Growing ECPs through Education

It's back to school as this OLA-sponsored article shares an insider's view of educational opportunities in optical

by Alex Yoho, ABOM

OLA labs have been helping their accounts to grow their businesses for many years. This can be as simple as ensuring their accounts receive the latest product literature from manufacturers, to full-blown courses, and everything in between. We checked with some OLA labs to see what's up in education.

Our thanks to the following people for joining in: Dale Parmenteri, vice president, Balester Optical Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; John Granby, president/CEO, Deschutes Optical, Boise, Id./Bend, Ore.; Palmer R. Cook, OD, director of Practice Support Division, Diversified Ophthalmics, Cincinnati, Ohio; Kim Scheidler ABOC, WLO, Sutherlin Optical, Kansas City, Mo.; Pam Gibson, education director-Western Region, Pech Optical, Sioux City, Iowa; Jeff Szymanski, vice president, Toledo Optical Laboratory, Toledo Ohio; Amanda Murphy, marketing coordinator, Optical Prescription Lab, Pelham, Ala.

Q: How do you approach education with your accounts?

Parmenteri: My reps and I are all ABO-certified speakers. We take a proactive approach and try to help our accounts improve their performance by initiating a series of practice management modules developed with the help of OSI, The Vision Council, Essilor, Transitions, and the OLA. It is a considerable commitment of time on behalf of both the lab rep and ECP. Not all practices will give you this time; however, the ones that do always show improvement.

Granby: We explain to the customer that this is an integral part of the total training of personnel, especially spending time at the lab working with the crew.

Cook: We have been doing two COPE-approved seminars for optometrists and one ABO-approved seminar for opticians and technicians each year for many years. We also publish a monthly newsletter that includes a four-page insert (Lab & Dispensary Notes) that can be used as an in-office training manual.

We also arrange seminars and training sessions that are customized to meet the needs of the accounts.

Scheidler: We try and provide custom education tailored in whatever form our customers need and want. While many take advantage of Sutherlin University and send their staff to us for in-house training, others want information delivered by their lab reps, our customer service staff, our newsletter, or our website.

Gibson: I am in regular contact with my focus accounts. Developing a rapport allows me to ask questions and make suggestions to help meet their specific educational needs. Many times I run a seminar topic by accounts to see if they feel it is of value.

Murphy: Educating each account is an integral part of our job. We operate on the premise that the more knowledge the ECP and their staff have, and have access to, the more successful they will be.

The more successful they are, the more successful OPL will ultimately be.

Szymanski: We have worked hard to create a relationship by which our customers look to us for practice management support.

A properly educated office is best positioned to succeed in the future. By establishing the need for education, we are able to focus on each practice and offer the most benefit.

Q: Where do you hold your lab's training sessions?

Parmenteri: We do education for our employees and ECPs in-house. I do a Dispensing 101 class that goes over basic optics and gives the ECP practical hands-on with fitting, PDs, seg heights, pantoscopic tilt, lensometers, and edging, if desired.

We also cover merchandising the dispensary and provide technology, methods, and tips. I tailor this course to the experience and type of practice.

All our employees who have contact with customers spend time in our conference room with brand reps going over their respective products.

Granby: At the customer's location, or at the lab.

Cook: The optometric programs are held at Great Wolf Lodge, adjacent to the Kings Island Amusement park. The opticians/technicians program is held at our corporate headquarters in Cincinnati.

Scheidler: Sutherlin University is in a classroom section of our lab reserved for training classes and can be busy anywhere from five to 15 days a month. We hold ABO prep classes several times a year off-site, do some in-office training, and are present at the state association meetings.

Gibson: Most trainings are held at the account location or an off-site meeting room. We hold regional seminars at hotel or restaurant facilities. The benefit of webinars is the account can be at their workstation or at their home when attending.

Murphy: For the most part, all trainings are held at the account's place of business. Occasionally, we provide a training session for several accounts at a larger venue.

Szymanski: We hold our laboratory training and educational events at a variety of venues. Many are presented in the eyecare professional's office. We will also use our laboratory for meetings. Combining a laboratory tour along with education can offer the absolute best approach in many circumstances. We will also train our customers in the evening at a nice restaurant, or use a local country club, and secure an elegant reception hall when presenting our day-long Practice Growth seminars.

Q: What types of educational literature do your accounts receive?

Parmenteri: There is a host of free or low-cost educational materials available from the OLA, The Vision Council, and the vendor level. I use the "Indispensable Dispensing Guide" and the "Perspective on Lenses" for my in-lab optician trainings, and the cost to the ECP for the training is the price of the educational materials.

The lab also provides "Check Yearly See Clearly" materials daily to our ECPs. We also have automated educational systems such as the Wink Pad and Smart Systems, and we provide video and audio materials and help placing ads or doing radio or television advertising.

Cook: Our newsletter, plus product information from our website and from manufacturer information sheets.

Scheidler: We sometimes use the OLA dispensing guide, but usually provide our own training guide, the OLA Progressive Lens Identifier, our minimum seg height guide, and a number of other dispensing and adjustment aides.

Gibson: We will customize information sheets for accounts. Many presentations have slides that an account will want for the office. We work hard to provide that individualized material. We also have a flip chart designed for training that can be used with the patient as well.

Murphy: We give them sales aids, product information, tent cards, package pricing brochures, lifestyle questionnaires, etc.

Szymanski: We provide our customers with a variety of in-depth lens usage and Practice Performance reports.

We will also use the OLA's "Indispensable Dispensing guide," manufacturer's informational manuals, and custom-created pieces to best illustrate the particular product or feature we are discussing.

Q: How do you provide hands-on experience?

Parmenteri: My reps or I will often spend as much as a half day with an account in the dispensary and longer in the lab.

Granby: We have our customers come to the lab and have them make their own eyewear.

Scheidler: Adjusting and repairs are taught hands-on in our classroom as well as lensometry and other optical tasks as requested.

Gibson: Our in-office trainings are the primary time for hands-on trainings. Classes at conventions can also be additional hands-on time.

We work hard to set the training agenda that best meets their goals. The two primary external educators, as well as our internal educator, have many years of dispensing experience.

An account can also schedule time to come in and hands-on training can be done in the lab.

Szymanski: For training to be most effective, people need to be involved. Hands-on training works best when we are administering seminars such as frame adjusting or lensometry usage.

In addition, when training on product-specific topics, we also will incorporate the use of props, such as demo units, lens samples, and tools, for additional support.

To find your nearest OLA lab, go to www.ola-labs.org. EB