Discover the CEO of YOU®–Pilar #5–Sales is About Communicating Values and Solutions!

Discover the CEO of YOU®–Pilar #5–Sales is About Communicating Values and Solutions!

According to Dr. Lauretta Justin CEO of YOU® Business Solutions, achieving success requires a strategic approach that covers the five essential pillars of business success: Leadership, Administration, Operations, Promotions, and Sales. Today, we’re focusing on Pillar #5–Sales.

What is Sale?

Did you know that your Optometry practice is a business that needs to generate income, make a profit, and pay you dividends consistently? Sale is the lifeblood of your business. The process-of-selling includes all activities involved in providing a product or service to your customers or patients. It’s not just about moving products; it’s about communicating value or providing solutions in a way that resonates with your patients.

Why Sales are Important in Business

All businesses require a selling system that leads to profitable growth. Sales is important in business because it’s the primary way of generating income and cash flow. Without sales, businesses cannot operate and generate the funds needed to grow, innovate, and donate.

In this post, we’ll explore the key components of a successful sales strategy, including Lead Generation, Merchandising, Sales Philosophy, Processes, Inventory Management, and Pricing Strategy.

If you’re looking for more in-depth details or examples on this topic, click HERE to email us and sign up for our business coaching program.

Pillar #5 – Sales

Your sales plan should address these five critical areas:

1. Sales Philosophy and Processes
2. Lead Generation and Capture
3. Merchandising
4. Pricing Strategy
5. Inventory Management

1. Sales Philosophy and Processes

Your sales philosophy should reflect your practice’s mission and values. This philosophy will guide how your patients are treated during the sales process.

In my practice, we use a 5-step sales process:

1. The doctor prescribes the lens design, material, and treatments based on the patient’s visual needs.
2. The doctor explains the benefits of the prescription with the patient and the optical team.
3. The optician helps the patient choose three frames that accommodate the prescription.
4. The patient is presented with the top three eyewear selections based on their needs and budget.
5. Payment options are discussed, and the sale is finalized.

Since implementing this process, our average transaction value has tripled in just three years. It’s simple, but it works!

2. Lead Generation and Capture

Lead generation is the process of stimulating and capturing interest in your practice to develop a sales pipeline. The digital age has made information readily available, but with that abundance comes attention scarcity. Patients are overwhelmed with noise and messages, so you must stand out.

Inbound Lead Generation: Focus on being heard through the noise by offering valuable content that resonates with potential patients. Use your website, SEO, blogs, and social media to create an informative and engaging digital presence.

Outbound Lead Generation: Amplify your inbound efforts by targeting specific opportunities through email marketing, Google Pay-Per-Click ads, and events. Combining inbound and outbound tactics can exponentially increase your exposure.

Example: One optometry practice in California saw a 25% increase in new patient appointments within three months by launching a targeted email marketing campaign. By creating valuable content tailored to their audience’s needs, they were able to capture leads who were genuinely interested in their services.

3. Merchandising

According to 20/20 Magazine, merchandising is the art of displaying merchandise to enhance its sales appeal. In optometry, your optical displays need to convey the value of the frames and lenses you offer.

Here are 5 Steps to Merchandising Success:

• Know Your Patient Base: Create personas that go beyond demographics to include emotional connections to your products. Ask yourself why your patients might buy your eyewear and use that to shape your displays.
• Build Your Brand: Your frame displays should reflect the identity of your practice. Just as Apple stores create a seamless connection between their brand and their products, your displays should tell your brand’s story.
• Lighting: Proper lighting is critical. Use halogen light bulbs with a color temperature of 3500 Kelvin to bring out the rich colors and details of your eyewear, making them more attractive to patients.
• Optimal Display Height: Merchandise displayed at eye level is more likely to be noticed and purchased. Position your frames between 2 to 6 feet from the ground to maximize visibility.
• Experiment: Try different display setups and track your sales performance. Keep experimenting until you find what works best.

Story: After optimizing her optical displays with improved lighting and a strategic layout, Dr. Alicia Thompson increased her frame sales by 40%. She noticed that patients were gravitating towards the frames displayed in the well-lit, eye-level sections of her optical.

4. Pricing Strategy

Pricing plays a significant role in your ability to sell eyewear products competitively while ensuring profitability.

• Frame Strategy: We don’t follow the typical 300% markup rule. Instead, we categorize frames into five pricing tiers based on price point, perceived value, and desired profit margin.
• Ophthalmic Lenses: Our pricing strategy for lenses is based on lens costs, psychological pricing, and bundle pricing techniques.
• Contact Lenses: We offer private-label products wherever possible, ensuring competitive pricing while maintaining profitability.

Story: By adjusting our pricing strategies to align with market demand and patient expectations, we saw a 30% increase in frame sales during our back-to-school promotion last year.

5. Inventory Management

Effective inventory management ensures that you have the right products, in the right quantity, at the right cost.

• The Right Inventory: Focus on frames that align with your practice’s mission, values, and patient demographics.
• The Right Quantity: Use this simple formula to determine the appropriate stock levels:
  Number of Frames in Inventory = Number of Frames Sold in 1 Year ÷ Inventory Turnover Rate
• The Right Cost: Managing costs effectively ensures you can price competitively while maintaining profitability.

Frames Inventory Management:
Maximizing your optical’s profitability requires thoughtful inventory management. For instance, tracking your bestsellers and ensuring that popular frame styles are always in stock helps avoid missed sales opportunities. Similarly, phasing out slow-moving frames prevents tying up capital in products that don’t move.

Example: In our practice, we implemented a quarterly inventory audit to identify the fastest and slowest-moving frames. By doing this, we improved our inventory turnover rate by 15%, and our profits increased by 20% because we were no longer overstocking unpopular styles.