Practice Management Do's and Don'ts While Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis
Well, it happened. The economy officially came to a screeching halt. Before we all overreact, let’s take a moment to process what’s going on, and realize that the world will keep spinning. We will come out the other side of this crisis, and when we do people are going to need eyewear. The world may look different, and we’ll need to adapt. As we look toward the future, here are some do’s and don’ts to keep your business in the black and moving forward.
Do:
Be mindful of your cashflow – We don’t know how long this will last, and even when the economy reopens, it will likely look different. Cash is king and keeps the lights on. Determine how much you have, and how long you can last with your current expenses. If that answer is less than 4 months, it’s probably time to identify what expenses you can cut, and still open quickly if needed. Ideally, you’re going to need enough cash to get through 6 months. This can be achieved by either increasing revenue, or decreasing costs.
Keep a good frame selection, but be mindful of costs - There are a lot of people who are going to be looking for alternative methods of getting prescriptions and purchasing eyewear. Now, going into a likely recession, is a terrible time to have $50k-$75k tied up in optical frames that you can’t move. It’s time to talk logistics with your optical frame suppliers. Do they offer a consignment or dropship model? If so, use it. It’s also probably a good time to analyze and optimize your dispensary and minimize the brands/suppliers you need to deal with. Spend your money where it counts. Getting patients in the door, and ensuring they have a safe and comfortable experience to share with their friends.
Focus on health - People are going to be mindful of what they’re touching, who they’re talking to, and who is in their bubble. If you want patients to frequent your optical shop for eye exams and eyewear, you’re going to need to go the extra mile to make them feel comfortable while going through the process. This means face masks and disposable gloves, this means hand sanitizers at every corner, and as difficult as it might be, it means hiring an extra optician to act as a personal stylist. Before you get on my case for the last comment, I want you to think about something. How many frames are on your wall in your optical shop? How many people touch those frames in a day? A personal stylist adds a layer of comfort to help select stylish frames for the patient, helps guide them to the right frame & lens decision, and most importantly sterilizes the frames before putting them back on the wall for the next patient to try on. If you have people in your lobby, they just saw that process and now have one more reason to be comfortable trying on your eyewear instead of buying online where it’s safe.
Don’t:
Try to predict the future – A big mistake I see a lot of people making, is speculating about what the future will bring. As new information comes in, the speculation changes and with it, the plan. This is not only a waste of valuable time and resources, but likely a worthless effort. Anyone who says that they know what the future will bring is either lying or crazy. We’re in unprecedented times, and with it, have no idea what the next 6-12 months are going to look like. My advice is to keep tabs on the two or three things that will impact you the most and react when the time is right. This will keep you focused on what’s important and avoid getting bogged down with analysis paralysis from the flood of information being thrown at you. The most important things to me are monitoring when the economy will officially reopen, how to message that business is open, and how to effectively message that patient health is the top priority.
Wait for reopen to change your processes - Everyone has a lot of time on their hands right now. This is the time to breakdown every process in your business, and look at it through a new lens. A COVID lens. How does this customer feel while going through each of your processes now that COVID is top of mind? By mapping each process and the changes that will be implemented upon reentry, your team can minimize the ramp up time, and get you back in business quickly and making sure that all of your patients are feeling good.
Overreact – It’s a serious time, there is no denying that. But it will pass. Now is not the time to doubt your investments or hedge against your long-term strategy. If anything, this is the time to recognize the volatile environment and double down. It’s easy to win when the economy is booming and consumer confidence is high. Those who know how to navigate a volatile economic landscape will not only win in the coming years, but will do better than they ever imagined they could.
Good luck out there. Stay safe & Stay healthy.
Have a question? Have a comment? Disagree with me completely? Let me know in the comments, or feel free to reach out via email.