Digital Marketing Agency Insight
Like many other industries, eye care is becoming more and more commoditized. Outfits like Warby Parker, 1-800-Contacts, and Zenni Optical offer jaw-dropping prices online. Multi-pair discounts, free eye exams, even discount eye surgery offers are widely advertised as if quality eye care is something available on any street corner.
The fact is, like other medical fields, optometry and ophthalmology have undergone amazing advances in recent years and not all practitioners are created equal. The newer procedures require investments in training and technology. Budget providers offer budget solutions and often an inferior overall vision correction.
Webolutions’ client, Vision Care Specialists, is the largest independent eye care provider in the Rocky Mountain region. They are a full-service provider offering standard vision correction solutions, medical and surgical solutions, plus a wide selection of contacts and high-fashion frames delivered by their team of certified opticians. Their challenge: how to educate the public on the difference between mass-merchandiser/online merchandiser delivered eye-care and the alternative.
Any good experiential marketing program starts with a clear market positioning. After an in depth review of company strengths and competitive messaging, we helped Vision Care Specialists develop their positioning, “delivering excellence in eye care solutions to enhance your unique lifestyle”. We then worked with them to define and implement the LifeFit™ Approach – a one-of-a kind process that enables them to better understand patient eye health, lifestyles and personal brands in order to provide solutions that offer the best fit with the way they live their lives.
To create the LifeFit™ approach we did a 360° review of the customer experience from the first call to set an appointment, to the moment they walk into the office, receive initial screening, meet with the doctors, and pick out glasses. At each stage of the process, we looked for ways to “plus up” the customer experience by eliminating things that didn’t drive satisfaction and enhancing other activities. Given our goal of providing the most personalized eye care recommendations, Vision Care now collects information not just on patient medical history, but on their eye care habits, hobbies, and even on fashion preferences.
But change doesn’t come easy. Employees across each of the four Vision Care Specialists locations needed in-depth training to learn the LifeFit™ approach and how it impacts their specific job functions. This training has been followed up with weekly on-site coaching to observe LifeFit in action and identify opportunities to further improve. Finally, we created a dashboard to measure and track compliance to the new patient handling standards and corresponding increases in satisfaction and customer referrals. Net results, Vision Care Specialists’ patients know they are getting the highest quality care available and business keeps growing despite all those cut-rate offers online. See what some patients are saying:
“From the time you step in the door to when you leave, everyone is helpful and friendly at the downtown office. Dr. Ridder always takes the time to answer questions in layman’s terms. And I would never buy my glasses from anywhere else. Once explaining my style to the young man, he picked out a pair from the trunk show that was perfect. I’d never go anywhere else.” Downtown Office
“Dr. Thompson is always so competent, thorough and easy to work with. I appreciate her way of explaining vision issues, and tailoring my lenses to my lifestyle and personal needs. Her assistants reflect this same professionalism and customer service.” Aurora Office
How to Use This Information
The most cost-effective way to grow your business is via customer referrals. But people only refer businesses when they’ve had an amazing and unique experience. For the best eye care experience in the Denver area, call Vision Care Specialists today at 303/991-9600. For the best experiential marketing agency in the Denver area, contact Webolutions at 303-300-2640.
