Dr. Smick

A few years ago, I was at dinner with a representative of one of the major frame companies. I mentioned my practice’s sales of sunwear were dismal — just 7% of my patients purchased sunglasses.

The frame company representative replied, “You guys have a big practice; you support us a lot. Why don’t I send one of the company’s frame reps to look at your optical? They might be able to make some suggestions.”

A week later, the frame rep arrived and provided these tips:

1. Place sunglasses in the front of the optical. Ours were in the back — out of sight, out of patients’ minds. Also, back-of-the-optical placement sends the message that sunwear isn’t that important. The practice’s now huge up-front sunglass display invites patients to peruse.
2. Ask patients to bring their eyewear, including sunglasses, to their annual exams. We have front desk staff do this when patients call for appointments. A lot of people don’t have prescription sunglasses, so this tip sends the message that they should.
3. Mention the benefits of sunwear during pre-testing. The techs place a patient’s eyewear on a table, read the prescriptions and if the patient does not have a prescription pair of sunglasses, brings non-prescription pairs or poorly made products, the tech talks about “why” the patient should consider a pair. This further ingrains in his mind the importance of good sunglasses.
4. Provide vision plan benefit reminders. If a patient’s prescription doesn’t change at his annual exam visit, staff remind him he has a vision insurance benefit and suggests he not lose it by using the benefit to convert one of his current frames into prescription sunglasses.

These four tips increased the practice’s sunglass sales by 17%. ■

- Kirk Smick, O.D., Morrow, Ga.