28th November, 2007
ECP Mag Misses the Point
ECP Magazine has published in this month’s issue a blog entry I made awhile back regarding my argument for use of the word customer over patient in optical. Paul King, an optician and column writer for ECP thinks I missed the key point which is ”caring“, when caring was the impetus my entire argument; caring not only for the health care needs of the patient but also for the needs of the customer.
Caring for the customer’s need to be informed.
Caring for the customer’s need to feel like she has been part of the process.
Caring for the customer’s need to be treated with respect.
Caring for the customer’s desire to enjoy the experience (whenever practical).
These are the ways in which customers are often treated and not often how patients are treated.
In most cases, the health care practitioner’s role stops at meeting the needs of the patient and does not include meeting the needs of the customer. This is why I advocate the abandonment of the word patient in favor of the word customer.
King would eliminate the word customer, because it implies “business” which is somehow bad for business? The business of health care is not what is wrong with health care. In fact, it is sadly what is missing from health care. Health care practitioners no longer compete in a free market. Health care choices have been taken from the hands of the patients and placed in the hands of government and third-party payers. Unfortunately, this also the direction optical is heading.
The patient mind set encourages people to abrogate responsibility for payment and treatment decisions to third-party payers and government programs. The third-party payers and government programs then in turn propagate the patient mind set; a feedback loop that continually takes more responsibility from the health care consumer and increases dependency upon bureaucracy.
Great for the insurance companies and bureaucracies.
Bad for the industry and the health care consumer.
If health care consumers thought of themselves as customers instead of patients, they wouldn’t take it lying down.
Optical folks need to stop looking to the health care industry as a model for running their businesses and treating their customers, if they wish to succeed in the long run.
Paul King likes to sign off with the message, “Remember folks, take care of your patients and send the customers to the other guys!”
I’ll sign off with a message from your customers, “Treat me like a patient (as if I were incapable or unwilling to be informed and make decisions and have no right to enjoy my experience in your office) and I, your customer, will gladly go see the other guys!”
Popularity: 49% [?]
Posted at 2:12 pm | Comment (1)
28th November, 2007
Attract New Customers by New Year
For many small businesses, including most in the optical industry, the purpose of a website is not to sell, but rather to provide additional avenues whereby customers can find your business. The internet is becoming an increasingly important medium in which to make yourself visible as more and more people abandon their phone books for internet search. Need a list of local ODs? Search the internet. Need to find the phone number of your optician? Google it.
The first step in making it easy for customers to find your business online is, of course, to have a website. As silly as it may seem, many eye care providers today still do not have a web presence. These ECPs are cheating themselves out of business as well as denying their customers a modern convenience. While the reported statistics may vary, it is clear the majority of consumer purchases today are influenced by some form of online content.
If you are one of those ECPs without a website, it may be easier than you think to have a professional looking website that actually grows your business. I am not talking about the template sites popular with so many ECPs that look as if they were built last century. No, I am talking about blogs. Blogs are a fantastic way to put up an effective, professional looking website with minimal effort and potentially no cost. More importantly, you can do it now, while business is traditionally slow and bring in new customers by the first of the year. So, what are you waiting for?
Even if you already have a web presence, it means nothing if people can’t find your site. It’s like the old saying, “if a website is built on the internet and nobody finds it does it really exist?” So, the next step after building your site is to ensure your site can be found easily and often. This is accomplished through search engine optimization (SEO); positioning your site to rank high in search results for search terms that matter and search engine marketing (SEM); pay-per-click advertising that will attract people to your website who are already looking for your services. I will discuss both in detail in future posts.
In the meantime, get crackin’ on that blog.
Popularity: 43% [?]
Posted at 12:26 am | Comment (0)
27th November, 2007
Essilor Acquires Two More Independent Labs
Essilor continues to reduce the number of independent labs remaining in the U.S. According to Optical Services International, an organization of independent labs, Essilor has most recently acquired two OSI member labs: Gold Optical in Fayetteville, NC and Premier Optical in Belmont, NC.
Popularity: 44% [?]
Posted at 8:24 pm | Comment (0)
17th November, 2007
Blog Comments Hiccup
I apologize for the delay on getting some of your comments posted to the site. Spam has been an issue (isn’t it always) so I am requiring moderation on comments. Unfortunately, I stopped getting email notification awhile back and didn’t realize it. Anyway, all of your comments should be up now. I’ll get this blogging figured out one of these days. Thanks to everyone for posting and please keep the comments coming!
Update:
Turns out the hiccup had nothing to do with the blog. The mail process died on the web server, so no emails were being sent from the web server, including order confirmations… and no one complained!? Anyway, the issue will be resolved tonight and all the queued order confirmations and other emails will be sent. Everything should then be back to normal.
Popularity: 51% [?]
Posted at 11:54 pm | Comment (1)
17th November, 2007
2007 OLA Awards of Excellence Winners
The Optical Laboratories Association (OLA) announced the winners for its 2007 “Awards of Excellence” at a banquet in Indianapolis, Friday. The recipients announced were:
Best in Dress Frames
Tuscany Eyewear - Mount Eyewear Pure Titanium TQ
Best in Safety Frames
Titmus - SW06
Best in Specialty Frames
Zyloware - Stetson XL-6
Best in Children’s Frames
Nouveau Eyewear - Nickelodeon Sponge Bob Square Pants Nautical Toon
Best in Sufacing Equipment
Gerber Coburn - DTL Generator Series
Best in Surfacing Materials and Tools
DVI - Combobulator
Best in Finishing Equipment
Satisloh - ES-3
Best in Finishing Materials and Tools
DAC Vision - HydroEdge
Best in Lens Treatment Equipment
Satisloh - G4
Best in Accessory Products
Hilco - Sun Pod Sunclip System
Best in Marketing
Younger Optics - Art and Science of DriveWear Activated by Transitions Education Tour and Marketing Materials
Best in Lens Treatments
HOYA - Super HiVision
Best in Lens Design
Carl Zeiss Vision - GT2
Best in Exhibitors
Satis-Loh
Best in Lens Materials
Younger Optics - DriveWear Activated by Transitions
Here is the complete list of 2007 nominees.
I will try to have some more pictures of the event posted by the end of the weekend.
Popularity: 57% [?]
Posted at 11:15 pm | Comment (0)
17th November, 2007
Laramy-K Optical: Website of the Year 2007
Laramy-K Optical received the 2007 Optical Laboratory Website of the Year award this evening at the OLA in Indianapolis. We are proud and honored to be selected by you for providing the most value to ECPs, since the primary goal of laramyk.com is to provide value to the optical community. Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for us. Rest assured we have no intentions of resting on our laurels and have several projects in development to continue to improve the site and add value. Please remember, the resources on laramyk.com are for you and as with all aspects of our business we value your feedback and suggestions.
Thanks!
The Laramy-K Optical Team
Pictured: Jack Benjamin, Janet Benjamin, and Christie Walker
Popularity: 42% [?]
Posted at 12:46 am | Comment (0)
16th November, 2007
Gold & Wood Gets Green Nod from Treehugger.com
Intrigued by wooden eyewear frames, the folks at Treehugger.com decided to look at what goes into a pair of luxury Gold & Wood frames. While the trend toward greener products and processes has not yet taken hold in the eyewear industry, Gold & Wood gets a tacit stamp of approval from Treehugger.
Each Gold & Wood frame is still hand-crafted and assembled in Luxemburg, taking as many as three days to form a single pair of temples. Gold & Wood obtains their exotic woods including ebony, bubinga, rosewood, purple heart, and Brazilian kingwood only from accredited, sustainable forests. Wood frame components are comprised of 8 sheets of laminated veneer bound with hypoallergenic and biodegradable resin. Their buffalo horn is a by-product from cattle farms obtained via a process that is not harmful to the animals.
Curiously, however, Gold & Wood has not positioned itself as a green company. With the growing trend toward green business, I am surprised to not see optical companies following suit. Do you know of any optical companies going green or marketing their greenness?
Popularity: 42% [?]
Posted at 12:41 am | Comment (0)
15th November, 2007
Optical’s Marketing Deceptions
Today Seth Godin riffs about marketers that conceal versus marketers that reveal. I think marketers of businesses both small and large, in fact all of us, have been trained to put our best face forward and to conceal our faults. Many take this right up to and even beyond the point of dishonesty.
But, what happens when you put it all on the table? What happens when you reveal your short-comings along with your strong suits?
You reveal your integrity and engender trust in those that look to you.
Is it risky? Perhaps. However, safe is risky. I do believe the risk can be mitigated, by using less “er” marketing (better, faster, cheaper) and instead focus on providing value to customers.
Contrary to Seth’s assertion that revealing marketing is gaining traction, evidence indicates the trend in optical is in the opposite direction (the trend in politics also comes to mind). Here are a few common practices we see regularly:
- Labs and retailers jack up prices so they can give their customers 30 – 50% discounts.
- Labs list rock-bottom prices up front but make up for it with concealed add-on charges.
- Manufacturers call their molded lens designs freeform.
- Manufacturers release old progressive lens designs as the latest and greatest under a new name.
- Manufacturers release old progressive lens designs as the latest and greatest under a new brand.
- Labs give discounts but hide the fact the discounts are on “national” pricelists which their customers never see.
- And of course our personal favorite: manufacturers that require partner labs to sign contracts forbidding them from even mentioning their products in the same sentence as competing products unless it is to say their product is superior.
Wouldn’t some honesty and openness be refreshing? Wouldn’t it be nice, if you didn’t always have read between the lines? Sadly, it is a commonly held belief that openness does not sell. Sadder still, so much of the concealment doesn’t even benefit the companies that employ it. They simply do it because that is way it has always been done. I imagine we could all stand to learn a thing or two from The Great and Powerful Oz.
What are some of the less-than-open marketing techniques you see every day?
Popularity: 64% [?]
Posted at 12:26 am | Comments (4)
14th November, 2007
Growing Need For Vision Correction
A recent study was conducted by Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., University of Alabama at Birmingham that highlighted the link between uncorrected vision and depression in the elderly. Moreover, the percentage of nursing home residents with vision impairment may be up to 15 times higher than those outside of nursing homes.
The researchers concluded “This study implies that there are significant, short-term quality-of-life and psychological benefits to providing the most basic of eye care services - namely, spectacle correction - to older adults residing in nursing homes. These findings underscore the need for a systematic evaluation of the factors underlying the pervasive unavailability of eye care to nursing home residents in the United States so that steps can be taken to improve service delivery and eye care utilization.”
With the aging baby-boomer population and the alarming increase in obesity and diabetes there looks to be a significant gap in vision correction and low vision to be filled in the next 15 years.
Low vision resources:
Low vision articles by Thomas I. Porter, OD, FAAO
Popularity: 42% [?]
Posted at 9:48 am | Comments (2)
13th November, 2007
Stop Stealing Your Customers Blind!
Of course, you and I both know you are not stealing from your customers. Some would have people believing differently.
“As a retired Minneapolis optician I can tell you first hand that we bought our lenses in bulk and most single vision lenses cost less than $2.00 a pair, Bifocals and progressives cost us as much as $6.00 a pair. Frames ..Name brand, up to $10.00, same quality generics cost us much less. Online is the way I buy all of my eyewear, New glasses in under two weeks!”
The above is one of the quotes Ira Mitchell uses to substantiate his crusade against optical retailers and educate his readers on the virtues of buying eyewear online.
It all started a year ago with a bad experience at, well, you guessed it, LensCrafters, a subsequent decision to take a chance on purchasing eyewear online, and the post entitled Eyeglass Stores Are for Suckers. His blog post led to a considerable amount of internet buzz including a SmartMoney article as well as a number of other articles and blog mentions.
Because of the response generated, Ira decided to build an entire website dedicated to “shattering the eyeglasses scam.” On his website, readers can share their eyewear purchase experiences, review online retailers, and even store their own prescriptions.
I applaud Ira for his initiative, his willingness to help others save money, and his desire to right a perceived wrong. I would even go as far as to say he provides some very useful information for folks looking to buy their eyewear online. The most unfortunate thing about Ira’s struggle against The Optical Man is not the number of eyewear consumers he is sending to the internet away from independent brick and mortar establishments. Markets change and well-run business adapt. No, the saddest thing is Ira’s 15 minutes of fame has come at the expense of an entire industry of honest, hard-working opticians and optometrists doing what they can to ensure their businesses survive in the face of many other challenges threatening their livelihoods. Ira notoriety has come only because he is telling people they have been scammed, cheated, and taken advantage of all these years; not because he is showing them how they can save money. He has perpetuated the crooked optical myth by characterizing optical retailers as dishonest, fat-cats living the high life at the expense of the unwashed masses struggling to get by and having to choose between food and prescription drugs.
We know otherwise, unfortunately the unwashed masses don’t.
Popularity: 42% [?]
Posted at 2:24 am | Comment (0)
5th November, 2007
ABC Slams LensCrafters Opticians
An ABC affiliate in Fort Worth did what can only be considered a hit piece last week in which they had bifocal prescriptions filled at WalMart, Costco, Target, and LensCrafters then had three optometrists inspect the resulting lenses to determine if they met their standards. The WalMart and Costco lenses were within tolerances although the ODs failed Walmart because they used a material other than that written on the Rx. LensCrafters and Target (both owned by Luxottica) failed because their lenses were either out of tolerance or had crooked bifocal segments. The conclusion (as implied by the ABC news piece): LensCrafters opticians suck. They even quote one OD as saying, “On Friday you can be flipping burgers and on Monday you can be fitting people for glasses.” While the article may appear beneficial to independent opticals, I didn’t even consider writing about it last week since I see it as just another example of disgustingly sloppy journalism. A ‘test’ consisting of seven pairs of glasses, in one city, across four different stores can hardly be considered scientific or statistically significant; certainly not enough to crucify a chain with almost 900 stores across the U.S.
So, why am I writing about it now?
Apparently, the folks at ABC headquarters liked the piece so much; they decided to run it nationally on Good Morning America.
What do you think?
Popularity: 73% [?]
Posted at 8:58 pm | Comment (1)
5th November, 2007
6 Tips for Driving at Night with Corrective Lenses
Now that we are back on daylight savings time and many are commuting home in the dark, it is important to remind eyecare consumers about what they should and should not do to improve their vision while driving at night. Here are six tips to help do just that:
1. Never wear tinted lenses while driving at night – So called night driving lenses with any amount of tint or polarization only reduce the already limited amount of light available to your eyes making driving more hazardous.
2. Wear lenses with AR coating – AR coatings minimize distracting internal lens reflections which can be significantly more noticeable at night.
3. Have regular eye exams and ensure your eyewear prescription is up to date – Even slightly uncorrected refractive errors can make night time driving more difficult.
4. Make sure your corrective lenses are clean – Dirty lenses can limit your view and induce glare.
5. Make sure your windshield is clean – As with corrective lenses, dirty windshields will also limit your view and induce glare.
6. Make sure your head lights are clean and properly aligned – Dirty headlights can reduce efficacy by 75%.
Bonus Tip #1: Invest in a car with an infrared vision system – While not an option for everyone, cars with built-in infrared scanners can improve safety and certainly rate high on the coolness scale.
Bonus Tip #2: Invest in a car with auto dimming rear-view mirrors – A more accessible option starting to become a standard feature, auto-dimming mirrors can greatly improve comfort and safety while driving at night.
Popularity: 74% [?]
Posted at 4:34 pm | Comment (0)
1st November, 2007
10 Reasons You Should Start Blogging Now
1. Put a personal face on your business – Blogging allows you to have conversations with your readers and customers about things both you and they care about.
2. Make your online presence easier to find – Search engines like blogs.
3. A blog can supplement your existing website or be fantastic website on its own – If you are looking to build a website or replace the one you have, a blog may be the way to go. There are hundreds of free, very professional-looking templates available for all the major blogging engines.
4. Provide a vehicle for customer feedback – Blog engines allow you to enable comments so readers can immediately provide feedback and let you know what they thinking.
5. Improve your network – Blogging is a community activity. Blogging opens doors and allows you to build relationships with not only your readers, but with other bloggers, and influential people in your community.
6. Blogs encourage you to share what you know – If you want people to read your blog, you will have to share information your readers will find helpful or interesting. Avoid too much blatant self-promotion.
7. Establish yourself as a thought-leader or expert in your field – Consistently writing thoughtful and helpful blog entries will help build your reputation in your community
8. Improve your writing and thinking skills – To attract and keep readers you’ll need to post to your blog at least two or three times per week. Writing on a regular basis and coming up with topics to write about will almost certainly improve your ability to do both.
9. Blogging is free (except for your time) – Some of the best blogging engines available will host your blog for free.
10. Differentiate yourself - There are very few blogs in the in the opticial community. Blogging can be a way for you to stand out from the crowd.
Interested? Here are a wealth of blogging resources for beginners to help you get started.
Do you have an optical blog, or know of one? If so, let us know about it.
Popularity: 45% [?]
Posted at 9:25 am | Comment (1)
