Conjure an Angry Elf
Want to write convincing ad copy? Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, suggests you imagine an evil elf sitting on your shoulder, screeching “I don’t believe that!” every time you write a sentence that tests credibility.
Name Tag, You’re It!
It’s networking season. Which means it’s the perfect time to invest a few bucks in a custom-made name tag that will let prospects know — at a glance — what you do. Example: an eye chart that spells out your slogan: “To Really See (Your Town Here), See Us First.” People will actually cross the room to see what your tag says, giving you a great opportunity to introduce your business.
Find a Video Star
When it comes to testimonial videos, it’s hard to beat the one Berkeley Eye Center in Houston and Corpus Christi got from local radio personality Erica Rico about her Lasik surgery. (See it at invmag.us/9142) It’s got personality, enthusiasm, humor and lots of comforting details about a process that many uneasy. Even better, it features someone well-known in the community. Your challenge: Who can you get in your community to do a video testimonial for you?
Hire Your Patients
If you’re looking to hire for a front desk or office position, do what Becky Verna of Ozer Family Vision Care in Boothwyn, PA, does and look among your patients first. Says Verna: “Three of our employees were patients first. We sent out an email to our patients letting them know we were looking for someone and got a lot of applicants.” The best aspect of this is that your patients know your office and you know them — so “you know if they are a P-I-A or nice.” Good recipe for a long-term relationship.
Shoot To Thrill
Buy an instant-print camera. When you have a customer who loves (but isn’t quite ready to spring for) a frame, take a picture of him in the eyewear. Getting those hard copies into a customers’ hands pays off every time he sees it in the days after his visit. Instant photos are great for marketing, too; Eyes on Fremont in Seattle, WA, has a wall of prints from its Fujifilm Neo Classic camera as a focal point in its shop.
Motivation Factor
Use fear to get your work done. Grant Cardone, author of The 10X Rule, puts it well. “Whatever I’m afraid of doing, I do it quickly as possible. The things that I don’t want to do the most — the call I don’t want to make, the visit I don’t want to do — those are the first things on my list. I literally use fear like a trampoline — I want to jump into it and hope I get some bounce out of it.”
Change of Venue
Where do you conduct job interviews? You might get better results doing them outside of your office, says Harvey Mackay, author of We Got Fired … And it’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us. Adds Mackay: “If they are golfers, I’ll play with them; if they are bowlers, I’ll go bowling. If they like the opera, I’ll take them to the opera. I want to see them in a different territory.”
BMWs For Everyone
What do you do when a staff meeting turns into a bitch session? Roll with it — for four minutes. As Steve Errey writes on Lifehack.org, “When I’m in a coaching session with someone, it’s pretty obvious if they’re in a bad mood. When that happens I say to them, ‘Right. You have four minutes to Bitch, Moan and Whine all you want. When the four minutes is up, there’s no more moaning, deal?’ Then they let it rip for four minutes. … The key is not to pause or think; a ‘BMW’ session is just getting it all out there. When you’re done you’ll feel lighter.”