EYE OWN A BUSINESS

In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo sits down with Andrew Bruce, a licensed optician with master-level credentials in both ophthalmic optics and contact lenses, for a practical conversation about what actually keeps patients — and their eyewear purchases — inside the practice. Steve and Andrew start with a metric that’s quietly slipping in a lot of offices: capture rate. Andrew walks through what moved the needle during his 15 years running an optical in southwest Washington, from stocking the frames your patients are actually asking for to a doctor-optician handoff that transfers authority instead of just walking someone across the room. They dig into how doctors can recommend lenses and enhancements from the exam chair without feeling salesy, and why a prescription filled somewhere else can end up reflecting on the doctor who wrote it. This conversation goes beyond selling more frames. It’s about treating the eyewear purchase as the finish line of patient care, not an add-on. Andrew shares the strategies that set his optical apart, including choosing variety over depth on a limited frame board, asking patients to walk him through a day in their life, and pulling the price tags off his high-end frames so patients could experience them before judging them. To register for Vision Forward, visit idoc.net to reserve your spot. 

In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo tackles the challenge that quietly separates good practices from great ones: getting people to actually act on what you recommend. Inspired by conversations at IDOC’s recent sales meetings in Pittsburgh, Steve shares three lessons from his audio course built on the principles in his book Prescribing Change. First, the power of curiosity: why the most persuasive conversation Steve ever had was with a financial advisor who never once pitched his services, and how a simple three-part sequence of questions (what, how, and what if) gets patients leaning in before you make a recommendation. Second, overcoming skepticism: what Shark Tank reveals about the quiet doubts running through patients’ heads, and why information alone rarely moves anyone while demos and patient stories do. Third, the power of commitment: how a restaurant dramatically reduced its no-show rate with one small change in wording, and a three-step approach for getting a real commitment from patients, and staff, instead of a polite nod. Whether you’re presenting a treatment plan, recommending eyewear, or setting expectations with your team, this episode is about closing the gap between educating people and getting results, because better outcomes mean better patient care and a healthier practice. Want the full Prescribing Change audio course? Email Steve at [email protected]. The book Prescribing Change is available on Amazon. To register for Vision Forward, visit idoc.net to reserve your spot. 

In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo sits down with Amie Robinson, ABOC, optical manager at Spring Hill Eyecare, to reframe one of the most overlooked moments in a patient's visit: the handoff from exam room to optical. Amie makes the case that the handoff isn't a courtesy — it's the ignition switch for the entire optical revenue engine. She and Steve unpack why patient hesitation is so often mistaken for a price objection when it's really a confidence problem, and how a doctor's 30-second recommendation transfers clinical authority in a way an optician can't replicate alone. Amy shares a memorable restaurant analogy for what happens to a patient's confidence when that handoff doesn't happen, along with Steve's own story of decision fatigue as a patient trying to buy sunglasses incognito. The conversation moves into what actually breaks handoffs in practice, why the single biggest failure point is simply skipping the handoff altogether, and how Amy trains her team — including role play that nobody enjoys but that builds the muscle memory needed for consistency. It closes with a simple, quotable frame for doctors: capture rate starts in the exam room, not at the optical counter. To register for Vision Forward, visit idoc.net to reserve your spot. 

“You can make drama or you can make money, but you can’t make both. The thing that Zig (Ziglar) always said about building a team is that “together everyone achieves more”. I have found in my 25 plus years of consulting that this is the magic wand to creating a multi-million dollar practice. The team is everything.”  The above is directly off of Sharon Carter’s website. In this episode, we tackle the topic of team building and the impact this has on your practice. If you aspire to be a better leader and build a team that takes your practice to the next level, this episode will not disappoint! We cover how to get the right people on board, the importance of empowering people, becoming a more effective communicator, culture building, embracing failure, and much more! 

In this episode, Dr. Steve Vargo tackles a question that's easy to write off as an inventory problem but is actually a communication problem: why do most patients own five pairs of shoes and only one pair of glasses? Steve breaks down why the practices that sell more second pairs aren't better salespeople — they're better at staying curious about the patient in front of them, and that curiosity has to start in the exam chair, not the optical. He walks through what a real structured handoff between doctor and optician actually sounds like, why decision fatigue quietly kills more sales than price ever does, and how three ideas borrowed from behavioral economics — anchoring, bundling, and loss aversion — can reshape a second-pair conversation without it ever feeling like a pitch. This isn't an episode about selling to more patients. It's about serving the patients already in your chair a little more completely. If your multiple-pair percentage has been stuck, or your opticians hit a wall the moment insurance comes up, this episode closes with a practical 30-day plan to change that. To register for Vision Forward, visit idoc.net to reserve your spot.