As eye care professionals, we know that providing exceptional care goes hand-in-hand with running a successful practice. One critical metric of success is your capture rate — the percentage of patients who purchase eyewear directly from your office. Increasing your capture rate not only boosts your revenue but also ensures your patients receive high-quality eyewear tailored to their needs. To improve your capture rate, it’s essential to focus on three pivotal touchpoints in the patient journey: the front desk, the work-up technician, and the doctor. I learned from working in a practice how important each role is and how everyone can play a unique part in reinforcing the value of purchasing eyewear from your office.
1. The Front Desk: Setting the Tone
The front desk is often the first point of contact for your patients, and as the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Your front desk team sets the tone for the entire visit, creating an environment of trust and professionalism. Here are three key things your front desk staff should be doing in order to help increase chances of getting a sale:
- Welcome Patients with Purpose: Train your front desk staff to warmly greet patients and subtly introduce the idea of purchasing eyewear. A simple, upbeat comment such as, “We’re excited to help you find the perfect pair of glasses today!” plants the seed early on.
- Share Pre-Appointment Materials: Consider utilizing your website to showcase your products that are available in store. Your patients will have the opportunity to browse brands and styles prior to their appointment. Vision Source offices are a great example of how this can be done. They link their in-store stock to their website and allow patients to pre-shop and even add items to their cart so opticians can have items pulled and ready to try on for their appointment.
- Plant the Seed: Consider adding a “styling form” to your patient intake forms that patients fill out before their exam. For example, you can ask your patients to give you more information about what brands they like, what their preferred style is, if there are any colors or shapes they want to try, etc. Once the intake form is filled out, pass it along to the opticians so they can start pulling product and have a better understanding of what the patient wants before they even meet them.
2. The Work-Up Technician: Building Momentum
The work-up technician is in a prime position to reinforce the importance of purchasing eyewear. They spend quality time with patients, gathering data and preparing them for the exam. This role provides an excellent opportunity to bridge the conversation between clinical care and eyewear. Here are some tips for your techs:
- Discuss Lifestyle Needs: During the pre-test, technicians should ask patients about their daily activities, hobbies, and work environments. Questions like, “Do you spend a lot of time on the computer?” or “Are you active outdoors?” can naturally lead into discussions about specialized lenses, such as blue light blockers, progressives, or polarized sunglasses.
- Highlight Optician Recommendations: Technicians can pre-frame opticians’ advice by mentioning that once the patient sees the doctor, the optician will review personalized lens options that work for their specific needs. For example, “Dr. Smith will come in and measure your prescription, then our opticians will go over the best lens options for your prescription and lifestyle needs. We’ll make sure you’re all set!” This primes patients to expect a conversation about eyewear and positions your practice as their trusted advisor.
- Showcase Your Frame Selection on Staff Members: Technicians should be wearing your inventory! Consider allowing your staff to choose products to wear from your inventory. Your employees are walking billboards.
3. The Doctor: Sealing the Deal with Expertise
The doctor’s recommendation carries significant weight in a patient’s decision-making process. As the trusted expert, you have the power to tie everything together and confidently guide patients toward purchasing eyewear from your office. Here’s how:
- Write Down Recommendations: The psychology of a doctor physically writing down a recommendation is rooted in several key principles of human behavior and decision making that can significantly influence a patient’s likelihood of following through with a purchase. It provides authority and credibility. Patients inherently trust their doctor’s authority, and seeing a written suggestion solidifies the doctor’s expertise. Written recommendations have been proven to carry weight because they feel formal, deliberate, and well-considered. Psychologically, it signals that the recommendation is not just an offhand suggestion but a medically necessary directive.
- Partner with the Optical Team: Seamlessly transition the patient to your optical team by having the optician walk the patient from the exam room to the optical for the final step of the visit versus allowing the patient to leave the exam lane on their own and go straight to the checkout desk. Don’t have enough opticians available to do this? Assign a float staff to help walk the patient to the optical and initiate the shopping experience.
Improving your capture rate isn’t about being pushy or sales-driven — it’s about enhancing the patient experience and providing great care. By leveraging the strengths of your front desk, work-up technicians, and doctors, you can create a cohesive journey that naturally leads patients to choose your office for their eyewear needs. Remember, every touchpoint matters, and together, they create a powerful system that benefits both your patients and your practice.