After heading up the Seiko Lens UK team in the position of commercial manager for the past 18 months, Jonathan Cohen is bursting with enthusiasm for the lens brand and its potential to help independent practices and their patients.
‘Seiko has been around the UK lens market for 20 years now and, when I came into my current role, there was already a strong foundation in place,’ says Cohen. ‘When I started, the very first thing I did was go around the country and ask our clients why they chose to work with Seiko. A reason that consistently came back was centred on the company’s philosophy around customer service and, specifically, the human connection between our staff and staff at practices.’
Seiko currently supplies lenses to nearly 300 independent practices across the UK and, in addition to the strong bond created by customer service, Cohen believes there are four key attributes that motivate practices to work with the brand. ‘First, is the brand recognition,’ he says. ‘We are unusual among lens suppliers in that Seiko is a truly recognised brand among consumers, thanks to the high profile and positive image of Seiko watches.'
Seiko was founded in 1881 in Tokyo and the word means precision in the Japanese language. Cohen notes that, in 2023, Seiko is positioned as a premium brand within the watch market, a standing demonstrated by the opening of a brand boutique on Bond Street, London, last year.
‘We look at the attributes of the watch brand and mirror them with the lens business,’ he says. ‘Premium, high quality and precision. When you watch the 100m sprint at the Olympics and other global athletics meetings, it is timed by Seiko. That encapsulates the precision associated with the brand.’
Cohen says that the second area of strength for Seiko is its product range. ‘We did a customer satisfaction survey shortly after I joined in order to understand what we were doing well and what we needed to improve,’ says Cohen. ‘Product quality came back very highly rated, so I say this is the second pillar of differentiation for Seiko.
‘I think it is fair to say that Seiko lens products are widely recognised for their aesthetic qualities thanks to unique technologies. I would draw particular attention to our wide tint portfolio and our single vision double-aspheric lens.’ Cohen says that the latter is a niche product that can be leveraged by practices because it is a super thin lens even at high prescriptions and ‘cosmetically you can really see the difference’.
He also draws attention to Seiko’s Brilliance progressive design and the quality of the company’s coating offerings.
‘Brilliance really takes into account the lifestyle of the patient,’ says Cohen. ‘The dispensing process involves a number of questions being asked to the patient via an iPad to determine their lifestyle. That information informs the design, which is highly personalised to individual patients.
‘As for our coatings, we have some specific manufacturing processes that ensure high quality and I believe that we have some of the very best products on the market. All companies will make claims like this but, hand on heart, I can say that the feedback from our customers is phenomenal. We are so confident in our coatings that we have a three-year no quibble guarantee on them.’
The third pillar of differentiation involves helping to optimise a practice’s patient journey. ‘Number three for me is something that is very interesting and is going to keep evolving, says Cohen. ‘In the modern lens market, I believe making excellent, right-first-time, products and delivering them on time is not enough to make you stand out, even though it is hard to do.
So with our third pillar of differentiation, we are looking at the patient journey from before they come into a practice, through to collection and after they leave. Throughout that journey we are constantly looking to innovate and add new services to help our client practices.’
For the fourth key attribute, Cohen identifies the assistance Seiko offers independent practices on the business side.
‘We design our marketing strategy and financial offers in order to help our customers,’ he says. ‘When a customer decides to partner with Seiko, we are very happy to invest back in their business.
'We have many customers that we help to expand with a testing room, a refurbishment or buying a measurement device. We are happy to support anything that is going to help customers grow and benefit the partnership. Combining all four of these attributes adds up to what we call our precision promise to our customers.’
Premium focus
While some lens companies aim to be all things to all practices, Seiko is optimised to serve high-end practices. ‘We have a relatively small team, so we try to apply our resources where we believe it makes most sense,’ says Cohen.
‘That means we are aligned with that top section of the market that operates in parallel with Seiko’s premium brand positioning. We are focused on independent practices, and, within the independent sector, we are focused on the top tier. That’s where we invest our money, time and resources.’
Discussing the needs of the independent practices, Cohen feels it is important that the sector differentiates itself from multiples in a way that avoids competing on price and thinks strategically beyond the short-term. ‘Independents absolutely must think long-term,’ says Cohen. ‘You need to have a vision for the next one, three, five and 10 years ahead.
'And you must be flexible and adjust your specific plans as you progress. Having an overriding vision for a practice is very important and you must commit to keeping that in mind as you make adjustments to achieve your more short-term goals. Whatever happens, do not compromise your vision because otherwise it will be off-putting for your customers and confusing for your staff.’
Cohen feels that, after more than a decade working with independent practices for lens companies, he has a good view of what works and does not. ‘My key observation is that the practices that are still around and still growing are those that are very, very clear on what they are and what they are not,’ he says.
‘They have willing, happy teams of staff and, because of that, happy patients. It’s not easy, it’s very hard to achieve. But they’ve decided to have a long-term view of their business. They have a vision and a sense of purpose, and the execution, strategies, and tactics cascade down from that.’
Cohen notes that Seiko’s own vision is based around improving the company through the engagement of the people who work there. ‘We constantly think about how to maintain and drive employee engagement,’ he says. ‘Whatever short-term issues we face, we will never compromise with regards to our people. We need to deliver consistently excellent service to our customers and our ability to do that rests on our staff being engaged and motivated.’
Social media assistance
Going into more details about business services that Seiko offers to its clients, Cohen highlights assistance with social media.
‘One of the things that we have launched this year is Social Media Manager (SMM),’ says Cohen. ‘This is available for free to all our Seiko Vision Specialists, which is what we call our network of clients.
SMM is a piece of software that plugs into social media channels and greatly reduces the amount of time a practice team member needs to spend creating and uploading content. SMM is a great tool for independents that are looking to maximise social media without investing a lot of time or money, and is part of a suite of products that drive traffic to an independent practice.’
Another supplier offering that Cohen feels is of paramount utility for independent practices is Seiko’s Family and Friends scheme.
‘I think that multi-item offers are a massively untapped opportunity across the optics industry,’ says Cohen. ‘Think about the number of shoes a person has for different activities and environments and I believe the same rationale can apply to glasses.
‘So, we’ve come up with a concept called Family and Friends, which takes the standard discount on multiple pairs but, uniquely, allows the second pair to be for a family member of the patient. We’ve done this to drive traffic to our independent clients in the manner of the refer-a-friend offers that have become very popular as a marketing tool. We see it as a way of supercharging word-of-mouth for our practices.’
Cohen reveals that the range of myopia management Miyosmart lens products will be included in the Family and Friends offer for the first time from early November, 2023. ‘As part of Hoya Vision Care Group, Seiko is able to offer Miyosmart products and it will be fantastic to include them in the offer,’ he says.
‘A child will be able to get two Miyosmart products, meaning they are equipped to be out in the sun or inside at school. This means they will wear Miyosmart more, which gives the best chance that their myopia progression will be slowed.’ Cohen also shares that Seiko is currently working hard to switch production to the UK.
‘This is strategically important to us and, I think, it is strategically important to our customers,’ he says. ‘By some point in 2024, our high end product will be made in the UK. We will also be putting together a conference for our clients in 2024, so it will be a busy year.’ One of the possible benefits of UK-based production is improved sustainability, an area Cohen says is very high on the agenda for Seiko.
‘We have to be sustainable because it is the right thing to do for the planet,’ says Cohen. ‘Beyond that, it is essential in terms of long-term strategy. If you are not doing all you can on sustainability, you won’t be able to recruit the best people, you won’t attract investment. We have customers asking us every week about our strategy for sustainability and they are asking because their patients are asking.’
As a final thought, Cohen underlines that he feels opportunities abound for independents that leverage the support of industry partners like Seiko. ‘I believe that the future can be bright for independent practices,’ he says. ‘It’s very hard for independents to compete just on price.
'I think they have to compete on quality and service in order to differentiate and find the right partners, from lens to equipment, to help them. I know that Seiko has a very strong brand proposition, which will help them differentiate. I’m not just speculating this, it is based on observing the success of our current customers.’