols, myopia management systems? 

The more arrows you have ready to draw, the better off your patients, your practice and your business will be! Be ready to slay the giant! 

Want to know more about equipping your quiver? Join our Executive Management Program.

Already a member? Access our courses to learn more.

Bess Ogden

Director of Education and Training
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Can you believe it is almost the end of 2021 already? Wow! One of the common best practices in optometric practices is to schedule a full physical frame inventory right at the end of the year. Is this something you are already ready to do? 

The objective of the year-end physical frame inventory is twofold: 

1) For tax purposes – usually this count/value does not need to be super accurate, just close enough for accounting.

2) For planning purposes – this is the important one to me! How can you plan for your frame inventory needs if you don’t know what you have and what you’ve sold? 

a) Ideally you are doing mini-inventories each time you make stock purchases with a rep. This is your chance during the course of the year to clean up and really understand how a line is doing and if the team is managing the frame entry and removal properly in your practice management software's inventory system.

b) Even with these mini-inventories occurring, it is best practice to take the time at least once a year (end of year is a great time) to go through the entire stock and make sure everything is literally clean on the boards (and the boards are clean themselves!) Then do an overall analysis of what changes you want to make for the next year.

c) Changes to frame inventory can take a long time! Major changes, like eliminating or adding a line might take you up to 12 months to complete. You need a real plan in place to make this happen.

There are several situations that can impact the structure of your year-end frame inventory. The biggest is, do you even have a formal frame inventory, and is it digital (WAY preferable) or is it manual (better than nothing)? 

Even if you are doing manual frame inventory tracking now, there is great benefit to taking time, WITH THE PRACTICE DOORS CLOSED, to pull off all the frames, do a deep clean of your boards, check all your tags, do some re-decorating, and just get all set up for the New Year. There’s nothing like seeing all your frames out and on parade to get a good sense of what you want to change over the next 12 months. 

Get it scheduled! 

Want to know more about Frame Inventory? Join our Executive Management Program.

Already a member? Access our courses to learn more.

Bess Ogden

Director of Education and Training
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In private practice optometry, it's more important than ever that we are elevating the patient experience and excelling in providing 5 Star patient care. This is due to a number of reasons, including the ease and cost of purchasing eyewear from online vendors, and the convenience and hours that retail practices can offer. Now, this isn't to say that some of these other vendors or retail practices don't have great customer service, but it is still a different experience than we speak to our clients about.  

With the help of the Executive Management Program and the Optometric Success Center Online Leanring, we can help you understand ways that your team can begin elevating the patient experience and how to build the foundation for Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care. Let's take a look at a few of the learning moments that come directly from the program Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care. 

Within this program, we are going to discuss how you can excel at providing 5 STAR care as well as how your practice can elevate the patient experience. We will discuss effective communication and how we can keep our patients informed, and how to calm upset patients. We'll also review how employee engagement and a positive culture plays its part in the overall patient experience and leads to the patient feeling like they’ve received the 5 STAR care. 

We must remember the following rules when it comes to providing excellent patient care. 

  1. We must remember to smile. Be genuine, but smile. Have you ever called a company and you can just sense that the representative isn’t happy about what they are doing. Maybe you just get a bad vibe, and call the next option on your list?  
    Always be friendly and kind. You have to remember that your patients are not in the same business as you. Although you may receive the same question time and time again, it's most likely the first time the patient has asked you this question. Don’t brush it off or act like your patient should know the answer. No question is a dumb one. We must be courteous and kind with our responses.  
  2. We must grow our knowledge and remain positive. Knowledge and positivity will always beat speed when it comes to providing great patient care. Have you ever called a company to ask a question and you're transferred two or three times, but your one question could really take only two or three minutes? Next, you’re on hold for 20 minutes waiting to speak to a representative.  
    If a patient asks you a question that you are not sure the answer to, but you know you can easily get the answer, rather than leaving them on hold or waiting for another team member, kindly let them know that you’ll be happy to find the answer for them. Ask them if it's okay for you to give them a call back when you’ve gotten the answer. Be sure to call them back that day, and nine times out of 10, your patient will be appreciative that you took the extra effort for them. 
  3. We need to remember that we (the team) are responsible for the growth of the practice. Each and every one of you are the face of your practice, and ultimately, you are the influencer when it comes to the patient making a decision. 
  4. We must listen. We must make things easy. We must provide the patient with the information they need in a timely manner. We know that patients that wait more than 10 minutes at any point of interaction with the practice are two times more likely to leave a negative review.  
  5. We must understand that upset customers are not an outcome. Upset customers are an opportunity for us to evolve and grow and learn what to do next time something comes up. Look at upsets from a strategic point of view, analyze what the cause is and find solutions.  
  6. We need to give our patients the benefit of the doubt. Understanding our patient’s behavior is huge. We must understand the need to continue to provide positive patient care. Perhaps your patient is having a terrible day, and the slight attitude they have with you isn't because of you at all. In fact, they are just having a rough day or they just received an upsetting phone call. We all have our days, but in your position, while you’re at that practice, you must find a way to work past that and to keep a smile on your face. Don't take it personally.  
  7. We need to continue providing excellent patient care and communication as your practice grows. As companies grow, things change. The number one thing that must remain the same is the way that we treat our patients. This leads to the next rule.  
  8. We must focus on the value of retention vs. a value of a simple transaction. We are in the business of providing long-term care. We can only do that if we remain consistent and compassionate for our patients. Remember, it costs us five to 25x more to gain a new patient than it does to retain one.  
  9. Last, we must remember that every single interaction matters. Did you know it takes 12 positive interactions to make up for one negative experience. Let’s aim high and make every interaction a positive one.

This is just the beginning. Let Williams Group Executive Management Program and the Optometric Success Center Learning Library help your team learn and help your practice elevate your patient experience. 

Want to know more about Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care? Join our Executive Management Program.

Already a member? Access our course, Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care, to learn more.

Michelle Bogeart

Executive Management Coach
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Recently I was working on revisions to one of our popular courses in the Optometric Success Center online learning library, Building the Patient Schedule Templates.  This course teaches learners about patient schedules and the staffing levels necessary to efficiently make the patient schedule flow properly, along with the ability to accomplish other tasks. This has also been a common discussion with clients.  

There are times that practices seem to forget how staffing levels and patient schedules go hand in hand. I like to describe this as a balance. If you load one side of a scale with patients, hence your patient schedule, don’t forget to load the opposite side of the scale with the appropriate staffing to help balance your practice out. Given today’s climate of staff shortages and the challenges with retention and hiring, it's even more imperative that this balance is not forgotten. Staffing and schedules should be referred to when planning and preparing for the month ahead. If this is slighted, you have the potential to have an overworked and stressed team, and you could lose team members easily. Even worse, your patient care will not be at the level that your patients have come to love and trust.    

We refer to this as strategic staffing. Monitor your clinic hours versus your operational hours, and staff the team properly. As a best practice tip, consider not allowing more than one team member off per day. You can never predict who may feel ill and not be able to work on a given day. If you have approved multiple team members the same day off, you now leave the practice even more short staffed, and unlikely able to handle the patient schedule for the day.  

ECP’s and administrators, this is a conversation that is presented during a team meeting as a group so that they all receive the same message. This message can read something like this:  

"Due to the necessity of being able to service our patients and support each other, effective on any future PTO/Vacation Requests, only one team member will be approved for PTO per day unless we are down an Eye Care Provider. Approvals are on a first come first serve basis, so the earlier you are able to request time off, the better."  

Practices that have worked with Williams Group and utilize the Optometric Success Center Learning Library have been able to increase staff productivity because of an emphasis on training, communication and organization. We are here to help you stay balanced, prioritize and focus on the success and long-term goals of your practice. 

  

Want to know more about Building the Patient Schedule Templates? Join our Executive Management Program.

Already a member? Access our course, Building the Patient Schedule Templates, to learn more.

Ellie Rogers

Practice Management Director
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“Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.” – Doris Lessing  

There is always a reason to not do what you are meant to do. There are good reasons in your head why it’s not the perfect time to (fill in the blank).  

If you try to account for all of the eventualities or try to anticipate every problem, you might miss opportunities. The conditions will never be perfect. The conditions will never be ideal to start your own practice; take control of your schedule; implement team meetings or daily huddles; set daily production goals; lessen the dependence on insurance plans, or have a tough conversation with an employee.  

Yes, there are many hurdles or problems in any new opportunity or project, but you don’t need to have all of them solved before you get started. It’s important to have a well-thought plan, but the mindset that, “I need to get all of the details locked up before I move forward,” prevents people from moving forward.  

Doris Lessing’s words speak to me. The conditions are always impossible, aren’t they? Don’t wait for a better time. What are you ready to get going in your practice or your life?     

Looking for help with the next step? Williams Group can help you! Contact us.

Sheila Hayes

New Business Advisor
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It's important to discuss the fundamentals of excellent patient communication with your team; to help them understand how they can develop effective communication styles, and help them to understand how body language and non-verbal communication can negatively affect the outcome of the conversations they have with their patients. It's also important to review with your team, the fundamentals of how we can provide value to our patients through this communication. 

Once you have built the foundation of the patient relationship and welcomed them into your office, then you must communicate your brand, your products, and your services effectively. Strong communication is an integral part of private practice. When done well, your communication helps to build trust in the care that your practice is providing, and in your recommendations. The manner in which your brand and the information is communicated is just as important as the information that is being communicated. Patients who value your image and understand what is being discussed, are more likely to acknowledge and better understand their treatment options. You will find it easier to retain a patient when it comes to asking them to return for an office visit, or you will see a higher recall rate when it comes to scheduling the annual comprehensive exam. 

Within developing effective communication, your brand and your employees must maintain a professional image. Appearance, cleanliness, body language, verbal and written communication; all of these factors need to be considered when it comes to maintaining that professional image. The appearance of your office will need to be clean, organized, and free of clutter and chaos. Your team will also need to be capable of working well together. This needs to be relayed in the frontline care that we’re giving our patients. The atmosphere and the environment will need to be comforting, welcoming, and calming. Your body language when communicating with patients will need to show compassion and kindness. You must appear knowledgeable and confident in the information you are providing.  

As we dig down deeper into the fundamentals of effective communication, we need to discuss body language and non-verbal communication. These are two important factors when it comes to relaying the message you are trying to tell your patient. As far as body language, it is not always what you say, it's how you say it, and the body language that's associated with your communication. When you are not smiling, or when you seem concerned or have weird eyebrows while trying to tell your patient something, they may not fully grasp what it is you're trying to tell them. The gestures we make, the positions in which we hold our bodies, the expressions we wear on our faces, and the qualities of our speech – all contribute to how others receive the message.   

You need to create value with the communication you are having with your patients. As you begin to create value, you'll need to reference terms and fundamental elements of value that address four kinds of needs. These needs include functional, emotional, life-changing, and social impact. You want to consider your patients’ perspective, consistently work to improve patient satisfaction and create a memorable patient experience. 

Help your team to understand some of the fundamentals behind providing excellent patient communication by reaching out to Williams Group and joining the Executive Management Program today! With access to the Optometric Success Center Learning library, you will be providing your team with a vast amount of information to help them understand the many ways that lead to providing excellent 5 STAR patient care.  

Want to know more about Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care? Join our Executive Management Program.

Already a member? Access our course, Excelling in 5 STAR Patient Care, to learn more.

​

Michelle Bogeart

Executive Management Coach
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