Eyecare Business connects with EB board member Jordan Foster, ABO, NCLE, for The Inside View—a video series dedicated to exploring overarching conversations taking place across the eyecare industry. Here, Foster shares her perspective on how having an in-house lab unlocks next-level customization, speed, and patient loyalty—while hands-on experience and smart tech adoption position practices to compete in an increasingly digital, convenience-driven eyewear landscape.
The transcript below has been edited for clarity and length.
EB: What are the main advantages of having an in-house lab?
The main advantages of having an in-house lab, at least from my point of view, is the freedom and flexibility that it offers for not only us, but also our customers. It can help eliminate some of the risks that are associated with sending a lot more high-end frames that we work with out to the lab—like one-of-a-kind frames that, if they break, you're never seeing one like it again.
The freedom that we have with not having to outsource all of our products [and the ability to do] some custom learning shapes that the labs can't offer [are the main advantages]. Like one client in particular, I remember him and I always will, because it was my favorite pair of glasses I've ever made. He came in with a Cartier frame, and he just had a picture from Instagram of the lenses that he wanted. I had called around to every single lab that we worked with to see if they could duplicate the same lens by just the picture, and I was kind of surprised when everyone told me no. I guess I shouldn't have been. But what we did was we were able to sit down and sketch out what his lenses looked like on a lens blank, and then put it into our edger to create the lenses that he wanted. And not only was it fun, but it was really awesome to do that for him. The patient was happy, and I was happy. You work so hard on something, and you get to see them light up like a kid on Christmas. So, that to me is like one of the hands-down best things that you could ever do for yourself—giving those patients that satisfaction that they can't get anywhere else. They definitely can’t get [that level of care] online, so they're going to stay within your practice.
I think, too, there’s not only the freedom, but we don't have to outsource. I don't have to send it to a lab. The patients who can't part ways with their frames for a few weeks—they're going to stay with you. Or if they need those glasses back quickly because they can't wear their contacts or something happened, their glasses broke, they can't drive—you're able to provide those to them same day, if not sooner. You don't have to run into those delays that you can when you do outsource products.
We do have more freedom, more flexibility. You don't have to outsource, which is great. And then also, I feel like you get a better appreciation for [the process], which I will go into a little bit later. But your patients, also, they feel like now they don't have to go online for that level of convenience—they could get it right from your office. I think this has been the biggest save for us, because in other cases, customers would walk through the door because, “Oh, I can get it online in the next couple of days, and you're telling me it's going to take 2 weeks—and you’ll also have to take my glasses?” It's the freedom and flexibility that come with having your own in-house lab.
EB: What advice would you give someone considering lab work in optical?
Some advice that I would give for someone who is interested in having their own optical lab, or even interested in working in one—honestly, I think before you even go into sales, I feel like you should start out at an optical lab. I got to tour one when I first started, and it was one of the coolest things. It was actually why I wanted to do more lab work. It gives you more of an understanding and an appreciation for lens optics. You get to see how everything happens more in a practical setting versus when you send it out, it's all kind of out of sight, out of mind. You don't really see the work that goes into it. For concepts like disintegration or like how different frames hold different prescriptions, you get to see it first-hand, and you really do get a better understanding for it.
It will not only help you with yourself, in your own work, in your own practice, but also it'll help you be able to communicate to your lab reps differently when you order things. Something as simple as a patient with a really high RX, they don't like their lens thickness, but they really want this thin frame, you could see how moving the bevel ever so slightly can help reduce that lens-thickness appearance. And it's something that [a lab is] not going to do unless you tell them, and you don't know you could do it unless you've seen it done or even know that it's a possibility.
I think when you have those hands-on experiences, you just get to know more and get to see exactly how it works. You also get a better appreciation for it because, I mean, it's not all easy. You think you just send it off, you get it back, and they do it with magic in a lab that you've never seen. So you do get to see it actually being done. Time, energy, and headaches do go into it, but you do get a better appreciation for it. And I think that's one of the best things that you could get.
EB: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth in the industry?
I see significant growth opportunities in embracing technology and leveraging advancements in artificial intelligence. I know in the beginning, when all of it started to come out, a couple of opticians rolled their eyes—cause technology usually means problems for us. But honestly, it's inevitable. The patients that come in, they’re used to technology and how easy it makes their everyday lives. So when they come to their doctor's office of any kind, they also expect for us to be up to date and with the times. We can't really go against it; we have to go with it.
I know it can be a headache initially, but for something as easy as having a digital catalog on your website instead of the old books we used to flip through to see different brain dials and different lens options. No one really wants to do that, and I can't even count how many times we get calls saying, “Oh, you have Gucci, but I can't see any of the frames. Can you tell me which ones you have?” No one wants to sit there and send 30 pictures. It can be a headache to digitalize their catalog and post it on your website, but I think it's going to benefit everyone in the practice because everything comes at a click of a button now. If you don't have that accessibility, and [patients] have to actually come in or call, you could potentially lose that opportunity to online retailers, where it is, unfortunately, at a click of a button. It makes it so easy for them. So unless we do start to get with the times and make it a little bit easier for the customers, they're going to go elsewhere. That's to be expected at this point.
Any kind of display that you can have in the office that helps patients visualize [is also helpful]—like their progressive lenses, for example. If they can't see it, it's pretty tricky to have them understand it, even if you're still like me and you draw it out on a little piece of paper, where their distortion would be, and how big the visual corridor is going to be. Ours is actually on a virtual reality headset. It's quite cool, but we use that even for our patients who come in for other appointments. They love it, and all of the compliments that we get—we even had one the other day, “I love how advanced your office thinks. I love all this high-tech equipment.” They're blown away because man of them are so used to how it used to be.
I guess I am a little old school, but I will always prefer manual measurements. I think that'll take me a really long time to give that up, I won't lie, but I will say having those tools in your offices, like the smart mirrors, it is esthetically pleasing. I think just having it too, even if you don't necessarily rely on it. I always check them afterward anyway. The patients think its really cool; they can't comprehend how it works. It’s the little things that really matter to them.
As long as you look like you're putting forth that effort to stay with the times, I think your patients will acknowledge that, and they'll have a certain level of appreciation for you. No one wants to be left behind in this industry because it's always, always growing.
