Starting a new practice and each brand wants me to buy 30-40 pieces! Is there any way around this? Are there doctor buying groups so we're not all buying more frames than we need?
Hoping someone has encountered the same problem....
Starting a new practice and each brand wants me to buy 30-40 pieces! Is there any way around this? Are there doctor buying groups so we're not all buying more frames than we need?
Hoping someone has encountered the same problem....
Very simple. What brands do you feel you need to compete locally? Then look elsewhere, and create your own brands if you can. Your ID doesn't say what city you are in, and some are much more "brand" conscious, so you may be up against a brick wall to not carry them. Remember, this is your money, don't let the reps try to dictate to you, negotiate.
From each line, pick 5 or 6 models and vary the color and available sizes. You will hit your "minimum" very fast.
find different brands, that buy in is crazeeee :) what companies are you looking at? what demographic are you trying to reach?
"what i need is a strong drink and a peer group." ... Douglas Adams - Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy
These companies are probably either Lux or Saf. I can tell you now you don't need any of their product. I haven't purchased from either in over 10 years. Your shop will actually NOT look like every other one in your area, enabling you to stand out. We've grown double digit every year since we dropped them.
They see a newbie mark.
Set the deal the way you want it, or let them walk.
All great advice, I can ad that look around at what sells at other shops, in your area. Then look at suppliers that have no minimums. Usually minimums mean no discounts. try haggling with the rep see if they will forgo the minimum they could get their foot in the door and if their stuff sells then the minimum I no issue for them. They want us more then we want them. never hurts to ask.
Please also remember that the reps you are talking to are responding to corporate pressures from above. I'm sure they would love to be able to sell you just 12 pieces if it was up to them.
I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.
Be aware from the rep standpoint, you have to make it worth their effort to travel to see you. I agree that 30 to 40 pieces is a stretch for one line! Do a bit of research and make sure the board space is to everyones well being. If you are looking at to many manufacturers with all those board space quota's it can add up real fast. If you know what kinda style your after, find a couple more lines that are similar, and negotiate the space. Reps also know that if their product is moving on your board, you are more likely to increase the space allowed.
Best of luck to you drhunt, and welcome to Optiboard!
DRHunt,
I'm an OD also, and learned much about dispensing and marketing from an optician friend.
You just can't market a line properly without at least 20 frames. To yourself, or the manufacturer that is trying to "protect the brand".
Imagine going into a store that advertised Polo and they just three styles. As a consumer you are angry at the store, and have an opinion that the brand is limited. Without properly displaying choice you damage the brand.
Go with fewer lines and go deep with those few lines. You'll get better discounts. Onesie twosie is business suicide
Harry
And yet in a new practice, he won't know much about his market.
Great quote DRK which shows how the new practice should stick with the big three (safilo, lux, marchon) to keep from getting stuck.
The big three will allow exhanges between lines for something that isn't working.
Hugo Boss just didnt work in my office, exchanged them for the hot kate Spade and lost nothing with Safilo
Ogi, a boutique line, looked great but tanked. Can only exchange for other Ogi. I've got those frames all on clearance.
My advise to the new practice is to stick with the big three till you find your market.
Harry
There are a lot of multi-line companies that you can exchange across the board. Europa and Kenmark are just two of them. They also cover greater price point spreads than the three you mention. Once again, what's going to set you apart from your competition? I get a ton of business from the "me too" opticals around me specifically because we don't look like them.
He should, it's called research.
Couldn't disagree more. If your buying frames to be able to exchange, you shouldn't be a buyer. We all buy the occasional dog, and live with it. If I buy an entire buy in to a collection and it tanks, that's on me. I won't pay the 40 to 70% price on the big boy lines, yet I still sell a lot of that same product. Buy smart.
obx, you're right, but you're wrong.
How do you really, really get market research that works? I'm very unaware (as usual) of anyone who can be consulted to tell you what the eyeglass buying peculiarities are in a micro market. Sure, sweeping generalizations...The way it probably always works is "hard knocks".
An OD starting out (and especially a male, heaven forbid) knows exactly jack squat about fashion and retailing. An optician who knows an area and opens his own store will know infinitely more.
On a start up, flexibility is a huge benefit. You can't afford for it to "be on you" if you make a mistake! Play it safe and then buy smart like you do...once the newbie gets smart.
Having said that, there is a need for an "optical consultant". I guess frame reps do that, but an independent one would be neat.
You are right also Doc, and it wasn't meant as a slam. You brought out the real point, he needs to find optical help. As to the consultant, maybe, maybe not, right person yes. I did act as a consultant to a new MD practice that had just opened their optical shop in the late 90's. I was not in any of the decisions before the opening, they had someone else "consulting" to inventory and layout etc., but was hired about 3 months after the opening. What a joke! About 10k in frame backstock in drawers. Frame minimums with the big 3 to get free towers and displays, with a long lock I couldn't get out of. Tint unit with a 5k ventilation system, to be used by a a female optician I had previously worked with, always dressed to the the nines, nails done, was in no way going to dye a lens.
I was asked by the the practice administrator why they had all this inventory and work done for the tint unit? All I could do was chuckle.
These are the type of things you get when you do something you know nothing, or little about, or the same for the person you hire. Frame reps have a vested interest, much like a OMD in a cat eval. That's why my referrals were to OD's, no real gain or loss.
networking goes a long way. knowing the right opticians/people in industry, in your market can be the difference between scraping the bottom, competing with walmart/costco/lenscrafters versus being a high end location where people are willing and able to purchase things that fill both a need and want.
unfortunately, everything comes at a cost. people who are good at what they do, dont work for free.
have to spend money to make money. it's part of the reason costco/lux can sell 15 year old lenses for the same price as what many private practices sell full digital lenses for.
getting back to the op.
if you're fighting frame minimums, maybe you shouldn't be picking up those lines. you and your staff should believe in your products. don't buy into cooperate marketing, otherwise youre better off working 9-5 for a chain/hospital. let them deal with the overhead/marketing/market research.
Smart buying is important like everyone has said, but in my opinion if you are looking at a line that you are having issues with a min then you should look at a different line. There are so many lines out there that don't carry a min or its like 10 pieces. The purchase min is usually in place to help everyone not just the vendor. If you can represent a line in your office then I bet you will sell more of the product. I have found that if I only have 10 to 20 of a line it usually doesn't move as I would like it. again in my opinion, if you are looking at a bunch of lines that have low buy ins you are going to over saturate your office with a bunch of lines that you are not deep enough in.
Hire a competent optician.
Even the smaller lines like OGI have other options, they do have another frame line called Innotec that have some nice frames you could trade out for, or just trade the OGI's out for more current OGI frames that better represent your practice, there are always options even with smaller frame companies, you just have to explore them
My instinct tells me market research in this field would be largely pointless, as in my experience, what people say they want, and what they actually want, and what they want after I've advised them, are often completely different anyway.
From the FezzJohns Institute of Bored (Very) Management (FIB'em):
I think what the brilliant scholars at the FezzJohns were trying to say (remember, this was written in the wild, wild, 90's) is that if you're not sure of your market, it is better to err on the side of product that costs you less, than to get stuck with product that is more expensive. I still have 14 pieces of Ronit Furst that was a "got to have" line for us. I put it in 9 years ago, and sold 5 pieces. (Yes, I could discount it, but it's really colorful, and looks pretty on the wall.)"When faced with the dillema of which company to give the most money to, it is best to keep most of it for yourself."
Wild Fezz Hitchcox, one of the trailblazers at the institute used this analogy: "When you go to the range to target practice, you use range ammo." After all, you are opening a "practice"...right?
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
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