Many practitioners will have experienced the frustration of seemingly making a breakthrough with a patient on contact lens wear and dispensing a trial supply of lenses only to have the patient lose interest sometime after they get home. This, as it turns out, is a common experience: ‘We know that there are many stages where contact lens wearers may give up or drop out of their trial phase,’ explains James Haden, UK sales director for Acuvue at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, ‘and, in fact, only 35% of those that visit their eye care practitioner will go on to make a first purchase [of contact lenses].’
A recent Acuvue webinar sought to explain what the contact lens company was doing to combat the problem of seemingly motivated customers falling by the wayside before their trial had completed. Speaking to practitioners at the event, Jakob Sveen, managing director for Northern Europe and general manager UK & Ireland at Johnson & Johnson Vision, welcomed the launch of Acuvue’s 21 Day Challenge, a new behaviour change programme designed specifically to help reduce dropouts and convert more contact lens patients into long-term patients and customers.
The 21 Day Challenge comprises informative content and tips emailed directly to contact lens patients for three weeks following the beginning of an Acuvue trial period. Patients can be encouraged to sign up for the challenge while in practice, with the programme aimed at supporting the practitioner and the patient by building good patient habits and making them confident in their lens wear.
Haden says: ‘While patients may be highly motivated when they’re in store, it’s often that home alone phase where they feel a bit overwhelmed and lose a bit of confidence. Equally, we know that it takes 21 days to form a new habit so complementing that and working hard to support patients in that critical phase is the overall ambition of this programme.’
Building behaviours
Separated into three weeks of support, the webinar explained that the challenge focused on different areas of concern as patients begin to feel more comfortable with their lenses. Week one primarily comprises practice and technique for inserting and cleaning lenses, which is built on by week two’s focus on confidence and
making contact lenses a part of patients’ routines. Week three then focuses on the benefits of contact lens wear, such as the ability to do sports, in the period when patients are able to solidify their new
routine.
Faye McDearmid, an optometrist with expertise in building a more sustainable contact lens business, believes that the
21 Days Challenge will help to support patients while, crucially, not damaging the perception of practitioners as the first port of call. She says: ‘What’s important is that the challenge is in partnership with you as the expert, as the patient’s practitioner. The practitioner is centred so if there are any issues of concerns raised by the patient then they will be directed to you, meaning you retain the status as the professional.’
McDearmid adds the launch of the challenge is timely, considering the coronavirus pandemic has led to less face-to-face time with patients. ‘The challenges at the moment mean we may not get as much face-to-face contact during the fitting process, and while we’re trying to minimise that contact time patients might be needing a little more help and information. It will help us add value to the process, as keeping that excitement for contact lenses going once patients get home is vital.’
- For more information, visit jnjvisioncare.co.uk/21-day-challenge