A Vision For Success

Business goals should be “big dreams.” They should reflect a long-range vision of your practice, and how you want to move into the future. But “big dreams” are only achieved when you can translate them into a concrete answer to the question “What do we need to do today?”

You can leverage prescribing language to help your staff have more authority in your dispensary. Help your patients make good choices, and improve your capture rate at the same time, just by implementing strategic changes in your office dialogue.

The most successful practices I’ve ever worked with have been those where the management, including the owner, have been unafraid to work on their processes. By processes, I mean the flow of work that’s needed to accomplish any given task. A smart, lean practice is usually run by someone who keeps a watchful eye not just on the results, but on the processes themselves.

Don’t assume that, just because you are an independent practitioner, you don’t have anything to offer your vendors. Your contribution to the relationship matters, and your vendors have more than “the stuff they sell” to bring to the table as well.

What’s it like to walk through the door of your practice for the first time? Can you even remember? Every business day, someone comes in for the first time ever, and sees your waiting room, optical dispensary, reception counter, and pre-test room for the very first time. Within 10 seconds, that person will form opinions about what kind of practice you run.

Where’s your comfort zone? Chances are it’s right where you live and work every day. As humans, we naturally seek out comfort zones, places or states where we can operate with little anxiety, low stress, and an assurance of our own competence. It’s called “comfortable” for a reason; we feel relaxed and more at ease when we face every day knowing exactly how to complete our tasks, what the outcomes will be, and confident that we won’t face any unexpected challenges.

When you want to drive your practice revenue and growth forward, what do you do? If you’re smart – and we know you are! – you’re taking a two-sided approach. It’s not just about doing things right – it’s also about not doing things wrong. We’ve identified three potentially destructive behaviors – “silent killers” that can cause serious problems and keep you from realizing the full impact of your improvement initiatives.