Are you clients impressed or simply satisfied?

[optikam]

“I don’t need to change anything in my office, my clients are satisfied”. A lot of sales people and business owners make the mistake by relying on this statement. Most clients are easily satisfied, but not easily impressed. I once had a business meeting in Minnesota, and as I got to the hotel lobby to check-in, the clerk handed me a glass of champagne (actually it was sparkling wine) and welcomed me by saying that they we were waiting for me, and they were happy to have me stay with them. This experience really impressed me and had me talking to my friends and relatives about it. While I am satisfied by the service of most hotels, this was special.

While having satisfied customers is welcomed by virtually all business owners, having impressed customers ensure loyalty which leads to better profitability. To impress customers we have to think outside the box and make sure that we offer them added value and not just products. While different businesses might offer the same products, their service will differ completely and so will their bottom lines. Providing added value might mean giving advice to a customer about your industry without necessarily trying to make a sale from that advice. The hotel clerk didn’t expect me to buy that bottle of sparkling wine, he simply wanted me to feel special and unique. Sales people should always strive to make sure their customers feel unique when shopping in their stores.

Impressing your customers assures that you are not leaving money on the table. You are building loyalty and your customers will keep coming back to you for their optical needs. More importantly, impressing customers generates great word-of-mouth advertising for your business. People are eager to talk to their friends and family about their unique experience. Seth Godin’s book, The Purple Cow provides the following analogy: If you are driving in a farmland and you see a cow, you won’t necessarily be impressed, but on the other hand if you see a purple cow, you’ll want to stop, take a closer look, and take pictures to show your friends and family. I ask you today, what is your purple cow? What will make your clients and potential clients stop and realize that they are experiencing something unique. What will make them want to talk about this experience to others? By answering this question, I think you’ll be distinguishing yourself and your business from your competition and no economic crisis will ever affect you.
Cheers.
Bassem El-Hajal
VP Sales – Optikam Tech Inc.

[EdgeOptical]

Thank you... You have raised a great point and will start alot of conversation in our office about that.

Customer(patient) satisfaction isnt nearly as important as impressing our customers (patients)

great place to start

[OHPNTZ]

I don't think this would apply if these other businesses had to take 3rd party payers like the vision insurance we had to.

Imagine the hotel, who had a 3rd party payer, who only had its "clients" enter through a designated door, and have only a certain experience...let's call this door, the Davis Door... Depending on what color of payment the client had, the client would be entitled to certain furniture to sit on, a certain size tv, etc... And then the client was only allowed to eat from the Davis room service menu, which came from an outside kitchen to serve the food...

I think that would change the hotel experience considerably...

[braheem24]

Sassified!

[CME4SPECS]

OPTIKAM, If you was really impressed you'd tell us the hotel!

[Fezz]

The hotel clerk didn’t expect me to buy that bottle of sparkling wine, he simply wanted me to feel special and unique.

Maybe the clerk was more interested in you than you think and may have been coming on to you?

[Kyle]

I couldn't tell you where I saw it but I remember an article that echoed this thread, indicating that as many as 90% of satisfied consumers would "jump ship" to another service/goods provider without any particular prompt. The reason given is that the expectation of any savvy consumer is that their needs would be satisfied no matter where they go. True loyalty did not appear, according to the article, just because you fill the order, but only once that order is filled above and beyond expectation.

I'll also respectfully point out that, at least at this juncture, participation in 3rd party plans is mostly voluntary. If one feels jipped by that participation, don't renew the contract(s). I suggest examining the fact that insured patients probably have plenty of non-insured friends. The attitude of providing a 2nd class service based on what amounts to voluntary write-offs/purchase limits will almost guarantee a self-fulfilled prophecy of 2nd class profitability. Even in the case of Georgia Medicaid/Peachcare plans (which we voluntarily participate with), we have had plenty of private pay orders generated because of the collectively positive attitude of our office.

[OHPNTZ]

I completely agree with the 3rd party decision...I'll let you discuss that with my boss. And I do understand the original posting's intent. My post was made to simply state that the 3rd party insurances really influence the whole experience...

Either by limiting the options of eye wear or contacts (especially for the "I want only what my insurance pays for" crowd), or it limits reimbursement rates.

[Judy Canty]

While I'm sure there are many patients who only want "what the insurance pays for", that sentiment seems to be the patient's choice not the insurer. The insurance company sets the minimum level, but the patient choses to go beyond that, by seeing the minimum as a jumping off point.

JMHO

[Barry Santini]

My purple cow?

Personalized, FF, DS SV and bifocal lenses.

They're the best, and deliver *very* favorable impressions on clients.

at least...for now...

Barry

[thetallgirl]

Awesome info! We can impress people wherever we work, whether it be a chain, OD office, or high end optical. I'm constantly aware of when I am experiencing good customer service...at the bank, DMV, or restaurant...and my biggest pet peeve are people that are in customer service that are just plain rude.

A smile and personal interest are sometimes all it takes to impress...this of course, added to doing an accurate and efficient job with their eyewear. Building that relationship with our clients/patients can build loyalty.

[EdgeOptical]

I completely agree with the 3rd party decision...I'll let you discuss that with my boss. And I do understand the original posting's intent. My post was made to simply state that the 3rd party insurances really influence the whole experience...

Either by limiting the options of eye wear or contacts (especially for the "I want only what my insurance pays for" crowd), or it limits reimbursement rates.

I disagree, most of what can make something an exceptional experience doesnt cost anything and is more conveyed by the attitude and service of the employees.

If being too involved with insurance limits the financial resources needed to buy your practice into an exceptional one, then do every free thing possible to get your point across. Which im sure you do anyway, its more an argument for your doctor.

The small changes we are making to make it a better experience for our patients, aside from actual service (which is obviously spectacular): moving the existing coffee maker from the break room to the waiting room, moving the mini fridge from the break room to the waiting room for bottled water or sodas, bringing in bagels or doughnuts on particularly busy days, streaming news nad weather information to the waiting room TV, providing polaroid pictures of frame options to patients, also giving them a picture of the frames they select while we have them out to the lab (polaroid now, digital camera and printer probably coming soon), offering a free cleaning kit if they come in within the first 3 months for an adjustment and cleaning.

These are all little things for us to do, but make it a more comfortable and enjoyable experience for the patient. our total expenses are very small.

patients dont know or care how little their insurance will be paying or not paying us for their products, all they know is the retail pricing, so they should all be treated as if they are all spending the retail amount.

[thetallgirl]

I disagree, most of what can make something an exceptional experience doesnt cost anything and is more conveyed by the attitude and service of the employees.

If being too involved with insurance limits the financial resources needed to buy your practice into an exceptional one, then do every free thing possible to get your point across. Which im sure you do anyway, its more an argument for your doctor.

The small changes we are making to make it a better experience for our patients, aside from actual service (which is obviously spectacular): moving the existing coffee maker from the break room to the waiting room, moving the mini fridge from the break room to the waiting room for bottled water or sodas, bringing in bagels or doughnuts on particularly busy days, streaming news nad weather information to the waiting room TV, providing polaroid pictures of frame options to patients, also giving them a picture of the frames they select while we have them out to the lab (polaroid now, digital camera and printer probably coming soon), offering a free cleaning kit if they come in within the first 3 months for an adjustment and cleaning.

These are all little things for us to do, but make it a more comfortable and enjoyable experience for the patient. our total expenses are very small.

patients dont know or care how little their insurance will be paying or not paying us for their products, all they know is the retail pricing, so they should all be treated as if they are all spending the retail amount.

I totally agree with you!! Impressing people doesn't have to cost a thing! I think I would like your office. :)

[EdgeOptical]

thank you, i am doing my best to moving everything in a great direction... seems to be working so far

[cocoisland58]

Our clients are impressed. They really do tell us this and they tell their friends and neighbors too. We are going through a very rough time right now with the economy but I am confident and optimistic that because of what we do and the impression we leave we will come through it.

[sandeepgoodbole]

The psycho packaging of services is important and really well described . You have motivated to think about it. Generally, the Optical Trade is considered as Oligopolic. Its neither sellers market nor buyers market. The competition pushes it into Buyers market while Psycho Packaging lifts it to sellers market. The trick is called the UNIQUE SELLING PREPOSITION, USP. . I am really happy to be on OB after a long time. when I read the Title itself. Thanks.!. .

[Borysko]

Nice SEO job, Optikam. I can't believe anyone thinks this was a "real" post.

[tigerlilly]

I couldn't tell you where I saw it but I remember an article that echoed this thread, indicating that as many as 90% of satisfied consumers would "jump ship" to another service/goods provider without any particular prompt. The reason given is that the expectation of any savvy consumer is that their needs would be satisfied no matter where they go. True loyalty did not appear, according to the article, just because you fill the order, but only once that order is filled above and beyond expectation.

I don't think people are as quick to jump ship when they feel like more than a number. You can give them good product and a good value, but it's that personal connection that will make them loyal to you. Think about the places you always return to, be it your mechanic, hairdresser, insurance agency or whatever else. Don't you feel like you have "your" person or people there? If patients feel like we know them, understand their needs, look out for their best interests and genuinely care about them, they'll be loyal for life. Of course, the other half of that is us actually doing those things, so pretending to care isn't going to cut it.

[brucejackson]

I used to provide more personal service. Going the extra mile was expected and rewarded. We competed on quality and value instead of just price.

Our motto was customers could always find cheaper but they won't find better. The theory was that customers would be willing to pay for quality.

Price competition is now so fierce that we can no longer provide the level of service we used to; in fact I actually have gotten in trouble for spending too much time on a job we weren't making much money on. My boss often says, "they aren't paying us to do that" when he thinks we are doing too much for a customer.

My theory is that eventually nearly everyone will work for and buy nearly everything from Walmart. We will live in Walmart fiberboard houses that will need to be be replaced every few years, sit on Walmart Cardboard furniture that won't last long, wear paper clothes that we will just throw away when they get dirty instead of washing, and drive plastic Walmart cars that you won't even be able to open the hood on; when it breaks down it'll usually be cheaper to buy a new one than fix it. Nobody will be able to afford to buy quality items because they either work for Walmart or for someone who had to cut their margins to the bone to compete with them. So we will all just keep buying the same cheap junk. Anything of quality or that can be maintained or repaired will be an antique from a quainter time.

[tigerlilly]

I can definitely see where you're beaten down, Bruce, but I disagree. I think that service can and will set a business apart. Some people will always shop solely with their wallets, and you're right about them. It's not worth going all out for them, because they won't appreciate it. They aren't interested in loyalty or relationships - it's all about chasing the best price. However, almost every day I convert people from el cheapo by taking good care of them. Do I get every patient? Of course not, but you'd be surprised at how many I can educate and impress. I think the opportunity lies in knowing that a large percentage of people who shop for price aren't going to be satisfied with their product or their service. If we can show them that they can get a much better experience and it won't cost them nearly as much as they were afraid it would, then we get a new customer. It's pretty simple.

[brucejackson]

You are right I feel beaten down.

Before my company merged with another we were a highly quality oriented business. After the merger we became more price conscious because the company we merged with was more like that. Then my group was spun off as a separate company who sold our services back to our former company as well as other companies. After the spin-off we still gave top shelf service to our former company but gave bare-bones service to everyone else. After a few years our former company negotiated prices down to the point where our bean counters said we could no longer afford to do the extra stuff for our former company.

A few years ago I was in a group of 6; now there are only 2 of us and we have many more clients. Our productivity/employee is higher than ever but there is a psychological cost. We no longer take pride in our work. It is harder to feel valued as an employee. I feel like just a number. I used to feel loyalty toward my company but now it is just a paycheck. There are few jobs out there so I'm pretty much stuck.

Like you said beaten down.