By Dave Ziegler, OD
Demonstrating the value your practice provides can ensure that your patients stick with youfor eyewear purchases and beyond.It’s your job to establish value.
Since nearly half the optometrist’s revenue is generated through the sale of eyewear, retaining the patient’s purchase of their glasses is paramount to your profitability. But what do you do when a patient wants their prescription to shop around? Don’t be offended when they ask for this. As far as the patient is concerned, the glasses from your office have to be either better or different from your competition to justify buying from you.Otherwise they will make their decision based solely on price.Here are three ways that you can create value and reinforce their purchase of glasses at your office.
Doctor recommendations in the exam room: Patients decide to have eye exams because they are looking for solutions to their vision problems.So, it is imperative that the doctor give specific recommendations about the products that will best suit that particular patient’s vision needs and lifestyle.That means discussing how progressive lens technology is superior to bifocals, how AR coatings improve visual performance and appearance, how high-index lenses are thinner and lighter, how polarizing sun lenses are the most comfortable outdoor lens, and so on. Your opticians will tell you that your recommendations are crucial to the sale of premium eye wear.
The Hand off: Even after the exam is over, the patient should get the feeling that the whole process is continuing.Escort the patient to your optician and do a hand off. Review your recommendations with both the patient and your staff. By doing this you have transferred the patient’s trust in you over to your staff.Now the optician can continue where you left off, by demonstrating the features and explaining the benefits of what you prescribed.The hand off is another key to retaining patients.
Streamline the selection process:There is nothing quite as frustrating to our patients as the a la carte method that most practices use to sell lenses.Patients have to make numerous decisions regarding the type of lens, lens materials, coatings and treatments.By the time they’re done they feel dissatisfied, having been nickel-and-dimed with all the extras.How do you feel when you’re making a relatively large purchase and there are numerous add-ons or upgrades offered?Simplify and streamline the lens selection process by offering three lens packages to presbyopes and three lens packages to single vision patients.This will make for a more enjoyable experience for the patient and the staff.
Prescribing specific lenses in the exam room, handing off an informed patient to your optical dispensary and simplifying the lens buying process are the three keys to help you retain your patients and increase your profitability.
Patients of my practice receive brochures–one for single-visionlens packagesandanother for progressive lenses–to outline the value our dispensary’s merchandise holds for them.
Create AdditionalMaterial to Inform Patients of Value
My practice created the information sheet below to make our value case to patients. Creating this type of material is a great way to keep all your practice has to offer top of mind with patients.
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Dave Ziegler, OD,is the senior partner in a group practice in Milwaukee, Wis.He is the founder of Visionary Resources, a company that produces customized products for practices to aid in patient retention and increasing profitability. To contact him: bevisionary@wi.rr.com or 414-541-2100.
