St. Paul Eye Clinic
Marcus Becker, Director of Optical Services
Shopping for eyewear online has never been easier for patients. The question this presents for you is – is it your practice they are buying from or another online eyewear seller?
With increasingly busy schedules and more options than ever, it’s essential to meet patients where they are, and these days that’s online. St. Paul Eye Clinic, an ophthalmology-based clinic in St. Paul, Minnesota saw Optify as the solution and opportunity to give their patients what they were already looking for while investing in long-term growth for their practice.
Leading In The Optical Industry With An Omnichannel Approach
As an industry leader for over 50 years, St. Paul Eye Clinic was at first specifically looking for a way to increase its optical capture rate. They also wanted to find a technological selling solution that would grow with them and ensure their practice meets the demands of an evolving optical market well into the future. The email and SMS marketing capability was another big bonus for their practice.
“If you blend that new technology and brick and mortar you’re going to do well. It’s going to do well for us,” said Marcus Becker, the Director of Optical Services at St. Paul Eye Clinic.
10% Increased Capture Rate in the First Month Of Use
St. Paul Eye Clinic saw results within the first month of using Optify with an increase in their capture rate within 30 days using only the pre-shop feature. Within that first month, they had 106 pre-shop appointments, resulting in 52 pairs of glasses sold, bringing their monthly capture rate with Optify up to 30%.
“And that was only using about a quarter of what Optify can do for us,” said Marcus. “We all know that once patients leave the door they are less likely to come back regardless of services or sales or things like that. So it’s really important to capture them on the day of their exam.” - St. Paul Eye Clinic Marcus Becker, Director of Optical Services
Used By All Patients From Day One – Even Elderly Patients
One repeat elderly patient who had never purchased glasses from St. Paul Eye Clinic previously came in, pre-shopped, and purchased eyewear from them for the first time. St. Paul’s demographic as an ophthalmology clinic is typically patients who are over 45.
“I was really surprised because we have a more established demographic, and you know everybody isn’t computer savvy, but Optify does a wonderful job with their platform and allows that older demographic to go through step-by-step and just helps them get those frames ready to go for us for the day of their exam. I’m surprised at how well-versed the 65+ community is with this.”
A Selling Solution With Fast ROI
When choosing a new technology for their practice, Marcus is always focused on whether or not it will be adaptable for future needs and continued growth. He also knows that the cost has to bring value quickly. With the immediate boost in capture rate and easy adoption by patients, Marcus shared that Optify paid for itself with that first month of results.
Focusing on the ROI and satisfaction with the pre-shop results so far, Marcus said that St. Paul plans to start utilizing other features of Optify soon, like in-home try-ons for patients and eventually online ordering.
“Having the ability to say we can slowly do this to their comfort level has really sort of helped and that was the process for us, said Marcus. “We were like this is going to happen, and if we don't do it we are going to start to go the way of those shops that probably nobody remembers anymore because they don't offer some of these valued technologies - saving time. There is a value in some technology and this is one of those values for us.”
Easy Onboarding That Engaged The Optical Staff
Marcus noted that any new technology, it really sinks for swims without the support of your opticians. During that first month, St. Paul had a lot of feedback and discussion amongst their staff with staff using Optify and leaning in with questions about how they could get more involved and continue to improve the entire process.
“We heard from patients and from the opticians that the savings of time were great. They didn’t have to spend a ton of time picking out frames with patients and the patients saw value in having that ability to really help in the process. Like they are part of the process. So they felt value in that and that's what we’ve heard from the patients. That's what we've heard from the opticians.”
The team at St. Paul Eye Clinic felt that Optify was clear and efficient with the onboarding process and the timeline provided to get things up and going for them. “You did a phenomenal job of making sure it was right for us,” said Marcus. “Not right for Optify, but right for us.”
“We did have a number of people who were sort of like ‘this is not going to work’ and those people are the first to say “that was the fastest sale I’ve ever had.”
Optical Technology With Room For Growth
Up front, St. Paul knew they needed to incorporate new technologies, but on their terms, if they wanted to make it a benefit to patients and get staff buy-in.
“If you’re trying to fit that square peg in a round hole your opticians are going to hate it. Your doctors are not going to understand why it's not producing when it does produce somewhere else,” said Marcus. “So just knowing that we can really just sort of grow this as we need to or as we can based on staffing and different things that’s the biggest thing to really focus on.”
Marcus emphasized the point that doctors, managers, and opticians all need to understand the goals and buy in to make any new technology work. He had some advice for other practices as they look to evolve into the world of optical eCommerce:
“Make sure that it really fits your practice’s personality. And I really do believe that Optify has that for everybody realistically, because you can just slowly grow this. Whether you are a one-person show or a 100-person show. If you start small enough and just grow this the opticians can follow and the proprietors will see the value. For us, when we really looked at Optify, that’s why we decided to go with this partnership. It allowed us to be true to what we envision and what we see as our practice core values in a sense. It allowed us to enhance that.”
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