Capturing The Teen Contact Lens Market

There are many ways to entice potential contact lens wearers.  Here's how you can recruit the surging number of teen-agers and turn their curiosity into revenue.

BY SARAH C. GORDON, OD
JULY 1998

Competition in today's ophthalmic environment comes from a variety of sources, including other optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians and retailers. This means that professionals who want to stay in practice need to maintain a loyal patient base while attracting new patients, and reports indicate that contact lens patients tend to visit their doctors more often than spectacle patients. Most professional articles focus on marketing contact lenses to the growing number of presbyopes, but there's another increasing and perhaps more viable market for contact lenses -- teen-agers. In fact, the population of Americans between the ages of 15 and 19 is expected to jump 16 percent, from about 19 million in late 1997 to nearly 22 million by late 2010. Disposable contact lenses have made fitting today's teens a relatively easy task, and the teen market is easy to reach as long as you have a consistent marketing program.

Our practice has about 700 contact lens patients under the age of 19, with most of them wearing disposables. This article contains some of the techniques I use to educate patients about good vision at a younger age and to establish long-term relationships that lead to future referral opportunities.

Motivation, Need and Compliance

Regardless of the patient's age, contact lens success often depends on motivation, need and compliance. Youngsters tend to be incredibly body- and image-conscious during their teen years, making them extremely motivated to wear contact lenses. In addition to feeling that they need contact lenses to look good, many teens believe that they're necessary for their active lives. This is especially true after we explain how enhanced peripheral vision and depth perception that contact lenses provide can be beneficial during sports or other activities like dancing and cheerleading. Teens who are more interested in music, reading or social activities than sports also tend to want contact lenses for a self-confidence boost (see Pre-Teen Case Study on pg. 41).

We provide all of our patients with a Do's and Don'ts list (see sidebar) for handling their lenses. Even though we use this list to emphasize hygiene and train the patient about lens cleaning, we prefer to simplify compliance. Disposables are the only contact lenses I recommend to teens. Teens fitted with disposables for daily, biweekly or monthly wear need convenient, uncomplicated cleaning regimens. Therefore, disposables are the healthiest modality for teens, and I can fit most teens with available products.

Internal Marketing

A marketing goal to interest teens in contact lenses must begin in-house with a commitment by both the doctors and the staff. When a patient first calls our office, we expose the caller to contact lenses in three ways. First, our staff asks the caller if the purpose of the visit will be for contact lenses or for other eyecare services. Then after confirming the exam date, our staff plants another seed of interest by telling patients to bring their eyeglasses, sunglasses, contact lenses and contact lens solutions to their appointment. Our third approach is the message patients hear while they're on hold, which discusses the latest contact lens technology. With these simple efforts, we make our patients aware that we provide contact lens services.

At the time of the exam, the staff greets the patient, directs him to an exam room and places his eyewear on a table for the technician's evaluation. The technician verifies and records all eyeglass and contact lens parameters and information about contact lens care systems. The technician also takes a patient history, which asks about current or previous contact lens wear. If the patient isn't wearing contact lenses, the technician asks if he would be interested in them.

When I enter the room, I use the patient's eyewear to help me illustrate and recommend the most appropriate options. I offer all patients a complimentary pair of disposable contact lenses and present to both patient and parent the visual, ocular health and cosmetic benefits of contact lenses. The free pair relieves anxious parents of the worry that they will commit to the expense of contact lenses and find that their teen isn't responsible enough for wear and care.

Your enthusiasm about contact lenses is a crucial element in your presentation to the parent and teen. I can see a light in most teens' eyes when I say, "You'll be a great candidate for contact lenses," and they remark with, "Oh, I won't have to wear eyeglasses all of the time!" I can see that spark of self-confidence when they look at their parents and get a nod of approval.

Backup Spectacles Are a Must

I don't present contact lenses as a substitute for eyeglasses. All teens need to have both modalities, and I encourage this by explaining that there will be times when they'll remove their contact lenses and still need to see, such as if they develop an eye infection. I explain to the teen and parent that if the teen drives without wearing lenses or eyeglasses and gets into a car accident, my records, which report that the teen must wear prescriptive eyewear to drive, may be subpoenaed. I won't dispense contact lenses to a teen who doesn't already have or who doesn't plan to purchase a backup pair of eyeglasses. I also recommend polycarbonate, polarized sunglasses to protect contact lens patients from ultraviolet light and glare.

No doubt the purchase of contact lenses, eyeglasses and sunglasses represents a major monetary outlay for many people. Patients who plan to wear their contact lenses most of the time may not want to purchase $500 designer frames. That's why I offer three eyeglass plans for contact lens patients. They can order: single-vision, non-designer frames with spring hinges and polycarbonate lenses for $109; more fashion-conscious frames (between $125 and $175) with polycarbonate lenses at a 15 to 20 percent discount; or exclusive frames at no discount. We also give contact lens patients a 15 percent discount on sunglasses.

After I've discussed contact lenses and other visual needs with teens and their parents, I lead them to a contact lens technician and optician, making sure I reaffirm my recommendations. I'll say, for instance, "This is Mary and it's her first time with contact lens wear. She already has her lenses in place, but please help her choose a pair of eyeglasses. She'll need polycarbonate lenses with a 1.0mm thickness and sun protection." This way, the parents and the patient don't view the staff as trying to sell them an unnecessary product. It's important to get into the habit of transferring your power of authority to your staff so that you'll know your patients are aware of all new technology relating to their eye care needs.

External Marketing

It's helpful to put yourself in the world of your teen patients. We've done this by advertising in our local schools' football, recital and gymnastic programs. We've also used a Teen Day for this purpose.

For our first Teen Day, held in 1997, we mailed about 400 invitations to students from local high schools and middle schools, whose names were on a school directory we purchased from our local Parent Teacher Association. Teens who attended received a free pair of disposable lenses, T-shirts, music CDs and pizza. Vistakon shared the cost of the promotion. We provided free refractions and we rescheduled comprehensive exams for patients who had not been to an eye doctor within the year. Teen Day attracted 40 kids to our office. We were pleased with the results, but this year we may focus on grades four through seven to encourage even younger patients to try contact lenses. It's more traumatic for the parents of younger children to learn that their child needs corrective eyewear, and it's a good time to promote better hygiene.

In addition to providing regular free screenings to our community schools, we initiated a donation program for our young patients, much like what our local retailers have been doing for years. For every eye exam or purchase of eyeglasses or contact lenses, we donate five dollars to the patient's school, sending the money directly to the principal. The schools may use these funds for computers, supplies and field trips. Parents and school staff appreciate our support and, in turn, join their students in seeking us for professional eye care and eyewear.

Dr. Gordon is a partner, serves on the board of directors and is vice president of managed care at EyeCare Associates, Inc., in birmingham, Alabama. She is also a founding partner and president of Inverness Eye Care, P.C., and is president-elect of the Alabama Optometric Association.