Essilor Experts Program is Committed to Supporting Independent Eye Care Professionals

With economic declines that threaten practice performance, independent eye care professionals need resources and tools to help address patient acquisition, revenue, and staff retention now more than ever.

Essilor Experts is the premiere partnership program that is built on providing eye care professionals with the latest lens technology and the resources to deliver elevated care. The program includes tools and benefits to help attract and engage patients, while optimizing business results.

Reaching Potential Patients
By enrolling in Essilor Experts, independent eye care professionals can leverage the power of national media. EssilorLuxottica works to drive patient traffic to Essilor Experts practices, and practices can also receive prioritized and badged placement on the Essilor.com locator. This ensures that the practice stands out from the crowd and attracts the attention of prospective patients actively seeking premium eye care solutions.

Additionally, Essilor’s relationships and negotiating power with media partners such as Meta and Amazon, allow for the execution of highly targeted campaigns connecting potential patients to independent eye care professionals who may not have been reached with a practice’s advertising efforts alone. 

How it works: 

•Essilor Experts identifies potential patients and builds media strategies to reach them wherever they are, particularly online.

•Then, the program educates patients with information about Varilux and Eyezen and drives appointments to independent eye care professionals affiliated with Essilor Experts. 

•This helps the independent eye care professional increase the average selling price, as well as drive overall revenue.

One way Essilor Experts engages with potential patients is through popular channels they’re already accessing. This fall, millions of viewers who watch baseball on MLB.tv, view popular shows on leading cable channels, listen to music or podcasts on Spotify, and consume content on Instagram and Facebook, will see ads for Varilux or Eyezen that point to the Essilor’s eye care professional locator.  

Beyond building brand excitement with consumers, EssilorLuxottica’s powerful remarketing engine will re-engage with these consumers dynamically through programmatic channels, reinforcing the level of care each Essilor Expert practice prides themselves on, driving additional patients through the locator to book an appointment.  Essilor Experts have branded, priority listing on the locator, so they will be seen first by potential patients.

Independent eye care professionals who enroll with Essilor Experts also benefit from Smartbook, which seamlessly integrates with the program’s suite of benefits. This cutting-edge online booking and patient communication platform allows patients to book an appointment with an Essilor Expert directly from the Essilor.com locator or the practice’s website. Smartbook users see an average of $1400 per week in incremental product sales.* 

Appointments can be made at whatever time of day is convenient; 35% of Smartbook appointments are booked online after office hours.**

Best-in-Class Education
In addition to garnering patient attention, Essilor Experts helps members stay ahead of the curve with exclusive Insider Education events, both in-person and online. These events are designed to educate Essilor Experts on key industry trends and product innovations, ensuring eye care professionals are equipped with the latest knowledge to serve their patients. 

The in-person Insider Education workshops are full-day events, featuring exclusive content created specifically for the modern eye care practitioner. Attendees learn from experts in the eye care industry. These events are designed to educate eye care professionals and staff members, spark conversation with peers, and shed light on exciting new technologies. This year’s workshops have a 95% satisfaction rate among attendees.

With dedicated time for goal setting and interactive activities, and brand activations, attendees will leave feeling informed, refreshed, and inspired, taking actionable information and knowledge back to their practices – while also leaving with ABO credit hours. 

Essilor Experts members can also earn complimentary passes to the highly demanded Management Development Program powered by Leonardo, This MBA style program empowers offices with essential business skills to thrive in today’s competitive market. Over the six-month learning period, the program sharpens Practice Managers’ business operations skills, enabling them to increase profits while continuing to manage the day-to-day operations of their practice.  91% of graduates give the program a 5-star rating.

There are also opportunities to participate in the in-office partnership training, where members will gain access to proprietary dispensing protocols that empower staff members to enhance their recommendations, improve capture rates, and increase average selling prices. With Essilor Experts, education isn’t just a perk – it’s a cornerstone of success.

Whether you’re looking to get more patients in the door, up your advertising game, strengthen your office’s education, boost your sales, or some combination of all of these, the Essilor Experts program can help raise your practice up to the next level. 

For more information on the Essilor Experts program, click here. 

*June 2024 Smartbook user data compared to non-Smartbook Essilor Experts

**June 2024 Aggregate Smartbook Performance Data