Dr. Ryan Gustus is a practice owner in Indiana and co-founder of LensQuote, a software platform built for practice owners to help drive more in-office contact lens sales.
I thought he would be the perfect person to answer the question many ODs are asking, “How do I keep more contact-lens sales in house?”
So, I did just that in the latest episode of Can I Ask You One Question?
Below are the key points from the interview. Scroll down to see the entire interview.
Patients come into your office wanting to buy from you. They chose you, they like you, but…
…sometimes (too often) they ask for their script to purchase contact lenses elsewhere.
Our instinct is to keep talking to convince the person to buy from you, but using the used car salesman analogy, the more someone is talking, the more you feel they’re trying to convince you of something.
As soon as someone feels that’s the case, they go into defensive mode, and move toward doing whatever is easier.
“What are they really trying to do? They’re trying to simplify their decisions.”
Trying to “convince” people to buy from you can not only put people on the defensive, but also overcomplicate the process.
Shift the conversation from total overall spent to total overall saved.
Use visuals that clearly demonstrate value and savings without the patient having to exert much mental energy. This is a core feature of lensquote.
How long should the conversation take? Seconds!
Visuals are self-confirming. Staff won’t have to answer a lot of questions, people can just look and see.
One of my favorite quotes:
“Great Communicators don’t take the simple and make it complex, they take the complex and make it simple.”
Many offices sell 6 months at a time, but in reality this is the most expensive, least convenient approach for the patient.
Highlight one or two key benefits to buying from you at that time.
Loyalty is not dead! Build trust and likeability into the relationship.
“There are studies that say people will spend 20% more than your competitor just to buy from you.”
There’s a perception that people are always looking for “bottom feeder” prices on boxes, but it’s likely they may have a price range they prefer to stay within. Ie. $300.
If you satisfy this, you’re good!
Ryan is a fan of direct shipping and discount annual supplies (assuming prices are set at an adequate level).
In the video, Ryan also gives his opinion on subscription models.
Click HERE to see the entire interview.
Steve
Ps. No time for videos (even short ones)? Subscribe to the podcast: Can I Ask You One Question? Bite-sized content you can immediately apply to your practice. Available on most podcast platforms!
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