This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.

Culture is not something you can create in a vacuum and expect everyone to believe. A company’s culture is something you can feel when you interact with it. For example, when you walk into a Starbucks, it has a unique personality in its look, feel, taste, and smell that creates expectations of a specific experience for customers. Ask yourself: what do patients feel about your office when they experience an eye exam and what is your office’s contact lens culture with respect to daily disposable lenses?
 
Your daily disposable lens culture starts in the front office. Look for ways to create the expectation around the latest and greatest in contact lenses at the beginning of every encounter. It could be in the form of innovative displays or in a video loop that plays in your waiting area, but you want to display the newest daily disposable contact lens designs in front of everyone from the start. 
 
Next, educate all staff, from the front office to technicians and opticians, on the variety of available contact lens designs. Allow them to wear the products so they become educated ambassadors for contact lenses within your practice. Make sure they know the “why” for every product your offer: Why do you prefer a certain daily disposable more than another? Is it comfort, visual performance, ease of working with that manufacturer? Whatever the reason, make sure everyone understands and can relay that part of your culture to your patients. Staff members are happy to share their positive experiences with patients and, in turn, may even create new patients who are willing to try something new.
 
Finally, wear the products you recommend if possible. It’s a powerful statement when you can say you wear or have worn a specific daily disposable contact lens. These ideas are key steps to creating a culture for contact lenses in your practice. Be consistent with that ongoing effort to grow your daily disposable contact lens business.