29th October, 2007
Starting Up Cold
Meet Drs. Swell, two anonymous recent optometry school grads (2002), self-proclaimed hippies and anti-capitalists (yep) struggling to pay off $176,000 in student loans, start a new practice, and make ends meet. Growing OD aims to detail their experiences as they try get their practice off the ground along with their thoughts on the world of optometry. Their blog is already off to an interesting start. I hope they keep it up.
Popularity: 41% [?]
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24th October, 2007
Giving Away the Store
The feature article in this month’s Eyecare Business magazine declares offering free optical services such as frame adjustments, nose pad replacements, screw tightening, etc. is bad for business. The author argues that these value-added services somehow diminish the value of the product and take away from the bottom line, also suggesting opticals should come up with a fee schedule for everything from adjustments to missed appointments. For justification, the article makes a comparison with “other healthcare segments” (which we all look to as the beacon of customer service, right up there with cable companies and cell phone providers).
Maybe I am missing something, but I cannot quite get my head around how value-added services can diminish a product’s value. I purchase my tires at Costco because I know I will get them at a good price and I get free balancing, rotation, and flat fixes for the life of the tires. Not only do the freebies leave me with a higher perceived value, they keep me coming back to a store where I love to shop. …and what else am I going to do while I am waiting for my tires to be rotated?
Keep in mind there is no more powerful form of marketing than word of mouth and the only way to get your customers to talk about you is to exceed their expectations. Free nose pads alone may not have everyone in town running back to your store to buy glasses. However, if you use your services to enhance the customer experience, to make your customers feel special, and to encourage them to return often, you may end up with more new business than you know what to do with. Frequent visits for minor tune-ups will not only help you build relationships, community, and loyalty, but they will also give you an opportunity share new products.
Will people abuse free services? Of course they will. Will free services make loyal customers out of everyone who walks in the front door? Obviously not. But who cares? It takes a lot of nickels and dimes worth of free screws and nose pads to equal a single loyal customer who takes it upon herself to tell everyone about your dispensary.
Instead of charging a fee for every conceivable service, figure out how you can take your free services to an entirely new level. Consider coming up with a written fee schedule as the Eyecare Business article suggests. Whether or not you decide to post signage depends on your store. Then “break the rules” as often as you wish to make your customers feel special. Offer a gold VIP card to your customers when they purchase eyewear. Not only does the VIP card entitle the bearer to free services, discounts, what ever you come up with, but hand them a travel mug with your logo on it that entitles them free coffee any time they stop by (make sure the coffee is exceptional). Not only will this build community and loyalty as I mentioned above, but people will notice the additional foot traffic coming through your doors. Every morning a customer stops in for coffee is a morning they’re drinking coffee at work in a cup with your name on it. More importantly, it gives them a reason to talk about your store with their coworkers. Compare that with an ad in the newspaper.
The point here is to be creative, don’t be afraid to different. Different gets people talking. Focus less on selling goods and services and more on providing a remarkable customer experience. Finally, consider any costs associated with the customer experience you create to be well-allocated funds from your marketing budget.
I was inspired to write this post by Deborah Chaddock Brown’s comments on the very same article over at Bizinformer. Thanks Deborah.
Popularity: 38% [?]
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23rd October, 2007
RSS Issue Resolved
I just realized there was a configuration issue with the RSS feed for this blog causing it to not be picked up by Google Reader (and probably other readers too). Anyway the issue has been resolved and you should now be able to add Seeing Purple to the feed reader of your choice. I apologize for any incovenience.
Popularity: 33% [?]
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22nd October, 2007
Does Your Business Run Your Life?
Do you own an optical business? Or does your optical business own you? I have long subscribed to the belief that entrepreneurs should work on their business not in their business or at least spend more of their time on the former, so they can have their business working for them instead of the other way around. Too often, small-business owners get so bogged down in day-to-day activities, that the business ends up running their lives instead of enhancing them, ultimately leading to the loss of the joy the owners found in the activity that inspired them to start the business in the first place.
Last week I finally started reading The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber. Originally published in 1981 and republished 2004 with the Revisited title, The E-Myth Revisited is one of the more highly regarded small business books in recent years. If fact, The E-Myth Revisited still holds the number one spot on amazon.com in the entrepreneurship category. While much of the value in E-Myth can be gleaned from the first few chapters and must be noted that it is part of a line of products and consulting services, Gerber makes some striking observations that are so obvious, yet so thought provoking, the book could very well change the way to think about your business and your life, particularly if your business is your life.
Gerber begins with the idea that most small businesses fail because they are started by technicians; people that do a job whether they be electricians, opticians, optometrists, or sales people. These technicians are good at what they do, love what they do, and think they would rather do it for themselves instead for someone else, so they start a business. This is the entrepreneurial myth or E-Myth; the notion that if an individual is a master technician, he is automatically qualified to build a successful business around his skill. Of course, anyone who has given it the least amount of consideration knows there is much more to a business than the product or service it provides. However, Gerber goes on to state that anyone starting a business has within him no less than three competing personalities, one of which is likely to be dominant over the others:
The Technician – the doer or the worker bee
The Manager – the person who ensures the work is done efficiently, consistently, and on schedule
The Entrepreneur – the visionary, the person who imagines what the business can be and what direction the business should be going
In order for a business to succeed, all three roles must be treated equally. When technicians start a business, they tend to focus almost entirely on the product or service not always realizing that the purpose of the product or service, how it is presented, and how it benefits the consumer are even more important to the life of the business than the product or service itself. Moreover, the technician knows that no one can do the work better than he can and will often refuse to delegate the responsibility to others for that reason. This level of control can work in the beginning phases of the business and may even be necessary; however as demand increases, the effort and time required of the technician grow. Through enthusiasm, passion, or sheer will, the technician may be able to keep up with the demands of the growing business for a period of months or even years. However, at some point, the demands usually take their toll, the passion is lost, and the technician finds himself enslaved by his business, more miserable than he was when he was working for “the boss.”
Gerber suggests the way to avoid this trap is to think of your business as if you were building a franchise, or a turn-key operation; a business you could hand over to someone else and it would continue run as if you were running it yourself. Envision your business the way you would like it to be, define in detail all the roles required to operate the business (even if you don’t have the personnel to fill the roles). Create and document processes and systems to ensure consistent and superior results while minimizing the skill required by people who will ultimately perform the various roles. Continue to step back and focus more on working on your business than working in your business.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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19th October, 2007
Attracting New Customers
Having achieved phenominal results in Japan, benefits of this new method of advertising are being considered by ODs and opticians across the U.S. to bring new customers into their dispensaries. ABO and COPE seminars on the way.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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17th October, 2007
Eyewear: Wooden Frames
There was a guy at Vision Expo West in the Galleria that made wooden frames. I believe his company was called Wood Optics, which doesn’t appear to have a website. I didn’t take the time to chat with him, but I’ve always been fascinated by wooden frames, so I thought I would post a few of the manufacturers/craftsmen, I’ve come across.
Urban Spectacles of Wood - Chicago, IL
Scott Urban hand makes and custom designs eyeglass frames from exotic hardwoods and other experimental materials such as vinyl records.
Herrlicht - Erfurt, Germany
Herrlicht produces beautiful frames made from maple and cherry. Herrlicht frames undergo a special process which according to their website makes them extraordinarily flexible and suitable for everyday use.
Best Glasses - Moscow, Russia
With some of the most interesting designs I’ve seen, Anton Saltanov of Best Glasses has been making wooden frames since 1995. His newest designs include a silicon layer that protects both the wood and lenses from cracking as the frame material expands and contracts.
If anyone has any experience with these or other wooden frame producers, I’d love to hear your comments below.
Popularity: 63% [?]
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17th October, 2007
9 Ways to Promote Your Business on the Cheap
The folks at SmartFuel Marketing have put together a list of 9 10 effective ways to promote your small business on the cheap. Note that virtually all of these methods involve providing potential customers with something of value, making it easy for them to find you, building relationships, or encouraging word of mouth. None of them employ the tactic of interrupting your target market with a message they don’t want to hear.
Popularity: 30% [?]
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12th October, 2007
Vision Expo West
I just returned from Las Vegas yesterday and I am still recovering from the jet lag. After two days of OSI meetings following the show, we decided to take an extra day and visit the Grand Canyon (a trip worthy of another post). Aside from almost missing my flight home, not realizing I had booked the 12 AM red-eye instead of the noon flight back, it was a great trip. It is always great getting to meet with people face-to-face, which I do not get to do often enough.
Here are a few items of interest from the show:
Transitions VI is set to release early next year in all materials. While no details have yet been released about product improvements, rumors are that it will be faster clearing and 20% darker.
Vision-Ease licensed the Coppertone brand for its brown polarized product touted to protect against UV and HEV light now suspected of contributing to cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. The Coppertone product will be available October 15 in SFSV, D-28, and Illumina progressive in polycarbonate.
Drivewear will be available in FT-28 in December 2007 and in polycarbonate early next year.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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2nd October, 2007
10 Steps to Having Motivated Employees Who Kick Ass
You pay your employees a decent wage, but they don’t perform. You tell them over and over what they need to do, but they don’t listen. You correct them continuously and they still don’t get it right. You pay them more and offer benefits, but they slack-off. You make threats but the problems persist. You set up a system of punishments to reinforce your standards, but they just don’t live up to expectations. You yell and scream but things only get worse. Why are your employees not performing? Are your employees simply ungrateful? The product of a lazy generation? Perhaps, but if this is the way you are managing your people, I wouldn’t want to work for you either.
The old adage, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar”, has never been truer. By following a few simple principles and treating people with respect, you can get your employees to go to the ends of the earth for you and help you accomplish virtually anything you want to in business.
Principles of Effective Leadership
Principle #1 - You can’t make anyone do anything they don’t want to do.
Principle #2 - Pursuit of a worthwhile goal is hands-down the best motivator.
Principle #3 - Appreciation is the second best motivator.
Principle #4 - Money is a poor motivator.
Principle #5 - Happy workers are productive workers.
To be a highly effective manager, you must think of yourself as the leader of a volunteer force. Forget the idea that you are paying your employees a wage and they owe it to you to perform. Chances are you need them more than they need you anyway.
Putting the above principles into action, here are the 10 Steps to Having Motivated Employees Who Kick Ass:
1. Place the right people in the right positions – Make sure you play to your people’s strengths. If you have a customer facing position, make sure the person you hire likes to deal with people. Likewise, if you need a billing/insurance person, make sure that person is detail oriented. If you don’t place people in positions for which they are suited, you are setting both yourself and your employees up for failure. (Principles #1 and #5)
2. Define roles – Make sure your employees know exactly what is expected of them and why it is important to the business. Discuss it with them. Write it down. Give them a copy. (Principle #2)
3. Ditch the formal reviews – Formal reviews are always a point of stress for both employers and employees. The employee wonders, if she has been meeting expectations for the past year or even if the employer’s idea of performance matches her own. The employer dreads having to correct the employee’s behavior or trying to figure out how to dodge the inevitable request for a raise. So, eliminate formal reviews all together. Instead, conduct frequent, informal, unscheduled reviews. Start by finding out how things are going with your employee and tell her what she is doing right, before you make suggestions for change. If you are waiting six months to a year for a formal review, to point out problems, it’s probably already too late. (Principles #3, #4, and #5)
4. Regularly give honest and sincere appreciation – If you are going to try to fake this one, don’t bother. (Principle #3)
5. Environment – Make sure your work environment is a place your employees can be proud of and can look forward to coming to each day. This is another way to let your employees know you appreciate them. (Principles #3 and #5)
6. Have fun at work and allow your employees to do the same – I know this isn’t always easy to do in a busy retail or doctor’s office environment. But, if you want people to perform optimally when the come to work, they need to enjoy what they do. (Principle #5)
7. Treat your employees as partners in your business – Make sure they know your vision whether it be providing better eye care to the community, or providing the best customer service in the world. Fill them in on your goals, the steps you plan on taking to achieve them, and keep them up-to-date on progress and milestone achievements. Give them a reason (other than their paycheck) to excel at what they do. (Principles #2 and #3)
8. Empower your employees – Let them know you are open to suggestions for improvement and ask for their input frequently. (Principles #2 and #3)
9. Give your employees additional responsibility – If you have an important project you need to implement, something new you would like to try, or perhaps something you should be delegating anyway. Give the responsibility to one of your employees, let them know how important it is, make sure they have everything they need to fulfill that role, and then sit back and watch. You might be surprised. (Principles #2 and #3)
10. Get rid of the non-performers - After you’ve done all the above and you still have employees that don’t perform, let them go as quickly as possible. Contrary to how it may feel to both you and your former employee, letting non-performers go is not only good for you but good for them. If have an employee who is consistently not performing, they need to find another environment in which they can excel. Keeping them on because you are hesitant to fire someone is only holding back that individual at the cost of your business. (Principle #1)
Bonus Tip #1: Lighten up – If your employees have shown a commitment to you and your business (which should be all your employees at this point), give them some leeway to take care of personal business or just screw-off during normal working hours. Let them know you realize how hard they work and you don’t mind some non-work related activities as long as these activities don’t interfere with what they need to accomplish each day. Treat them like adults not children. Your employees will appreciate you more and likely be more productive as a result. (Principles #3 and #5)
Bonus Tip #2: Look for and attract intrinsically motivated people – When hiring new people, experience means almost nothing. Look for individuals who are self-motivated, self-learning, and driven. These are the people that will take your business to the next level. You will not attract and keep these people with mundane tasks, so you’ll need to keep them challenged, give them projects to undertake, and opportunities for personal growth.
Bonus Tip #3: Read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People – Timeless wisdom circa 1936.
Popularity: 28% [?]
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