Marketing to Hire Stellar Staff Webinar Recap

Marketing isn’t only to get patients in the door; it's also crucial for attracting the right candidates to fill open positions and retain great employees – something top of mind for many practices facing staff shortages these days.  

In the latest Premier Academy360 webinar, Marketing to Hire Stellar Staff, VSP Vision Ambassador Dr. Annette Webb shared her insights on rebranding and why she’s “only as good as [her] staff” and “truly believes [her] employees are [her] brand champions”.  

Resources: 

Full Webinar Recording 

Simple Hiring Tools to Make the Recruiting Process Easier 

Quarterly Optical Marketing Playbooks 

Branding Resources Toolkit 

Reputation Management Resources 

Here’s how Dr. Webb’s conversation with My Marketing Team went:  

My Marketing Team: How would you describe your practice’s brand? 

Dr. Webb: My current brand is modern and stylish—it looks like we have pride in our practice and are actively renewing and updating our company. We were very intentional about our logo design from icon, typestyle, to color selection. For example, we chose a variation of subtle blue colors because marketing studies indicate that blue promotes a sense of security and trust in a brand.  

When we built our new office, it was much larger with a huge optical and added technology and staff, so it was important to me that our logo reflected our new sleek and modern office. My previous logo was dated and hadn’t been updated in 20 years, but as my practice grew and evolved, that logo did not reflect that growth and maturity. The name stays the same for congruity in marketing, but a logo refresh catches the attention of patients and potential new employees.  

Don’t wait to relocate or remodel your office to evaluate your logo. This is something that is all over your marketing, letterhead, business cards, and more and your logo can attract attention or be dull and dismissed.

My Marketing Team: How do your employees “live” your brand? And why does it matter? 

Dr. Webb: I truly believe my employees are my brand champions. They represent the professionalism and culture of my practice and are the personification of my brand. I am only as good as my staff. It's critical to attract spectacular staff because I want nothing less than a fantastic experience for my patients. 

Happy employees equal happy patients. I have found that employees that feel appreciated, respected, encouraged, and trusted will perform at a much higher level. This is naturally demonstrated as they interact with patients, who benefit from the confidence exuded from a staff member that feels valued. Small tokens of appreciation for staff go a long way! Incentives given for impressive performance are a great way to recognize outstanding staff. 

In addition, we provide scrubs all of one color that are embroidered with our new logo. This presentation of cohesiveness grants an unconscious unity among our staff and makes them feel like a team and that they belong together. Again, this can even attract potential new staff members from your current patients that see how you treat your staff and how great it is to be part of your team. 

My Marketing Team: According to a 2018 Randstad US survey, 86% of job seekers wouldn’t apply for or work for a company with a bad reputation. What are your thoughts on that? 

Dr. Webb: How a practice is perceived in the community is so important. If potential employees don’t know all the fabulous things that make your office great, then they are not likely to seek out your practice over another.  

Additionally, it is critical to post the fun things you do for and with your staff. For example, we have a local shop bring nutrition teas to our staff as a refreshment occasionally. My staff loves it, and it is a great opportunity to share the joy. Post that picture! We have our staff sign a consent to use their photo for website and social media content with their employment paperwork. 

I do think that people look at websites or social media accounts before deciding where to work, so it’s important to give them something to be impressed by. Most optometry practices do a lot of charity work, but they don’t announce it. We are starting a new program in which we will donate a small sum to the charity of their choice in honor of each staff member’s birthday. Be sure to post that!  Make your office the environment a great staff member is seeking, not running from. 

If you want to attract great new patients and fantastic potential employees, you cannot ignore your online reputation. There are great software programs that encourage your patients to post reviews and comment on their spectacular experience. 

My Marketing Team: Talk a little bit about your recent practice expansion and some effective hiring strategies that worked for you.   

Dr. Webb: We asked our staff to make suggestions for potential hires. Our current staff is a great resource with a vested interest in who we add to their team. Because they know that an added team member can make their job easier or harder, they are motivated to help find a perfect candidate with strong work ethic. Additionally, they also know that a negative personality added to the team has terrible ramifications. They recognize the importance of choosing a staff member that will blend well with the existing team. Often, this is an untapped resource that can bring high return. I have even heard of offices offering a bonus to staff members that submit candidates for potential hire. 

We also post available positions on Facebook. I think that it is important to reassure current and potential patients that you are working to make your practice bigger and better. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even email blasts can be a great venue to post job openings, just make sure the post is positive and growth focused. 

Learn more about Webb Eye Care at www.webbeyecarehs.com