Contact Lens Business
Keeping Sales In-House
You don't have to lose contact lens sales to outside vendors. An expert offers strategic advice.

BY DIANE BROE, FCLSA

Keeping patients from walking out the front door with their contact lens prescriptions can be a real challenge. More often than not, if they haven't ordered lenses before they leave, you've lost them to an outside source.

Here are several strategies that can help convince your contact lens patients to buy their lenses from you.

PUTTING THE ODDS IN YOUR FAVOR

To maximize in-house sales:

Follow through immediately. If you're seeing a patient for a routine eye examination, always suggest the option of contact lenses. If the patient expresses interest, arrange a fitting as soon as possible -- preferably immediately. If your practice has a contact lens department, make sure that appointment scheduling is kept flexible so patients can see your contact lens technician the same day, while their interest is high.

If you have to make an appointment for later, be sure to make it a joint appointment that includes seeing your contact lens technician.

Make sure patients know what you have to offer. You can put up signs and advertise, but nothing is as effective as hearing it from you, especially if you're able to follow through right away. If a patient currently wears contact lenses, take the opportunity to introduce or reintroduce your services to the patient.

Emphasize what you offer that outside sources don't. Emphasize your expert fitting, the ability to troubleshoot and a diverse product line. Point out that new products are available almost every month, many of them excellent. Let your patient know that you're a good source for guidance and options in this area. (Just remember to charge accordingly for your time.)

Create convenience with your Web site. You'll probably never be the lowest price source for contact lenses in town, but guess what? Lack of convenience, not the price, may be the key reason that patients don't fill or refill their contact lens prescription with you.

One of the best ways to provide that convenience is through your Web site. People are doing more and more of their shopping on the Web. Besides, your patients probably have many reasons for ordering lenses online: going to college out of town, moving south for the winter months, or simply not being able to pick up lenses during the hours you're open.

Setting this up may take some time and resources, but the payoff could be substantial.

Separate professional and product fees. If you're currently selling your contact lenses as a package, with professional fees and product costs lumped together, think about unbundling them. That does two things: It makes the patient aware of the value of the service you're providing, and it lets you lower your price per lens or box.

You probably can't compete with the prices at some of the outside sources available to your patients. After all, their overhead is much lower than yours and their volume is much greater. Plus, they only deal in product. Nevertheless, by lowering the cost of this part of the package, you can stay in the ballpark.

Create loyalty with GPs. Many of the most dedicated patients I have are gas permeable (GP) lens wearers. It's possible to get GPs from outside vendors online, but most GP patients won't even consider that option. Besides, many professional and retail practices don't offer GPs, and they may be just what your patient needs.

These patients probably won't make up the majority of your patient base, but they'll be among the most dedicated.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

Offering contact lenses can be a real boon for your practice -- especially if your patients purchase their lenses from you. Using strategies like these should help to make that happen.

Diane Broe is president of the Contact Lens Society of America and has also served on the board of the Minnesota Contact Lens Society. She's been employed at Park Nicollet Clinic in Minneapolis for 15 years and is currently supervisor of the contact lens department.