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Issue link: https://opticallabproducts.epubxp.com/i/442985
FEATURE LENS ADD-ONS 12 january 2015 opticallabproducts.com Maximizing Profts BY STEVEN WARFIELD What can a wholesale optical lab do to increase profits through lens add-ons and enhancements? LENS ADD-ONS, lens coatings, and other forms of lens enhancements can prove to be a proftable part of a wholesale lab's product line. There is, however, one major caveat to this scenario: The demand for lens add-ons and enhancements is dependent on orders being prescribed by the ECP. Of course there are some exceptions to the rule—for exam- ple, when the ECP requests that the lab decide which type or brand of coating to use. This gives the lab an opportunity to make a little extra proft, but it still remains the decision of the ECP to initially request the add-on. CATEGORIES OF ADD-ONS Lens add-ons and enhancements generally fall into one of the following categories: AR, mirror, UV, hardcoating/scratch-resistant, anti-fog coatings, and tinting. Most wholesale labs have the capability to handle jobs requiring UV and hardcoatings, tinting, and edge polishing in-house. Unfortu- nately, many of these same labs are beholden to larger labs for the more intensive lab-driven procedures like AR and mirror coatings. The fact is many jobs need to be shipped out, thereby creating a longer turnaround time and a decrease in quality control. This also leaves little room for extra proft and the smaller, or less equipped, labs are therefore limited by their capabilities. INCREASE JOB ORDERS The question is, then, what can a wholesale optical lab do to increase its profts through lens add-ons and enhancements? As Michael Bellomo, director of sales and marketing at Opticote, Inc., points out, "This is an age-old problem. The only way for a wholesale optical lab to increase profts is to increase job orders." It seems that a combination of the following strategies can be the most successful: product promo- tion, in-house manufacturing and branding, and product education. PROMOTING PRODUCTS Promotion is a key element to the success of any product. As it pertains to lens add-ons and enhancements, product promotion is particularly important because the lab needs to have the ECP on board with the promotion in order for it to succeed. Jeff Hopkins, senior manager, professional affairs, at Carl Zeiss Vision, Inc., commented on the importance of promotion and how Carl Zeiss approaches promoting add-ons. "Within the trade, we use magazine advertising, email, social media, the Internet, and personal engagement to promote these products," he says. "We have also signifcantly increased our social media presence and our patient PR. Because patient understanding of lenses and lens add-ons is fairly low, convincing them of the superiority of Coating A over Coating B is generally not a realistic expectation. However, it can serve to raise awareness of the product category (and our brand) and drive patient demand for the beneft of our ECP customers. The relatively high awareness of and high regard for the ZEISS brand is helpful in reaching patients," Hopkins states. Furthermore, in the long run, this is actually helpful to everyone in the business—as a form of educa- tion to the patient it increases awareness across the entire market. It remains essential, nonetheless, that the ECP who prescribes the lens add-ons becomes inspired to do their part in promoting the product. BENEFIT OF BUNDLING Another way to accomplish promotion of add-ons is to make it worth an ECP's while to promote lens add-ons. "Bundling is the answer and everyone wins," notes Opticote's Bellomo. To explain 'bundling,' he provides the following example: Last spring, Opticote conducted a test on a mirror coating promotion. The AR coating process requires labs to conduct intensive procedures. LENS ADD-ON COATINGS • ANTI-REFLECTIVE • MIRROR • UV • HARDCOATING/SCRATCH RESISTANT • ANTI-FOG • TINTING