Sponsored Content
By Scott Lewis, OD
Jan. 27, 2021
An OD managing a practice during an ongoing pandemic with the long-running pressures still present could use extra support. My practice recently found that support through a new program which I believe will improve our care and service to patients while enabling us to generate greater revenues. That program, EssilorLuxottica 360, is a key part of our improvement plans for the New Year.
This new program, powered by Essilor, Luxottica and EyeMed, is designed to help practices improve traffic, visibility and the patient experience while maximizing profitability. It provides “360 degrees of support” for independent ECPs combined with patient-preferred brands and advanced lens technology.
For my practice, saying yes to this program was an easy decision. It gives us greater access to resources which allow us to provide the best possible patient experience while helping us be even more financially successful.
Time to Go Deep with Trusted Industry Partners
As I looked at where my practice was and how we could continue to thrive and grow, it seemed that the time had come to narrow our vendor list. Rather than spreading our inventory purchases across a wide swath of vendors–some of which we weren’t fully satisfied with–I decided it would be better to concentrate on the vendor relationships that delivered the best and most reliable products to our patients.
There is a popular philosophy that you shouldn’t put all your “frame and lens eggs” in one basket. The tendency was to spread your frame board between lots of companies, purchasing a huge number of lines, trying to make sure you had something for everyone at every possible price point. I wanted to simplify our supply chain which made EssilorLuxottica 360 perfect for my practice. The program allows us to go deep with Luxottica and get rewarded. We are rewarded with inventory cost savings by keeping a higher percentage of our frames in the Luxottica family. We receive a significant discount and deferred payments for replacing existing inventory with Luxottica frames.
That means we are not only able to provide our patients with the brands from Luxottica that they most want, but that we can enjoy inventory cost savings at the same time which helps us grow our optical profitability.
Streamlining Our Supply Chain for Greater Efficiency & Speedier Service to Patients
This program fits in nicely with our participation in the Vision Source Frame Dream program which further streamlines our supply chain by not requiring us to send frames to the lab. The lab already has every frame in our inventory, so frames stay on the board, thus simplifying our ordering process.
A faster ordering process is not only a boon for my staff productivity and efficiency, but a real plus for our patients. When we can get through the ordering process faster, our patients are able to pick up their ready-to-go eyewear quicker. This gives us an edge, and allows us to offer our patients enhanced service and convenience.
Ideal Support for a Challenging Time
It is my belief that the current state of business will no longer allow inefficient management of your optical costs and goods. Staff time and ordering processes can cut into the bottom line. Making our operations run smoother and more efficiently gives us additional resources to manage the demands of the pandemic. Partnering with a trusted industry leader in a program like EssilorLuxottica 360, that provides national advertising to drive patients to our practice, gives us one less thing to worry about.
A Program with Far-Reaching Benefits
There are several additional EssilorLuxottica 360 benefits we are excited about. One additional EssilorLuxottica 360 benefit we are excited about is Smart Shopper. This software program is designed to enhance the patient’s shopping experience through an “endless aisle feature.” Smart Shopper promotes all of the Luxottica brands and offers product customization options for Ray-Ban™ and Oakley™. Our patients enjoy the easy access to an endless variety of frames.
Powering Continuous Improvement
The pandemic has given us time to evaluate every aspect of the office and we were able to see numerous areas where we could improve efficiencies. Partnering with EssilorLuxottica gives us the security that we have trusted people there to help us weather the current headwinds. And beyond that, we have a pipeline to the kind of support that will allow us to continue on an upward trajectory of providing our patients with the dedicated care and service that is expected while seeing greater profitability.
Scott Lewis, OD, is the owner of California Oaks Vision Center of Optometry, a Vision Source practice, in Murrieta, Calif. To contact: slewis@visionsource.com
