Smart Ideas

Mollie Tavel was born and raised in optical. Literally.

She started working in the lab at her family’s Dr. Tavel Family Eye Care at age 12. She moved into the front office at 15.

Between then and now, her endeavors have included providing marketing services for both Essilor and Transitions. Returning to the family business, Tavel is now director of growth and community engagement for the company’s 22 locations, all in Indiana.

Her outside experience served to cement a continuing commitment to staff training. That’s one reason she jumped at the opportunity to pilot the Transitions Certified Partner Program, a staff training process that prepares eyecare professionals to discuss how light sensitivity impacts overall health—and how Transitions lenses can be a solution.

The retailer made it mandatory for all 100 retail associates to become Transitions certified, and it incentivized them to do so.

“We also supplemented it with our town hall reviews and recommendations on lifestyle selling,” says Tavel. “Our folks love the Transitions Specialist pins and framed certificates. They were also excited about the way Transitions Optical gamified it with gift cards and prizes. We called it the Tavel Transitions Trivia Bowl, and about half our associates participated by competing against each other.”

Here, Tavel shares the firsthand benefits of ongoing staff training.

LEVELS + LESSONS

Dr. Tavel Family Eye Care delivers ongoing training for its employees in a structure that is divided by levels—including three levels for customer experience specialists as well as three for opticians.

“We also create courses using Lessonly training software to introduce new frame lines, share marketing materials, and provide insurance how-tos, lens availability charts, etcetera,” says Tavel.

The company always assigns deadlines to every Lessonly individual course or path (usually comprising 10-plus courses). Course completion is typically expected within two weeks (that was the case with Transitions), while paths are usually assigned a 90-day deadline.

“When you complete a training path, you are tested in writing and via a practical hands-on exam,” says Tavel.

BOTTOM LINE

The benefits of training range from improved performance to increased revenue.

“In the case of Transitions,” explains Tavel, “our photochromics penetration prior to the training was 10.2%. During the month of training, it jumped to 17.1%.”

As with all training at the practice, “To keep it top of mind, we continually remind associates either with a contest or through mentions at the company’s store associates team chats,” she says.

The business’s Transitions training underscores the importance of going deep.

“To touch and feel a product is great,” concludes Tavel. “However, to really know how and why it benefits patients as told by scientists and patent owners makes a huge difference in our associates’ ability to sell the product.