Proactive partners

Reading-based contact lens practice Eyesite has pioneered an innovative approach to marketing its wide range of lenses.
Alison Ewbank reports on the Contact Lens Practice of the Year

Think of a way of promoting contact lenses, and Eyesite has probably thought of it first. From holding a 'Contact lens day' to creating a computer system that automatically allocates longer appointments to patients who may need to update their lens type, the four-strong independent group means business.

The original and largest Eyesite, in Reading, was established 21 years ago as a contact lens practice and today has around 33,000 'live' patients, 15 per cent of whom wear contact lenses - more than twice the national average. With six consulting rooms and a total staff of 18, the practice has the capability to cope with large numbers of contact lens patients and prospective wearers.

Marketing is a necessary focus for this busy town centre practice. With two laser clinics in the same street and the imminent arrival of a third, competition comes not only from the neighbouring multiples. It is an unusual location, with two corner sites either side of a covered walkway, linked by first-floor consulting rooms, but it ensures high visibility and good footfall. One of the two reception areas has prominent displays of contact lenses and each patient entering the practice for an eye examination is offered a contact lens trial when booking an appointment.  

Eyesite is particularly adept at working with its suppliers to promote contact lenses locally, as practice manager Helen Hallett explains: 'If CIBA or J&J are on the radio then we will try to be on local radio stations at the same time, or coincide our advertising with them.'
Mailshots and window displays are other favoured approaches to marketing, while patient leaflets and a free trial voucher given out with every spectacle collection are produced in house.

The group recognises that contact lenses have become a lifestyle-based product and that suppliers have changed their focus and advertising to reflect this. But Hallett is keen to highlight the practice's clinical strengths too. Professional staff have the freedom to choose the most suitable contact lens to match each patient's needs, which means providing a wide range of lens types and modalities. New fitting techniques, such as orthokeratology, are also under consideration. 

'There are so many new lenses at the moment and we're in an age where patients are unhappy if they're not given all the options available to them,' she says. New patients are routinely trialled with two lens types and then offered their preferred choice. Each aftercare appointment is seen as an opportunity to discuss the latest developments and offer an upgrade, such as from conventional soft lenses to silicone hydrogels.