Week 1 / MAY 4-8
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?
STAFF Motivate staff with a contest to win an extra paid day off during the summer months. A three-day weekend? Sweet!
OPERATIONS Worried about your margins? Are repair jobs being misplaced or completed too slowly? It’s time to get your team involved. Ask for help. Seek their counsel. Request detailed feedback on how to proceed. By doing this, you’ll train them to find solutions versus always bringing you problems. This week, give every team member a challenge suited to their skills and interests.
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MARKETING It’s Small Business Week. Push a “buy local” message in your emails and social media, listing some of your favorite local businesses. (Hopefully, some of your favorites will return the favor to you!)
Week 2 / MAY 11-15
MARKETING Receptionist’s Day is May 13, so it’s time to promote gift certificates for computer lenses. Bleary-eyed receptionists everywhere will thank you.
WEBSITE Check your website for a call to action. How easy is it to find your contact information? Where does it invite patients to request an exam? Ask yourself: Is your website asking for the sale?
SECURITY Check with your attorney and develop policies to address employee theft, drugs and alcohol abuse. Review any current policies to make sure they are legally enforceable in your state.
MARKETING Take high-quality pictures of your store, inside and out. These will be useful for publicity purposes, when meeting vendors at trade shows, or even to enter your store in INVISION’s 2016 America’s Finest Optical Retailers contest.
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Week 3 / MAY 18-22
OPERATIONS Work on your systems. Write scripts for greeting clients, giving a store/practice tour, handling take-ins, checking insurance information, etc. Put everything onto a private company wiki. The guidelines will be useful when training new employees or giving your staff a refresher on policies.
PUBLIC RELATIONS Do a series of blogs and social media posts on digital eyestrain. Tell people how to recognize the problems that come from extended use of computers and digital devices — and let them know how you can help them avoid (or relieve) it.
STAFF Do you need to find summer help to cover for vacationing staff? College or high-school students can help you with projects your team hasn’t had time to tackle: maybe mailing list clean-up or highlighting your frames on Pinterest.
MARKETING Put “Congratulations Class of 2015” signs in your windows. Advertise in graduation programs of local high schools and colleges. Eyewear gift certificates help job-hunting grads see their future more clearly!
Week 4 / MAY 25-29
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WEBSITE Check your website download time. People don’t have patience for slow-loading pages.
SALES TRAINING Want to build your Rx-able sunwear business? Your staff needs to know how to sell it. Schedule sunwear training once a quarter. You can even ask some of your reps to come in and help.
PREPAREDNESS Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1 and ends Nov. 30. A generator is a wise investment if you live in an area prone to wild weather of any kind.
This article originally appeared in the May 2015 edition of INVISION.
