Published in Administrative Eyecare - Sept/Oct 2015

1. 14 AE // Sept/Oct 15
I
t has been estimated that more
than 150 million Americans
use glasses or contact lenses to
compensate for refractive errors.1
There are undoubtedly thousands
of people in your geographical area
who could benefit from LASIK
vision correction.
SO WHY ISN’T YOUR SURGERY
SCHEDULE COMPLETELY BOOKED
EVERY DAY?
Just because people wear corrective
lenses doesn’t mean that they are
interested in LASIK vision correction.
In fact, an estimated 60–80% of lens
wearers are not currently investigat-
ing vision correction options. They
may know how LASIK could provide
them 20/20 vision…they may even
have friends or family members who
have had a successful procedure and a
positive experience. But something is
holding them back.
People with nearsightedness, farsight-
edness, and astigmatism can have any
variety of objections that may preclude
them from becoming interested in an
elective procedure:
• Cost: LASIK may seem too
expensive.
• Fear: The horror stories of LASIK
are easy to find.
• Time: Busy schedules can make
the procedure too hard to fit in.
• Confusion: Understanding
LASIK technologies can seem
impossible.
These are the “not interested” LASIK
prospects in your area. So how do
you reach these people and help break
through the barriers and misconceptions?
COURTING YOUR PROSPECTS
Sometimes prospects come around on
their own due to a life-changing event
or frustration with the hassles, perfor-
mance, or appearance of lenses:
• The desire to excel at sports
requires better vision.
• A lens-free appearance is preferred
for a special event such as a
wedding.
• A monetary windfall makes the
procedure attainable.
But you shouldn’t wait for prospects
to decide on their own. If you do, the
growth of your practice will stagnate
or even decline. Sometimes prospects
need a little extra push to understand
the benefits of this life-changing
procedure. This means writing your
marketing messages to appeal not only
to the people who are investigating
LASIK (approximately 15–40% of lens
wearers) but also those who need to be
sold … without feeling like they are
being sold.
People today are inundated with an
estimated 5,000 marketing messages
every day.2
To break through this
clutter and get your message seen, you
RUNNING THE PRACTICE // MARKETING MINUTE
HOW TO CONVERT “NOT INTERESTED”
INTO “NOW BUYERS”
Cuinn Merrigan

2. 15www.asoa.org // AE
By updating
your
messages,
you should
see a much
greater
return
on your
marketing
investments.
“
must speak to their hot buttons. You
must set off their reticular activator—
something that hits home with their
own personal life to make them take
notice of your message.
• Cost: Explain how the one-time
cost of LASIK can be cheaper in
the long run than the ongoing
expenses of contacts and glass-
es. Discuss financing options
and other ways to make LASIK
affordable.
• Fear: Share your doctor’s 20/20
vision success rates.
• Time: Explain how quick the
procedure and recovery are for
LASIK.
• Confusion: Don’t overwhelm
prospects with technology talk or
doctor-speak; help educate pros-
pects on LASIK in layman’s terms.
Notice that these hot buttons did not
include mention of specific technolo-
gies. People who are not interested in
LASIK will not be impressed or enticed
by the type of blade-free or custom
wavefront technology you use; this type
of message will get pushed into the
background or lost completely.
GET THEIR ATTENTION, KEEP THEIR
ATTENTION
When the hot button messages work,
you will have their attention for a short
time. In your messages, provide simple,
risk-free calls-to-action to take the pros-
pect to the next step. Your goal should
be to gather their contact information
so you can begin to communicate with
them regularly—via emails or phone
calls—to reinforce your message and
keep your practice top-of-mind.
It may seem that when people have
requested information about your prac-
tice, they are sold. But the nurturing
process is far from over. It can take
prospects 2–3 years to decide to have an
elective surgery – even after they have
contacted your office.
The most efficient and effective
way to communicate with prospects
is through drip marketing techniques
—a series of emails delivered over
the course of months or years to the
prospects in their specific investigation
phase with your practice. Through
this “drip” marketing process, you can
provide the education they need about
LASIK, as well as differentiating factors
about your practice, to make your prac-
tice the obvious choice for LASIK.
MATCH YOUR MESSAGE ONLINE
Your online presence, including your
website, social media presence, and
online reviews, must complement the
marketing messages you are putting
out in the world. For example, if you
advertise that your doctor has a 99%
success rate, but several past patients
have posted negative reviews online,
those investigating your practice will
sense the disconnect and view you as
untrustworthy.
“NOW BUYERS” STILL NEED
ATTENTION
Only when prospects are actually in
your doors for a consultation can you
begin to treat those people as “now
buyers.” This is when it becomes
your staff’s job to effectively sell your
services and break through the obstacles
that probably still exist. Those “now
buyers” make up only 1–5% of the
total lens-wearing population, so it’s
important to convert as many of these
prospects as possible. A unique series
of drip marketing emails can help these
patients make the leap of faith to sched-
ule surgery with you.
In summary, you may need to
re-evaluate your marketing techniques
to determine the effectiveness of your
messages. Are you only speaking to
the small percentage of “now buyers”?
Or are your messages appealing to the
much larger segment of “not interested”
lens wearers who could greatly benefit
from LASIK?
By updating your messages, you
should see a much greater return on
your marketing investments. AE
NOTES
1. American Academy of Ophthalmology.
(April 2011). Eye Health Statistics at
a Glance. Source: Prevent Blindness
America and the National Eye
Institute (2008). Vision Problems in
the U.S.: Prevalence of Adult Vision
Impairment and Age-Related Eye
Disease in America. http://www.aao.
org/newsroom/upload/Eye-Health-
Statistics-April-2011.pdf
2. Jay Walker-Smith, Yankelovich
Consumer Research. Source: How
to Cut Through Marketing Clutter.
http://www.marketing-made-simple.
com/articles/promotional-clutter.
htm#.VTZm1pM905Y
Cuinn Merrigan (cuinn@
fast-trackmarketing.com) is
the chief operating officer at
Fast Track Marketing in
Broomfield, Colo.
INABLINK
• It can take prospects 2–3 years
to decide to have an elective
surgery.
• To break through marketing
clutter, you must speak to pros-
pects’ hot buttons.
• “Drip” marketing emails keep
your practice top-of-mind.