SPECTACLE LENSES
How to move presbyopes out of bifocals and into progressives
These are good times for optical professionals who are seizing opportunities to move current presbyopes out of bifocals and into progressive lenses
By Joanne Lisa

Consumers are better educated about the virtues of progressive lenses. Manufacturers have armed practitioners with everything from seminars to fitting guides and gauges. Product lines continue to expand and the wide variety of designs and materials available has made progressives possible for just about any prescription challenge. To top it all off, satisfied former wearers of bifocals and trifocals are increasingly becoming pleased presbyopes who are passing on the word that progressives are not just for baby boomers or first-time wearers anymore.

Are you connecting with presbyopic opportunities? Or are you simply wading in the safe end of the pool; fitting only new presbyopes? If so, you're probably ready to hear about several colleagues who are routinely enjoying great success in satisfying former bifocal and trifocal wearers with progressives.

The common thread that ties these 10 practitioners together is their true enthusiasm for progressives and the ability to communicate this enthusiasm to patients and customers in a variety of creative and innovative ways.

Here they share their strategies and secrets of their high success rates in moving prebyopes out of their coveted bifocals and happily into progressive lenses.

Passion

Bob Royden, owner of The Village Eyeworks in Surprise, Ariz., says the only path to fitting success is the one paved with enthusiasm. "The secret to my success with progressives," says Royden, "is all about a positive approach. The only way I know how to do it is with total enthusiasm and passion." The Village Eyeworks is located in a community where the average age is 75. "We knew we wanted to grow our progressive business, so we just dove in with the positive attitude that as long as a progressive lens is good for our bifocal-wearing customers, that's what they should get.

Royden's passion is both infectious and entertaining. He says, "Without passion, the sale is boring."

Simplicity

"Even when a progressive presentation goes well, nothing will kill it faster than information overload," Royden says. "Therefore, we keep it simple."

"We always pass on the wearer's guide when dispensing and give an overview of how to use the lens, but we don't give our customers a long speech of warnings and warranties. A lot of people seem to think that if you are not introducing all the potential negatives about a progressive lens, you're lying to a customer. We disagree. We provide all the information needed, but we do it with positive words. We tell them that they are going to love the lens, and they do." As a result, more than 98 percent of Royden's presbyopic customers have relinquished their bifocals.

"When customers put the lenses on (in the dispensary) for the first time, we discuss their initial reaction. Then we suggest that rather than wearing the lenses home, they begin with a fresh start the next day. Some do come back for additional adjustments and one-on-one instruction, but we never tell them not to switch back and forth to their old bifocals. If bouncing back and forth will help ease them into progressives, then so be it."

Technology

"One of the most important aspects in our success in moving people from bifocals into progressives has been our ability to stay current with all the lens designs and technology via the World Wide Web," says Gary Iavarone, manger of Au Courant Opticians in Princeton, N.J. "Our laboratory (Lucerne Optical in Wilkes Barre, Pa.) has an Internet site available to its customers. It is filled with lens information." So when Iavarone isn't fitting lenses, he goes 'surfing.'

Madeleine Kruhsberg, owner of Selden Optique in Norfolk, Va., believes making the most of educational opportunities has been a key to her dispensary's high success rate. "We make our continuing education a priority by attending the classes offered by progressive lens manufacturers, and we all are very active in our local opticians association," she explains. "We gain a lot from listening to what the lens reps have to say, and speaking with our colleagues at meetings about fitting challenges."

Service Calls

Iavarone believes another key to Au Courant's success is rooted in two customer service techniques. "We hand a business card to the customer with each progressive job we dispense, and we encourage them to call us if they need to. We reinforce the fact that we are open seven days a week. The staff also makes it a policy to place a follow-up call to each new progressive lens wearer, and we find that going the extra mile has really paid off in well-adjusted customers."

Visual Demonstrations

Richard Bohn, O.D., owner of Plaza Optical in Oceanside, N.Y., finds that a key to his success in moving presbyopes into progressives begins with what he says to them while they are in his exam chair.

"I provide a visual demonstration of what it would be like to gain intermediate vision once again," says Bohn, "beginning with a typical demonstration of near and far by moving the reading rod from 18 inches to five feet. Then I go back to the near for reading and move the rod out to an optimal mid-range distance. The patient can easily see the sacrifice they have been making in the mid-range with their bifocals."

Bohn finishes the exam by explaining that the options include a second pair of glasses for the mid-range or a progressive lens that will allow them to see as if they were 20 years old again. He says, "At this point, the patient essentially sells himself the progressive!"

What's In A Word?

"The meaning of the words we choose definitely plays a part in our success in moving presbyopes out of bifocals and into progressives," says Karen Holmes, optician at South County Eye Physicians in North Kingstown, R.I.

"During our presentation, we explain to patients that they will learn how to 'use' the lenses. We choose the word 'use' rather than the word 'adapt,'" she says. To use implies that a person already possesses the intelligence and knowledge he needs to make something happen," she says.

Taking The Customer For A Walk

At Squirrel Hill Eyetique in Pittsburgh, Pa., owner Norman Childs notes that his success with progressives begins with the fact that he feels strongly that bifocal lenses do not belong in their unique assortment of frames.

A big part of the success rate at Squirrel Hill Eyetique is also attributed to a dispensing technique. "Once we fully explain how the lenses function, the patients put the glasses on, and we immediately get them out of the chair," Childs explains. "We walk them around the store and have them read items hanging on the walls to demonstrate the near, mid-range and far positions of the lens. We take them up and down the stairs, and provide as much simulation as possible so they can get an immediate feel for their new glasses. This simple walk-around exercise has lead to fewer problems in adjusting down the line and shows them we are there to support them right from the start."

Lights...Camera...Progressives

Everyone has a hot button, and for Paul Feinberg, O.D., owner of Mall Optical Center in Waterford, Mich., it happens to be animation. I was searching for a way to standardize the initial information presented to a patient. My personal interest in animation led me to make a video presentation on presbyopia for use in office."

To fund the two-minute video, "Explaining Presbyopia and Its Remedies," Feinberg tapped into the business development dollars he had accumulated with a progressive lens manufacturer. He chose a video animator, wrote the script, and produced a tailor-made standardized presentation which he uses to begin every conversation regarding progressive lenses.

"It's a fun and easy-to-understand presentation, and has definitely been instrumental in helping to move our presbyopic patients from bifocals into progressives," he says.

No Guarantees

"I've been in the optical business 30 years," says Sergio Alverez, owner of Sergio's Optical in Palm Desert, Calif., "and much of what I have learned about warranties and guarantees has been through trial and error." When it comes to warranties on progressives, he believes that they can have a negative effect so he does not offer them.

"I feel that the warranty can be interpreted as something of a warning--and that is negative, so I tell my customers that I support my work but don't provide the warranties."

Lenses By Design

At The Clayton Eye Center in Morrow, Ga., Optical Manager Jenean Carlton says the secret to their success lies in matching the correct progressive lens design to the patient's needs.

"Moving a patient from bifocals or trifocals has proven easier for us when we follow a simple formula based on prescription and lens design. Patients with plus prescriptions (plano to +2.00) are fit with a hard design. Those with a +2.00 and above are also fit with a hard design, but this design is more advanced, thinner and lighter, and softer in the periphery. If the Rx is a plano to -2.00, we use a soft design, and again, a +2.00 and above gets a soft design that is more advanced, thinner, lighter and softer in the periphery." High power patients with cylinder are fit with a high toric progressive, she says.

Carlton's advice to other dispensers is this: "Gather the literature from manufacturers and get to know the designs."

No Money Down

Sharon Decker, owner of Eye Designs of Westchester in Scarsdale, N.Y., says a steady increase in converted progressive wearers is due in part to a strategy that shows her customers she is convinced that making the switch to progressives is the right move.

If customers are hesitant about making the switch, Decker will not allow them to pay for the lenses until they take them home and try them. "We are convinced," she says, "that once they actually experience their new progressives, they will be so pleased that cost will not be an issue. It is a rare occasion that we are not paid." EB