How Port Washington, Wisconsin creates PERCEIVED VALUE for Disney

No matter what service or product you provide, perceived value is the key to selling it. Every time you (or your customers) make a purchasing decision, you subconsciously calculate what you are willing to pay using a calculation involving Quality, Service, Desire, Convenience, and yes- Price (although price is a surprisingly small part of the calculation- consider how few times you purchased the absolute cheapest version of the thing you were shopping for over the past month).

Service is a huge component of perceived value. Consider Disney's amusement parks... unless you happen to live in Florida, there are surely more convenient amusement parks for you to visit (and definitely less expensive parks to visit). However, if you have a child in your family (or are a child at heart) at some point you'll pack your bags, fly the family to Orlando, rent a car, and pay gobs of money for... every aspect of your visit- all because the service at Disney is unrivaled. Disney demonstrates when you provide amazing service you can charge pretty much however much you want and people will still flock to your doorstep (in fact, 70% Disneyworld's visitors return for a 2nd visit).

Obviously, Disney invests a lot of effort into providing great service. If you want to learn all about it, read Be Our Guest which describes how Disney creates the Magic. However, there is a super easy first step you can take towards increasing your patient's (customer's) perception of your service- let them know who you are! People like to do business with people they share things in common with. You certainly have something in common with every single person who visits your practice or business. Make it your business to identify those commonalities, and the perceived value of your service will increase. Most of your patients could care less about what college you attended, what your grades were, and what honors your graduated with. However, if you can discover both you and your patient drive a Jeep Wrangler, have restored a '65 Mustang, and enjoy spending time hunting whitetails (all of which happen to be facts about myself), your patient is much more likely to follow your treatment recommendations, buy their eyewear in your office, and tell their friends and family what a great optometrist you are! After all, you must be an awesome person- because "He's a lot like me, and I'm awesome!"

Consider the name tag in the picture attached to this article. Who cares that Patty is from Port Washington, Wisconsin? Someone from Port Washington, Wisconsin! Disney makes sure you know where Patty is from because studies show customers perceive service as being better- and spend more- when the provider is from their own hometown. In this particular case, the effect will likely be very strong (because only 11,250 live in the largest city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin).

If I'm managing an optometric practice, I'm going to make sure our website includes a bio page on each of our doctors AND staff members. The information on those bios is going to include our interests, birth places, and anything else that makes us interesting. At my dispensing table in the optical, pictures of my 1965 Mustang and my grandson (I love to show pictures of both) are going to scroll along in an electronic frame, because- when Tom (who happens to have restored a 1968 Camaro) sits at my desk, we're going to talk about our shared passion for classic cars for a few minutes. Later when I notice Tom works at the DMV and ask him if he has any symptoms from using a computer all day, he's going to be more likely to follow my recommendation to try computer glasses (after all, I'm a fellow car guy- so I probably know what I'm talking about).

With each patient/customer you see, the most important thing about you is the thing you share in common with that patient! Identify them, and watch your perceived value increase- along with patient loyalty. You also might find yourself enjoying your time in the office a bit more (because you like patients who are like you as well). #essilorlife #perceivedvalue