Insight offers free staff training pack

Independents that belong to the Independent Marketing Partnership will get a free package of staff training help from today (May 12).

Each topic or 'module' is designed to be used as a self-contained training session within a practice, and there is also a training guide to help the practice manager implement a structured approach to improving the outlet's team.

The programme of six modules will be sent to the 676 member practices of the marketing partnership over the next six months and covers the six topics:

Staff communication skills
Customer knowledge
Product presentation
Upgrading techniques
How to handle patient objections and complaints
Telephone skills.

Each one has been produced by Martin Russ, director of the optical training consultancy TMR. He said: 'Good staff are crucial to the success of every practice and appropriate training will make a significant difference to their performance, especially when dealing directly with patients.

However, many independent practice owners do not have the time or the expertise to create and run an ongoing staff training programme.

This programme helps to meet that need.

' Insight Marketing, the consultancy that runs the partnership, urges practitioners to do better with the so-called 'soft' skills of communication, stating that they are 'a means by which the public can compare one firm with another, unlike clinical and technical skills that are more difficult for the average patient to evaluate'.

Graham Hutchison, managing director of Insight, said: 'The main objective of the partnership is to generate more appointments and revenue for its members through better patient communication. Improving staff skills in this area supports our main marketing programme involving newsletters, mailshots and household drop leaflets.'