“I ABSOLUTELY LOVE these sunglasses! And you said you can make them in my prescription right?” your patient excitedly inquires.
“Absolutely we can,” you reply.
“Great! Last year my husband got his sunglasses during your annual sunglass sale and saved a lot. That sale is in two months right?” You nod as you try not to let your face show the defeat creeping up inside you.
It’s great to have committed patients that know about the optical’s sales, but I ran into this exact scenario time and time again in my practices before I finally made the realization that an “annual” sale might not be the best thing for my independent opticals. The annual sales did bring in new business, but they also left my existing customers delaying purchases. It left me asking two questions:
- Was there a way to create new purchases and stimulate buying without risking my profitability from patients that were already planning to purchase?
- Was there a way to get rid of the discontinued frames that just don’t move?
There is a great way to achieve both of these. Even better news, we are implementing these strategies with our clients with fabulous results!
Swap Discounts for Exclusivity: Replace the sale with a trunk show. This allows the draw to move from a savings mentality to an exclusivity mentality. Feature a fun and exciting brand that has styles for men and women. Major bonus points if the rep is super fun and engaging too! You will want to partner with the rep to make sure you establish a great plan for marketing your event. Promote the fact that the entire brand will be there on display and this is the only chance for your patients to come and see absolutely every style and color that the brand has to offer. Follow the QR code for inspiration about creating a great event, including timelines and using your free social media to promote it.
Ditch Sale Boards for Flash Closeouts: Many offices have a hard time moving discontinued frames that they have marked down. Why is this? If we are being honest, when we finally get a live one on the hook — a patient that is ready to buy — you want to wow them with the really great and exciting styles, not escort them to the darkest part of the optical to choose from the leftovers nobody else wanted.
This is what leaves us in the never-ending sales board predicament. Instead, try a flash closeout sale. During a flash closeout you will only host the closeout for a declared amount of time. Do not keep it going! This is what brings the exclusivity and the incentive of “buy now.” Make sure patients know you have new product coming in and that the availability of the closeout frames will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Mark down the frames an enticing amount and inform buyers replacement parts cannot be guaranteed. We have been implementing flash closeouts for our members who use FrameTurn and they have reported fabulous results in getting that old product outta there! You can get more attention and a better patient mindset when you are not offering discounts all the time.