A customer told me he wanted to build a greater children's business. I asked "Why do you want to?!"
Here are some of the reasons he cited:
1. They don't take much time in the testing room (compared to someone in their late 70s)
2. Many independant opticians shun young children as a major optical group gives children free eyecare and eyewear - "It's too difficult to compete!" they sigh.
3. Children bring their parents - look after the children right and the parents will also become your patients.
4. He remembers his first pair of glasss when he was 8 and so he knows what children go through - he hopes to help children with their first experience. Now there's the hook for a PR piece in the local paper....
But "How do I do it?!" he asked me.
As I looked around there was nothing that served children apart from a few frames on the wall.
1. The first place I looked at was his door and he had sufficient access for pushchairs - you don't want parents to fight to get in the door.
2. There wasn't a fun place as separate from the rest of the practice. In fact the practice was fine for an adult but would be the most boring place for a child. Face it. If a child is bored then frames are going to come off the walls before you know it and parents are going to become fried. A low cost way of making a designated space in which children will feel at home is by placing a brightly coloured rug in a corner.
3. As most parents try their utmost to keep children well-behaved I suggested in this area that he made some toys and books or colouring stuff available. He'll have to keep them clean and santitary too so I suggested having some gentle and safe disinfecting wipes that one of his staff could clean with from time to time.
4. Parents may become stressed if their children are playing them up (sugar levels too low or too high + fatigue + boredom = parent nightmare!) I suggested he encourage his reception staff to help, befriend and distract the children - this will be very much appreciated and will increase referrals at the school gates. Importantly staff will need the right attitude - if the children are viewed as a nuisance there is no point.
5. He would need to consider clean and functioning baby changing facilities (quick research has found these) equipped with nappies of various sizes and wipes. And....er... adequate bins for offending articles.
6. Stock - now here's an interesting one. If you want to build the business against other consumer options available to them in the market then he could consider some private ranges in order to make an impact and get parents through the door (here's one he may consider that can provide impactive POS materials right on the trend). He could still have the value ranges that will be necessary but better to have something to shout about. How few practices I see with only a very small and often poor quality ranges in - no wonder parents go automatically to Specsavers! (Anyone who follows that link will be surprised at the on-line cost.)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Friday, December 5, 2008
Feedback from the Optical Market
Since my last post the global economic situation has got decidedly worse.
More than one bank have the government as a major shareholder, Woolworths have gone under and in the US the major car producers are going to the Fed with cap in hand.
As for the optical market feedback is varied. At least one independent practice on our books is in administration (seemed that something was up as they changed their name twice in as many years) and it seems that supplier credit is tightening (after all, say suppliers, we're not banks). Others report that they have not seen much affect - perhaps a higher incidence of re-glazes, a decrease in footfall or reduction in average order value.
There seem to be 3 avenues practices are using to maintain product through-sales during this time:
1. Niche products
Speaking with a number of leading independents these times have forced them to consider specialisms - Low Vision Aids and Sports Vision for example. But it's not that they simply fill their practices with yet more stock just to make their accountants wince, but there is a wider benefit to the practice than simply margin.
I mentioned in my last post that most businesses build by selling more to existing customers and seeking new ones. Niche products can enable you to do both with very little investment in stock and marketing.
Once you have Sports Eyewear (be that impact protection or sport-specific eyewear) you have an opportunity to:
a) market yourselves to a whole new community
b) offer another opportunity to your patients to purchase something they will use and enjoy
I am sure that I'll give more ways to use these products in future blogs - watch this space.
2. Impactive products
I opened an account with JFRey recently. They had a patient see a boutique practice on a Spanish island and loved every piece they tried on. The practice owner, long established in a Yorkshire market town, had been looking for something that would make an impact and lure high spending patients into his store.
People need eyewear (optics is supposed to be more isulated than many retail businesses - is it controversial to say "retail" business?) and even though in some cases they may not spend as much on luxury products right now, there are those for whom good value does not mean cheap.
(Luxury products are different things to different people - when I mention luxury I mean Gold&Wood, Cartier etc - not necessarily Swarofski or Chanel)
I attended an open evening of a leading independent practice on the South coast. Ten patients (all over 50 ish except one) each purchased a JFRey or BOZ frame - all retailing for approximately £300. So there are great variations across the country.
Make an impact with new, ground-breaking products like JFRey, Koali, Oga - something that is not the same as they'll find in every practice.
3. Lower value complete packages
Where many patients are saying that they are simply interested in re-glazes the best idea I have heard from a leading independent is to offer a £75 complete pair. You maintain a higher than average margin on a frame product (and make sure it is something they find attractive too) and then you are only selling the difference between re-glaze and complete new pair (whether that be £25-40). This sounds like "Well, you can have new lenses in your current frames, but why not have a complete new look for £30 more?". For many that is an easy decision to make.
See you on the other side of the crisis!
More than one bank have the government as a major shareholder, Woolworths have gone under and in the US the major car producers are going to the Fed with cap in hand.
As for the optical market feedback is varied. At least one independent practice on our books is in administration (seemed that something was up as they changed their name twice in as many years) and it seems that supplier credit is tightening (after all, say suppliers, we're not banks). Others report that they have not seen much affect - perhaps a higher incidence of re-glazes, a decrease in footfall or reduction in average order value.
There seem to be 3 avenues practices are using to maintain product through-sales during this time:
1. Niche products
Speaking with a number of leading independents these times have forced them to consider specialisms - Low Vision Aids and Sports Vision for example. But it's not that they simply fill their practices with yet more stock just to make their accountants wince, but there is a wider benefit to the practice than simply margin.
I mentioned in my last post that most businesses build by selling more to existing customers and seeking new ones. Niche products can enable you to do both with very little investment in stock and marketing.
Once you have Sports Eyewear (be that impact protection or sport-specific eyewear) you have an opportunity to:
a) market yourselves to a whole new community
b) offer another opportunity to your patients to purchase something they will use and enjoy
I am sure that I'll give more ways to use these products in future blogs - watch this space.
2. Impactive products
I opened an account with JFRey recently. They had a patient see a boutique practice on a Spanish island and loved every piece they tried on. The practice owner, long established in a Yorkshire market town, had been looking for something that would make an impact and lure high spending patients into his store.
People need eyewear (optics is supposed to be more isulated than many retail businesses - is it controversial to say "retail" business?) and even though in some cases they may not spend as much on luxury products right now, there are those for whom good value does not mean cheap.
(Luxury products are different things to different people - when I mention luxury I mean Gold&Wood, Cartier etc - not necessarily Swarofski or Chanel)
I attended an open evening of a leading independent practice on the South coast. Ten patients (all over 50 ish except one) each purchased a JFRey or BOZ frame - all retailing for approximately £300. So there are great variations across the country.
Make an impact with new, ground-breaking products like JFRey, Koali, Oga - something that is not the same as they'll find in every practice.
3. Lower value complete packages
Where many patients are saying that they are simply interested in re-glazes the best idea I have heard from a leading independent is to offer a £75 complete pair. You maintain a higher than average margin on a frame product (and make sure it is something they find attractive too) and then you are only selling the difference between re-glaze and complete new pair (whether that be £25-40). This sounds like "Well, you can have new lenses in your current frames, but why not have a complete new look for £30 more?". For many that is an easy decision to make.
See you on the other side of the crisis!
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