Networking For Optometrists: Who Said Doctors Don’t Need Networking?

Many people confound social media with networking. On the last day of Vision Expo East, one of the largest networking events in eye care, all attendees who came from every part of the world are now on their way home. They probably came by car, train, or traveled in. They all learned something, acquired a new skill, or discovered, new technology by attending a conference, taking a continuing education course, or visiting the exhibition. However, no doubly, the most important and valuable takeaway is the people they met, the relationships they started cultivating, and their networking that has been leveraged in an exceptional way that they cannot do every day.

We’ve all been taught early on in our careers that good leadership starts with trust. Good Optometrists and great leaders hold the responsibility to foster an environment of trust. If your patients do not trust they would not come to get your advice. If you don’t trust your team or your staff doesn’t trust you, getting things done becomes very difficult and sometimes impossible. Again good optometrists and great leaders learn early on how they ought to create a trust that is the bond with the vehicle of success. Trust glues the optometrist to his patients, the leader to his followers, and provides the capacity to succeed as a practice owner and leader.

Whether it is family members, workplace, teammates, patients, or customers trust is equally and basically at the origin of every successful relationship. For this to occur each individual in a relationship should serve as a source of trust and help to others. The trust and help that members of a community provide to each other make everyone better off and networking becomes the catalyst of success and growth. Networking is our only opportunity to connect with new people and stay in contact with existing contacts, build and develop new relationships and empower or increase the potential of your network.

In a nutshell, the objective of networking is to become able to create relations that ultimately generate leads and referrals, switch those relationships to revenue, and increase to extent of your network to grow your business by including the referrals, the right suppliers, partners, staff, distribution channels, and friends. A key takeaway is not to confuse networking with social media and the key importance of networking for eye care professionals besides staying relevant and building prosperous relationships is to stay current but also to shape the modern world of eye care we operate in. By coming to eye care networking events we gain new insights and perspectives from colleagues that help us address previously unsolved problems or learn to address common problems in new ways.