Services for Ophthalmologists and Opticals
• Full-Service Optical Consulting
for Ophthalmic Practices
• Show Time
• Frame Inventory Selection
• Negotiate Purchase and Installation
of Lab Equipment and Incidentals
• Optical Personnel Hiring
• Optical Manager Contract Negotiation
• Optical Valuation
• Training
• Optical Business Coaching
• Miscellaneous Services
Full-Service Optical Consulting for Ophthalmic
Practices
Do you know how to set realistic performance expectations for your optical?
Even a solo ophthalmologist can easily generate optical revenue into
the thousands of dollars – revenue that is on par with many small
companies. Yet doctors frequently trust the complex operations of their
optical to a lone, overworked administrator who knows very little about
managing an optical and is already stretched for time; or worse, attempt
to manage the optical themselves. Opticals are as different as the patients
they serve. That’s why we provide both full-service agreements
as well as flexible e-mail and telephone coaching and business consulting
arrangements. With our guidance, you will know how to profit from on-site
optical opportunities, dispensary negotiations, and how to offset the
financial impact of the inevitable changes brought by decreased reimbursement
rates in other areas of the practice.
Show Time
Why don’t your patients purchase from your optical? Did it ever
occur to you that part of the reason might be because it doesn’t
look inviting? Neither you nor your optical manager may have the merchandizing
expertise to decorate your optical in an eye-catching, tasteful manner.
Our seasoned optician will decorate your optical, re-arrange your frames
and offer guidance on how to do-it-yourself in the future.
Frame Inventory Selection
A wholesale frame can cost from $10 to $600 and stocking an optical
can quickly eat up your available cash or line of credit. With literally
hundreds of frame manufacturers to choose from, how do you select the
frames that will sell? Suter Consulting Group can help you choose vendors
and lines based on patient and community demographics. Then, we’ll
work as your agent to set up accounts with buying groups and negotiate
discounts and delayed billing from frame vendors.
Negotiate Purchase and Installation of Lab
Equipment and Incidentals
There’s a lot of incidentals to remember and purchase when starting
up an optical. Don’t stay awake nights wondering what you’ve
forgotten. We bundle client’s purchase order with other clients
in order to obtain deep discounts on equipment hand tools, nosepieces
in various materials, screws, calipers, ultra sonic cleaner, lensometer,
vertometer, pupilometer, tint pots, as well as other miscellaneous incidentals.
Optical Personnel Hiring
Do you know what type of personality is best suited to working in an
optical? We’ve found that a high-producing frame stylist is both
detail-oriented and comfortable in a selling situation. Now that you
know this, do you know what questions to ask to determine both personality
traits and technical skill? Suter Consulting Group can help by providing
you with employee assessment tools developed for eyecare professionals
as well as our seasoned opinion of candidates.
We are available to assist in hiring your optical team – sample of ads, interviewing top candidates, assessment instruments, check references and make recommendations. Whether you’re looking for one person for your entire optical team, this service offers invaluable assistance in ensuring optical profitability.
Optical Manager Contract Negotiation
You have someone in mind to manage your optical but don’t want
to enter into the negotiation process without knowing more about what
salary ranges are typical. You may not know how to calculate how much
your optical will gross so you’re not sure how to protect your
desired net. In addition to providing you with that information, we
can interview individuals seeking to partner with the practice and recommend
compensation models that provide adequate financial incentive for a
managing optician while ensuring an acceptable return on investment
for owner(s).
Optical Valuation
Whether you’re thinking of buying or selling an optical, it’s
important to know how much it’s worth. With the assistance of
a certified public accountant specializing in optical and optometric
practice valuation, Suter Consulting Group can assist in determining
value. The finished report offers insights into the financial worth
of a pending merger with a practicing optician or can be used to obtain
financing.
Training
Why doesn’t your optical make as much as those you read about
in the magazines? You may have optical staff that is a perfect match;
but they’ve never been trained. What to say and how to say it
can make the difference between an order taker and a moneymaker. Our
customized optical training is designed to increase efficiency and productivity.
Your training may include workbooks, videos and scripts.
Optical Business Coaching
You have a great manager that doesn’t know a lot about optical
management and really doesn’t have time to learn it on his or
her own. We can put into place management statistics and reporting systems
that will help track opticals efficiency and employees’ productivity.
Twenty-four months of guidance, support, recommendations and advice
to keep management focused on achieving specific goals. Suggestions
to improve net while working to increase optical gross.
Miscellaneous Services
• Start-up Optical
• Optical Sales and Technical Training
• Frameboard Assessment
• Retention Rate Enhancement
• Co-op Strategies
• Mystery Shopping
• Financial Pro Formas
• Employee Productivity and Bonus Evaluation
