Do You Know Your Customers?
We have about 700-800 labs across the United States competing for the same 30,000 doctor doors. The industry has grown at best one percent year-over-year for the last five years. We continue to launch new products one right after another. We saturate the market with choices and options that force our customers to shut down when asked to make a decision. This is the perfect time to ask one simple question; do you know more about your customers than they know about you?
Do you know what keeps them up at night? What threatens their livelihood? Do you know what they need? What they want?
I am coming to believe we live in a world driven by data yet few access it, process it or make decisions based upon what it tells us. There are four pieces of data that can make a huge impact on your business. Once you gather it and put it all together you will create a picture of your customers so that you can accurately react to it. The four data points are; overall market, social, sales and service data.
Marketing data will give you clues to where the industry is heading, like a map that gives you clues on what is going to happen next. Social media data allows you to hear what customers are saying in the present; what’s on their minds today. Sales data drives an understanding about the solutions or products your customers are choosing to address their challenges. Finally, service data tells you what your customers are struggling with in their practices and might tell you where you can provide the greatest value to them immediately. By combining the information from all of these diverse data sources, you will have a better chance at answering the four questions posed above and improving your business to better serve your customers.
Good selling!
Michael Karlsrud is the owner and CEO of k-Calls, a tele-services company that serves the optical industry with its two divisions; Telecare and Business-to-Business.
www.karlsrudcompany.comor
www.k-calls.com
Labapalooza Rocks at the Rockhouse
Labapalooza, the lab industry’s most anticipated party of the year, will be on Thursday, September 18th, from 6:00– 8:00 p.m., at The Rockhouse at the Venetian. This annual celebration pays tribute to wholesale laboratories with a line-up of festivities, including the much anticipated VisionMonday’s Top Labs and LabTalk’s Optical Website of the Year Awards. Presented by VisionMonday, LabTalk and the Optical Lab Division of The Vision Council. This event is by invitation only. Optical lab owners and managers can contact LabTalk editor, Christie Walker via email to receive an invitation:
[email protected]
Registration is Open for the Optical Lab Division Annual Meeting
Online registration for the 2014 Optical Lab Division meeting is now open. The annual event will be held in conjunction with the continuing education and exhibits at International Vision Expo West, September 17- 20, in the newly renovated Sand Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Educational programming at this year’s Optical Lab Division meeting will begin on Wednesday, September 17th in the afternoon.
There is no cost to attend the Optical Lab Division meeting for members of The Vision Council. Members who register receive complimentary access to all breakfasts, lunches, special events and educational programming. Non-members can register for lab education at $50 per session (per person). For more information, and to register for the event visit
http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/labmeeting
Baseball Great Pete Rose is Keynote Speaker at Lab Division Meeting
The 2014 Optical Lab Division Meeting will feature a keynote presentation from all-time Major League leader in hits, Pete Rose. In his session, “Be Aggressive and Three Ways to Treat a Person,” Rose will present on the foundation of productive leadership, learning the best way to treat others to ensure the most productive outcome possible. The Optical Lab Division’s programming committee, headed by Drake McLean of Dietz-McLean Optical, has brought together thought leaders, specialized experts and panelists to tackle four trending industry topics of importance to labs: - Legal and Regulatory Affairs Update for Optical Lab Industry
- The Circle of Service: Building Your Brand Through Better Service
- Third Party Reimbursement and Managed Vision Care, What it Means to Optical Labs
- New Products and Technologies Impacting Optical Labs
For more information, and to register for the event visit
http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/labmeeting
Longtime Zeiss Employee Darryl J. Meister Dies at 42
Darryl Meister, ABOM, a longtime ZEISS employee, a leading authority on ophthalmic optics, and a beloved figure in the optical industry died suddenly and unexpectedly at 42. Darryl was largely self-educated in the field of optics, and was one of the youngest opticians ever to earn the ABO’s Master certification. He joined the company in 1996 in the Technical Services department, eventually becoming technical marketing manager. He held multiple patents on ophthalmic lens designs. Darryl wrote for a wide variety of optical industry publications including LensTalk and LabTalk magazine. He was a frequent contributor to OptiBoard.com, and was never too busy to answer questions from his industry colleagues.
“Darryl was one of our global experts in eyeglass lens optics. His selfless contributions to industry forums, committees, education and product development are too numerous to recount. His passing leaves a great gap in our Company, our industry, and our hearts,” said Uli Krauss, Chairman and CEO of Carl Zeiss Vision.
A fund has been established to provide financial support for Darryl’s children to continue their college education. Information can be found at
http://www.gofundme.com/by2nzc
.
Insights - August
By Judith Lee
It happens to every lab at some time: A customer with whom you’ve done business for a while (even a long while) decides to go with another lab. The customer had not complained to you, and you really have no idea why they left. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get inside their heads and find out what they want or how to better serve them?
Our new column, Insights, will be asking ODs, opticians, retail outlets and practice managers, what they want from their optical labs. Each month, we’ll ask different practices to answer some questions you might like to ask, and bring you the answers here. While the individuals won’t be talking specifically about you and your lab, you might ask yourself, “Does my lab do this or does my lab offer that?” Read up to gather insights into the way your customers think and then make changes and adjustments to make sure your lab is the best it can be.
The two optometrists answering our questions this month:
Burt Dubow, OD, Insight Eye Care, St. Cloud, MN
Three practice locations, uses four different labs
Albert Pang, OD, Trinity Eye Care, Plano, TX
One location, uses one lab
Q. What one thing could your lab do for you to make your life easier?
Dr. Dubow: Meet with me more often to keep me updated on new developments and how our practice is doing with their service.
Dr. Pang: Providing a personal rep who will get to know me, know what I usually order, know my practice, and give me advice on alternatives
Q. What does your lab do best?
Dr. Dubow: Accurate results in a timely fashion.
Dr. Pang: Accuracy, reliability, fair price.
Q. What one thing does your lab do or has done, that makes you think, “I’ll never change labs.”
Dr. Dubow: Nothing. Business is business (I am willing to change labs for sound business reasons).
Dr. Pang: Providing a rep I can always turn to and answer my questions and give me advice, who will watch my back.
Q. What would have to happen to make you want to switch labs?
Dr. Dubow: Better pricing or service, different alliances offering a better relationship, failure of expectations being met, etc.
Dr. Pang: All three things I mentioned above plus reps who are not able to answer my questions.
Q. What is the biggest pet peeve when it comes to ordering from a lab?
Dr. Dubow: I don't like when labs rely on the old way of doing business whereby they treat our relationship as a friendship rather than a business relationship.
Dr. Pang: Not knowing what type of products they can process in-house and what products they have to outsource.
Branding Your Lab
By Phillip M. Perry
Say the word “Coke” and your mind probably conjures up the refreshing image of “a cool, bubbly drink.” Now say the name of your optical lab. What image comes to mind? More important, what image comes to your customers’ minds? If the picture is as compelling as the one for the world’s largest beverage company you have succeeded in creating a “brand” that can add real dollars to your bottom line.
As attractive as a shiny store brand sounds, chances are your own could use a little polishing. Or maybe you have not given the idea of building your brand very much thought in the first place, given that you are not a giant corporation like the Coca-Cola Company. When it comes to working on your public image, though, size is not an issue. “Branding is not just for big businesses,” says Ken Banks, CEO of KAB Marketing, a consulting firm in Florida’s Tampa Bay area (kenbanks.com). “It also helps small operators stand out and get noticed. Indeed, a strong brand can help any retailer (or lab) compete with the big box stores (corporate owned labs).”
A LAB APART
What makes a successful brand? The best way to answer that question is to start by busting a common misconception. Creating a brand has nothing to do with dreaming up a creative advertising campaign. “When business people think about a brand they often equate it with a logo,” says Adele Cehrs, president of Epic Public Relations, Alexandria, Va. (epicprgroup.com). “But the best logo in the world means nothing without a larger strategy. Good branding is really about repositioning your business in the marketplace.”
In other words, the famous Coke logo would do the company no good if the soft drink were not known as a brand that promised a dependably refreshing experience. Coke has created and communicated a unique story. And that’s what makes a profitable brand.
Find out how to brand your lab successfully by reading the entire article at
http://www.labtalkonline.com
| 
