May 5-11
MARKETING Send out Mother’s Day promotional email. Why shouldn’t Mom get new eyewear, sunwear, readers, computer glasses, LASIK or low-vision services this year? (Promise free gift-wrapping as well. Sons and husbands — and probably some daughters — would love the help with that!)
INVENTORY Make this hot season a big one. Kick it off with “Pre-summer sales event” to show off all the new frames you scored at VEE.
May 12-18
OUTREACH Farmers’ markets are a great way to get out in the community, meet new people, promote the eye health message and just get out of the store on a few weekends this summer. Investigate what it would take to get a stand.
SALES Assign staff a research project to find talking points for their favorite brands, such as J.F. Rey’s carbon wood treatments or ic! Berlin’s screwless hinge. Ask them to come up with four bullet points for each brand that they can share at the next weekly meeting.
May 19-25
GENERAL Print business cards for your team that include your office’s Facebook, Instagram, website, and other social media outlets. Hand one out any time you ask a satisfied customer for a referral.
OPERATIONS Slow season is on the way for many ECPs. Start thinking about some minor “re-model” projects you could implement. An extra exam lane, revamp your website, spruce up the exterior.
May 26-June 1
MARKETING Assemble “optical travel kits” that your clients can take with them as they head to the beach, lakes or mountains over the next few months. The kits could include inexpensive plano polarized suns with a soft case/cleaning cloth and spray, or for contact wearers, a travel lens case with a mirror.
PLANNING If you typically take your annual vacation in July, why not shake things up a bit and opt for vacation in late August this year? Who knows what your community’s eyecare needs are like in July if you’ve never really been present?