From aspiring session guitarist, to telemarketer, luxury eyewear aficionado, independent optical champion and now managing director at what he calls ‘one of the best kept secrets in British optics’, Julian Clarke’s career in the optical sector has been a varied one.
He recently became CaseCo managing director, making a return to the company where he began his career in optics as its very first sales rep in 1998. ‘It was my first rep job in optics and after a couple of years I was invited to become a partner in the business,’ he explains. This early boardroom exposure led Clarke onto different things and primed him with an appreciation for the finer things in the optical industry.
‘CaseCo was born out of a lack of high-quality cases on the market, cases that consumers who understood luxury would want to buy, cases that really delight the consumer,’ he says. Clarke also managed luxury eyewear sales for CaseCo at that time and stayed at the company for 15 years while developing his expertise around high-quality frames.
Loving luxury
Clarke joined luxury eyewear brand Cutler and Gross in 2013 to work as the company’s head of international sales. ‘That was an exciting time because the business was undergoing significant change,’ he says. ‘In the three years I was there I grew considerably; I’d gone from selling product into the UK and Irish markets to effectively selling a British brand to the world.’ He then had another three-year stint at a luxury subsidiary within the Mondottica group, before going on to create his own business, Curoptica, which curates luxury eyewear collections for the independent sector.
He says: ‘Curoptica was created to support truly independent opticians as they transition into mid to high-end purveyors of excellent eyewear, excellent lenses and excellent accessories.’
Clarke, with all of his experience, believes this niche is something of a missed opportunity for many independent practices across the UK. ‘Luxury dispenses are not “sold” as such, they are offered based on a deep understanding of your patients. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to luxury eyewear dispenses is that they are not offered more frequently,’ he says. ‘There still seems to be a ceiling to what the industry in general would say is an acceptable price for someone to pay for a pair of glasses.’
Customers should not be directed towards lower priced frames because of their age or perceived wealth, says Julian. ‘I once heard a story about an older lady being ushered over to the value section because it was assumed she wouldn’t want to spend, but then she stopped the practitioners and made a beeline for the Cartier cabinet because she’d been
saving up money for a long time. No patient is offended when you offer them high value; they can always say no and you can move on to an alternative.’
Back to the start
It was during the pandemic, when Clarke’s work with independent opticians slowed due to lockdowns, that he received an unexpected offer from an old employer. The founder of CaseCo, Peter Wood, was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2020 and had to step away from his role at the company. Clarke was asked to step in and decided to take the role: ‘I had a bit of thinking to do, but CaseCo was my first role in optics. The people there shaped me and had given me a huge opportunity, so of course I felt compelled to help.’
CaseCo’s considered, highly personal approach to its products meant that Clarke’s new role was well aligned with his work in the luxury eyewear sector: ‘My work with Curoptica and CaseCo are very closely aligned really,’ he explains. ‘The reason CaseCo was started, like Curoptica, was to help practices, through retail products and marketing advice, differentiate themselves and move up-market.’
Changes have been made to the business now that Clarke has rejoined, including a reorganised warehouse, the creation of a new showroom, an e-commerce website and general improvements to the level of service. Clarke says: ‘CaseCo has used the pandemic very wisely to lay foundations that have, I think, positioned the business well to make the most of what is a very challenging time in terms of supply chains.’
CaseCo’s business is now up by 40% compared to 2019, according to Clarke. He attributes this to a growing acknowledgement by independent practices that differentiation is necessary after the pandemic: ‘Independents are realising that they need to compete and stand out, to service high value customers that are underserved by British optics. CaseCo is well positioned to help practices attract and sell more stuff to these customers.’
Differentiation may be vital, but Clarke believes the most important thing independents can do is consider how patients feel. Feelings often influence a decision on whether to return somewhere, and Clarke would know. ‘Emotions create lifetime value,’ he says. ‘When making a £500 dispense, consider giving £10’s worth of added-value, like a quality case or lens spray. That’s 2% of the total price, but the patient will walk away feeling valued, ready to return next time and champion your service to new high-value patients.’