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Long-time subscriber and longer-time best friend Evan Hughes shared the following anecdote with me yesterday:

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Hey dude, I just had a great customer service experience, wanted to share it with you.

I’m big on a company called Burlebo out of Austin. They are outdoor lifestyle brand, cool designs, great feeling fabrics. Cool vibe.

I recently ordered a handful of items from their website, including a “Mystery Box” that included 3 mystery polos at a reduced price.

Long story short, I got my order, but it was missing 1 of the Mystery Box polos. As I was looking for their contact info, I noticed they had a phone number on the postcard they include in the packaging. So I decided to call it.

This is a local-ish company, but they are in a bunch of massive retailers across the country. So I wasn’t too hopeful that I’d connect with someone on the call. And sure enough, I got a voicemail letting me know they were busy packing orders, but that I could text them.

So I did. I gave them my order number and let them know what happened. (To be clear – I wasn’t angry, just wanted them to know so they could send out the other shirt).

To my surprise, I got a text back within 5 minutes from an actual human named Tiffany. She apologized and told me she was sending me a whole other Mystery Box to make up for the mistake. (Sending you a screenshot so you can see the exchange)

What a solid company! They’re growing fast, but obviously still focused on customer service. Which is a great marketing tactic, because you’re the 3rd person I’ve told about this. 

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Here’s the screenshot he mentioned:

I love experiences like this, whether they happen to me directly, or a client / friend shares them with me.

A few takeaways to keep in mind for your practice:

1. This story started with a mistake. 

It would have been nice if Evan had received his entire order in a timely manner. Obviously that’s what he wanted, and what Burlebo wanted. But he didn’t. The company made a mistake.

But they were able to turn that mistake into awesome word-of-mouth – perhaps even better word-of-mouth than if everything had gone right.

Mistakes are going to happen. But rather than simply trying to fix it, how can you transform a mistake into a win?

When someone has a bad experience, that’s your chance to create a superfan.

In this case, what was the cost of them fixing it? 2 of their polo shirts. If you contrast that cost vs. the word-of-mouth they will receive… paired with the repeat business Evan will clearly be giving them moving forward (i.e. his increased Lifetime Value as a customer)….

Certainly Burlebo comes out in the green.

2. Tiffany was empowered to fix it.

The cost of 2 polo shirts is not significant. BUT based on the turnaround time of the reply text, it’s clear Tiffany didn’t have to go track down a manager and ask what to do.

Burlebo’s customer service team has been trained to:

• If we make a mistake or if someone is unhappy, it’s your job to fix it
• You are allowed to spend up to $X to fix any issue, without getting approval from a manager
• Leave the customer feeling cared for, with their problem solved

I did an Instagram Story about a local bakery that empowers their people in the same way.

You want to empower your people in the same way. Not only does it lead to faster fixes and happier patients, it also makes your processes more efficient (which is huge for a busy practice like yours).

3. The customer service bar is ridiculously low right now. (So it’s not hard to be awesome)

If you think about what happened, it wasn’t anything extraordinary. He literally called them. And they didn’t even answer.

Then he texted them. And they texted back in a timely manner with a pleasant tone and a fix to his problem.

This isn’t earth-shattering, ninja customer service stuff. It’s basically common courtesy.

But in the current “customer service climate” this feels like a huge thing. Reality is most businesses just don’t take customer service that seriously. So exchanges like this really stand out.

So remember, it doesn’t take much to be awesome. Mindfulness, kindness and a focus on taking care of the patients’ needs.

All of this is rooted in leadership, which is a core concept we teach in our E3 Conversion System Bootcamp. How can we Always Be Leading (ABLe)?

4. Humanity comes from actual humans (not robots).

Could Burlebo have an automated SMS response that tells people to “email support@burlebo.com and we will contact you back within 48 hours.” Yes.

In fact, that wouldn’t be the end of the world. It would be fine.

But if that was the case, I never would have heard this story. Because it wouldn’t be a story.

So on one hand, you have a lot of companies doing customer service poorly. And then you have another contingent that is automating a lot of this or using AI to handle it.

I’m an automation fan when it’s appropriate. Example – if a lead comes through your website on Friday night, you don’t want them to wait until Monday to get some kind of response from you. So an automated, conversational message 5 minutes after they submit the form is great.

But humanity is the magic in this exchange. Read the SMS exchange. Tiffany is obviously a human (or the best AI out there?).

Bold Prediction: As AI becomes more common – in messaging, in content, in videos, on social media – the value of a human interaction will continue to increase.

And it’s easy to spend 6 months and tens of thousands of dollars trying to AI your way out of customer support. Or you can get good people, train them up, and have them create “humanity magic” for your patients.

The latter is easier, most cost-effective and certainly creates more spark to light the fire of stories like Evan’s.

If this resonates with you…

If you want to be the truly dominant practice in your market… if you want your word-of-mouth to drive more patients into your practice (because that’s about the best referral source there is)…

Our E3 Conversion System Bootcamp is just what the doctor ordered.

If you want your patients telling stories about you like Evan is about Burlebo, you gotta train your team to wow people daily, even (especially?) when things go wrong.

Reply with “E3 Me!” and I’ll send over our Bootcamp Implementation Guide that goes through all the specifics of how we facilitate this game-changing coaching program with busy practices like yours.

And if you want a great customer service experience and high quality outdoor attire, apparently Burlebo is the place the go. So check em out! (I plan to)

— Troy “Humans are Your Superpower” Cole

So the Q2 Refractive Surgery Council report is out, and refractive numbers are down vs. Q2 2024. Again.

For a lot of practices, EVO and RLE are UP, which is awesome. But I know you want more LASIK / SMILE / whatever too. So let’s talk about that today.

If you look at the given “reasons” that LASIK is down, you’ll see a mix of:

1. Economic constraints around discretionary spending
2. SEO / Search being affected by AI / GPT
3. Negative LASIK stories that made the rounds during the quarter

These may very well be affecting the numbers. Problem is, you don’t have much (if any) control over these factors.

And at LogiCole Consulting, we say to “Control your Controllables.”

So let’s get into that.

Too many practices are living within self-imposed constraints. Blinders. Restrictions.

It’s like they’re playing in a sandbox when they could be making use of the whole beach.

For example:

Take a popular question people are apparently asking online: “Does LASIK Hurt?” So what do we do? Well, let’s make some content about how it doesn’t hurt. And write a blog, and do a video, etc.

I am not saying those things are BAD. But it’s like you’re playing DEFENSE in a conversation you didn’t even start.

And quarter after quarter, it’s like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole to address whatever negative factor is impacting the numbers.

That’s playing THEIR game.

But this isn’t THEIR game, it’s YOUR game.

You’ve been doing this for years or decades. You’ve done it thousands of times. Heck, a lot of you have had the procedures yourselves, or at least recommended (and many times performed them) for close friends and even family.

This is YOUR game.

What does it look like to play your game, and how does it relate to playing in the beach vs. a sandbox?

The one area I want to zoom in on today is your product. Take vision correction for example. Your product is vision correction… and so that’s what you sell. Right?

And because that’s what you sell, that’s what people buy… right?

Actually, no. And this is where a lot of us get tripped up. Because we’re focused on making our product – the thing we THINK people are buying – more attractive. It IS affordable, it DOESN’T hurt, it IS safe when you meet all the correct criteria for it.

Again – this is important. But it’s only a FRACTION of the vision we need people to buy into.

We want people to think BIGGER than the small obstacles keeping them from taking the next step.

And it starts with this reminder – the product you’re selling IS NOT what people are buying.

They’re buying… a result. A transformation. An outcome. Freedom.

And if you want to wrap all that up into one word…

Your patients are buying a lifestyle.

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One of my favorite “marketing hacks” is to look at other marketing and sales experiences, and figure out how to apply those to what you do.

E-commerce is my current go-to space for this research. Probably because I’m bombarded with fantastic ads in my Instagram feed, from companies in highly competitive spaces that have to differentiate in some way.

And the companies that are at the top of their game – even though they create revenue through their products – are actually selling a lifestyle.

I’m gonna give you a few examples today, and my hope is that this helps to expand your thinking in how you market and communicate about your practice.

​Vacation, Inc – My current fave

• Product: Sunscreen, perfume and candles
• What They Market / What people buy (the Lifestyle): Vintage beach / summer / pool vibes
• How they do this outside of their products:
  • ​PoolSuite FM (one of my favorite smartphone apps)
  • Old-school lifestyle images on their socials and website​
  • A specific style of beach-corporate copywriting (read any of their captions or web pages and you’ll see what I mean),
  • Ridiculous beach products that are always “Sold Out” on their website (scroll through their product page to see the Vacation® Aqua Cycle, Fondue Set and the Tiki Boat Charter)
  • “Corporate Cookouts” (pop-up events)
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All of this works together to create a very specific, nostalgic vibe for their customers, a lifestyle they want to enjoy.

Key note: Even though they lead with this approach, they still have the “important details” in their product listings. There are sections on their CleanClassic ingredients, how they are dermatologist-approved, and even how they adhere to the Hawaii Reef Compliant Act 104 mandates (whatever that is). So the specs are all there, but the vibe is what they lead with.

Other examples:

• ​Lululemon – The original product was Yoga Pants. But they expanded into a Lifestyle brand all about chic looks / quality / comfort, which led them to a bigger market that they STILL dominate.
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• ​Peloton – The original product was an exercise bike. Those have been around for decades. But they made it more about community, competition and fun (a lifestyle approach) that helped them achieve their massive growth.
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• ​Liquid Death – It’s canned water. Woohoo. How long has bottled / canned water been around? How much could one brand POSSIBLY disrupt such a boring, commodity industry? But with their insane marketing strategies and positioning at the intersection of punk rock and healthy living (Lifestyle), they’ve grown massively and taken market share from major players in the water space.

And so now you might be thinking, “But Troy, we don’t have the time / budget / bandwidth to do crazy things like Liquid Death or create all those cool digital assets like Vacation, Inc does.”

Fair point. And my goal here is not to say “you have to go do all this to be successful and get out of the refractive rut.” But if you’ll just step back and look at these companies… and the companies you buy from… and WHY…

You’ll see a lifestyle component to many of them, AND you’ll see a lifestyle component to WHY you’re making the purchase.

Do not underestimate the power of creating a VIBE. That’s the essence of a Lifestyle Brand.

The experience, expertise, technology, patient care – you’ve got all that down. And that’s awesome. How do we crank the VIBE knob up to 11?

If we want to expand the industry and increase these numbers, let’s expand our thinking. What is the story we need to be SHOWING and TELLING to our patients (beyond the PRODUCT) to create that Lifestyle Brand magnetism?

• Short-run, trendy t-shirt designs by local artists that we give to patients after LASIK, creating a cool collector’s item
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• “…but now I can” instagram series with real stories from happy patients doing things they could never do before without glasses / contacts
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• “Local & Live” weekly segment on your socials where you list out all the awesome things there are to do this weekend in your city

There’s a gazillion ways to do it.

To be clear – we’re not JUST talking about your socials, or your office decor, how you answer the phone, how you book surgeries, what your SMS reminders look like.

It’s ALL OF IT.

This is why we’re so bullish on our DISC for Doctors & Teams (D4D) approach, because we teach you how to understand your patients’ priorities. And you can tailor the 1-to-1 patient conversations more to their specific Lifestyle desires.

(Added bonus – it helps you understand your team’s priorities as well, so you can communicate with them more effectively too)

A good question for you to ponder this weekend: “If we were a Lifestyle Brand, what would we look / feel / sound like?”

If you feel a mix of inspiration and frustration, that’s probably a good thing.

I get it. Because I think about these same issues for my own businesses. What invisible sandbox are we playing in? What do we need to say / do that may be unorthodox, that may be a little uncomfortable or outside the boring norm, but it’s still a message that needs to be shared…

Because here’s a key point…

We deprive the market if we don’t go to those places and share our message. And so do you.

How many patients are being deprived because you’re stuck in the sandbox? Because you’re playing defense? Because you’re so focused on the trees that you can’t see the vast, beautiful forest awaiting the patient after they leave your surgical suite?

Let’s continue the conversation…

– Troy “Live the Lifestyle Brand” Cole

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PS – If you dug this, make sure you check out this article from earlier this year – What does your Patient Journey SOUND like?​

I dig into the “soundtrack” of your patient journey and how you want that to feel. Good complement to the message today.

Both my sons and oldest daughter go to the same hitting coach, a former pro baseball player named Noah. The guy’s schedule is packed. When he announces an opening for a lesson (which is rare), someone snaps it up in minutes.

What makes him so good? From my observation, it’s his “you do you” approach.

Many hitting coaches try to force every kid into the same mold. “This is THE way to hit.” Stand like this. Hold the bat like this. Have your posture like this. Turn like this. THE WAY. It’s like they have some magic method they swear by.

But Noah does the opposite. He knows every athlete is different.

Here’s an example. My oldest son Cannon got into a slump. He wasn’t hitting as well as he wanted, and he was frustrated.

At his lesson, Noah watched video of Cannon’s in-game at-bats. And he noticed Cannon has a “nervous energy” when he’s at the plate.

Most hitting coaches would try to fix this. “Be smooth! Flow-y! Don’t be tense!”

Noah knows you can’t just change someone’s energy. But you can channel it.

He takes a “You do you” approach.

So he showed Cannon clips of big league hitters with similar nervous energy. Then he adjusted Cannon’s swing to harness what he was naturally experiencing.

The result? More confidence. More comfortably at the plate. More hits. Happier kid.

Noah’s hitting philosophy mirrors the coaching philosophy we take with all the amazing refractive and cataract practices in our coaching community.

Namely, that there’s no single “right way.” But you can use someone’s natural tendencies to optimize their success.

There’s no single right way to handle objections. Or conduct consultations. Or follow up with leads. Or maintain leadership in the sales process.

When we coach a team, we aren’t trying to fit every person we coach into one rigid “super salesperson” mold.

“You have to transform and be just like this!” Absolutely not.

This is the power of the DISC framework we apply in our DISC for Doctors & Teams Intensive.

We use DISC to help your people understand communication style, strengths, priorities and superpowers. Then how they can apply all of those unique aspects in a natural, comfortable and confident way in their patient interactions.

Think about it: you have great people who believe in your mission and bring their unique style and personality to the team. Why would you want to change that?

Spoiler alert: you wouldn’t. Or at least you shouldn’t.

But here’s the question to address:

How can you optimize your people for confidence, comfortability and success no matter what role they play in the patient journey?

We take the same approach Noah does (and recommend you do the same). “You do you.”

To confident, comfortable at-bats this week…

– Coach Troy “You do You” Cole

 

PS – If you have someone on your team that has not taken a DISC assessment yet, reach out to Coach Jill – jill@troycole.com – and she’ll get them set up with one.

Welcome to FREEDOM WEEK, baby.

Independence Day is Friday. So let’s talk fireworks, hot dogs, and all things ‘Merica this week.

Today’s lesson comes from the great American philosopher Joe Dirt.

There’s a scene in the movie where Joe finds a struggling fireworks stand. The owner, Kickin’ Wing, is complaining about his terrible sales.

Joe asks why he only sells two types of fireworks. Where are the spleen splitters? The whisker biscuits? The hoosker doos and hoosker don’ts?

Kickin’ Wing’s response: “Because snakes and sparklers are the only ones I like.”

This is where Joe drops some wisdom:

“That’s the problem, brother! It ain’t about you. It’s about the consumer.”

I’ve made this exact mistake. Multiple times actually.

I wanted to offer THIS particular service. I wanted to sell THESE certain products. Because that’s what I liked. What I thought was important.

But here’s the thing with clients / customers / patients…

They don’t much care what we like. Your patients have their own reasons for choosing a procedure: fun, adventure, safety, cost savings, vanity, freedom, etc etc

All these reasons, all across the board, and everyone prioritizes different ones.

So if you use the same words, ask the same questions, focus on the same benefits with EVERY patient…

Sure, you’ll convert some of them to surgery. But you’ll also miss many opportunities because you aren’t connecting with each patient’s priorities.

Just like Kickin’ Wing missed customers who wanted more than snakes and sparklers.

So how do we figure out what a patient’s priorities are? We use DISC profiling to figure out what makes people tick.

When you know someone’s personality type, you can easily figure out their communication style and their priorities. And when you know their priorities, you can speak their language.

And armed with that skillset, you have a lot more to offer than Snakes and Sparklers.

Talk soon,

Troy Cole “Joe Dirt was ahead of his time”
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PS – Now is a great time to plan for end of summer / back to school / fall coaching programs with our DISC for Doctors & Teams. (At least that’s what the market is telling me because we’ve had a bunch of practices reach out about it.)

And we have some bonuses happening right now for anyone who gets a coaching session on the books. For details on our killer, transformative programs and special bonuses, reply “DISC me!” And I’ll shoot you the info…