Why you need to level up...

I was recently interviewed by Garry Kousoulou - Managing Director of Loving Social Media and we did this to showcase what I am all about, how I can help and what you can expect. We have turned the interview into a blog so you can read through and digest all the information that was taken from this informative conversation. Enjoy!

Garry: Take one action. I am so excited to interview you today. I'm glad to be here.

Maria: Garry, thank you for inviting me.

Gary: Well, this is your show. I'm just happy to be here to interview you and get Optician's out there to get to understand the services you provide, and if you're reading this, you know, neither of our faces in the UK, we're both dispensing opticians’.

Maria: Indeed we are, with years of experience.

Garry: And with the years’ experience and the service that you're going to provide, it's not complex at all. When you help a practice, you turn them around.

You've got lots of experience. But before we dive into how you can help an optician's out, let's find out a little bit about you. Where did you start, what was your optimal career at the beginning? 

Maria: Oh, my goodness. My optical career started in Southampton with an Independent practice. I worked over 30 years ago and I was a pre-reg. I did my course in Scotland. Yes. I'm one of those that went to full-time education. So it was a Southampton practice, they had maybe two or three or four practices which was quite good and it was my first taste of an independent practice which I love. I enjoyed working with the quite young team at the time. 

But then I went straight on to Work for Pearl Vision, which was an American company at the time, and I loved working for them because they were very fresh, very clean.

It was the first time that they had wart all frames and we had one hour glazing. So everybody was very innovative. It was out there very much. Yeah. I loved every single moment of it and more so at that particular period. We're talking about the late 80s. I think it was I remember it was quite new. I remember we had a queue of people outside our door wrapped around the shop, and they were happy to wait.

Could you imagine that now, you know, people waiting for their spectacles?

Garry: What happened after Pearl?

Maria: Well, with Pearl, they were taken over by Dalton Agenson. 

Garry: And, you know, people don't like to go through a culture shock

Maria: Well, yeah, it was very different. But, you know, I quite liked it, at that time we were what we call the Marks and Spencer of spectacles at that particular period and so I enjoyed working for them. I went on to do my contact lens practitioner with them, and then I went from being a contact lens practitioner manager, etc. to owning an independent boutique with the American Air Force. So I had a contract with the United States American Air Force here in upper Hayford.

Garry: Not many people can say that.

Maria: No, you know, and for me, I had no intention of going into business. I intended to become a contact lens fixer on Harley Street. So that's what I had wanted to do for my career. But other sources have other ideas. So I ended up being introduced to the business and I love the idea of business, and you know, I just loved it. I just love this. I never knew about business until, until I had the opportunity come my way.

Garry: Which is the bit that some opticians don't like. They don't like the business. They just want to get on with testing or they want to take measurements of it. 

Maria: That's right.

Garry: That's where you take things away. But before we jump into what services you provide. Tell us about your book. 

Maria: Oh, right. So the book came out of the business and working with Optician's, my background was in sales and selling. I had no idea that this would work with Optician's because the courses don't include how to sell. I couldn't understand why using my selling background, people were happier, I had higher dispensed values. That's just selling and I couldn't understand why opticians didn't want to be regarded as salespeople. I could not tell because, at the end of the day, we're here to serve people as best as possible and stay and be in business. You don't have a business if you can't make the income or the revenue as well as keeping loyal staff and customers.

Garry: Well, I've seen it all through my career where an optometrist is trying to be kind to say, oh, you've only got a tiny scratch on that lens, it will do for another two years. But, you know, if the lens is already two and a half years old and the ads just about to come out, I know that optometrist is trying to do the patient a favour, but they're not there's nothing like a fresh pair of progressive's or lenses. You see so much when we are in the business of VA So that's a mindset difference.

Maria: I think it's also an identity crisis, That's what I talk about in my book. You know, are we truly paramedics now pre the deregulation, the deregulation of a professional politician? Yes, we were paid predominantly by the NHS and we were seen as a paramedic. In fact, after the introduction of the NHS in the Second World War, there was about I think I remember reading about a two-year waiting list, a three-year waiting list of people who had to have their eyes tested and to get the NHS policies. So I think the profession became a bit complacent, a bit like we don't need to try. Look you know people are waiting all the time for us, for our services and we were being paid by the NHS. So when the deregulation happened, people thought, oh, so how do we get customers? Do you know? So it was a bit of a panic as such.

But Dr Mary Perkins thought ahead, they had already been to America and America had had already put in place sort of three things on display, that the retail aspects, they realised that actually, you can also be clinicians as well as retail. So in fact, in America, they had that optical space, optical retail space and also, the commission space as well. But here in the UK, I think people were still wearing white coats, wanting to be doctors, wanted to be clinicians and the clinicians themselves.

Garry: I certainly entered the profession just as it was starting and thinking, my God, Gordon Brown had just done free tests for over 60s. Something good has happened. But they've lost. They lost, they lost the NHS contracts and things were really weird. I remember that it was only really Giorgio Armani. He was the only brand available when I started. There we go.

Maria: You know, before that time you weren't allowed to put posters up. Opticians were behind curtains. You know, I didn't have to get up to dispense because everything was just on my left-hand side in the drawers, you know, things like that. They were I have to admit, they were very good frame products manufacturers that people like Menrad, Metzler, who don't make cars or have perfumes or clothes that was their brand is a bit like what like silhouette is now.

Garry: They were very good those two brands and those frames would easily last you twenty years.

Maria: And they were very, very good. Those are the kinds of frames around. And also at that time, eighty percent of the market was independent and only 20 percent were with the big guys, you know, and nowadays it's reverse.

Garry: I remember there were discussions of contact lenses being available by post. People were like to me yes, this is serious stuff, Gary. Little did they know the optical sector. The supermarkets are going to come and the internet. Yes, that certainly was where I entered and I loved it from the very first moment of the very first day. I could see the naivety and the and the gaps, the gaps that can be exploited know.

So that's the kind of offering you can offer a practice if they're shy of asking for the top-down setting if they've not got the right product mix. I think always a danger sign is they've got too much stock. Every drawer is packed with thousands of frames that you haven't sold for years and that's where your profit is sitting in those drawers.

Maria: I remember and you’re right, taking up eventually I took up the franchise with Dalton Agenson and I walked to my new shop, which I loved and underneath all these desks were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of frames just sitting there. But here's the thing on my course. I mean, part of my book and everything we're talking about, it's all interconnected is the fact that if you don't have a roadmap, if you don't have a business strategy, that's what happens.

You lose money, you lose staff, you lose patience. You're held hostage by your business, you work on your business 24/7. The business takes over your life. You can't you don't understand that the business and you are separate, but you can't stop. You feel, oh, my goodness, if I stop, everything's going to collapse around me when you just need to take a step back and take a step back and think about, ok, what is the purpose of my business? Who am I serving and why?

Garry: And we can't ignore COVID and the virus to hear things are only going to get more magnified if your business isn't running properly pre COVID and it's going to expose itself to where we are now. That's something Maria wants to dive into. That for you is will you relish that kind of challenge and that's if you're reading this if you're an independent practice. We will give you the opportunity somewhere here to contact Maria because you are available for consultation.

Maria: I'm available for consultation. And also I have a free workshop via a webinar which people can just take part in one of those evergreen webinars so they can just click on and then have a free course. I work in three areas, only three areas, believe it or not. That's how untapped human potential is, that I'm using the humans because you have within your practice already, we know how to find hidden revenue. So you've got your untapped potential. You've got hidden revenue within the practice and how we can turn your frustration to your practice, frustrations into processes and systems.

So we look at your systems and then all of that is interconnected to increase your productivity by three or four times in ninety days. And it's guaranteed. Now, if you're reading this and you're in Tahiti or Hawaii or Bermuda or Australia, the beauty of this kind of technology is you can still employ Maria. I mean, that's what we're talking about here. 

Garry: So 90 days a 90-day programme, tell us about it.

Maria: The 90-day program is called the 90 Days Telescopic Growth Programme. And the webinar is all about the 90-day programme. The webinar is called better one or two to survive or to flourish. So you have the choice. You know, when you in your consulting room, you ask your clients, you know, your customers, your patients, whatever you want to call them. Is this better one or better, two? So I'm asking you the same question. Is it better one or two is it better to survive or is it better to flourish?

You know, if you want to flourish, follow the programme. Of course, the first attempt, have a look at the free workshop, the other webinar, and then sign-on. Talk to me. The free consultation to see whether we're a match. If we're not a match, then I'll tell you there and then, if you are we can get started and then you can get your three times of productivity. 

Garry: I love it. I'm going to put you on the spot here. What would you say are your three warning signs that you need help. So you’re saving a practice, You're thinking this sounds very familiar. I'm working day and night. I'm not making enough money. I've got too much stock. I don't know about COVID and PPC and all these different things. What we've discussed a few of them. What would you say with your top 3? If you're watching this and you fall into this category, you need Maria's help, right?

Maria: The first one is I don't have time. I don't have time. I know. I know I need to devote my staff, but I don't have time. I'm just too busy and the managers find, you know, but they don't just have tons of time to train. 

The second one is that well, we've always done it this way and it's always worked for us. I mean, look at us. We're surviving. That's great.

Garry: Have you heard the saying in optics? The best thing about optics, people stay for a long time. The worst thing about optics is people stay a long time. Even asking a receptionist who has been sat in the same chair for fifteen years to maybe move over there and all kinds of friction.

Maria: You recognize that. The third one, the third one would be a talent manager. You know, if you find that you have a high turnover of staff, why do you have a high turnover of staff? And that always seems to be an issue because it takes away from the time you don't have anyway, you know, and you should be able to talent manage your staff the turnover shouldn't be that much anyway. 

And the processes, your frustrations, as I said earlier, you know, there are certain things that you’re fire fighting in your practice all the time. You have you know, people don't have time to understand why they’re fire-fighting all the time. So, yes those are the first three that come to mind, but there are several others. 

Garry: I'm very excited, very excited. If you're reading this and you’re a practice, whether you're multiple or an independent, wherever you are in the world, you can access this free webinar and then you can speak to Maria. So do you want to just tell us about your website because you split your business into two different categories? There's this, too. Do you want to explain to the readers? 

Maria: Yeah, well, the be balanced business, that would be the actual the letter B and then balance biz dot com (bbalancedbiz.com) is specifically for vision care practitioners. Anybody to do with eyes and dispensing optician's assistance, owners, vision care practitioners, clinicians. That is specifically for you now bbalanced business is a part of coaching 2 transform, which is the main business that is specifically for coaching and mentoring, personal development, everything. But it's under bbalancedbiz, that is specifically for opticians.

Garry: Incredible. We're talking about a professional offering that is going to change your practice in 90 days.

Maria: Absolutely.

Garry: If you've enjoyed this, there's going to be more Maria and possibly myself will be interviewing Optician's that have been through the process or opticians that are about to go into the process and adding value all the time. So watch out for that for the next episode. Bye from. OK, then. We look forward to the next episode. 

Maria: Thank you very much.

Check out the free webinar here and also schedule your appointment here.

And get in touch if you have any questions today!

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