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SECO International 2021, held April 28 to May 2, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by offering both in-person and virtual options. One virtual track, “How to Deliver a Patient-Centric EyeCare Experience,” provided tips for spectacle capture rate, a hot topic, given the surge in virtual frame try-on software and online frame purchases.

Below are the capture rate tips provided by track panelists’ Sharon Carter, consultant/owner at Eye Care Optometric Consulting, Pete Hanlin, vice president, Professional Services at Essilor of America, and Frank Pigneri, ABO-AC, director of Customer Education at Essilor of America. (Essilor of America sponsored the track.)

• Inquire about lifestyle. “Realize that people are now working from home and for a lot more hours than before,” explained Ms. Carter. “[Opticians] should be asking them, ‘What do you do every day?’ ‘What do you do for fun?’ ‘Do you have sunglasses?’ What kind of effect would making three eyewear recommendations per patient have on your practice?”
• Use terms that patients understand and that illustrate problem solving. Mr. Hanlin provided attendees with an analogy regarding someone who takes their car to a mechanic to fix squeaking breaks and shuddering when the car comes to a stop:
  “The first mechanic says, ‘I’d like to install ceramic break pads that have calipers that will reduce the accumulation of material and increase friction with better thermal properties.’ How do you think the car owner is feeling about those breaks?’” he asked. “Now, the first mechanic’s twin brother says, ‘You said your brakes always squeak, and that the car shudders when it stops. These breaks will solve both those problems.’ Now, how do you think the car owner is feeling about those breaks?”
• Personally hand off the patient to the optician. Mr. Pigneri said doctors should call an available optician to present to the exam room at the exam’s end to hand off the patient to the optician, as doing so reinforces the importance of the prescription and transfers the doctor’s authority and expertise to the optician in the patient’s mind. This, in turn, can increase the likelihood of a sale. OM

SPECTACLE CAPTURE RATE BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

The Vision Council compiled data breaking out the vision care products and services sold by distribution channel.

 

 

Time period: June 2018 to June 2019. Visit bit.ly/2T0uNSp for the full report.