The Power of Personalization

The demand for personalized eye wear solutions has skyrocketed in today’s digital age.¹ As an optometrist, understanding the unique visual needs of your patients can significantly boost your optical sales and establish you as an exceptional practitioner.¹ In fact, questions such as “What do you do for work?” and “What do you do for fun?” have become some of my most-used phrases in the exam room. By inquiring about a patient’s career and recreations, you gain valuable insights into the visual demands the patient faces on a daily basis. For example, a graphic designer may spend long hours focused on a computer screen and thus require a solution to reduce digital eye strain (keep in mind that blue light blockers skew color deviation, which can affect certain professionals). An outdoor enthusiast may have a greater need for protection against glare and UV rays.

Regardless of who is in your chair, the key is to create a personalized experience that addresses the patient’s specific visual challenges and lifestyle requirements. This will distinguish you from other eye care providers and boost your spectacle and contact lens sales by gaining the patient’s trust that your recommended eye wear solutions are tailored to their individual needs.

CASE IN POINT

Consider a scenario where a patient with emerging presbyopia presents to your office for a comprehensive eye examination. Their chief complaint is blurry vision when looking at their cell phone or reading up close (eg, menus, documents, and tablets). My go-to approach with this type of patient is to have them mimic their exact working environment while in the examination room to precisely address their complaint. This can include asking the patient to take out their cell phone and demonstrate their working distance, or even having them use my computer to show how far away they sit from their screen. I also note the height of their screen to see if they are dropping their eyes to look down and whether they are looking at multiple monitors, thus requiring a wide field of vision.

Another thing I always note is whether the patient would be motivated to wear progressive lenses full time, if they have a minimal distance refractive error and are “20/happy” with their distance vision without glasses. In such cases, they may only want to wear progressive lenses while performing specific tasks, rather than all day. Assessing the patient along these lines helps to guide my recommendations tremendously.

My Tailored Recommendation

I would advise the patient above to try computer progressives and continue uncorrected for distance. The progressive addition lenses would address the chief complaint, while avoiding the shock value of having to tell the patient they need to be in glasses full time when they weren’t expecting to hear that. Patients appreciate the individualized recommendation and recognize that they aren’t being oversold, which helps establish trust in the doctor-patient relationship. This trust translates to frame selection in optical.

Frame Considerations for All Day Wear

If a patient needs their glasses to provide adequate functionality for long workdays, perhaps looking at two side-by-side computer monitors, they may find more comfort in a thin, lightweight frame rather than a heavier, chunky frame. This is analogous to advising a very high myope to choose a small, circular frame rather than a large, square frame, as minus lenses are thinner centrally with thicker edges.²

By investing the time to help a patient with their frame selection based on your knowledge of their demands and prescription, you are clearly showing your value to the patient compared with online competitors, which can increase the chances that the patient will order from your practice.

THE “GOOD, BETTER, BEST” APPROACH TO SALES

When I walk a patient to the front desk after their examination, I always make sure to review my recommendations for glasses and contact lenses with the sales team member. The key to this handoff is to offer the patient multiple options that address their specific needs with varying features, benefits, and price ranges by using the “good, better, best” sales model.³

The “Good” Sales Model

The good option represents the most basic option that your practice offers and has the lowest price point of the three tiers. This helps price-sensitive patients who don’t require the most advanced features still feel represented in the practice.

The “Better” Sales Model

The better option offers improved performance and benefits compared with the good option and targets patients who are willing to pay a little bit more for a product that better serves their individual needs.

The “Best” Sales Model

The best option is the most premium quality with the highest price point and appeals to patients who can invest more to obtain the highest level of satisfaction. This model can help drive sales and increase revenue. Patients who initially considered the good option may upgrade to the better or best option once they truly understand the additional value of these options that was explained in the examination room.³

DISCUSS MULTIFOCAL CONTACT LENSES

Another approach to boost optical sales in your practice is to be proactive in recommending multifocal contact lenses to patients with emerging and existing presbyopia.⁴ Too many times I have heard my patients tell me they either have never been educated on their multifocal contact lens options or that another doctor gave up on them after one brand didn’t provide satisfactory vision in both distance and near.

Don’t underestimate the value of your time spent fitting multifocal contact lenses in these patients. Tweaking the distance and near powers according to the patient’s feedback or simply switching the material and/or fitting schedules can result in a successful multifocal lens fit. If you are able to solve the patient’s problem and then combine this service with the offer of an incentive, such as a rebate, boosting your contact lens sales becomes easier to achieve.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

Personalized care leads to enthusiastic patient reviews and referrals.⁵ When patients receive eye wear that not only meets their needs, but also exceeds their expectations, they become advocates for your practice. Positive word-of-mouth and online recommendations can significantly contribute to increased optical sales and practice growth.

By embracing the opportunity to offer and market your eye examination as a personalized eye care experience, you can build your reputation as a standout office that goes above and beyond a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to prescribing and providing eye wear solutions.