By Brian P. Dunleavy

As a sales representative for Transitions Optical, Maryam Rahimi logs hundreds of miles a week visiting current and potential customers. Although Rahimi has been a sales representative for nine years (seven years with Nikon Optical Canada and now two with Transitions Optical), she is also a licensed optician. In her mind, her visits are more than just sales opportunities.

“I used to sit in their chairs so I have a pretty good idea of what information I can provide that will be of value to them,” Rahimi, Transitions Optical’s key account representative for Ontario, says of her client optical shops and optometry practices.

Rahimi admits she is almost always welcomed into her clients’ dispensaries because she has useful information that can help improve sales. But the relationship between opticians and optometrists and lens manufacturers isn’t always so rosy. Some optometrists and opticians refuse to meet with sales reps, believing that it is a waste of time. Others prefer to deal only with labs. However, working with reps like Rahimi and lens manufacturers in general can be a good thing for your dispensary. Like all relationships, you just have to work at it.

“They can be the best source of information on new lens technology,” Madelaine Petrin, an optician and professor in the opticianry program at Toronto’s Seneca College, says of lens manufacturers. But, she cautions, eyecare practitioners who decide to work closely with vendors must be sure to work with a diverse group to “get many points of view.”

So how can opticians and optometrists make the most of their relationships with spectacle lens manufacturers?

Good reps: sales calls from representatives of lens manufacturers are usually more education/information sessions than sales pitch. Most optical shops and optometry practices are already selling the products that reps are calling on them to discuss. Ask reps for the latest information on the newest products, and don’t be shy. Anything you learn can help in the dispensary, notes Petrin.

Collateral damage: lens manufacturers and optical laboratories are great sources of marketing or collateral materials that opticians can use to educate patients about lens options. Often, these branded materials reinforce consumer advertising (for Essilor Crizal or Transitions, for example). If they work for your dispensary and can help you better explain the benefits of premium products, use them.

“My old Nikon rep was one of the best,” explains Petrin. “He would explain how to present Nikon lenses to my clients. It was always good information, with booklets, demos, something to show my clients.”

Back to school: lens manufacturers have always supported continuing education (CE) programs for opticians and optometrists by working with eyecare professionals out in the field (those who are part of their “speaker’s bureaus”) or with those on their staff. In addition, many also offer more promotional seminars that focus primarily on their own products and service offerings. These sessions can be informative and help eyecare professionals in demonstrating and positioning their products. CE credit doesn’t hurt either.

Partner up: some lens manufacturers also offer “partnership programs” to optical shops and optometry practices that dispense their products. These programs – usually a toll-free number or web site – connect consumers to practices and shops in their local areas that dispense the manufacturer’s products. They can be a great business-building tool for shops and practices that qualify.

Even with offerings such as these, however, the relationship between lens manufacturers and opticians and optometrists is far from perfect. Pat Hobbs, optician and owner of Outtasight Opticians in Victoria, B.C., for example, says he has noticed a decline in the number of “live” CE seminars in his area, and that he often goes months without hearing from some of his local sales reps. And, as Petrin notes, some reps—and companies – are better and more helpful than others.

“What is truly lacking is training opportunities,”Hobbs explains. “I live in Victoria, a smaller urban setting. It is virtually impossible to get CE here except online. Smaller stores and offices are not as well serviced by suppliers as far as training, which perpetuates the downward knowledge spiral.”

That is exactly what lens companies who are trying to forge relationships with eyecare professionals don’t want to hear.

By Brian P. Dunleavy

Jason Pearce, OD, enjoys playing golf and watching professional tournaments on television. Until recently, that passion had nothing to do with his optometry practice in Calgary. However, that all changed when he noticed ads for Transitions lenses on TV during Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour events.

Transitions is actually one of several spectacle lens manufacturers marketing their products directly to consumers. Essilor, for example, has also been airing commercials on Canadian television for its Crizal anti-reflective coated lenses and Varilux progressives. And lens maker Nikon has advertised its lenses in the past.

So, what do these advertising efforts mean for optical dispensaries? Well, the short answer is, it depends.

According to Bruce Tobin, optician and owner of Optical Excellence inOttawa, not a single patient has come into his optical shop asking about a lens they saw advertised on television, although he has seen the commercials himself. That’s pretty amazing when you consider the broad-reaching nature of the Transitions and Essilor campaigns. For example, Transitions, which has been advertising its lenses to Canadian consumers since the early 2000s, has so far this year purchased advertising time on Canal Vie, Discovery, Global TV, HGTV, History, RDS, TSN, W Network and The Weather Network. They sponsored the Gala Artis Awards on TVA in May and the Toronto International Film Festival, which ended in September, in addition to airing spots during PGA Tour events. Meanwhile, Essilor’s 2011 campaign for Crizal, which ends in October, has included commercials on History, HGTV, National Geographic, CBC News Network, W Network, Bravo, Science Channel, Mystery, BBC Canada, Discovery, Slice, and The Weather Network.

“To me, it’s like advertising Celebrex,” notes Tobin. “A person can see one of those commercials and go in and ask their doctor about it. But, if the doctor doesn’t think the person should be taking Celebrex, he’ll say so, and maybe suggest another treatment. A person could come in mentioning a lens they saw advertised on TV, but if we don’t like that lens, if we don’t think it’s best for them, we wouldn’t sell it to them.”

Still, there may be an opportunity for Canadian opticians and optometrists here. Like advertisements for pharmaceutical products, most spectacle lens advertising advises consumers to “talk to [their] eyecare practitioner.” Whether ECPs know it or not, the commercials may indeed be driving traffic to their dispensaries.

“I think there is some benefit to brand awareness,” says Dr. Pearce. “The lens manufacturers are building awareness of their brands, but they are also building awareness of the eyeglass industry and helping to educate patients about the options available. When they come in, it helps start the conversation in the optical department.”

Tobin agrees, at least partly. “I’m not sure if advertising helps, but if it starts a conversation between me and my patients about lenses, then I guess that’s all right,” he says. “I run a high-end business. My patients trust me to recommend what’s best for them. If advertising causes them to go and do more research on lenses then so be it, but it won’t necessarily change what they wear.”

Both Dr. Pearce and Tobin agree that eyecare professionals should at least be prepared to answer questions from patients about television advertisements they’ve seen so that, as Dr. Pearce says, they appear “current” on new products and technology. Dr. Pearce also advises opticians and optometrists to prominently display any marketing or patient education materials for lens products advertised to consumers – that is, if they believe in the product themselves.

“I’m not going to fit my patients with a lens I don’t think is the best product for them, but I also want to be a good businessman. If it’s a good product and patients recognize the brand, then that’s a good thing for my practice,” notes Dr. Pearce. “I don’t think optometrists or opticians as professionals give patients enough credit. We should allow them to be part of the decision-making process. Lens fitting is a process that happens with the patient and the professional working together. The more educated a patient is, the more they will understand and appreciate the lens they end up wearing. If advertising helps that process in any way, that’s a good thing.”

Can You Talk Technology?
By Brian P. Dunleavy

Optical shop owner Steven Levy believes he has an advantage when it comes to understanding lens technology. His three-location business inToronto—LF Optical and LF Warehouse – began as an eyeglass-processing laboratory.

“The LF in the name originally meant ‘Lenses First,” he explains.

Even so, it hasn’t been easy for Levy and his staff of seven opticians to stay up-to-date on the latest in spectacle lens design. “Think about how it is when you buy a TV now,” notes Levy, who is not an optical practitioner but has been in the business for more than 20 years. “Three months later, if you walk up to the counter in the store with the same TV, the clerk laughs at you. It’s almost the same way with lens technology.”

Indeed, the past decade has seen a baffling array of technical enhancements in eyeglass lenses, from free-form progressives to digital single-vision. Keeping current can be a full-time job and it doesn’t help that lenses often take a backseat in optical shops to high-fashion frames, or that optometrists have taken an increasing interest in ocular biology and disease.

“Your garden-variety optometrist has not kept up well with new lens technology,” says Dr. B. Ralph Chou, MSc, OD, FAAO, an associate professor in the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo and a practicing optometrist for more than 30 years.

Adds Madelaine Petrin, RO, an optician and professor in the opticianry program at Toronto’s Seneca College, “Our graduates know the latest lens technologies. For how long? That depends on where they work.”

Educators like Petrin and Chou feel strongly that eyecare practitioners – be they opticians in optical shops or optometrists with optical retail businesses in their practices – must improve their working knowledge of optics technology to ensure they offer their patients and customers the best eyeglass products available. According to Dr. Chou, studies have found that 50 to 60 per cent of optometrists’ income is derived from eyeglass sales, so they, “need to know how to hang glass because that’s where the money is.”

“Without a doubt, patients are more concerned about the ‘label’ on their frames than the actual lenses they house – or at least they are when they enter our clinics,” adds Dr. Alan R. Boyco, OD, owner of Image Optometry, a 14-location chain of optometry clinics in B.C. “But we’ve learned over the years that while a designer frame will elicit a lot of compliments for the patient, a ‘designer’ lens will generate a lot of new patients for our clinics.”

So how can eyecare practitioners stay informed on new lens technology? Continuing education meetings and courses for both opticians and optometrists are an excellent source of information on eyeglass lens designs. Both Boyco and Levy suggest having those who attend such programs share what they’ve learned with their colleagues in the optical shop or optometry practice through in-office workshops. Similarly, sending shop or practice representatives to local, regional or national conferences can help. Lens manufacturers are usually well represented at such events and more than willing to share information on their products. Once again, attendees can come back with knowledge to share with colleagues. Finally, lens-processing laboratories are also excellent sources of information on lens designs; lab personnel have hands-on knowledge of how new designs affect optics.

Above all, it doesn’t matter how you learn, just that you learn. It can make a difference in how your patients see, and whether they come back to you in the future.

“I want to offer our clients the best products available,” Levy says. “If they leave wearing nice frames, friends will ask, ‘Hey, where did you get those?’ If they leave wearing lenses with good optics, they will see better and tell their friends and family how knowledgeable our staff is. It is just good business.”