How to Stop Guessing and Start Building a Frame Buying System That Works

But I think we have to look at too is how does that transfer to the patient? I wa- don't wanna get too far off course here, 'cause I do wanna focus on the, the frame buying and the frame sales, but it's really interesting on the complexity part.

I was just Listening to some things.

I'm actually doing some research on different strategies for reducing the walkout rate.

It's really interesting 'cause, as you know, we do these, um, events for IDOC, quarterly study dinners, and I've been collecting a lot of the feedback from these groups.

And something I've been hearing pretty consistently is the number of practices that are taking a more proactive approach with reducing the walkouts.

Instead of just saying, "Patients only want what their insurance covers," and then going onto social media groups and complaining about it, they're actually saying, "Let's go on offense here." And maybe stay tuned for an upcoming episode, 'cause I'm putting it together for that.

But one of the things it was talking about was the objection over price with, with the patient.

And what the research is suggesting is it's not always just a price issue, but one of the issues that patients have is the complexity.

When we walk into an optical, we look around at the frames, and it can't be explained to us really quick.

We're looking at the frame, does that include the lenses? What are the lenses gonna cost? How much does my insurance cover? And all the other things that factor into the price.

We're sitting there when an optician types away at a calculator, uh, developing anxiety over what is the final cost gonna be.

So the simpler we can make it for the patient, I think people really underst- underestimate that as well.

I'm gonna be bold and say that patients never walk out because of the price.

Because every patient that comes into your practice likely has a car, at least 90% of them, live somewhere, whether they're paying an exorbitant amount in rent or they own a house.

They're, they came in wearing a wardrobe that probably costs more than any frame you're gonna sell them.

So it's not the actual price, it's value for money.

And part of how people feel value is time and attention.

And if you think about every engagement with a patient as a date, if I'm on a date, the only thing that matters is the time you're giving me and the attention you're giving me.

And the reason I mention that is because I think the opticians' minds are too clouded with complexity, so they're not really able to engage with a single person, a single time, look them in the eye, and give them that first date experience, that time and attention.

And that can be sensed very easily by people, whether ...

They're usually not aware of it, but that's what we do.

And I, there's a clear example of this from our last Vision Forward event.

I've never sat into the lectures that you've given, and Nathan Hayes has given, and Jeremy Bono's given in one day, because we usually lecture on different days.

I've been to all of your lectures, but I made the mistake, and I call it a mistake, of sitting in on every single one of the lectures, and then trying to give my lecture.

And my lecture was so clouded, my mind was so clouded with great ideas and concepts and everything that I could mention that would harken back to your lectures and, that I didn't feel that I did the best job that I could.