Marketing Contact Lenses in a Competitive World

By Robert A. Koetting, O.D., F.A.A.O.
SEPTEMBER 1999

Make your practice stand out from the rest with effective marketing know-how.

Competition is on the rise. When you consider how many practitioners are out there, you might be left wondering how you have any patients at all. But contrary to what you might think, other practitioners in the eyecare field really only represent a small and almost insignificant source of competition. If you learn how to satisfy both your patients' needs and their wants, there's no need to feel intimidated. This article outlines the building blocks needed for a competition-proof practice.

Great Expectations

Twenty-first century people will be into do-it-yourself lab work. Home tests for blood pressure, diabetes, pregnancy and even HIV are becoming quite common. Medical marketers estimate that diagnostic tests are used regularly in half of all U.S. households. Many people feel that by using these kind of do-it-yourself methods, that they are taking charge of their own bodies. This probably represents yet another form of competition, but it also leads to more patients selecting doctors who can do something that they cannot do for themselves. Thus, in this health- conscious age, patients are expecting more from their doctors, including information on lens types, ocular conditions and what they can do to keep their eyes healthy.

The following tips can help you motivate your health-conscious patients to seek and to rely on your advice:

• Make sure that your examination is thorough.
• Never refuse information to a patient without a completely logical reason.
• Suggest daily disposable lenses to reduce the chance of infection.
• Try punctal plugs for dry eyes.
• Recommend new materials for GPC or other adverse reactions
• Add videokeratography. New high-tech instruments are important to patients.
• Emphasize safety. Warnings are appreciated even if they aren't followed.

Matching Lifestyles

In this day and age, time is of the essence. Two income families shop at malls, from catalogues or via the Internet, and thus they expect prompt, complete and personal service during every visit to your office. Capitalize on these characteristic expectations by:

• Mailing replacement lenses or having them shipped directly from the supplier.
• Having convenient office hours.
• Making fax, e-mail, voice-mail or an answering service readily available.
• Saving time with daily disposable, planned replacement or extended wear contact lenses.
• Suggesting home inventory of spare lenses and solution
• Servicing the entire family at one visit.
• Training your staff to be prompt and efficient.

Disposables took a small step in simplifying lens care, but the fact is that handling contact lenses is the single greatest turn-off for new patients. Surgery sells because it proposes to eliminate most of the things that potential contact lens patients dread (handling, cleaning, insertion, removal, etc.). Many say, "We'll worry about presbyopia when the time comes, but I don't want to handle lenses now." Remember to recommend extended wear lenses to any potential patient who says, "I just don't have the time to put lenses in in the morning." Here are a few ways to deal with patients who fear handling lenses:

• Delegate instruction to a staff member with abundant time and patience.
• Reinstruct patients repeatedly if necessary.
• Never believe a patient who says, "I am sure I will be able to do it when I get home."
• Have patients demonstrate handling techniquesbefore they leave your office.

Everyone Wants Quality Service

Regardless of whether the economy is doing great or not, Americans will continue to reach out for name brands and upscale merchandise. There are an amazing number of people who seek surgery simply because they've previously had bad experiences with contact lenses. When someone says, "I tried them once, but couldn't wear them," my standard reply has always been, "Did you ever buy a pair of shoes that didn't fit? I see that you are not barefoot now, so you must have been willing to try again." Talk about new developments and offer personalized service. Patients must perceive that you offer top-quality service. Here are some recommendations that are sure to keep your patients satisfied:

• Emphasize "customized" contact lenses.
• Let them know that you can supply anything they've seen advertised.
• Suggest RGPs or toric soft contact lenses for astigmatic patients.
• Tell them about any new products that could benefit them.
• Make your patients understand that disposablelenses are a luxury, not an inferior substitute.
• If you dispense "private label" products, make quality control your selling point.
• Pay attention to details.
• Try new bifocal contact lenses on presbyopes.
• Remember that people don't trust cheap pro-ducts. They will pay for quality care.

I'm Still Not Convinced

Direct consumer advertising has offered brand-name recognition to patients who once trusted their doctor to make all of the necessary decisions for them. This can give credit to the lens manufacturer for supplying satisfaction, when in actuality, it really results from the dispensing practitioner's skill. On the other hand, mature patients feel more confident with names they recognize. To benefit from direct consumer advertising, be sure to:

• Recommend name brands judiciously.
• Show patients that they can trust you.
• Show stability. It's essential.
• Make refunds.
• Admit mistakes.
• List specific benefits in brochures and in the Yellow Pages.

Refractive Surgery Answers

Enterprising practitioners have begun taking a pro-active approach to refractive surgery. Laser surgery centers are opening everywhere and independent surgeons are marketing their service directly to consumers. Quite logically, patients are coming to their eyecare providers with many questions. So, first and foremost, you must learn to reply in a non-self-serving, knowledgeable way, clearly putting a patient's best interest ahead of all else. Handled correctly, this modest challenge will make you an authority on new technology.

But what about those patients who can truly benefit from laser surgery? The best time to discuss the risks and rewards of surgery with patients is when they're seated in your exam chair. Talk about the expected surgical outcome and the long-term outlook. Even if they don't ask, parents of a 12-year-old contact lens patient can be told that surgery may be an option for their child in a few years.

Establish yourself as an authority. Whether you wish to be involved or not, patients pay for and expect your professional advice. Discussing non-surgical alternatives, such as orthokeratology or new lens materials will seem logical and acceptable once you have proved to the patient that you are truly concerned about what's best for him and not solely about making a profit.

Here are some hints to help you accomplish this difficult task:

• Co-manage surgery cases.
• Reassure patients.
• Develop a specialty practice.
• Refit with newer lens parameters or materials.
• Recommend "add-ons."
• Prescribe contact lenses.

Spreading the Word

Recognize that every patient who comes into your office has friends, relatives and neighbors who are bound to hear a lot about how you treat your patients. Later on, some of these people may recognize your name on a panel. Others may call because their own plans don't cover contact lenses. Still others are seeking a doctor who will pay attention to their wants and not just their needs. Remember, there is no such thing as an unimportant patient.

Have a Realistic Fee Schedule

Because contact lenses are often viewed as a commodity, the best way to restore profitability is simply to be paid in full for your professional services instead of for the products you sell. Trying to avoid mail-order replacements by refusing information merely alienates patients. A moderate replacement fee combined with a realistic explanation of your services and a true cost comparison can eliminate this form of competition.

Avoid free trial fittings. When a patient has little or no money invested, his motivation will be very low. Things that are free are rarely valued by the owner. Chair time equals chair cost, and time spent with an under-motivated, non-paying patient can seldom be justified.

Understand the Demographics

Since you can't take care of everyone, focus your expertise on the patients in your own office. It's important to understand the demographic make-up of your patients in order to serve them correctly and to understand what they truly want.

Kids -- Youngsters represent one-third of the contact lens market. They experience decision making more often today than in past years due to living in single-parent homes and living with working families. They learn to be consumers by asking their parents to buy them things and they can often place an enormous amount of pressure on their parents when they want something. Furthermore, when properly nurtured, children will become patients themselves in the future. To appeal to children:

• Talk directly to them, never through their parents.
• Show them recognizable frame brands and styles.
• Remember that fads and peer pressure seduce teenagers.
• Talk about appearance.
• Remember that they are not seriously inhibited by economic considerations.

Young Adults -- Many young adults have huge debts and are in their parenting years. One-third of them have already experienced divorce, and because many are children of absentee workaholic parents, they have become accustomed to making important decisions on their own. Generally speaking, young adults place an increasing emphasis on their family as they enter into middle age. This group has little time to spare and many demands on a relatively high income. To comply with their needs, try utilizing the following tactics:

• Avoid any emotional reaction to their questionsor challenges.
• Be sure to answer the "why" of everything.
• Show stability.
• Let them know that you are trustworthy.
• Help save patients' time by consolidating appointments and reducing the length of time they spend in your office.
• Be prepared. They like to shop and have only limited loyalty to providers.

Brand New Presbyopes -- Children of the 1960s are emerging presbyopes who would do almost anything to avoid wearing spectacles. They expect personalized service and are willing to pay for it. As a rule, they also exhibit very little serious loyalty and will take their business elsewhere when dissatisfied. Many baby boomers often care less about a product's benefits than about how a product fits into their lifestyle. New presbyopes want to be served, whereas older traditionalists want to be sold.

Here is some additional advice to keep in mind when dealing with this largest demographic segment of our population:

• As a group, baby boomers look for quality andexpect to be pampered. When they ask abouthigh fees, say, "You deserve it," and they will usually agree. Remember that this was the "me" generation.
• Recognize that they are sensitive about theirage. No one wants to get old.
• Appeal to those who are fanatically concerned with fitness and having a youthful appearance.
• Emphasize the cosmetic value of contact lenses.
• Recommend them for sports.
• Treat new presbyopes like younger people.
• Don't keep them waiting.
• They want to make their own decisions. Present the facts, then sit back and listen.
• Offer compliments, praise and interesting comments about new things.
• Set an example. Wear contact lenses yourself.

Young At Heart -- Though people born before World War II seem to show a disproportionate lack of interest in contact lenses, they control 80 percent of the nation's wealth and therefore should not be ignored. Because most recent "senior" activities lump all older people into a monolithic mass, you should treat each one individually by:

• Listening to those older patients who are generally unhappy with managed care and who really welcome suggestions for something better.
• Emphasizing brand names they trust.
• Staying with familiar subjects in conversation.
• Speaking to them as if you are the same age.
• Avoiding stereotyping.

Finding Your Niche

Print and broadcast advertising is all too common. Your real challenge is to find a unique way to reach your prospective patients. Seminars and lectures can be the most effective and inexpensive way to communicate with those who have significant refractive problems. LASIK, PRK, radial keratotomy, Intacs or orthokeratology all make fine subjects. Invite people to your office to discuss various specialty topics such as these.

No matter how the event is publicized, past trials have shown that a small group of people will show up, and an even smaller number will actually become candidates for surgical procedures. Nevertheless, such seminars will:

• Perform a community service.
• Show that you and your office are up-to-date.
• Provide opportunities for co-management and post-surgical contact lenses.
• Improve inter-professional relationships.
• Introduce you to people who just want to get rid of their eyeglasses.

Identify the types of individuals you are trying to reach and develop that niche. Whether you send direct mail to local zip codes or newsletters to prospective patients, you must have a target audience in mind. Print, broadcast media and Web site advertising are effective, but you'll waste a lot of money if you don't have a sense of direction.

Analyze the competition if you must, but never let competitors set the rules for your practice! CLS