October is the month of Fall which makes it the perfect time to update the merchandise decor at your practice. Include items and colours reflecting the month’s seasonal changes. By celebrating the essence of October and significant dates including Canadian Thanksgiving, World Sight Day and spooky Halloween. You can impress and engage with your patients by creating a memorable experience in transforming your practice into a local harvest style excursion.
World Sight Day is Thursday, October 11th
What is World Sight Day? World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness and action. It’s a global call to come together to create a world where everyone can see, no matter who they are or where they live.
The World Sight Day Challenge is a major, international fundraising campaign. It’s coordinated by Optometry Giving Sight as a way to bring the global optometric community together and help end avoidable blindness and vision impairment. Together we can make a bigger impact.
More than 1.2 billion people around the world who are blind or vision impaired have limited access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses. This includes millions of children whose future depends on vision correction to learn at school.
World Sight Day Challenge is a great opportunity to raise awareness and transform lives for people around the world. The World Sight Day Challenge is observed on October 11.
“WestGroupe is pleased to be partnering with Optometry Giving Sight and CNIB Foundation (Quebec). We are dedicated to a nurturing partnership that will not only promote healthy vision but also hope for a world where universal access to qualify vision care services is both affordable and accessible to those in need.” – Michael Suliteanu, President of WestGroupe
Take the #WithoutMySight Challenge and support Optometry Giving Sight.
#WithoutMySight Challenge
For World Sight Day WestGroupe has assembled a team of champions who overcome barriers everyday as blind and vision impaired individuals. With these Champions, WestGroupe is challenging everyone with eyesight to take the #WithoutMySight challenge. The challenge is to complete a daily tasks or routine for example, making coffee, applying makeup or making a sandwich, blindfolded! Participants will record a 30 second video of them attempting their chosen tasks blindfolded, and donate to Optometry Giving Sight. Then upload their video to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tag @WestGroupe and use the hashtag #WithoutMySight.
You can support WestGroupe fundraising campaign here. To ensure you correctly follow all the steps in this challenge download and share the #WithoutMySight campaign visuals below:
Here are some other ways your practices & patients can support World Sight Day:
- Make a single donation
- Pledge a percentage of your frame sales or eye exam revenue over the month of October
- Hold a fundraising event in your office or your community
- Encourage your patients to donate when they visit.
Canadian Thanksgiving
Every year, Canadians take time away from their busy lives to appreciate their friends and family, and reflect on all the things they are thankful for. As a business owner, this Thanksgiving thank your patients & show your appreciation for their support over the years. Even consider holding a Thanksgiving style dinner at your practice for your team and select clients or to all depending the size of your practice.
Preparing Your Practice for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that sneaks up on a lot of people, hardly giving them the chance to really consider the meaning of the day or even get excited to spend time with their loved ones. In the weeks before Thanksgiving, your office can be a warm and welcome reminder of the upcoming celebrations.
Fall or Thanksgiving-themed decor can be an excellent reminder. You can even take this one step further and allow your patients to be part of the decorating process. Why not create a gratitude wall? Set out various slips of coloured paper for your patients, and prompt them to write down a few things they’re thankful for, and stick them to a wall once they’re done. The result is a heartwarming, inspirational, and totally unique art installation that has meaning to all of your patients.
Since fall is a season for change, it may be the perfect time to encourage your patients to try out a new look. Offering a BOGO deal on frames could help clients consider some new eyewear that they may not purchase otherwise.
Communicating Your Holiday Hours
The last thing you want to do is inconvenience your patients. You want to make sure your patients know about your holiday hours before they show up at your door only to discover you’re closed. Here are a few steps you may want to consider to help familiarize your clients with your holiday hours.
- Change your phone message. Up to 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, change your voicemail or automated phone message to mention that your hours will be changing for Thanksgiving. Be sure to tell callers which days will be affected and when your normal hours will resume.
- Send out a message. If you use automation software to communicate with your patients via text message or email, you can let them know that you will be closed for some or all of Thanksgiving day, and when your normal hours will resume.
- Post a sign. Hang an eye-catching, clearly-written sign at the entrance of the practice to inform patients about any closures around the holidays.
- Update you Google My Business page & other search engine listings
Halloween
Halloween is immensely popular among people of all ages, making it an awesome opportunity to catch the attention of both adults and kids. By bringing the fun of Halloween into your office, you can show off your personality as a practice, and start developing a relationship with your patients.
Boost Involvement
Getting your clients to participate in events and contests helps builds relationships.your practice. Halloween offers endless opportunities to involve your patients and office team in the festivities. For every child’s eye exam – offer a free jack-o-lantern to decorate. Hold a contest on your Facebook page for the best costume with the most likes wine a free frame. Finally, encourage your staff to dress in costume and offer a prize or treat for the best and spookiest costumes.
Dare to Decorate
You can help your patients get in the Halloween mood by decking out your office with seasonal decorations and displays. Be sure to keep your decorations fun and friendly for patients of all ages. House Beautiful has some great ideas for simple DIY Halloween decorations. Have fun and remember to have a stocked bowl of candy ready to kids trick-or-treating!
