By Special Request
How to go the extra mile for your patients without breaking the bank
By Joanne F. Schell

Novelty/Special Features Robert Marc is offering clients the ability to personalize their eyewear with a special engraving process. Shown here: Styles 535-72 (r.) and 522-32

At Mr. I's, a South Miami-based dispensary, uncommon requests are an everyday occurrence for managing optician Dawn Lerner. "That's the kind of place we run," she says. From one-of-a-kind rimless and semi-rimless lens shapes to custom frame color combinations, Lerner has determined that saying "yes" to customers has resulted in a successful business.

Part of the reason Mr. I's can offer these specialized services is its in-house lab.

"Asking the vendor to manufacture one special pair of glasses would be impossible," she says. "It's too long of a process. It's not possible for them to be so customer oriented." Lerner adds that having her own lab allows her to be more creative in her frame and lens offerings. For other opticians, a strong relationship with an independent lab can accomplish the same results.

Although Michigan-based Eyecare Associates has an in-house lab, optical department manager Cynthia Perkins, ABOC, outsources many of the special bifocal requests she gets from sports enthusiasts.

"I will often get golfers who want a bifocal just in the top corner of one lens so that they can see their scorecard but not inhibit their vision during play," she says. "I have an excellent relationship with my lab, so when I call with a need like that, they can handle it."

This relationship, how-ever, needs to be reciprocal. Lerner says that offering customization can produce a lot of waste, so she often makes demo lenses for customers before putting the prescription order in to her lab.

"We keep a certain amount of specialty items in stock, so that patients can see the product and know how it works before they place an order," says Tracy Wilson, manager of Eye Health Northwest, a dispensary based in Portland, Ore.

	Novelty/Special Features SunBlades provide sun protection without lenses

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

For many dispensers, however, keeping product in stock that is not a common seller can drain the budget. Knowing the needs of your clientele is key to striking a balance between ordering enough product to service your patients and not having an overflow of specialized inventory.

"I do keep a lot in stock," says Penny Hart, optician at Professional Opticians in La Grange, Ga. "I have lots of repeat clients, and I know what they are going to need."

"In the beginning, I hardly carried anything like that," adds Perkins. "But as I got to know my clientele, and word spread that I could fulfill special needs, my inventory grew."

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

At Oculus 20/20, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based dispensary, owner Amir Poran offers frames in color combinations not typically available through the vendor.

"If the collection carries 30 colors, but the model the customer is looking at only has five, we can custom make a new frame," he says.

Providing this kind of service is fairly easy. Lerner, for example, will simply order another pair of temples from a vendor to place on a frame in the dispensary.

Other projects, however, can be more intensive and costly. "We use semi-rimless frames and take the wires out to create entirely new models," explains Poran. To be able to fulfill these requests, he covers his costs by not discounting frames.

"People who request custom eyewear should expect to pay for the service they get," he says.

But, sometimes the cost just has to be swallowed, Professional Opticians' Hart says. One patient, for example, has a +16.00 prescription. "You can't make a normal profit on a special prescription like that," she says. "The price will be too high for the patient to afford."

Although Perkins might lose profit on specialty eyewear, those patients will likely return to purchase their next pair of frames. "One of the best things you can give your patients is 100 percent service," she says. "That will make them come back again and again."

Specialty Gallery Here's a look at some of the unusual eyewear products out there. From the functional to the fashionable, all of these frames offer the wearer a unique experience
Health tranquileyes by Eye Eco offer relief from dry, tired eyes through the use of a moistened eye mask and eye drops	Novelty/Special Features Only 950 of this Oliver Peoples handcrafted frame, Delilah, will be offered at specialty eyewear stores
Health Oxy-View frames from Logic Medical Solutions allow the oxygen-dependent person to better conceal tubes	Young Children/Infants Baby Banz' sunwear for young children features a stay-put band to keep the frames on the most active kids
Youth Children SoftLight's MagicLites, shown here in style ML1000 in lavender, feature photochromic frames and lenses--fun traits that encourage kids to protect their eyes	Novelty/Special Features Only 100 pairs of these John Deere frames were sold worldwide. Shown: John Deere style Abba Good Day for Paul Frank Optometrics
Young Children Eyes Cream Shades offer fashionable eyewear for very young children. Shown here: Eyes Cream style Tangerine	Novelty/Special Features ic! berlin style joshi, like all of the company's frames, features removable temples that can double as chopsticks
Facial Size Sama Eyewear has an entire collection devoted to the smaller face. Shown here: Sama Eyewear Petite collection style Via	Novelty/Special Features Oakley's new hybrid, Thump, combines an MP3 player with a sport-style frame.
Health Ion-Ray Eyewear combines frame fashion with acupressure therapy. Shown here: Ion II