The Patient Experience: Lessons from the Optical Jedi

Over the past 35 years in the optical field, I have experienced almost everything an optician might encounter. I’ve learned significant lessons during my nine-year stint in Beverly Hills, serving the stars of Hollywood. I’ve carried these techniques forward in the rest of my career, earning the status of “Optical Jedi” from my perspective. I hope you can take home some of these nuggets to your practices.

When you have celebrities as your patients, you learn very quickly there are real keys to keeping those patients satisfied. They are not used to hearing “no” from anyone, so, you must learn quickly and early to remove this from your vocabulary. While this can seem a little terrifying at first, in the end, it can truly be liberating. This opens your mind to the realm of possibilities. You are freed to say to that very same patient, “Let me see what I can do,” or better yet, “I will find a way to do this for you.” 

When you look beyond limitations and begin to think about how you can manipulate lens technologies to your will, you can truly engage your creative/critical thinking muscles and truly serve your patients like you’ve never done before.

Ritz it like a Mouse
The key to exceptional service is anticipating your patients’ desires and meeting them before they even ask. The core of this process blends the exceptional service programs of Disney and the Ritz-Carlton. Using a couple of key tools, you can crack the code of the ultimate “Disney Experience.” Along with some small but personal steps, you can ensure your patient will trust you implicitly for years to come.

For example, Disney employee name tags list their hometown or favorite character, so guests can find commonality with them. When you share just a little bit about yourself outside optical, it can lead to a deeper level of trust from the patient. Shared interests humanize you, so you’re not just a “salesperson.” Personally, I do this by asking the patient lifestyle questions, listening for anything that is a shared interest. Whether this is a shared love of Disneyland, ice hockey, books, Star Wars, or any of my other many passions, find what feels true to yourself to make your partnership with your patients soar.

Get to know your patients by doing some homework in their electronic health records. If it’s a patient you haven’t worked with before, you may not already have a whole lot to go on, but you can make some healthy suppositions based on some key demographic factors.

If your patient is older than 55 or has correction for high astigmatism, it’s safe to assume they have difficulty with night vision. You can make recommendations specifically designed to address their night vision issues. Transitions Gen S has been proven via clinical study to improve night vision — in part due to the improved management of light throughout the day, but also due to the increased blue light protection afforded in the technology. 

If the right questions are on your intake forms, you can also take hobbies and activities into consideration. For example, patients who like hiking may prefer glasses that fit better when hot and sweaty on the trail. Or perhaps they love playing video games in their spare time. This could lead you to recommend the Oakley PRIZM Gaming Lens or some other alternative product that maximizes blue light protection. Planning and preparing for your patients allow you to anticipate their needs.

Offer the Moon
We all know we occasionally face scenarios where things go sideways. Everything could have been executed correctly and with a smile at the time of ordering, yet the lab creates an unforeseen delay or a package gets lost. Suddenly you have an upset patient. We’ve all been there. A very useful method to calm down an upset patient is to offer way more than they might be asking for.

I understand the inherent fear of patients abusing this trust when you offer more, but here’s an example of why this fear is unwarranted.

When I was at my Beverly Hills practice, we did the Ritz-Carlton customer service training. Almost immediately after, I had a patient who called the office in a panic. She had traveled to nearby Catalina Island for her anniversary, and after arriving, she discovered she didn’t have her contact lenses. She called desperately asking me to overnight contacts to her on the island (this was Friday afternoon, by the way). I informed her that it was impossible to get them shipped that fast to the island, but I could drive the lenses to the ferry and bring them over for her. After being profusely thankful for my offer, she called back telling me I was offering too much and she couldn’t possibly ask me to do that.

Days later, I received a gift basket filled with wine, cheeses, crackers, and a note thanking me for attempting to help her in her most desperate hour. Not only did I avoid that trip, but she also thanked me with gifts just for offering!

Best Service is from the Heart
It is so easy to fall into rhythms in our business. We can lean on the old routines and treat each patient as just another number we have to see. With just the smallest bit of intention in your care, you can go from merely selling to a patient to caring for a patient. Listen to and anticipate their needs, and you will find you have a patient for life who will follow you wherever you want to take them!