Optometry, like football is truly a team sport which includes the skills of many players – your eye doctors, administrative staff, opticians, technicians and the lab. Like football, however, there is often much more attention paid to the quarterback as the backbone of the team, which in this case is the optometrist.
Unlike a traditional doctor’s office, the optometry practice dangles somewhere between “medical” and “commercial” meaning your branding requires attention to medical qualifications and chair-side manner as well as great prices and quality retail if you sell optical, contacts or elective treatments. Potential patients want to know about the qualifications of the optometrists who run the practice even if they are only coming to buy a new pair of glasses.
What are your potential patients looking for in an eye doctor?
Here are a few guidelines for constructing your doctor bio:
- Photo: Make sure you have a warm inviting picture of each doctor in the practice. Even better, have one done formally and another with the doctor practicing i.e. examining a patient for instance. If you have multiple docs in the practice, it might be worthwhile to have the pictures taken simultaneously to create uniformity on the page.
- Education and Professional Interests: The bio should contain all of the relevant education and don’t forget areas of clinical interest. If the doctor specializes in a particular area, this is important to mention as well. First and foremost, a patient wants to know the doctor is qualified and has experience.
- Personal Hobbies: The bio should contain information on the doctor’s other hobbies and interests. Patients like to feel like their doctor is a person with a life outside of the office.
- Background: The bio may contain a story about how the doctor decided to be an eye care specialist and what he or she loves most about the job.
- Community Involvement: Discuss the doctor’s community interests such as a charity or community organization he/she supports. Showing concern about the greater good is always a selling point.
Lastly, don’t forget to proofread the bio before it goes live. Attention to detail, like spelling, is a key factor for someone when selecting the ECP they want to be responsible for their eyes!
