2013 Accessories Supplement EyeCare Professional Magazine

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2013 ACCESSORIES & READERS SUPPLEMENT

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Accessories and Readers

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ECP MARKETING Lindsey Getz

ALL ABOUT

ACCESSORIES Selling accessories goes hand-in-hand with selling eyewear and can be a nice add-on sale. It’s also a great way to draw patients in when they may not be in the market for new eyewear. We take a look at the keys to success when selling four of the main eyewear accessories out there.

OPTISOURCE INTRODUCES Lady’s Line of Optical Tools OptiSource International has developed an exclusive line of hand tools specifically geared towards the smaller grip of their female customers.

The ten-piece set offers the most popular adjusting, cutting and specialty pliers. The innovative, lightweight design includes smaller handles, coated grips, and an internal spring design. Beside the tools being comfortable, petite, and nimble; each sale of the Lady’s Line Pliers contributes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“Our Lady’s Line of pliers are more than just a cute pink tool – they help women in the optical profession complete their job with ease and comfort; all while contributing to the fight against breast cancer,“ said Daryl Squicciarini, president of OptiSource. “The grip on the Lady’s Line goes through a three step process to create a strong tool that looks great and is comfortable to work with for hours.“ To view the full selection of Lady’s line Pliers, go to: www.1-800-optisource.com/ Ladys-Pliers.aspx

CASES Most eyewear does come with its own case or eye care practitioners are often inclined to give away a case with an eyewear purchase.

However, additional case sales can be a nice way to boost some extra profit. It’s also a repeat sales item that patients may purchase throughout the year. Many patients like to have more than one case or may wind up losing one. When your patients purchase eyewear, consider asking them if they’d also like to purchase an additional case to keep in their car or to have on hand if they misplace the original. Use the sale of the case as an opportunity to educate your patient on taking good care of their eyewear. Modern Optical and LBI Eyewear have a great selection of cases in many shapes and styles.

Cases are also an accessory that kids tend to enjoy. To them it’s a fun addition to the eyewear. When fitting children, be sure to talk to the parents about the importance of storing glasses in a hard case to keep them safe. You can talk about having additional cases to keep around the house, in their backpack, or maybe even in their desk at school. The cases available for kids tend to be brightly colored or may even have graphics or characters that appeal to their age group.

For tween girls, eyewear cases that come with little straps and are made to look like small purses are an easy sell.

Whether you’re selling to children or adults, the key to selling eyewear cases is to have them on display. By having various eyewear cases displayed in your dispensary, you may even attract some sales while patients are waiting for their turn and wander over to browse. Also, always be sure to utilize a case when selling eyewear in the dispensary.

After talking about a particular frame, gently return it to a case to reinforce the importance of taking good care of the frames. This also positions the eyewear as an item of “value” and may help make the overall sale more appealing.

CLEANING CLOTHS, TISSUES, AND OTHER “CARE” ITEMS While cleaning supplies like Nanofilm’s Ultra Clarity pre-moistened lens towelettes are smaller sale items, the fact is that they still hold important value in the dispensary. For one, they present an opportunity to discuss the importance of good care of the eyewear you sell. If patients are taught to take proper care of their lenses, they are more likely to be happy with the overall product. Smudged lenses is a common complaint among eyewear wearers but if these patients are taught to regularly clean their lenses with a cleaning product, they are more likely to take matters into their own hands than to assume it’s a problem with the eyewear.

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*

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Accessories and Readers

MODERN OPTICAL INTERNATIONAL Introduces Summit Optical Supply Modern Optical International has introduced Summit Optical Supply, where ECPs can find a variety of optical accessories and supplies at excellent prices. The extensive product offering includes a vast selection of cases, nose pads, screws, repair kits and more.

The quality, selection and competitive pricing for the cases enables many ECPs to include a case with their patients’ eyewear purchases. Both clamshell and slip-in cases are available in a wide variety of appealing styles and colors. Small, medium and large sizes comfortably store and protect any frame. Pricing for clamshell and slip-in cases is as low as 74¢ and 39¢, respectively.

Summit Optical Supply helps ECPs maximize patient satisfaction ratings by performing those very important in-office repairs quickly and easily.

The Deluxe Parts Kit, priced at only $199, contains a comprehensive selection of 3870 pieces valued at $600. In addition, the Deluxe Screwdriver Kit, priced at $99 ($199 value) provides nine different sizes of high-quality stainless steel screwdrivers. The quality screw-in and push-in silicone nose pads are also value-priced at 23¢/pair with a 200 pair purchase.

To view the entire product selection, please go to www.modernoptical.com.

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What’s also nice about eyewear cleaning products is the fact that they can produce repeat customers. If your patient is very satisfied with the product you’ve sold them, they may be inclined to pick some up every time they’re in the office. Over time those sales can add up. In addition, not all cleaning products are expensive. Hilco offers the value priced Opti Cloth® line, as well as the premium Ultra-Wipe® and Opti-Wipe® micro cleaning cloths.

Although cleaning and care products can become repeat sellers, if patients purchase cleaning products but never use them, they aren’t going to have a need to buy again.

Often patients are motivated in the first couple of weeks of owning their new eyewear to clean the lenses and take good care. But in time that enthusiasm can wane. To prevent this, walk your patients through an actual cleaning. Show them how to use the product and then ask if they’d like to buy their own.

To drive home the importance of cleaning, have them try on a pair of dirty, smudged glasses so that they can see the difference a good cleaning can make.

Readers are a “fun” purchase that is very separate from the main eyewear sale. It’s also a category that offers incremental sales or extra revenue. Shepherd says that customers are already looking for these things and it helps them enjoy their overall shopping experience at your dispensary instead of picking a pair off a cheap display at the drugstore.

Instead of competing with the Rx purchase, Shepherd says it’s something that just adds to the positive experience of looking for new eyewear. She calls it more of an “indulgence.”

The bottom line is that it can make your patients’ time in your dispensary more enjoyable, which equates to more memorable.

The other nice thing about reader sales is that many patients tend to buy multiple pairs.

And because they are a less-expensive eyewear item, they may enjoy coming back for future pairs if you’re consistently updating the styles you offer. To successfully sell readers, it helps to carry a mix of products in varying price points and designs. Some patients may be willing to invest in a brand name pair of reading glasses while others will not be willing to spend very much.

READERS

READING CHAINS AND JEWELRY

Reading glasses hold tremendous opportunity for eye care professionals, yet have traditionally been ignored. Most people wind up purchasing readers from their local pharmacy or discount chain. But why let a patient walk away from your office and buy those frames somewhere else when you’re the eye care professional? Even though readers are not prescription glasses, they still present an important category. Innovative new products like CliC from OptiSource would appeal to patients who want trendy and functional readers.

Reader holders have come a long way from the plain silver chains that your grandmother or local librarian wore. In fact, many of today’s reader chains look more like a piece of beautiful jewelry—perhaps made from unusual stones or various metals. But reader jewelry is one of those items that many patients don’t even know exist. If you have patients purchasing readers from your dispensary, reader holders and jewelry can be another nice add-on. It doesn’t take much to add a display such as a “jewelry tree” that could hold a few samples of reader jewelry.

ECPs who carry these items say it’s not uncommon for patients not to realize the “necklaces” are to hold readers—and not just a piece of beautiful jewelry.

With an aging population, there are a lot of opportunities to sell readers. The problem is that many ECPs are knowingly allowing their patients to get their readers elsewhere. During a recent “On the Road Sales Coach Program,” held by The Vision Council, Rene Shepherd, senior director of training and education for The Vision Council, said that a common reason that eye care professionals may shy away from selling readers is because they feel it will detract from their primary purpose— selling prescription eyewear.

But Shepherd says the idea that readers will compete with this primary sale is a myth.

MAKING THE SALE While all of these accessories sales pitches do take a little bit of extra time, the messages can be weaved into your everyday eyewear discussions so that it becomes as routine as selling frames. In some cases the patient might like the supporting accessories so much that it aids in the eyewear sale. And what ECP wouldn’t like to see every patient that goes home with a pair of eyewear, also go

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home with a bottle of cleaning product and a pair of readers? As we’ve been saying all along—those sales can add up. Shepherd stated that she’s heard eye care professionals say “I don’t want my optician wasting time on a small sale. I need them to make these big margins.”

“This also positions the eyewear as an item of ‘value’ and may help make the overall sale more appealing.”

But her answer to that is $5 is better than zero dollars and many ECPs are “pricing themselves out of an incremental revenue stream.” “You could put in a reader that cost $24 and mark it up to $40 or $45,” Shepherd said during her recent educational talk on selling accessories. “Five or ten dollars is definitely better than zero and these products can be positioned at smaller margins and create goodwill because any purchase creates a relationship with the patient.” I

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HILCO’S NECKLACE DANGLERS offer a chic way to marry function and style. Necklace danglers keep your eyewear close and safe when you need them while complementing your fashion sense.

For more information or to order contact Hilco at (800) 955-6544 or visit online at www.hilco.com

LBI Eyewear’s FEDUCCI SPEC MATE is a great case for both the home and the office. It’s available now in Black and Red. For more FEDUCCI Cases, and other LBI products, please go to www.lbieyewear.com

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