Get a clear understanding of what percentage of your sales are managed vision. Some doctors are thrilled to get a $7,000 check at the end of the month, forgetting that they saw 180 patients to achieve it.
There will always be prospects who insist they only be provided with the options available through their insurance. ONLY when that’s the case should you consider starting with such a narrow scope. These prospects are typically taken care of and checked out quickly because they know how restricted their options are and, due to that limited choice, often make quick decisions.
Outside of that, don’t let the fact that the prospect has vision insurance and that it’s the first thing out of their mouth dictate your sale. Most opticals are quick to cave, telling the customer exactly what their VCP is going to pay towards frames, which frame choices they’re limited to, and what their limited lens options are.
By doing this, you’re almost always eliminating options the patient would have been very attracted to. Worse yet, you’re probably obligating your business to a starved frame chargeback and a low-margin lens sale, at best.
Instead, remind the prospect of their authority to choose by stating something along these lines: “Vision insurance tends to eliminate a lot of customer’s favorite options. I’d recommend identifying what you’re most interested in and then we’ll look at the numbers. If we need to, we’ll move up or down from there.” Then, consultatively work with the customer by asking questions about their lifestyle to present them with their best options.
If the customer still insists on only seeing their VCP options, no problem — things become pretty straightforward from there.
In our co-founders’ practices, numbers aren’t introduced into the conversation until the customer has selected exactly which frame and lenses they are most attracted to. We recommend the same to all of Pivotal Group’s members.
Unless the prospect is part of the <10% who ask about their vision insurance 2-3 times throughout their visit, we aren’t going to discuss pricing before we have the opportunity to build good, better, and best packages out for them.