welcoming the customer

[OdTech]

Hello wizards
The law of biz is the same everywhere "THE SUPPLY & DEMAND"
but how often a consumer comes is different.

whatever i may be doing professionally i often think how to make consumer come more. my personal observation of some biz where consumer come more often like [Barbershop, Shoe Repair, Dry Cleaner,] these all are service industry, where consumer comes to "B" every 2 weeks, once or twice a month, pays a service fee plus tip;. Next "SR" consumer leaves a product(s), pays a fee; consumer has more shoes and clothes than there are hairs to cut. Last "DC" the same concept as "SR"

Pro side of these biz is Entrepreneur doesn't go to look for customers, customers look for them. The "SR" and DC" has upside against "B"

So what is the formula for success for opticianry?
Consumers come every 6 months or 1 year for Rx Change with some eyewear repair every 2ndweek of month or so but they pay a very high amount once or according to payment plan with optician. Logically apart from "B,SR and DC" customers pay once to optician but to these biz they pay little but come often to them even the financial books have such term like 'dollar cost average'
here is definition from www.investopedia.com
The technique of buying a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment on a regular schedule, regardless of the share price or weather, personal illness.

Usual Suspects for Success
Location
Skills & Business Personality of entrepreneur



Anyone has more ideas thnx a bunch:idea: :D

[QDO1]

Huh - try explaining that in English, and not abbreviations, expand a bit - sounds interesting, but you lost me in the middle

[Snitgirl]

ditto

[Mikef]

I think I get it!

How to get customers to come in more often?

More services like Watch and Hearing aid Batteries. Easy to change and gets customer in more often. Plus its easy money!

Maybe getting into other medical supplies as well!

Hey try selling beer and scrach tickets! (That's a joke by the way) But I bet it would bring in lots of business.

I wonder if an optical shop could get a lottery machine. Why not!

[Chairtime]

There's no way to increase the frequency of visits drastically. [you won't get customers buying glasses every month.] If you're looking for the academic solution to the problem, I think the answer is customer volume, not customer frequency. ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS.

How? Try advertising a ridiculously low price. Then, after you get more customers, raise your price. In business, market share is everything.

[Jedi]

There's no way to increase the frequency of visits drastically. [you won't get customers buying glasses every month.] If you're looking for the academic solution to the problem, I think the answer is customer volume, not customer frequency. ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS.

How? Try advertising a ridiculously low price. Then, after you get more customers, raise your price. In business, market share is everything.

That's a great way to lump yourself with the Walmarts and Lenscrafters of the world. There are ways of having customers keep coming back and back. Trunk Shows, personal phone calls when new stock arrives and having a stock that is always evolving, are ways to provide your clients with a service and to get them into the door again (3 months, 6 months, a year after the last purchase). Don't get caught up in the low-ball game. Multiple sales and wardrobing are the way of the future.

[QDO1]

Some of my proven methods of driving forwards a business

• retain your existing customers - make sure your systems dont loose you customers
• offer the best service in town. Review, review, review. get customers to help you review your service
• offer the best products
• get all your staff educated - best product knowlege is king
• diversify - become the authoritory in something - sports vision, or LVA's for example, so people out of your catchment visit you
• offer a reward for referal scheeme to your existig customers
• become family opticians - work with the children well, and you get the parants and grandparants too
• do smart marketing - use that database well
• stay in communication with customers, even when you are not selling something - newsleters
• keep the displays fresh
• keep the displays sharp - check for stupid retail errors everyday - clean window, no flies, clean frames, light bulbs
• keep your customer comming back - use excelent unique products - the choice of which type of spectacle lens cleaner is cruicial - We sell Soloution 30 - It's unique in the fact it is excelent(the best we have seen), and not sold atall locally, and has a great smell (we sell more lens cleaner off the back of cleaning spex for the patients than any other way)
• use a ultrasonic cleaner in practice, and invite patients back for a free and regular "deep clean"

[Chairtime]

Multiple sales and wardrobing are the way of the future.

It's the retailer's DESIRED future. Not the customer's. The customer wants the lowest price possible on the product they desire most.

[QDO1]

It's the retailer's DESIRED future. Not the customer's. The customer wants the lowest price possible on the product they desire most.

Depends what country you are in. In Austria/Germany it is normal for multiple pairs. In the UK spectacles are more of a grudge buy

[Jedi]

It's the retailer's DESIRED future. Not the customer's. The customer wants the lowest price possible on the product they desire most.

I'll give you the first one, obviously. I think you underestimate the consuming public, price plays a factor in buying decisions but it is usually not the most influential. There are needs and wants to be satisfied. A client that comes in to a dispensary needs glasses, but might want a pair for the office, the workshop, for raquetball, to dress up in etc. etc. and that's just single vision. The instant you make the assumption that your client only wants one pair and they want the lowest price possible, you are doing them a disservice. To many people their wants are just as important as their needs, don't try to predetermine what they will leave with, explore their interests, hobbies, occupation. Sometimes buying a pair of glasses is just a guilty pleasure every couple of months, why deny that?

[spartus]

It's the retailer's DESIRED future. Not the customer's. The customer wants the lowest price possible on the product they desire most.

You're looking at it a little backward--people want value for the money. They will pay more for quality if it's what they want. Determining what they want is marketing's job.

I spent about 20 minutes yesterday talking to a patient of mine who has, by his count, about 8 pair of glasses. Two of them are from me--he's only been my patient for a few months. ;) He feels very strongly that there's an untapped market out there for higher-end manufacturers to go for the multiple-pair market. His parting words were that it's up to the marketing departments to convince people that's what they "need".