Bridging the Gap
In an era defined by hiring and retention woes, staff who understand the interplay between technical lab skills and retail expertise have never been more of an asset. While some practices maintain distinct boundaries between lab and retail roles, fostering shared knowledge across these areas can unlock significant operational and customer service benefits.
EB connected with Mollie Tavel Kaback of City Optical Company and the Dr. Tavel Optical Group with 25 locations in Indiana and Kevin D. Schmidt, OD, of Eyecare Plus PC in Nashville, TN, to learn more about how the connection between the lab and retail spaces operates in different eyecare practices.
EB: What are the core skills and knowledge areas you prioritize when
training staff to work in both the lab and retail spaces?
Mollie Tavel Kaback: When [staff] train with us, we include a lab tour and overview as part of their onboarding process. Specific to the intersection of the two roles, we have found that team members who have worked in our retail stores can bring their strong product knowledge to a lab role and not only understand the “why” behind our production but also know how to troubleshoot effectively. These team members are also wonderful conduits between the retail and lab teams, explaining order entry errors, challenges with lens sourcing, and other lab-specific issues.
EB: What advantages do you see in cross-training staff to work in both lab and retail areas? How does it benefit overall operations?
Kaback: It has been very helpful to have retail-trained staff move into lab roles because they understand not only the function of the products we make, product availability, product quality requirements, the Rx, etc., but also the importance of timeliness and quality. It also makes it easier for them to digest, relate to, and solve issues that our stores communicate each day. The cross-trained staff can work as a translator between those with no lab knowledge and those with no retail knowledge, helping to improve the efficiency of problem-solving and ultimately enhancing the patient experience.
Dr. Schmidt: It is a huge advantage to retail opticians to know lab. It helps highlight the importance of accurate measurements and proper styling of frame to produce a successful final product that the patient loves. Lab employees with retail experience have an advantage in helping prevent measurement and styling errors from getting produced and presented to the patient. They can empathetically help the optician to improve and consider exactly how the lens helps the patient see.
EB: How does well-rounded training in both areas directly benefit customer satisfaction or sales outcomes?
Dr. Schmidt: A patient came in ordering several pairs of glasses. One of the pairs was for the shooting range. The patient was looking through the nasal area of the right eye. After some discussion, the optician moved the lens’s ocular center toward the nasal part of the frame [with] a free-form lens. This cleared up the distortion. The patient was able to see the target. The optician also used a higher base curve since it was a wrap frame.
I know that a good optician is the lifeblood to the success of each practice. We encourage [them to] visit and work in our main lab for a day or two along with training on assembly and adjusting skills.
