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:
- Economic constraints around discretionary spending
- SEO / Search being affected by AI / GPT
- 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)
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.
- 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.
- 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
- “…but now I can” instagram series with real stories from happy patients doing things they could never do before without glasses / contacts
- “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
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.