Connie StClair | Operations Readiness

No race actually begins at the starting line.

The answer to where it starts isn’t as exciting as a new laser. It isn’t as widely discussed as new technology or as visible as a marketing campaign. But without it, invest in any of those things and expect problems.

Internal operations. Your practice is the race car. Internal operations are the engine. Your staff is the pit crew.

Let that sit for a minute.

The performance of that engine has an enormous impact on bottom-line results,  positive or negative. And yet it’s the part most practices underinvest in before making their next big move.

A Common Scenario

You have a new laser. You can perform LASIK in your office — or a premium lens upgrade, or a dry eye clinic. The opportunity is real. Marketing is the right next step. You meet with your marketing team, review the campaign, work through the budget, and know exactly how many leads you need to break even and see a profit.

The campaign launches. At the end of the first month, you review the numbers. Leads came in above expectation – great news. But they aren’t converting to surgery. Revenue fell flat. What went wrong?

Internal operations.

The phones were ringing. The marketing worked. The potential was there. What broke down was what happened after the calls came in. Here are six places where the pit crew commonly struggles:

Staffing:  You may simply not have enough people to handle the increase in call volume. Leads that can’t get through are leads that disappear.

Equipment: Your telephone system may not be set up to handle the routing or volume of incoming calls. The best staff can’t compensate for a system that drops calls.

Training: Do your staff know what calls to expect? Do they know how to handle a caller when the counselor isn’t available? Does the patient feel informed and confident in your practice from that first conversation?

Scheduling: Were appointment slots created specifically for these prospects? Are they being monitored? When a caller wants to schedule and nothing is available soon enough, the interest fades. Someone needs to watch this.

Patient Experience: Your patient arrives ready to make a significant financial decision. What about their experience earns that commitment? Were they greeted promptly? Was check-in seamless? Was the workup handled with care and intention? The experience either supports the decision or quietly undermines it.

Counseling: Has someone taken the time to understand this patient’s reasons, lifestyle, and concerns before the counseling conversation begins? Is that information shared with both the doctor and the counselor? Is the process intentional — or improvised?

When internal operations are strong, none of this is left to chance. Expectations are set in advance. Training is in place. Every member of the team understands their role in the patient’s journey and how it connects to everyone else’s.

That’s what makes the marketing investment work. That’s what makes the new laser profitable. That’s what makes the race winnable.

Marcel Telles said it precisely: a company can seize extraordinary opportunities only if it is very good at the ordinary operations.

The race to better results cannot be won without a high-performance engine. The question worth asking is …. how well is yours running?

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If this resonates with challenges you’re navigating in your practice, I’d welcome a conversation.

Connie StClair | Operations Readiness Partner     conniestclair.com

Updated Winter 2026

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