I don’t want to nag, but if I stop talking about standards, details start slipping. How do I get expectations to stick without turning into that boss everyone dodges in the hallway?
Stop lecturing and start storytelling. People don’t remember bullet points; they remember the parent in tears when their child saw clearly for the first time, or the loyal patient who told everyone in town about the last-minute repair job you rushed before their trip. Kerry Patterson, coauthor of influencer, notes that stories quietly answer two questions in your staff’s minds: “Is it worth it?” and “Can I actually do this?” When you share short, real practice stories that connect a behavior (adjusting every frame before dispense, double-checking PDs, owning mistakes) to a human outcome, expectations feel meaningful, not arbitrary. Build a small “story bank,” revisit one at every huddle, and invite the team to share their own wins and near misses. Over time, culture shifts faster, and with far less nagging, than another policy speech ever will.
I love funny campaigns but if I lean too hard into jokes, patients will remember the punchline and forget why they should choose us. Where’s the line?
You absolutely can use humor — if it pulls the main message into focus instead of distracting from it. Roy H. Williams, the “Wizard of Ads,” offers a simple test: if remembering the joke forces people to remember your core claim (e.g., “we’re the progressive lens experts,” “we fix the glasses nobody else will touch”), the humor is working for you, not against you. A spot about a patient who “ghosted their eye exam” is great if it lands on how easy your online booking is; it’s weak if the only takeaway is a funny ghost costume. For optical, let the benefit stay the star — clearer vision, better fit, wow service — and let the humor orbit that star. Think of it as polishing the lens, not replacing it.
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