RETAIL OPS

Pluses and Minuses of Rural Optical

Country customers may be more loyal, but what about the smaller patient pool?

Proponents agree that eyecare in rural settings may be the secret to happiness and prosperity…if you’re cut out for it. I’ve been an optician in rural and city practices, and though both have pros and cons, I’d pick rural any day; mainly because I enjoy a more personal experience with clients. Our interviewees agreed and offered pluses and minuses of having a rural business.

PLUSES

+ “The main advantage is that you know your patient base, and they know you,” says Brian C. Hayes, OD, owner of Saline Optometry in Saline, MI (pop. 8,810). “Word of mouth is the primary referral.”

+ Rural clients tend to be more loyal. “There’s not as much [patient] switching because of insurance, for example,” explains Jennifer Johnson, OD, in private practice in Boerne, TX (pop. 10,471). “You’re part of the community. There’s more trust, more in common, and the work isn’t as hard as in the city.”

+ Loyalty can also be a matter of convenience. “We don’t have a lot of prescriptions leave our office for big-box stores,” says Helen Hall, ABOC, CPOA, office manager of Baker Vision Clinic in Baker City, OR (pop. 9,696). “The nearest city is 50 miles away, so the price of gas and the time it takes mean patients often stay with us.”

+ In a rural setting, consumers often go to town for the day, combining errands like banking, groceries, and doctor’s appointments. “In our case, rural means 40 miles of windy mountain roads, but that’s what shoppers like to do,” says Richard Homeier, ABOM, of Optical Perspectives in Estes Park, CO (pop. 6,017). “For people here, shopping is an all-day trip.”

+ Once presence is established in a small community—usually in around two years—conventional advertising isn’t as necessary. “Because of word of mouth, there’s less need to run ads, which saves money,” Dr. Hayes observes. “Instead, we run small market ads, like being in the local football team program and sponsoring Little League.”

+ Even online is different. “Baker Vision Clinic comes up first on Google search here,” Hall notes. “It’s not necessary to purchase services to keep us on the top, as there’s really nothing else that’s going to come up. We work hard to accumulate positive reviews on Yelp and Google.”

+ Local outreach generates confidence. “There are multiple referral sources, like churches and school,” she says. “We donate to kids’ projects, and I’m heavily involved in the Chamber of Commerce and church. The doctors are really their own ad.”

MINUSES

− “The disadvantage is the same as one of the advantages…you know your patient base, and they know you,” says Dr. Hayes, “so word of mouth is the primary way dissatisfied patients vent.”

− Success means investing time, money, and effort in a specialty. “If you’re merely practicing primary care without any specialty, you’re just another ‘me too’ practice,” says Thomas Lecoq of Lecoq Practice Management in Apple Valley, CA. Otherwise, he adds, “you may find yourself forced to compete on price. You must stand out in some way.”

− Rural practice also means that you’re under a microscope. “You always have to be on,” Dr. Hayes says. “That’s why my family chose to live about 25 miles away. It’s just enough separation.”

− Help wanted is less, and more, than running an ad. “It’s best to find staff by word of mouth,” Hall explains. “We rarely have applicants that have any experience, so we have to find the right people to train from the ground up, and they can be friends or family to our staff.”

− Small-town folks like to get out once in a while. “There’s community loyalty, but there’s [also] the lure of metro shopping,” Homeier says.

− Lack of competition can make you lazy. “There’s little competition,” Hall concludes, “and that allows a practice to become complacent. We consistently rotate stock and bring in lines.”

— Karlen McLean

“Reaching out and speaking to groups can quickly build a patient base. In a small town, people want to get to know you before they trust you to care for family.”

— THOMAS LECOQ, Lecoq Practice Management