Optical lenses make up a sizeable portion of any practice’s revenue but samples are often consigned to a drawer. Rodenstock is looking to change that mindset with a dynamic system that helps customers better understand the power of the lens and the science behind it.
“The ultimate tool.”
That’s high praise for what appears to be a simple mechanism for helping optometry patients better understand what they are purchasing – and for practices to upgrade on those purchases.
But Ms Sonya Broadhead is so impressed and passionate about this particular item that when she’s asked if she would recommend it to other practices, her reply is emphatic:
“Not in the Illawarra – no!”
It’s not just that Broadhead, the owner of See Side Optical in Thirroul, a southern Sydney coastal suburb, is protective of her patch. It’s also that she understands how this item and the products it promotes helps her business stand out in a competitive marketplace.
The object that she is so enthusiastic about? Rodenstock’s new B.I.G. Vision Lens Experience system.
The system is a physical hub within the practice that serves as a conversation-starter, an education point, and a decision-making tool all in one.
Patients can explore their vision needs in a hands-on way, seeing and understanding for themselves how the latest biometric lens technology can transform their vision.
For practice owners like Broadhead, the B.I.G. Vision Lens Experience system is more than a display. It’s a bridge between cutting-edge lens technology and the human experience of vision turning science into something patients can touch and see.
The display – which comes in three different sizes depending on a practice’s space needs and specialisation – features magnetic modules covering different topics, including physical features of the lens, thinness, how fast it reacts to light and dark, and the scratch resistance of its coating, which can be easily upgraded and switched for launches of new products or maybe a focus on specific visual issues.
There are also other interactive tools, including touch screens and a torch to help demonstrate how a lens changes in different light.
But to Broadhead, the display is so much more than a clever tool to help upsell lenses and grow awareness of Rodenstock products.
Like the monolith that was a key marker of human evolution in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, she believes this modern totem is a sign pointing to the future of optometry and optical dispensing.
“I think as independents, we need to start looking at the most important thing and becoming more medical,” she says.
“We’re trying to differentiate ourselves and be more in the health or medical fields, rather than in fashion and the two-for-one sales. That’s where we’re trying to align ourselves.
“And the way to do that is behind lenses and showing the technology that is there,” she says.
Lenses make up a significant portion of a practice’s revenue, about 50% according to Rodenstock Australia marketing manager Ms Rozalb Naqshbandi.
But they are largely invisible in most stores.
“Frames have so much advertising and I guess it’s advertising for lenses which is really lacking,” says Broadhead.
“This [Rodenstock’s display system] is what you should have in place of over half the stock on your shelf, because this is what’s going to increase your average selling price.”
She has witnessed that for herself since installing the B.I.G. Vision Lens Experience system over six months ago.
Many customers were visiting the practice, their minds set on simple single vision lenses for reading.
But after talking to Broadhead’s staff and using the interactive information on the display, they understood the advantages of using the Rodenstock Office Lens instead and were happy to pay more for the premium product.
“We do a lot more of what we call digital office lenses rather than readers now.”
She says the display is the “ultimate tool” for her optical dispensing team.
“Everybody looks at the frame, and there’s so much branding and fashion around the frame, but at the end of the day, what you’re selling is vision,” she says.
“From a customer’s point of view, we’re selling something they can’t see. They’re going off our word as to what we’re going to give them. And when you put a wall in there that they can physically touch, then they can see something that they’re going to purchase.
“It’s going to give customers more confidence in what they’re receiving from you and more confidence in what they’re purchasing as well. And even when trying to explain things to a customer, this makes it just so much easier – they can physically see and touch the items.”
Naqshbandi agrees that frames are an essential product for an optometry business.
But she feels lenses are due their day in the sun.
“The B.I.G. Vision Lens Experience system helps to make lenses more visible in the practice,” she says.
“Traditionally, you would have some samples, which most of the time live in a draw somewhere in a practice. You will have an iPad or another form box device; you might have some tools and other things.
“It’s basically all over the place. This concept brings everything together, all the physical aspects of the lens that are bread and butter for the practice.”
The displays are designed to be easy to mount on a wall, and practices can choose to have systems with three, six or nine removable modules.
Also, those modules can be updated easily if a new coating or lens is launched, or if a practice is keen to focus on a specific aspect of eyecare.
Training to use the system is minimal, especially for practice staff familiar with Rodenstock products, and language used is patient-centric.
“It’s designed to help patients understand and grasp the concepts,” says Naqshbandi.
“It’s not very technical, it’s not optometry slogan, just language and tools they can engage with.”
Feedback from practices using the displays has been positive.
Many of those had started with the smaller versions and then decided to order the bigger displays, she says.
Broadhead recommends that practices use the displays as part of their work to stand out from other businesses.
Just not in Illawarra, perhaps.
More reading
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Rodenstock expands glazing lab network with Tasmania site
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