Practice Metrics

Your Patient’s Most Important Reason for Lens Choice?

Some 26.8 percent of consumers responding to The Vision Council’s VisionWatch June 2012 Member Benefit Report said doctor or retailer recommendation most guided their lens choice while 13.3 percent said they simply chose the lens they previously wore. Some 12.8 percent considered the way the lenses looked most important while 11.1 percent said price was the highest priority. Some 7.3 percent said they most wanted the best lens regardless of price while 6.7 percent most wanted adaptive lenses and 5.8 percent placed the most importance on lens material. The remaining consumer responses regarding most important priority in lens choice were not statistically significant enough to be charted in the survey.

There are two numbers from this survey that are important to note. They are:
• 26.8 percent said doctor or retailer recommendation guided their lens choice
• 11.1 percent said price was most important

Some 26.8 percent of the people did exactly what the doctor told them to do. The doctor needs to recommend–I prefer the doctor to prescribe–in the exam room. When the doctor does this, it improves the odds of the patient actually getting what the doctor prescribed. Another important benefit from the doctor prescribing in the exam room is that it decreases the time needed in the optical. This improves the office flow, makes patients happier and creates a situation where patients will spend more money in the optical.

The second number to note from this survey is that price was the driver in only 11.1 percent of the people. In other words, 90 percent of the people said something other than price was the driver. Build your practice for the 90 percent, not the 10 percent. Train yourself and your staff to see price in its proper perspective. Value, not price, is what the majority of patients are looking for, so make sure you’ve trained your staff to make value presentations to patients.

So what’s your action plan for today?
1. Start prescribing–not recommending, offering, or suggesting–from the chair.
2. Stop worrying about price. Instead, focus on improving the quality of life of your patients at school, home, work and play by prescribing complete care and making value presentations to patients.

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