WEEK 1 / JUNE 6-10
MARKETING Begin Father’s Day
specials on website. Promote
stylish readers or gift certificates
for progressive lenses and performance
eyewear for golf, boating,
hunting, etc.
ONLINE Review your website.
Compare and contrast it with
your local competitors’ websites.
Then compare and contrast with
national chains and online optical
retailers. And finally compare
and contrast it to non-optometric/
non-optical websites you
admire. Your website is often the
first impression you’ll make on
potential customers. Make it a
powerful one.
MARKETING Offer a complete
makeover. Do you have a relationship
with a local salon or spa?
Why not? Arrange a frame trunk
show at your practice/shop and
have a salon/spa stylist and/or
make-up artist there to consult
on colors, styles, etc. Talk to the
other business and put a package
together. Add a masseuse, and no
one will want to leave.
STAFF Everyone needs help.
Make a list of strengths and weaknesses of each staff member.
Have each of your staff
coach/train/help in their area of
strength those on your staff that
aren’t up to par in that particular
discipline.
WEEK 2 / JUNE 13-17
STRATEGY If you were to wave
a magic wand and change things
in your business, what would
they be? Write it down. Look
at the list. What’s stopping you
from making those changes? If
the answer is “cash” you may be
looking at this the wrong way.
Don’t think in terms of “how
much it costs.” Think in terms of
making an investment that will
increase cash flow into the business.
“Cost” is what’s happening
now from not doing it well.
FINANCES Maybe your fixed
costs are not as fixed you think.
Analyze every contract — from
the company that supplies the
water cooler to your neighborhood
banker — and look for
places where you can get a cost
reduction. Lease coming up?
If you rely on walk-in, non-appointment
business, keep an eye
on traffic. It’s a good figure to wield in negotiations with your
landlord.
MARKETING Start your planning
for the second half of the
year by asking yourself what one
advertisement or promotion in
your recent history elicited the
biggest response. Just because a
$100 gift card to local businesses
was hugely successful three years
ago doesn’t mean you can’t do
it again.
WEEK 3 / JUNE 20-24
TECHNOLOGY Draft an FAQ
page for your website. It’s a
search-engine workhorse.
OPERATIONS Thinking of a remodel
or a move to a new market
or just need some advice on how
to stay competitive? Give your
local U.S. Small Business Administration
center (asbdc-us.org)
a call. There are approximately
1,000 service centers across the
country that provide no-cost
consulting and low-cost training.
FURNISHINGS Need any new
office furniture? Now is the time
to pick some up; showrooms are
making room for new lines that
come out in August.
WEEK 4 / JUNE 27-JULY 1
INVENTORY School’s out! And
ironically, that’s the signal for you
to start preparing for the time
when school’s back in. Begin
plotting for your back-to-school
specials.
MARKETING Events are a critical
tool in the modern eyecare
professional’s toolbox. It’s your
chance to roll out new lines,
educate, move old stock and get
clients excited and in a buying
mood. September to December
are the key months whether it’s a
back-to-school promotion, trunk
show, holiday party or all of the
above. Start planning now.
IDENTITY Have you thought
about the story you tell your
customers and employees about
your company? A good story goes
a long way toward making people
feel they’re part of something
special. Build your own company
mythology.
This article originally appeared in the June 2016 edition of INVISION.