Work From Home has been all the rage this year.
Data highlights on the current and forecasted Work-From Home (WFH) trends:
- 53% of U.S. telecommuters view flexible scheduling as the top benefit of WFM
- 25% – 30% of the workforce will be working remotely from home by the end of 2021
- 99% of remote workers would like to continue doing remote work to some extent
These WFH people make up an ever-growing chunk of the population. And WFH is one aspect of the “new normal” that’s not going away any time soon, if ever.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, one feature of WFH did not show up in any of the data I reviewed…
It could be the most important characteristic of WFH. It’s definitely the one that will impact your practice volume moving forward, for better or for worse.
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Let’s talk about pants real quick. Specifically, wearing them vs. not wearing them.
When you work from home… Pants are optional.
And you know what? People love it.
Like I said, there’s no hard data to support this. BUT if you take a gander at comments on Twitter, Facebook, IG, Reddit, you’ll see plenty of anecdotal evidence that WFH folks love the pants-optional lifestyle.
(Do NOT search for ‘no pants’ on social media btw. You’ll see things you can’t unsee. Take the word of your trusted leader on this. People love working in not pants.)
People like their pajama bottoms, sweats, gym shorts, you name it. As long as it ain’t pants.
And that’s a problem for your practice.
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Here’s what you need to know about pantless people in a comfortable setting: They wanna stay that way.
The idea of running by the grocery store on the way home from the office? No biggie. It’s on the way. And you’re already wearing pants.
So you stop in, grab a few items, head to the house.
The idea of running to the grocery store… when you’re already at home working? That is a big deal.
You gotta get up. Put pants on. Then drive away from your comfy place, out into the world, to get your groceries.
Sounds silly, but it’s a much bigger activity.
Now, swap out ‘grocery store visit’ for ‘LASIK consultation’ and you’ll see why this is an issue.
You got all these people working from home… staring at screens and drying out their contacts… and you know you can help them. They know you can help them.
But the thing standing between them and the help they need? A pair of pants.
Your Practice vs. No Pants? You don’t stand a chance.
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As silly as all this may sound, the point is that consumer behavior is rapidly shifting to home-centric commerce, and probably not going back.
Look no further than the massive growth of mail-order groceries (Prime Fresh, Instacart), home workouts (Peloton, the Mirror), and food delivery services (GrubHub, Uber Eats).
Obviously we aren’t just talking about pants.
“No pants” is the thing people are meme-ing for the resistance of leaving the house.
So if you are the practice who can reduce the need for people to leave their comfort zones (figuratively and literally), that’s how you win in 2021.
This is where the virtual consults come into play. Yes, you have your in-person consults for the pants’d folk who are already out in the world.
But for those 30% of Work-from-homers – living free and loose with their no-pants lifestyle – you gotta have a more convenient option for them.
You must be an equal opportunity practice in 2021. You cater to those with pants and the pantless.
What does that mean?
This is one of many reasons you must have a dialed-in, conversion-focused virtual consultation process.
(Not just a Zoom account, not just your in-person consultation given on video)
The practices who get this are already prospering, and will continue to do so in 2021.
In fact, our Patient Prime System, which is heavily focused around Virtual Conversions, has helped multiple practices stack an extra $100k+ in monthly refractive revenue.
We are enrolling 5 practices into the Patient Prime system in Q1. No ongoing fees or retainers, and guaranteed ROI.
Deadline for enrollment is 12/31 (or sooner if the spots fill up).
So if that sounds good to you – reply to this email right now for more details.
And remember:
Pants people have problems and money. No-pants people have problems and money. Solve the problems, take the money.
– Troy “I Got 99 Problems, but Pants Ain’t One” Cole