IcareLabs Blog

2020 has been an anomaly in many ways. This started off as the year of all things optical. 2020 was going to be 20/20 for our industry. Soon a pandemic rolled in and many opticals across the world were shut down to help control the spread of this unknown and deadly virus. Our economy crashed and when we were allowed to reopen we did not know what to expect. The pleasant surprise for many is the business came back.

Boy, did it come back! Even with the downturn, many people were ready to spend money on new glasses. Q3 was better than anyone could have predicted for our industry. While many are willing to spend good money on good products there are those who continue to be effected by this pandemic. This is not much different than normal times with haves and have-nots.

What progressive are you offering to those on a budget? Do you know these designs? Our industry needs to move away from flattops to grow. Having value options that work is the best way to move your value-minded patient away from bifocals.

One thing that isn't always at the top of everyone's list around the holidays is staying healthy. We are more focused on getting ready for the holidays and enjoying all the good cooking (myself included).

Is your practice encouraging employees to strive for healthy living instead of having that extra helping of mashed potatoes and gravy? Let's look at some easy ways to do just that along with numerous benefits that may surprise you.

What are you doing with your safety business? While many opticals utilize industries in their area to sublimate sales others seem to shy away from safety work.

ANSI prescription safety glasses are required at many businesses and worksites. A vast number of jobs across the country require their employees to wear specialty safety glasses to be able to do their job safely every day.

Hoya Vision Care has just announced that they will be phasing out all of their traditional PALs starting on November 1, 2020. Their announcement mentioned the need for simplification in the offerings. This will have a direct impact on us as we will start seeing our ability to order the Hoya traditional progressive lenses go away sometime in Q4 of 2020.

The PracticePlus program can be your complete office solution for your patients. From help with your in-office displays to name brand lenses and no-glare coatings your patients will love.

The program also includes easy to achieve goals that provide lifetime rebates for your optical. Right now, you can even get double your money back through the end of 2020!

A marketing calendar is an excellent internal tool you can use to plan out your year and keep everyone in your office aware of your plans and next steps. Having everyone on the same page is essential to ensure processes and goals are common knowledge. When everyone involved is fully aware of expectations and how you’d like to get there, the chances of success are maximized.

So, how do you begin?

2020 has been a long year. Covid has kept most of us bottled up at home and cabin fever has become very real to many of us. The good news is that we have made it through the summer. Going outside is now bearable as temperatures start to drop across the USA. So why not get out of the house? Our mental health could use a change of scenery and there is no better time than fall to go out and enjoy the fresh air.

Here are 4 simple activities that could help you break out of the monotony of being cooped up indoors.

With designs like the Autograph III and Autograph Intelligence Shamir has become well known in the premium digital progressive world. What many people do not know is they also offer several premium single vision design options too? These are a great option for more discerning single vision patients that are looking for a more natural visual experience.

The Shamir Autograph 3 single vision, Shamir Attitude 3 single vision, Shamir Relax, and Shamir Autograph 2 single vision digital lens designs can help increase your premium branded capture rate while subconsciously preparing your patients for the move into Shamir PALs once they become a presbyope. Let's take a deep dive into each design to see what each brings to the table and the type of patient that is the best fit for each.

Selling is simply about having a conversation with a person and helping them improve their lives. What other industry offers a better life improvement than ours? A recent study showed that people prioritized their vision over any other part of their bodies. We would rather lose limbs than vision.

We get to help create better vision for our fellow human beings every day. There are not many better callings than what we get to do. It should be rewarding, easy, and stress-free but we all know it often isn’t. So what can we do to try and keep it simple and not lose the sale?

A few years back Essilor shook things up a bit when they released the Comfort 2. There was a bit of panic that they might have made changes to the #1 selling PAL in history that might have not worked. Years later we all know that the changes made to the Comfort not only worked but worked well.

Back then Essilor looked into the "visual needs" changes that had occurred over the previous 10-15 years. Through this research, Essilor was able to update to venerable Comfort design to meet the needs of our modern patients.

Well, they have done it again with the launch of the Varilux Comfort Max. As our lifestyles continue to change so do the needs of our presbyopic patients.