2020….what a year.

2020 was an interesting year to say the least.  It’s kind of been a roller coaster for us here at Collierville Vision.  We started the year off busier than ever, seeing almost 25% more patients in the months of January and February than last year.  March started out in a similar fashion, but we all know what happened in the middle of March.  Unfortunately, I had to make the difficult decision to lay off both of my staff members to keep the practice afloat during the shutdown.

Once the shutdown was lifted, I opened the practice without any staff, simply because I didn’t know what to expect.  I wasn’t sure if people would still be hesitant about coming in for routine exams and I wanted to make sure everyone felt safe when they did decide to come in.   With all of my PPE and cleaning supplies in hand, I reopened the doors in May.  For the first several weeks I spaced appointments out 1 hour at a time and limited my hours to allow for cleaning and administrative work.

This didn’t last very long though, as the demand for appointments began to increase, I wasn’t able to maintain hourly appointments anymore, so I shifted back to 30 minute appointment times.  I also wasn’t able to keep running the business by myself.  Sadly, both of my previous staff members had to move on to other jobs before I was able to hire them back.  However, I was able to hire a wonderful new front desk assistant named Lauren, who I am sure many of you have already had the pleasure of meeting.

Although the shutdown was scary and uncertain, I was able to make many positive changes for the business during that time.

Updates and Upgrades

One of the first things you may have noticed is our increased use of text messaging and other convenient technological upgrades.  I updated our phone system to a system called Weave.  Weave is a very robust system which includes 2 way texting, text to pay invoices, online appointment scheduling and many other impressive features.  This system allows us to communicate with you more effectively and also minimize the amount of trips and phone calls you have to make to the office ordering contact lenses or glasses.

We have also updated our contact lens ordering process to make things more convenient for you as well.  All contact lens orders are now shipped directly to you.  We also have a convenient online ordering system through our website.  If you didn’t purchase a year’s supply of lenses at your initial visit you can reorder from our website at https://yourstore.wewillship.com/?account_id=6110 simply put your current contact lens Rx in (your Rx information is on your boxes) and place the order any time, day or night.  You can also use our EyeSubscribe feature which will automatically ship lenses to you according to the prescription frequency.  If you need any help placing your first order through our online store, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Another exciting addition is our online glasses store.  You can now visit https://shop.colliervillevision.com/ and see most of our current glasses inventory from the convenience of your home.  If you find a few that you are interested in trying on we will ship them to your house and let you try them out for a few days.

Once you decide which pair you like the best, let us know which ones you like, ship them back to us with the free shipping label provided and we will take care of the rest.  We can give you a quote based on your insurance coverage and order them for you without you ever having to set foot in the office.  If you prefer to try them on in person, simply select the ones you like best and we will set them aside and make an appointment for you to come take a look at them.  Since we carry a lot of glasses it is hard to ensure that every frame is available in the store in real time, but if you happen to find a frame that we don’t have in the office, we can generally order them and have them to you within a week from the manufacturer.

I also felt that the inside of the office needed a bit of sprucing up, so we are in the process of remodeling the optical to make room for more frames and other fun ways to serve you.  So please, pardon the noise and dust if you happen to come into the office on a day where our awesome contractor Kevin Dotson with Remodels Plus is working.  If you would like his info I’ll be glad to share, but he’s easily found on The Shop Collierville Facebook page.

Concierge Eyecare (coming soon).

Lastly, I wanted to share with you a bit of a shift in my business model.

I have always prided myself on offering personalized eyecare, in a laid back atmosphere.  Customer service has always been my number one priority and I want to always be able to provide that to you at a high level.  Growth is great for a business, but it can also make it more difficult to maintain a high level of service.

As I mentioned before, at the beginning of 2020 I was on a record pace for the number of exams I did in one month.  While great for the bottom line, I felt that it wasn’t great for my business.  Most of those days were extremely hectic for me and it was hard for me to stay on schedule and spend the amount of time with each person that I feel they deserved.

When COVID-19 put the brakes on my business it helped me realize that I don’t need to just jump back on and go full speed ahead again like before.  I want to focus on quality and not quantity.  So be on the lookout for more announcements from me regarding positive changes being made in this direction.

I also wanted to tell everyone how thankful I am that ya’ll have continued to support me throughout this crazy year, it means so much to me!

Thank you!