Business always has a bottom line. You may enthusiastically get your start-up launched with a view to helping a few people, but if you are not making enough money to pay your rent, staff, suppliers and yourself then you soon find your ‘bottom line’ kicked to the curb.
The ‘bottom line’ is the phrase I hear over and again, when I am travelling around the country delivering our CET Seeing Beyond the Eyes road show, which is for dispensing opticians and optometrists who are not investing in low vision services.
Most of you genuinely want, just as the politicians always say, ‘to do the right thing’ for low vision patients and deliver the vital services they need. You struggle, however, like the Chancellor losing nights’ sleep over his budget, to balance doing the right thing with doing the right thing financially. Put bluntly, you consider low vision patients to be low profit and low priority.
To put it in sharper focus, so to speak, in this article I am going to highlight some different numbers. Generally speaking, I am one of those who glazes over when reading articles like these. You know the kind of thing I mean: ‘Six reasons to commit to fit!’, ‘Five things you never knew about cheese!’ So it is with fair warning that I present my ‘Seven ways to make low vision services pay.’
One: Know your stuff
When you refer a patient to a sight loss service or locate other additional assistance for them beyond what might seem to be your remit, it may appear to be a lose-lose scenario, but it is actually a win-win.
By showing how fully aware you are of the needs of someone with low vision, and how informed you are of the other services available, you do not loosen your grip on your low-vision patient but gain a firmer one.
Having an empathetic, low-vision-informed optician can be as rare as finding the goose that lays the golden egg. And yet, that golden egg – and we are not talking here about the chocolate, foil-wrapped variety – will attract a raft of new clients as news of your gilt-edged customer service spreads to friends and family, who may include low-vision and fully-sighted people. And yes, contrary to popular belief, the low and fully sighted do interact and socialise together from time to time.
So, forget social media initiatives, do not waste money on ineffective advertising, simply let low vision patients sing your praises and then you can listen to your cash tills singing back at you in return.
Two: Plug the gap
Here is an interesting fact: people with low vision are more likely to buy a magnifier from a pound shop or a garden centre than from an optician (figure 1). A simple object, a huge support. But opticians are generally so poorly stocked with magnifiers that people with low vision are more likely to go rooting around plant pots and manure, or bleach and economy toilet rolls, than consult with a low vision expert when sourcing this vital piece of equipment. So, go plug that market gap. Stock a range of magnifiers (figure 2), offer a professional consultation service, and watch your low-vision client list and your sales bloom, without a bag of compost in sight.
Figure 2: Stock a range of magnifiers
You know lighting can help enhance vision, you may talk to your patient about the importance of this. Do not miss an opportunity, why not sell and demonstrate lighting to patients and make their lives brighter.
Three: Embrace the future
As an entrepreneur myself, I know that you make money by embracing, not ignoring, technological advances. If in doubt, ask Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg: you could try getting in touch by Facebook if they will not accept your calls. The same applies to assistive technology for low vision patients. Get on top of the incredible advances in this field, from video magnifiers to Orcam to Oxsight to large print phones, and you could also be on your way to your first billion (figure 3).
Figure 3: Keep up to date – (a) desk top electronic low vision system and (b) the OrCam unit
Many opticians and optometrists are wary of investing large sums in assistive technology, and imagine that it is prohibitively expensive but, as with everything, you do not need to buy the whole kit and caboodle. Talk to colleagues and existing low vision patients to get a sense of what tech is most useful. Good business is about doing your homework, assessing, reassessing and then doing your homework again. Sounds like a lot of homework, but in the long run it is worth it. There are many low vision suppliers happy to pay referral fees, if you gain the patients interest in their products.
Four: Up-sell with holistic add-ons
The more research that is done, the more we understand the multiple causes of sight loss. We now know, for example, that the regular consumption of certain vitamins can have a significant effect on reducing or delaying sight loss. So why are you not selling these alongside your other products? It is a golden mantra of business that it is the add-ons that make the difference between an end-of-year profit or loss. It is a simple equation: stock vitamins A and B, and C the positive impact on your balance sheet. Hopefully, you will see what I mean.
Five: Speculate with high-spec specs
If you can get your tongue around that, you are a winner. But it makes a valid point. Patients with low vision need high-quality sunglasses (figure 4), but too often end up going back to the pound shop because they do not have access to the protective models and expert advice they need. Get yourself up-to-speed on the tints - and the ranges - of sunglasses which low vision customers need for different lighting conditions, and you’re putting your business in the frame for success. Remember not all low vision patients want to wear stereotypical black glasses with dark lenses – many like to rock designer frames with cool coloured tints.
Figure 4: Cocoon tinted spectacles
Six: Profit from going the extra mile
Another good tip from the golden book of business savvy: if you are looking to build your practice, provide a service that nobody else is offering. Home visits, for example, are welcomed by many low vision patients, particularly those with more serious conditions, and of course the elderly. Also, think about how low-vision friendly your premises are set out. A few very simple adjustments in access and navigation could make all the difference and attract a whole new cohort of customers. Think about high colour contrast in your practice design. It could be a simple as having a wind chime outside your practice so patients know they have arrived.
Seven: Market strategically for success
You may think marketing is a waste of time and money. Target the right sources, for example GPs, health centres and low-vision support groups, and you are not wasting your time. This sort of marketing is essentially free and puts you directly in contact with the client base you need to be talking to.
So, there we are: seven pointers towards a better, brighter low-vision business. Protecting and enhancing the sight of low-vision patients should be firming up your bottom line, not leaving it saggy. Attending local groups and engaging with patients who have low vision can build emotional connections and loyal customers.
Cuts to low vision services: savage and short-term
Barely a month passes without news of further cuts to low vision services across the UK: a low vision centre closes somewhere, and the range of available aids is reduced somewhere else (figure 5).
Figure 5: Barely a month passes by without a low vision centre closing
As this slashing of services continues, what is becoming increasingly clear is that cuts to low vision services have been disproportionately severe even when compared to cuts in other optical services. It is an attack that seems particularly unjust when people experiencing serious sight loss face some of the severest challenges of any group of optical patients. Are we turning a blind eye to these patients?
But what have been the practical consequences of all these cuts? And what impacts are they having on the lives of people with low vision? Fewer centres, fewer options.
As the cuts bite, it is increasingly becoming the norm that many areas of the country have only a single low vision centre. This not only diminishes patient choice but also, for many patients with mobility issues, makes attending appointments increasingly stressful and problematic.
The diminishing of specialist services
When low vision services are reduced in number by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), it really is not the case of the same level of service being maintained by fewer outlets. The financial squeeze actually results in lower levels of service all round, and less choice for patients. Ultimately a tipping point is reached, where so-called ‘specialist services’ are so diminished that they can provide only the most rudimentary levels of support, and can barely be called ‘specialist’ at all.
We have already witnessed this with low vision services across England. It has reached the point where many people with serious visual impairments, instead of accessing official low vision centres, are choosing to visit their local garden centres or pound shops to buy magnifiers. They do so because they find that the garden centres actually stock a greater range of models. This is a truly shocking situation that cannot be allowed to continue.
Assistive aids and independent lives
For many people with serious visual impairments, assistive technologies such as magnifiers and digital accessibility tools provide the means to living a fulfilling and independent life. When these services are so drastically cut, not only are their life opportunities significantly reduced but – as they lead more restricted and less independent lives – the costs of providing effective care and support rise significantly.
But this is about so much more than saving money. Low vision patients deserve the very best of professional care, and the support, advice and direction of trained staff who can listen to their concerns, pre-empt potential issues and prescribe magnifiers and other adaptive aids that can genuinely improve their quality of life. The likelihood of a member of staff at a garden centre, however well intentioned, being able to provide this quality of care is clearly close to zero.
What can be done?
So what is the way forward? How can eye care professionals ensure that these catastrophic cuts to essential services do not further impact the care they provide to some of their most vulnerable patients? And how, indeed, do we look to restore funding to former levels, to ensure that all patients receive the quality of care that they deserve?
The answer must surely be in a concerted effort to make local funding bodies and the community at large aware of the catastrophic social and economic impacts of these cuts, and of such short-term thinking and planning. It is a campaign that must be combined with a clear demand for the complete reversal of this disastrous policy of cutting low vision services to the bone.
Maybe patients could be given an NHS voucher to take to certain high street practices for a low vision assessment. Once the patient finally has their low vision assessment, it is important to assess them in a holistic way, ask them questions about their home situation, mental health, hobbies and future aspirations to gauge a picture holistically and then refer these patients on to other services that can support them beyond optical magnification.
Daniel Williams is founder of Visualise Training and Consultancy.
If you would like to know more about how your business can make a real difference to the lives of people with low vision and its bottom line, come along to one of our Seeing Beyond the Eyes workshops by booking here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/visualise-training or contact me on 07472305268 or at daniel@visualisetrainingandconsultancy.co.uk.
To complement the course, we have produced an innovative resource pack which includes suppliers of assistive products and technology. Download your free copy at http://www.visualisetrainingandconsultancy.com/