Tips for SRx Success
Sidebar to Safety Rx Eyewear feature in April 2006
VM
Tips for SRx
Success
VM
spoke with Gary Keen, district sales
manager for Essilor Industrial Sales, Charles Arensberg, president of Dispensers
Optical Services, and Mark Platter, president of Safety Rx Services.
Here’s some of their advice for ECPs looking to add SRx services in their
dispensaries.
Patience
Is a Virtue:
“The decision curve on this could be
years, there’s no instant gratification,” Platter told VM.
“You have to make a lot of calls. A lot of people try introducing safety
with a coupon offer and when nothing happens in a few months, they give up. The
people who are in the business today are survivors. Some practices see SRx as a
burden, but they’re the ones who don’t last long.” Arensberg
noted that dispensers need to have realistic expectations. “For each
safety eyewear pair sold, there is likely to be at least one second pair sold,
or more.”
All
Aboard:
Everyone in the dispensary needs to
understand this product and its customer. “Make sure the dispensing
opticians understand the opportunity for growth, and the program will be
successful,” Keen told VM. Understanding safety eyewear must come from the
top down in any dispensary. Keen suggests ECPs ask their vendors about ABO
accredited training
sessions.
Ease of
Dispensing:
While an eye exam itself might take time,
the ordering process for SRx eyewear should be a relatively quick process, less
than 15 minutes long, enough time to create a “good feeling” about
your dispensary, according to
Keen.
Facilitating
Business:
Providing package pricing and simple
solutions for companies that need SRx helps, as does on-site dispensing,
according to
Platter.
Attractive
Demographics:
These clients are coming in the door
gainfully employed; they are likely to have a vision plan for nonwork eyewear
and more likely to be married with children; and they tend to pay cash more than
most customers. Also, safety contracts can involve anywhere from 10 employees to
1000, and contracts with companies with SRx needs run for at least a year, if
not more. Since managers tend to hesitate changing suppliers and products due to
expense, providing quality services helps keep contracts renewed, and therefore,
less prone to fluctuations seen with dress eyewear
patients..
Low
Overhead:
These customers are coming in without any
need to advertise or lure then in. Once a contract is established with a
company, they are coming in--the eyewear is mandatory at
work.
Community
Involvement:
As the old maxim says, it’s not what
you know but whom you know. Platter suggests that ECPs involved in their
communities have exposure to business owners, and even a short conversation can
lead to a business deal. Dispensing Optical Services’ Arensberg notes that
approaching organizations like Kiwanis International, Lions Club, or Rotary, or
other local business groups, can lead to introductions. Even asking
patients--for whom you make dress eyewear--where they work might lead to a
connection, he
suggested.
Volume
Number: 20:05 Issue:
4/24/2006
© 2006
VisionMonday. All Rights Reserved
Posted: Mon - April 24, 2006 at 09:45 PM