I like my eye examinations to be fun and interesting. When I coach the pre-regs it is all about how to make each eye exam exciting and different for both the patient and optometrist, otherwise the role will become boring and routine very soon. Building a rapport, strong communication, enjoying a conversation and engaging with the entire team really can transform not only the optometrists’ day but also the entire patient journey.
Your first point of contact is the most important one as this is the time you can influence the patient’s mood. Did you know a patient will form their opinion in the first seven seconds of meeting you? We often make a pre-judgement on a patient on their previous record/dispense and usually appearance too.
Do we consider if they have had a terrible morning, are in a rush, or may be feeling anxious about the tests? Losing sight is feared the most out of all the senses. I had a very anxious patient recently, the minute I said ‘your eyes are healthy’, I physically saw him relax and a huge smile appeared on his face.
Develop a strong rapport
To communicate effectively with your patient you need to develop a strong rapport, you need to do this by allowing them to feel understood. Creating this rapport from the start can be done by matching and mirroring the patient’s body language and voice tonality. For example, if a patient uses certain words you would use the same words, if a patient uses hand gestures to explain things you would do the same, other examples include facial expressions, head tilts, tone of voice. This builds a bridge between optom and patient and eventually what you communicate to the patient they will begin to trust the information to be correct.
Giving great advice
Having built the rapport and trust you can now advise the patients of the products they require. Your advice will be valued that much more because of the rapport you have built. Using leading questions can influence their thinking, such as comparing their old and new prescription you can state ‘you can see much better with new prescription can’t you’? When the sight test is completed the famous three-way hand over is great because the advice is re-confirmed to a third party in front of the patient. As the advice has come from the optometrist and not the retail staff it will again hold more value.
There is often a lot of pressure for the optometrist to ‘sell in the consulting room’. Optometrists are often questioned on how they do this and often even monitored on the products they sell. This does not come easy to an optometrist and often we are uncomfortable in doing so because we feel it over shadows our clinical role and we do not want the patient to think we care more about what they spend and less of their health.
However, optometrists can reframe their thinking from ‘selling’ products to providing for their needs. A dentist/GP will give you products that may help you, you are simply doing the same. Contact lenses may literally change some one’s entire confidence, MAR will actually provide 10% more clarity, sunglasses will help prevent the UV from triggering cataracts to develop. You can advise the benefits and the decision is theirs. End the eye test with ‘do you have any questions?’ This again allows the patient to feel like you have time for them, and are not in a rush to see your next patient.
My biggest tip is enjoy the eye test, have fun, communicate with each patient as they are all individual and, who knows, you may even learn something. The number of holiday tips, restaurant recommendations, etc, I have had is simply amazing.