eyecare by the numbers

The Economics of Fun

by Alan Cleinman

It's 5:30 p.m. on a winter Tuesday. The conference room lights are dim. There's soft music in the air. Team members, dressed in gym clothes, are sprawled on the carpet as an instructor puts them through their weekly yoga paces.

On summer Fridays, it's BBQ. Periodically, it's laser tag or go-cart racing, or even an evening with Bob Dylan. These events, organized by the “Fun Committee” at Cleinman Performance Partners, are an important part of our culture. Like your practice, ours is a serious business that impacts the lives of our clients. Like your team, ours is comprised of dedicated professionals who understand the importance of their work. But having fun and creating moments of humor is one of the most powerful investments we make as a firm. Yes, fun is an investment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FUN

Why is having fun important for an optometry practice? After all, you're busy with the phone ringing and patients streaming in and out. And, generally speaking, doctors are serious people. You should be. The decisions you make, the prescriptions you write, and the recommendations you share affect people's lives. The words you use and your tone of voice can impact patient compliance. So what does having fun have to do with optometry? The answer is that the atmosphere in your office has a significant impact on both staff and patient retention…and your bottom line.

I often ask my audiences, “Can you guess my airline of choice?” Invariably, the answer is shouted out almost immediately: “Southwest!” Why? “Because if I have to chew on my knees for two hours, I might as well have fun doing it.”

Likewise, you have an opportunity to insulate your practice from the competition, regardless of the economic environment, through the employment of fun. Patients don't generally look forward to going to the optometrist any more than they do any other physician. And for many, they dread the thought of having to spend money because they don't have the same attitude about the experience with your practice as they would with Nordstrom. Patients know their pocketbook is going to respond with “Ouch.” But it doesn't have to be this way.

Quick Tips

Cleinman Performance Partners invests approximately $500 per employee per year on fun. And the investment has an expected return. While not necessarily directly measurable, ROI comes in the form of improved morale and the creation of an environment in which people actually want to come to work. Indeed, on one occasion when the Cleinman team was enjoying a summer lunch on its front porch, someone suggested that they hang a banner on the building that read, “If you worked here, you'd be having fun, too.”

You can create an environment that brings joy to everyone your practice touches by investing in fun. When you turn your experience into something that people look forward to, they adopt a different attitude. Humor and fun are infectious. Laughter is good medicine and triggers healthy physical changes in the body. It binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy.

Humor and laughter strengthen the immune system, boost energy, diminish pain, and protect from the damaging effects of stress. As a result, instead of coming to your door in a defensive mode, patients arrive with the same attitude they might if they were heading to the spa. People want to do business with people whose company they enjoy.

Make every day a fun one in your office and you'll experience measurable results. Stress will be reduced and patients will be more interested and attentive. They will linger in your office instead of rushing for the door. And when customers linger, they open up their wallets. Establish a fun committee and give them a budget to bring fun into your office every day. Fun does have an ROI. EB

Alan Cleinman is the founder and CEO of Cleinman Performance Partners (cleinman.com), a consultancy specializing in developing high performance optometry practices. © 2012 Cleinman Performance Partners, Inc.