How to improve your optical business
Every day, eye care specialists and optical business owners ask themselves how to generate more sales. When working to improve customer experience, we recommend implementing a few practices that are proven to have a positive impact on a business.
At CECOP we want you to understand first-hand how to improve the service at your optical practice by choosing the simplest and most effective techniques to boost the performance of your business. Let’s go!
Steps to improve your optical business
The first step is to identify any possible weaknesses in your business. This allows you to improve the quality of your optical practice and position yourself as an industry leader. To help your store grow, you must look for different ways to streamline your processes.
Here are a few ways to not only improve your optical practice, but also to attract more users from the eye care industry. Ready?
Set objectives
We highly recommend you don’t wait until the end of the year to check the status of your business. Plan your monthly, quarterly and annual objectives to see whether you are really meeting your predictions.
Keep in mind that the objectives must always be achievable, measurable and have a clearly defined time frame. This way, you will be able to detect any deviation in sales, see if you are achieving your goals or if you are falling below what you expected.
So, your objectives must always be realistic and based on data obtained from previous years.
Benchmarking
In this industry, it is crucial to closely follow market leaders and your competitors. It is a useful way to detect the most successful sales and marketing strategies and tactics that you could use to improve your business.
Learning from the best is always a plus. It’s a source of inspiration for new ideas.
Look for feedback
Don’t just follow your intuition. The best way is to find out directly from the customers. How to know what they think? Easy. Make use of customer satisfaction forms and review and respond to opinions about your optical business posted on Google, social media and your website.
Having a good number of reviews will provide a clearer picture of how your practice is seen by potential purchasers and customers. These opinions will provide you with ways to continuously improve.
Plan offers and promotions
Have you thought about establishing a schedule for offers and promotions? If you haven’t already done so, it’s a good idea to implement one. They are a great incentive for customers and a practical alternative to keep them relevant during lower sales periods.
Consider stock rotation strategies
Don’t let your stock accumulate, as this will lead to losses. A surplus of stock complicates order management and storage.
Think about how to get rid of your surplus inventory to cover the investment and generate a profit from it.
Improve your sales and after-sales service
Don’t get caught up in daily tasks, always think about your sales and after-sales service whenever you can. Integrate cross-selling, make the most of your database to interact with customers, or implement the use of loyalty or reward cards. Other ways to improve the sales service and boost your business are:
- Carefully personalize your optical practice.
- Clean the display cases to make them more presentable and attractive.
- Highlight the best-selling products and establish a more profitable inventory.
- Make sure you have the stock to replenish sold items.
- Ask sales representatives to send promotional material to give to patients buying their products.
- Start an email marketing campaign to remind patients of the benefits your optical practice can offer them.
- Post photos on your website and on social media to promote your business.
- Make sure that your employees are up-to-date on the latest news and trends in the eye care industry.
- Reward your employees if your business is reaching its sales objectives.
Why not start implementing this list of steps to improve your optical business today? Remember that for any optical practice, success starts with customer service.
Provide a welcoming, personalized service, a simplified purchasing process, quality after-sales services and regular customer acquisition practices. This way, you will see how your optical business in the US will improve considerably. Follow these steps and increase the profitability of your optical practice now!