INVISION Podcast

Podcast: More Ways to Motivate Your Own Eyecare Business Team

Dee talks with Dr. Steve Vargo about how you can create a happier, more productive team.

Published

6 months ago

February 13, 2019

INVISION PODCAST EPISODE 6: DR. STEVE VARGO (41:30 MINUTES)

AS AN EYECARE BUSINESS MANAGER, how can you keep your staff motivated and doing the right things? What if “TGI Monday” become your staff mantra? Expanding on February’s lead story in INVISION, Dee gets answers on these questions, and more, from Dr. Steve Vargo, a business consultant with IDOC and author of Eye on Leadership, An Optometrist’s Game Plan For Creating A Motivated and Empowered Team.

Get Ready for Back to School With Kids by Safilo

The 2019 Kids by Safilo collection is enriched with new, playful color stories featuring fun and original graphics and translucent fronts which are combined with solid temples and enlivened by bright, colorful patterns. The collection is designed with a medical-scientific approach to better meet the needs of children up to eight years of age. The collection was developed in collaboration with SIOP (Italian Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology) and is in compliance with the design guidelines of WSPOS (World Society of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus).

INVISION Podcast

Podcast: Why Optical (and Especially Optical Retail) Is Lagging Behind Other Industries

The optical industry is lagging behind but progress is inevitable and solutions are at hand for clinicians who embrace ownership.

Published

3 weeks ago

July 28, 2019

Deirdre Carroll

INVISION PODCAST EPISODE 8: JOHN MARVIN OF TEXAS STATE OPTICAL (54:53 MINUTES)

IN THIS EPISODE of the INVISION Podcast with Dee Carroll, Dee speaks with TSO’s John Marvin, her go-to man on industry happenings, about managing eyecare businesses into the future.

John is president and CEO of Texas State Optical. In addition to heading up TSO, John is also INVISION’s regular management columnist and Dee’s go-to advisor whenever she has a question on industry happenings and trends.

They begin the discussion with the fascinating history of Texas State Optical, its current make up and how it functions today; but 15 minutes in they go right to the heart of it … How far the optical industry is lagging behind other industries, why John thinks that is and how that gap is only growing, especially on the retail side of the business.

At 20:17, they talk about the inevitability of progress, those in the industry who are the “wrong side of history” and John corrects Dee on the assumption that resistance to change is dictated by a practioner’s age. (It isn’t.)

They go deep into teleoptometry 26 minutes into the episode and you really don’t want to miss it. Half way through, Dee asks about motivating reluctant folks who may be dragging their feet when it comes to the advancement of technology and innovation and John provides tips for employees, team members and staff interested in moving a business forward (34 minutes).

At 37 minutes Dee attempts to rapid-fire question John on several topics and how he personally sees them affecting the delivery of eyecare in the future; topics like teleoptometry, e-commerce and the basic digital requirements of a modern business, and “selling stuff” or dispensing from the chair.

(Spoiler alert: It’s not particularly rapid.

Dee and John wrap up the episode (53 minutes) by having him identify some of the biggest obstacles facing eyecare businesses from a management perspective. Hint: They have to do with the disconnect between being a clinician and a business owner.

Get comfy and click play, this is a good one folks!

INVISION Podcast

Podcast: What the Heck is Marketing? And What Should ECPs Focus on to Attract New Clients?

Dee talks with EyeCarePro’s Evan Engel — who knows what works … and what doesn’t.

Published

4 months ago

May 1, 2019

Deirdre Carroll

INVISION PODCAST EPISODE 7: EVAN ENGEL OF EYECAREPRO (41:30 MINUTES)

AFTER A BRIEF spring hiatus, our podcast INVISION with Dee Carroll is back! In a streamlined new format, Dee talks with Evan Engel, the vice president of sales and marketing at EyeCarePro, an optometric practice and eyecare business digital marketing firm. Evan has a robust background in marketing eyecare practices and uses a data driven approach to help practices acquire new patients… in short, he knows what sort of marketing works and what doesn’t.

During the episode, learn once and for all what marketing actually is — Hint: it’s much more all-encompassing than you think (3:58) — the top three things that will give you the biggest bang for your marketing buck (8:25), the best tool to get new patients through your door (9:45), and the MINIMUM amount of work you need to be doing on your website (18:00).

If that wets your whistle, then stick around for the most important KPIs you should monitor to gauge your marketing plan’s effectiveness (23:00), hear Evan blow Dee’s mind with the concept of call tracking numbers (24:25), and how the second page of Google results is just the first loser when it comes to new patient conversion (33:39).

Evan also shares a tool to show you exactly how your business ranks when people Google search for eyecare businesses in your area (34:40) and gives a definitive answer to the question “Reviews, are they really that important?” and should you be responding (37:45). It’s 45 minutes of solid marketing information you do not want to miss.

INVISION Podcast

Podcast: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Dee fangirls over 20/20Glance with founder Dr. Jackie Garlich and the two discuss all the contention in optometry.

Published

7 months ago

January 30, 2019

Deirdre Carroll

INVISION PODCAST WITH DEE CARROLL (EPISODE 5): JACKIE GARLICH (44:21 MINUTES)

OPHTHALMOLOGISTS DON’T LIKE OPTOMETRISTS. Optometrists think ophthalmologists are full of themselves. Established ODs think new grads are lazy. Young ODs think older ODs are out of touch. In the latest INVISION Podcast with Dee Carroll, Dee talks with Dr. Jackie Garlich, founder of 20/20Glance (www.2020glance.com), a free weekly email that runs down clinically relevant optometry news, and the two discuss these areas of contention and wonder why we all can’t just get along.

At the end of the episode, Dee asks a question on behalf of Dr. Sue Miller of Bright Eyes Vision in Pennsylvania about the effectiveness of joining a business networking group to grow business. Dr. Theodore Sees of Rockford Family Eyecare in Michigan shares is generally positive experience with these sort of networking groups. Curious about joining one yourself? Take a listen.

SHOW CHRONOLOGY

1:09 Video is king. If you’re not using video to capture new patients, you might want to think again.
1:53 Did you catch the re-launch of invisionmag.com in early December? It’s slicker, sexier, more mobile-friendly and more interactive experience.
3:34 Dee introduced this month’s guest Dr. Jackie Garlich, founder of 20/20Glance.
4:07 Jackie explains why she started writing 20/20Glance … to fill the void she found for clinically relevant news for the practicing clinician filtered to the pertinent info needed to help the patients sitting in her chair.
5:20 Dee and Jackie discuss how the easy filtered news feed benefits other busy ODs and the irony that in an effort to curate the most pertinent news, she is STILL reading everything to distill it for her readers.
6:00 Dee asks how wishing there was something out there like 20/20Glance became execution of the newsletter and organic growth.
7:30 Finding the balance in tone between her natural inclination toward sarcasm and not actually offending readers as the audience grew beyond just friends.
7:43 Dee fangirls about why she likes 20/20Glance so much because it speaks in plain terms but is entertaining enough to keeps her attention despite obviously not being an optometrist.
8:15 Dee and Jackie finally get around to explaining what 20/20Glance is for those who may not be familiar with it: A once a free weekly email delivered every Monday morning that gives a simple rundown of clinically relevant optometry news from the last week. Sign up at www.2020glance.com
9:30 Jackie talks current subscriber numbers and explains that this is a side hustle to her practicing OD day job.
10:22 She’s got amazing open rates around 50%!
12:20 Jackie teases the future plan of 20/20Glance and some coming changes.
13:05 Jackie talks about her day job and her recent move from Milwaukee to Boston and how it changed her mode of practice.
14:45 Dee and Jackie discuss the changes in optometry in recent years and how young ODs approach how they want to practice now.
17:20 Dee throws a renegade question at Jackie about the Blue Light debate.
20:30 Dee reins the conversation back in and asks about #MillenialODproblems and the changes to the profession of optometry in last two decades.
22:00 Online refractions come up …
22:45 They delve into the scope of what optometrists can and cannot do from state to state and the battle between optometry and ophthalmology. Short take: She wonders why we all can’t get along.
24:30 They discuss where the contention between the professions comes from… and they keep discussing it.
27:45 CALL TO ACTION: if you have anything to add to the conversation email editor@invisionmag.com
28:20 Dee asks about the trouble some established ODs and boutique owners are having finding young/associate ODs and if that has to do with the different priorities of young ODs.
30:42 Yup, work/life balance is discussed.
31:00 She is a full-time practicing OD, a mother, does 20/20Glance on the side and shares she is also in the military! Dee feels totally unaccomplished.
33:40 Dee wonders at Jackie’s statement that she sometimes is afraid she is lazy because she doesn’t currently want to own her own practice. So, the two get into the discussion of whether that is an inherently female trait, that we often don’t feel like we’re aren’t doing enough.
35:50 Dee asks Jackie if there were a couple things that she wishes she could say to older generations of optometrists who complain about the younger generation of ODs coming into the profession.
37:50 Dee plugs 20/20Glance signups: www.2020glance.com
38:10 Time for the Ask INVISION question. This one comes from Dr. Sue Miller of Bright Eyes Vision in Pennsylvania asking about the effectiveness of business networking organizations.
39:20 Dr. Theodore Sees of Rockford Family Eyecare in Michigan who has found some success with joining BNI but also highlights some of the challenges.
43:50 Dee says see ya next time and reminds you if you have a business question you’d like us to track down an answer to visit www.invisionmag.com/speak and hit record!