5 Winning Strategies for Contact Lens Business Success – #3 – Create Your Lens Portfolio

Welcome back to our ongoing article series on building a successful contact lens business! So far, we’ve covered:

1. Engineer The Contact Lens Exam Experience – Focusing on patient-centered care and delivering an outstanding contact lens experience.
2. Determine a Profitable Service Fee Schedule – Ensuring your services are priced both competitively and profitably.

This week, we move to Strategy #3: How to Create Your Practice Contact Lens Portfolio. Crafting the right product mix for your practice is crucial—not only for driving sales but also for shaping your brand identity and attracting the right kind of patients.

Why Your Contact Lens Portfolio Matters

Your contact lens product portfolio is more than a list of products. It’s a reflection of the care and technology you offer, and it significantly impacts your practice’s profitability and patient satisfaction. The lenses you choose will help define the image of your practice, determining the types of patients you attract and retain.

According to the 2010 edition of Best Practices of Contact Lens Management, the most profitable contact lens practices are those that manage their product mix well, particularly by fitting more advanced, leading-edge technologies. By offering innovative lens options tailored to your patients’ needs, you increase both your professional credibility and the likelihood of patient retention.

5 Tips for Creating Your Contact Lens Portfolio

Here are five actionable tips to help you create a profitable and patient-centered contact lens product mix that supports your practice’s goals.

1. Identify the Contact Lens Benefits and Technologies Your Patients Need

The first step in developing your lens portfolio is understanding your patients’ visual needs. Start by analyzing the demographics and specific challenges of your patient base. For instance, do many of your patients suffer from dry eye? Are they older and in need of multifocal lenses?

Example: In my practice, our average patient is a 48-year-old professional woman who often experiences mild to moderate dry eye symptoms. Based on this information, we decided to focus on offering daily disposable multifocal contact lenses, as these lenses address both her visual needs and the comfort required for her lifestyle.

By identifying the most prevalent issues your patients face, you can choose lenses that are not only beneficial for their vision but also aligned with your practice’s focus on providing excellent care.

2. Choose a Manufacturer with the Most Profitable Family of Lenses

Once you’ve pinpointed the features and technologies that best meet your patients’ needs, it’s time to select a manufacturer. Today’s competitive marketplace means that every manufacturer is striving to offer cutting-edge lens technology. This is great news for practitioners, as it provides a variety of options that meet different needs and price points.

Tip: Look for manufacturers that provide a comprehensive portfolio of lenses, covering various patient needs while ensuring profitability. Pay close attention to the cost of each product to ensure that the lenses you choose offer a healthy profit margin.

A well-rounded relationship with a trusted manufacturer can lead to better pricing, access to new technologies, and additional resources for patient care and practice growth.

3. Build Strong Relationships with Vendor Representatives

Once you’ve selected a manufacturer, develop a solid relationship with your vendor representative. Think of your reps as valuable business partners who want you to succeed—because when you succeed, they succeed too.

Ask your vendor reps to supply fit sets for your selected lenses, and leverage their knowledge to grow your contact lens business. Many reps can offer additional support, such as staff training, updates on new lens technologies, and marketing materials.

Pro Tip: Regularly meet with your reps to review the performance of the lenses and stay informed about new innovations. Keeping diagnostic sets up to date ensures you always have the latest and best options for your patients.

4. Master the Fitting Guides and Technology

As optometrists, we’ve been trained to fit a wide variety of contact lens modalities. However, the manufacturers’ fitting guides are invaluable tools that offer specific insights for each lens type, which can save you chair time and improve the fitting process.

Study these guides thoroughly to understand how to evaluate and modify fits based on patient needs. The more familiar you are with each lens in your portfolio, the more confident you’ll be when recommending them to patients.

Become an Expert: Go beyond just knowing the basics. Read white papers and clinical studies on the lenses you offer. Attend webinars, conferences, and training sessions provided by the manufacturers to stay ahead of industry trends. Your goal is to become the go-to expert on your chosen lenses, which will enable you to provide the best possible care to your patients.

5. Make Your Chosen Lenses Your Go-To Option for Patients

Once you’ve selected the right lenses for your portfolio, commit to making them your first choice when fitting new patients. When you know that the technology, features, and profitability of the lenses align with your patients’ needs, your confidence will shine through during consultations.

Your patients will sense your expertise and your dedication to providing the best solutions for their vision. Over time, you’ll find that most patients will prioritize comfort, quality, and trust in your recommendation over price. The value of your service, combined with the right product, will keep them coming back.

Next Steps: Promote Your Contact Lens Clinic

In next week’s blog, we’ll dive into Winning Strategy #4: How to Promote Your Contact Lens Clinic, where we’ll discuss marketing strategies to attract new patients and build awareness of your specialized contact lens services.

Until then, continue to Empower, Connect, and Promote each other’s success.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with your colleagues and leave a comment below. Your input is always appreciated!

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References:
Kading, D. L. (2010). Best Practices of Contact Lens Management. Contact Lens Spectrum.