24 | OPTICOURIER | AUGUST 2007
Contact Lenses
This presents opportunities for eye care practitioners to
meet the unmet needs of their patients and grow prac-
tice revenue (both in terms of professional fees and
product sales). Yet many practitioners still shy away from proac-
tively recommending contacts unless they are directly asked by
patients to give them a try. With all the contact lens manufac-
turer sponsored direct-to-consumer advertising, consumer
awareness is on the rise. Yet many patients still hesitate to come
right out and ask their ECP about wearing them. Some are
afraid they may offend their ECP; others may believe that if con-
tacts were an option, their ECP would have already told them.
There remains a large group of patients who are simply “sitting
on the fence” because they feel there is too much financial risk
at stake. Some consumers believe that if they pay for profes-
sional fitting fees and buy contact lenses, they are out a couple
of hundred dollars if they don’t adapt to them. Instituting a
“Contact Lens Success Guarantee” can remove that potential
barrier by removing the financial risk for the patient and help
them make the decision to give contacts a try.
It is generally about this time in my conversations with ECPs
when I mention the word guarantee that I start to get resistance.
“I can’t guarantee contact lens success. It could put me out of
business,” is a typical response. Historical data suggests other-
wise. Think about your existing contact lens patient base. How
many patients have tried contact lenses and could not adapt
within 90 days? My conversations with ECPs lead me to believe
this number is pretty low (between 5% and 10%).
Now, before we go any further with this, let me outline the
basics of a workable contact lens success guarantee. Professional
fees are not at stake here. This fact must be clearly communi-
cated to potential new contact lens wearers. However, it is a
good idea to include one or two refits and follow-up visits in
your fitting fee (let’s face it, if a pa