Photo © iStock.com/JobsonHealthcare
By Sara Bonizio
With all the shapes, styles and colors of eyeglasses available today, it’s tempting to focus on showcasing alluring CatEyes, showstopping sunglasses and sophisticated rimless styles in eyewear displays. However, a significant portion of practice revenue comes from spectacle lenses, and newer products such as blue-blockers have joined an ever-updating selection including photochromic, high-index, AR, polarized and other types of lenses.
According to the Management & Business Academy’s Best Practices of Spectacle Lens Management, the lens component of a pair of glasses produces on average about 50 percent of eyewear revenue (with frames the other half), or about 20 to 25 percent of total practice revenue; thus, effective marketing of lenses has a major impact on the financial health of a practice. Patients today have more choices than ever when deciding on eyewear, so it’s a good idea to periodically re-evaluate your merchandising strategy to ensure that patients are properly educated—and your sales staff isn’t leaving lens upgrades on the table.
SHARPENING THE FOCUS ON LENSES
With so many options, including lens designs, materials, coatings and tints and sun lenses, the needs of one patient can easily span multiple categories, which makes choosing the right lenses all the more important—and profitable.
Lens displays and demonstration products vary in size, mobility and functionality. There are rotating kiosks, wall-mounted and free-standing displays which can fit into or alongside frameboards and cases or stand alone in a separate space. These can be placed strategically around the dispensary, including in the waiting room for patients (at least those who are not totally consumed by “Candy Crush”) to look at before the OD calls them in, along with supporting literature.
Tabletop displays are essential, as they sit front and center on the dispensing table and are easily accessed during the fitting and ordering process. These include angled demonstration trays, smaller versions of rotating kiosks and other models that compare different lens types and finishes. Ennco, EyeDesigns, Modular Design Systems and Fashion Optical Displays are among the companies providing furniture, tools and design consultation to display your optical wares.
Sometimes the most successful techniques are the good old-fashioned kind: Simply taking a photochromic lens sample outside, or having the patient see and feel the difference between the same Rx in different materials will close the sale. In the case of polarized, compact demonstration units have long been a staple of dispensaries, such as those by API Optics (which can be customized with your choice of artwork), Vision-Ease’s SunRx display and Younger’s NuPolar Demonstrator; which all quickly and easily show how polarized lenses cut glare and provide sharper, more comfortable and safer wear.
Overall, the most important concept to convey is that lenses are a vital consideration in the overall eyewear purchase. If the lens displays are dusty, clearly outdated, or missing any pieces, they will pale among more visually exciting frame displays; or worse, suggest to patients that frame aesthetics are more important than the medium through which their vision is corrected and protected.
As optical products and dispensary tools continue to become more technologically sophisticated and patients of all ages become more tech-savvy, ECPs are increasingly infusing digital aids such as tablet-based apps throughout the practice to “wow” while educating, which will help reinforce the importance of lenses, as well as the patient’s confidence in their final selection.
THERE’S ALWAYS AN APP FOR THAT
Outside of the practice, the Shamir Lens Wizard is an online tool that can be embedded on your practice’s website, featuring a questionnaire and subsequent recommendations for patients to determine which lenses best suit their day-to-day vision needs in advance of their office visit. The Transitions Viewer is a consumer-facing Web-based app for users to see how different photochromic lenses change in different real-world scenarios and also how the lenses look on the person wearing them. Its “Help me decide” features allows users to prioritize what matters most for their wearing experience, e.g., “darkening while in the car.”
At the appointment, dispensers have found usefulness in apps, such as Essilor’s M’Eye Fit Touch and Carl Zeiss’ iDemo, which feature simulations that illustrate the benefits of available lens options. Imagine-i, Nikon Lenswear’s’ iPad app, takes the “imagining” out of the equation for those considering progressives: Real-life simulations allow the patient to “feel” the viewing experiences through different Nikon lenses, with 3D video and animation allowing the dispenser to visually enhance the comparison of different lenses’ features and benefits. Smart Mirror Mobile by ABS and Signet Armorlite’s Kodak Lens IDS both incorporate augmented reality technology that lets patients visualize how they will see through their finished lenses, in addition to measurement tools and virtual frame try-on. OptiTab by Briot (primarily a measurement system, which also integrates with Briot edging systems) also features a virtual reality mode for patients to see how different lens styles and options will perform in a variety of environments. Hoya’s HVC Viewer app for iPad also uses augmented reality in several modules, including BlueControl.
With cases of digital eyestrain mounting, ECPs can use Hoya’s Blue Light Program (which incorporates the BlueControl module) to create a compelling case for patients to protect their eyes from harmful high-energy visible light, which research has shown can damage the eye over time. When the Blue Light Device is pointed at a digital screen, it registers the amount of blue light that is emitted on the app’s graphic display. When a blue-blocking lens is introduced into the equation, the amount that reaches the eye is shown to be significantly reduced. Staff can also perform a retinal scan using iOptics EasyScan.
IT’S COMPLEMENTARY, DEAR WATSON
In order to create an immersive environment that educates, engages and stimulates the patient on multiple levels, ECPs should use different visuals and media to communicate frame and lens offerings to patients throughout the practice. For those who prefer a less “office-like” retail environment, lighted, color-changing displays draw the patient’s eye to their contents; additionally, a strategically-placed tablet—for example, in the premium sunglass display—can provide localized, targeted information via video or an app such as the Vision Care Institute’s UV Protection App, educating patients on the need for eye protection by showing the cumulative ocular and environmental effects of UV exposure.
Waiting room videos have long been a popular way to introduce valuable information about eye conditions, what to expect during an eye exam, eyewear styles and of course, lens options including different materials, functions and finishes to a captive audience. Younger Optics developed a brief but striking video, sure to resonate with those who have active lifestyles, to demonstrate how its Trilogy lens can withstand high impact and better protect the wearer’s eye from injury.
Additionally, platforms such as Eyemaginations’ Echo publish not only waiting room videos, but also allows ECPs to e-mail eyecare and optical product education videos directly to patients. This provides valuable supplemental information to those who are undecided/do not place their eyewear order at the time of their eye exam. Videos on the benefits of photochromic or polarized lenses for patients in certain lines of work, or who enjoy specific outdoor activities, can help upgrade a prescription sunglass sale.
Finally, social media sharing has become an important component of the practice’s marketing toolkit, notifying followers about new and existing products and services outside the practice walls. Image- and video-rich social platforms enable ECPs to remind patients of the various ways proper eyewear, including lenses, can enhance and protect vision at work, home and play.
THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN’…
But don’t forget the basics. Integrating new methods of product education and demonstration into the dispensary enhances patient communication, which will only continue to grow in importance as patients have increasingly more choices to purchase their eyewear (including lenses) online. However, knowledgeable ECPs know they can’t abandon the tried and true principles of fitting and selling in favor of over-reliance on apps; nothing can replace the personal touch and the wealth of knowledge that a seasoned dispenser can offer. Therefore, practice managers must ensure that sales and dispensing staff leverage attractive displays and feature-laden apps as tools to supplement, not replace, the relationship-building and continuing technical education that are the mainstays of our industry. ■
Contributing editor Sara Bonizio is the marketing director for Metro Optics, a New York-based optical retailer.
