HOW I...
PROMOTE Photochromic PALs
by Erinn Morgan

Photochromic progressive lenses are a top-shelf item. Make them anti-reflective lenses as well, and you go a step further. Despite a hefty price tag, presbyopic patients are opting for this quality eyewear product.

Dispensers are fueling this trend by employing smart product presentation methods. "We find it easy to present because we like the product," says Jeff Shpiner, an optician with Medical Center Opticians in Newton, N.J. "As a result, it's had terrific acceptance in our practice."

A number of other eyecare professionals report healthy sales in this area. "About 60 percent of our patients are going into PALs," says Pat Stillman, optician at Advanced Vision, a practice with locations in Phoenix, Carefree, and Scottsdale, Ariz. "Of this group, about 20 percent or more get photochromics."

How do you present this high-end item? Don't be intimidated. Here are some strategies you can employ to increase photochromic PAL sales.

Photochromic PALs at work. Top: Bennett Romanoff, MD, describes photochromic PALs to patients. Bottom: At Romanoff Optical, LTD, the entire staff is dedicated to promoting photochromics to patients PHOTOS COURTESY: TRANSITIONS OPTICAL

SET SALES GOALS

Some eyecare professionals set goals for sales increases in the category. At Romanoff Optical, LTD, in Sylvania, Ohio, everybody who needs progressives is put into them. "Nobody gets lines," says Bennett Romanoff, MD. Since December, he's doubled his percentage of photo-chromics sales and is now halfway to his goal of getting 100 percent of his patients in photochromics.

"One year ago, six percent of our sales were photochromics," he notes. "This year it was 48 percent. About six months ago, I made the decision to encourage my patients to get them, and it's been going up every month." And, as the number of photochromics sold increased, more and more PAL photochromics headed out the door.

SHOW AND TELL

Often it is effective to show and tell how photochromic progressives work. "I go outside wearing my lenses, and they [patients] are amazed how they change to dark," says Stillman. "Then I show them how they lighten up inside."

Advanced Vision also uses a demonstrator card that shows brown and gray lenses. "I wear the gray myself and take the card outside to show patients what the brown lens will look like when it changes," Stillman says. This demonstration speaks for itself, he adds. "Having them on is the biggest demonstrator. It's often better to see it than to explain it."

Providing patients with printed information can motivate a final purchase. "One hundred percent of our patients walk out the door with at least one brochure, and that is usually on photochromics," says Romanoff. "The brochure we have has a photochromic sheet of plastic that turns dark outdoors. It talks about UV and the medical benefits of photochromics."

Medical Center Opticians also educates patients about the latest in technology through brochures. "If a patient who needs them doesn't leave with a pair of progressives and/or photochromics, they at least leave with a brochure about each," says Shpiner. "We keep the brochures right on the counter."

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Certainly there will be patients for whom a photo-chromic progressive is cost prohibitive. "For a certain percentage of the older population, cost is a factor," Romanoff says.

But consider that one of the most important benefits of photochromic progressives is UV protection. "If they must choose, I tell them to go for the photochromic before the progressive because protecting your eyes from UV is the most important thing. If you can increase the UV protection, you can decrease the rate of onset of cataracts."