It’s all about communication,’ says Candy Mulock, group manager for Surrey Opticians, summing up the new approach the four suburban practices are taking to supporting new contact lens wearers. And since adopting Alcon Vision Care’s ETIP (Enhanced Trialist Interaction Protocol), that approach would seem to be working.
‘We first heard about ETIP when our Alcon consultant came along for a meeting with us. We thought it was a fantastic idea,’ says Mulock. ‘We had been using something similar but not nearly as thorough. We were just giving patients our phone numbers and asking them to call us if they had a problem.
‘I’d say to younger patients in particular – for the first time they applied and removed their lenses – please ring me when you’ve taken them out, just so I knew they’d be safe and more confident. But ETIP was a real step ahead of that set-up so we decided to give it a try.’
In September, all four practices were closed for a staff training day led by two Alcon consultants. The day including role play to make the experience entertaining. So how was the concept received by the team?
‘When anything new comes along, staff are always a little bit apprehensive because they think they’re going to have to do more work! But in general, it made everything easier. Patients’ details were written in the logbook, there were times recorded when it was convenient for us to call the patient. It was a really positive process. And our staff are really used to it now.’
Each practice records how many new contact trials it undertakes and how successful these have been according to the Trial-to-transaction ratio, the number of transactions (direct debit sign-ups or cash purchases) divided by the number of new contact lens trials times 100.
And as Mulock explains, simply keeping a log for each patient seems to encourage staff to help them succeed. ‘When you look at the name written in the logbook, you want that patient to be successful. Before, they’d come along and have a fitting, maybe come back for a check-up and then they went off the radar.’
In fact the Trial-to-transaction ratio has increased since implementing the ETIP approach. And an unexpected finding has been a greater focus on contact lenses in general.
‘Looking at our key performance indicators on a weekly basis, I do believe that our new fits have increased too,’ says Mulock. The contact lens side had started to drop a bit and the 3-4 months prior to introducing ETIP were looking flat. But by the end of October we’d already started to see an upturn.’
Mulock says staff are now more confident speaking about contact lenses because they have more knowledge. ‘It’s definitely made a big difference to their attitudes to contact lenses. With our meetings, before we never really emphasised contact lenses when we discussed KPIs. It’s now one of the things we highlight – not just selling spectacles. We’re actually speaking to most of our patients about contact lenses because there are so many that can be fitted with them.
Building relationships
A key element of the ETIP approach is a structured follow-up call to the patient, made up to three days after the fitting. The logbook includes a page for the practice to record each patient’s responses to a series of key question prompts (see panel opposite).
Cynics might question whether a single phone call can really make that much difference but Mulock insists that proactive communication is the key. ‘If you go and buy a product, you’re using it and somebody gives you a call to see how you’re doing, it makes a difference. If the patient is having any bad days we can give them advice to get through that, see what they’re doing wrong and help them improve.’
‘It’s just keeping up to date with what the patient’s doing and how they’re getting on. And what is it they wanted to achieve in the first place – their goals when they first started? It’s reminding them about their main reason for coming in.’
One issue in particular has been highlighted by the calls. ‘A lot of patients that dropped out before were embarrassed because they were unable to do the application or removal, or didn’t feel their prescription was comfortable enough. If you’re ringing them up, if they need to have another teach session or if they’re not getting the best out of the lenses, they can come in for an early aftercare and a possible refit.
‘People don’t really like to tell you they’re finding things difficult but if you have a casual conversation, they know you and trust you and build up a relationship with you. They’re more relaxed and more likely to tell you what the problem is.’
For Mulock, the new approach has made a big difference to the practices’ ability to retain new patients. ‘So far I believe we’ve only actually had one dropout: a patient in her mid-50s with multifocals and dry eyes who, despite us tweaking her prescription a couple of times, couldn’t achieve the vision she wanted.’
Looking ahead, there may be more opportunities to keep in regular touch with contact lens patients, beyond the early stages of lens wear. ‘In future we might like to send patients a card saying “hope you’re doing well” and reminding them that new products are coming on the market all the time. The more communication you have with your customers, the more chance you’ve got of keeping them!’
It's a bloke thing
On Day 3 with his first contact lenses, patient Alan Moore is already seeing the benefits and getting to grips with lens handling, although not everything is going to plan…
What has your contact lens experience been like so far? I love them! I had problems one morning getting the right lens in but I’ve learnt to do the left eye first and then go to the right eye afterwards. That seems to work. I do them on the dining room table with a mirror right in front of me. I wore them two hours the first day, four and then six, and now I’m wearing them most of the working day.
Given that you wanted to wear lenses for sport, how do your contact lenses compare to spectacles? When I played golf on Wednesday they were brilliant.
What’s the comfort been like with your lenses? I found that if they were irritating, when I went into the fresh air the cold air seemed to help. I was fine after that.
How’s the vision been with the lenses? The vision’s perfect. No problem at all. I can see the computer – it’s just like wearing my glasses, if anything a bit better.
How do you get on with deciding if the lenses are the right way round or not? I haven’t made that mistake…yet. I look at the lens a couple of times and make sure it looks like a Cornflake bowl!
How have you got on applying your lenses and how easy do you find removing them? Getting them out is easy – I can do that straight away now, first time. I don’t even really have to look. I tend to struggle with getting them in the right eye but if I go for the left eye first, then it works fine. One lens settles straight away and the other within 2-3 minutes.
How do you find cleaning the lenses? Er…I’m a bloke!
Is there anything we can improve on or we could help you with? The only thing I’d say is, someone said to me just keep trying and trying. It’s the habit of getting up in the morning and putting them in. Most days I go for the lenses. If I’ve got five minutes to do this I can get it done, in one go. If I’m rushing I can never get it done. It’s like taking them out – now I’ve got the knack of taking them out they come straight out, straight away.
I’ve fallen asleep a couple of times on the sofa for 10 minutes or so. I can feel them sticking a bit and they feel dry. I thought what’s going on here? When I start dozing off I’ll take them off now.
So what was Alan’s verdict on the follow-up call? Giving me a call is a good idea. It makes sure you’re on the right lines. I’ve never thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ It’s definitely a good idea to help you all the way through – you’ve got to do that haven’t you?
Find out how Alan gets on at his first aftercare in our final part of the series
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New CL wearer from trial to transaction – part 1