Refocusing efforts, trusting the process and emerging stronger were among the themes highlighted at a day conference and awards evening held by Black & Lizars on January 8.
Practice teams from the Scottish optical group convened at Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perth and Kinross for the first time since 2018.
‘In five years, a lot has changed,’ John Hare highlighted during the owner’s opening address to delegates. ‘For example, who knew what the term furlough meant before Covid-19? What would’ve been strange to us then is now accepted as normal.’
Hare said Black & Lizars was a smaller business than it was in 2018, but this helped the optical group navigate changes.
He told the 60-strong team in attendance that the business was financially better placed to deal with pandemic-related challenges, such as patient’s searching for quick, easy options online and cheaper products because of the cost-of-living crisis.
However, Hare noted that the longevity of Black & Lizars was something staff and patients could have confidence in.
‘Looking forward, in seven years’ time we will celebrate 200 years of Black & Lizars. It is a sign of how durable the company is that it has lasted 193 years. Trust our heritage and the way we have been operating,’ he said.
Preserving energy
Hare said Black & Lizars should think about whether its efforts were generating or taking energy. ‘We don’t want to become exhausted,’ he said.
He explained there were patients who were willing to share their appreciation by returning the energy the company gave to them and these ‘loyal givers’ should be prioritised.
Hare identified that 63,000 patients drained energy from the company (72%) over the last 10 years, which equated to 6,000 a year who did not return appreciation.
‘Over 10 years, 53% were new patients. We were filling clinics with new patients, which was too random. We devoted our time and they went elsewhere. These takers damage the business,’ he said.
He said the 10-year findings were reflected in weekly and monthly statistics, and Black & Lizars was now operating with a four-month recall backlog for ‘loyal givers’.
Looking forward, Hare said change was currently taking place and, although it could be turbulent, the state of things would improve.
‘The Covid years were chapters one and two. Chapters three and four will be bumpy, but society will be better by chapter five. We need to think about how this transition takes place and protect our energy in order to thrive. The energy at Black & Lizars needs looking after and with more energy, the stronger we’ll be,’ he concluded.
Back to basics
Hare’s opening address was followed by Amy Baig, head of professional services at Nikon, who presented on the art of communication in dispensing.
Baig drew on her 16 years’ experience as a dispensing optician and practice manager, and told attendees that the key to effective communication was not what was said but how it was said.
When discussing how to optimise communications between the practice team and patients, she explained: ‘There’s no magic formula. This a is a back to basics approach.’
Baig shared results from a survey of optometrists and dispensing opticians that identified points in the patient journey where communication could be improved.
When asked what the biggest challenge was when converting from sight test to dispense, reasons included that the patient was happy with their current spectacles or they had concerns about prices.
Baig noted these reasons were closely linked to value for patients, which related to an understanding of the recommendations made in practice. ‘Sow the seed earlier about benefits of lenses, for example,’ she suggested as a way to improve awareness of how products could improve a patient’s lifestyle.
Asked what further support would improve conversion, optometrists said visual solutions were suggested to patients every time, but dispensing opticians said this only happened half the time when patients were handed over to a dispensing team. ‘Patients have to consistently hear what they need to convert from the testing room to the dispense,’ Baig said.
Changing outcomes
Baig also explained the concept of low and high impact habits that all eye care professionals (ECPs) do in practice, which could be affecting business. She said low impact habits included a preference to refract the right eye before the left, which did not matter much to patient outcomes.
However, high impact habits included common assumptions that led to missed opportunities, such as thinking that only patients who worked at desks required occupational lenses. Some ECPs also believed that if a patient ignored a recommendation last time, they will do so again and the service will not be offered.
Baig asked attendees to think about common phrases used in practice to highlight how patient outcomes were affected by what practitioners said.
These included: ‘Would you like to look at frames today?’, ‘No change in prescription’, and ‘Come back if a problem occurs.’ Baig said these phrases could all lead to the practice not converting from test to dispense.
A group discussion identified that asking about the condition of frames and if the patient was nearing the end of their warranty could create an opportunity to sell a new pair of spectacles.
‘You can normalise a change of specs by finding out what would make them happier and improve wear,’ Baig said.
If no or minimal change in prescription was identified during the eye examination, then the term ‘stable prescription’ was noted by one attendee as more appropriate because ‘no change’ indicated the patient did not need to buy new frames. It was also noted by Baig that lifestyle changes continually occur, such as the increased use of screens during lockdown, and these should be highlighted to patients.
Suggesting a patient come back to the practice if they experienced a problem implied they would encounter an issue, Baig said. Instead, highlighting aftercare services and not the problems that might be encountered would be more beneficial to the practice.