Visionary - Essilor UK

Essilor – a visionary partnership with Independent opticians
Visionary
Ground breaker
Transitions Signature VII
YOUR MAGAZINE
FROM ESSILOR LTD
Issue 2
Spring 2013
Marketing for success / Essilor instruments / Web design /
Essilor Xperio / The ideal patient journey / Sustainability /
Influencing patient choice / Vital tax advice / Useful tools /
S series pricing survey / Eye-sun protection factor (E-SPF)
CONTENTS
Welcome to the second edition
of Visionary.
In the last edition we covered
Essilor’s innovations and new
technologies, the latest being the
launch of Varilux S series – the
main focus of our innovation
roadshows which toured the UK
in January and February.
Thanks to everyone who attended
and for your positive feedback.
As well as providing valuable
information about our new products
and service, we also talked about
the decline in the number of
independent opticians over the past four years.
We can’t deny that there is a decline but Essilor is committed
to helping to secure the long-term future of the sector. Our
strategy is totally focused on helping you to build a sustainable
and profitable business by enabling you to provide the best
possible vision correction to your patients.
We’ve always had lots of support initiatives available to help
independent opticians, but we’ve now brought these initiatives
together within our ‘Business Partner Programme’.
As a business partner we take the time to understand your
individual business needs and offer a tailored solution to help
your business to grow. We provide comprehensive business
analysis and recommendations, commercial, technical and CET
accredited training, comprehensive product guarantees,
marketing support and a fantastic loyalty programme.
I believe that by working closely together we can help each
other succeed in this extremely competitive yet fragile economy.
Please speak to your Essilor Account Manager to find out how we
can work with you.
I was sorry to hear about the closure of the London Eye Show.
If you were planning to attend why not come along to Optrafair
instead? Essilor will be exhibiting and we look forward to
meeting you.
Regulars
Features
Update
News from Essilor
and the wider industry
Ground breaker
Transitions Signature
VII – radical new
adaptive lenses
Meet the team
Who’s who at
Essilor Ltd
Admin
Chartered accountant
Marc Bennett with
timely advice
Useful tools
S series pricing survey;
Essilor Digital Directory
04
30
31
34
08
VISIONARY IS PUBLISHED BY ESSILOR LTD
Tracy Burden Marketing Growth Manager,
Essilor Ltd
www.essilor.co.uk
Visionary is edited and designed for Essilor
Ltd by Archant Dialogue,
Prospect House, Rouen Road,
Norwich NR1 1RE, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1603 664242
www.archantdialogue.co.uk
Strategic decisions
Why having a solid marketing
strategy in place can
make all the difference
12
Instrumental player
A look at Essilor’s
impressive range of
optical instruments
14
An untangled web
Making the most of your
online presence
16
Learning from Xperio
Essilor’s Xperio lenses offer
total protection from
bothersome glare
21
Talking E-SPF
Essilor’s eye sun
protection factor plays
a vital role in vision
protection and eye health
32
Acting responsibly
A look at Essilor Ltd’s
sustainability
programme
Sight test
Your choice of new
non-lens products
Forces of influence
William Anderson of
The TeamWorks on
influencing customer
choice
Mike Kirkley
Managing Director
Essilor Ltd
All Essilor Ltd correspondence to:
Essilor Ltd, Cooper Road, Thornbury, Bristol
BS35 3UW
Tel: 01454 417100
Fax: 01454 423365
Email: [email protected]
08
Jonathan Arnold Editor
Matt Bemment Production Editor
Jaz Harris Designer
Nick Paul Creative Director
Richard Woolliams
Client Services Director
Zoë Francis-Cox Publishing Director
Mick Hurrell Managing Director
24
26
28
32
COPYRIGHT: ALL MATERIAL PUBLISHED IN VISIONARY IS
THE COPYRIGHT OF ESSILOR LTD. USE MAY BE FREELY
MADE OF IT WITHOUT PERMISSION ON CONDITION THAT
ANY MATERIAL USED IS CREDITED “REPRODUCED BY
PERMISSION OF VISIONARY, THE ESSILOR LTD MAGAZINE”.
THE VIEWS OF ANY CONTRIBUTION CONTAINED IN
VISIONARY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE
EDITORIAL TEAM OR OF ESSILOR UK.
For advertising enquiries,
please contact:
Stephen Price Advertising Sales Director
+44 (0) 1603 772856
([email protected]) or
Shakiba McCormick (production) on
+44 (0) 1603 772194
Visionary Issue 2/2013 3
Update
The latest news from Essilor and an update on the wider industry
Cassie’s Law – another compelling
reason to have regular eye exams
Drivers who are deemed to be medically unfit
to drive will have their licence taken away in
just a few hours after 45,000 people backed
a grieving mother’s bid for ‘Cassie’s Law’.
Cassie McCord, 16, was killed by 87-yearold Colin Horsfall who refused to surrender
his licence, despite failing an on-the-spot
police eye test after a crash three days
before the tragedy.
Cassie’s mother, Jackie, has campaigned
for two years for a law to instantly ban unfit
drivers. Police are now able to seize licences
from drivers with defective eyesight, the
Department for Transport has said.
It emerged after Cassie’s death that police
had already asked the DVLA to revoke
Horsfall’s licence, but the process took days.
That will now be ‘accelerated’ so decisions
can be made in hours, Roads Safety Minister
Stephen Hammond said.
Mr Horsfall was never charged over the
fatal crash as he died three months later.
Compulsory eye tests for
VDU users at work
Since 1993 European Commission (EC)
legislation has placed responsibilities
on employers whose staff use visual
display units (VDUs) as part of their
job on a regular basis.
These regulations include a full eye
examination free of charge when staff
begin working with VDUs and at regular
intervals thereafter. Employees are also
entitled to a free pair of basic spectacles
if the test shows that they are required
specifically for use at work.
Employers must also provide health and
safety training information relating to the
workstation and keep their staff informed
about the regulations – particularly
those relating to
eyesight, rest
breaks and
guidance on
work station
minimum
requirements.
Essilor product shortlisted
for 2013 Optician Awards
Essilor celebrates this month after
its new product, Varilux S series is
shortlisted in the Lens Product of
the Year Award category of the
2013 Optician Awards.
The Awards will take place the
Saturday night of the Optrafair
weekend at the Birmingham Metropole
Hotel on 13 April 2013. Essilor
compete with Shamir’s Proline
4 Visionary Issue 2/2013
and Younger Optics Trilogy amongst
others to win this prestigious award.
More than 500 professionals from
the industry are expected to attend
the black tie event, which includes a
stunning audio visual show, a charity
casino and an A-list celebrity host.
For a full list of the shortlisted finalists,
go to www.opticianawards.com
Varilux
Consultant
Programme
update
Essilor has announced updates to
its Varilux Consultant Optician (VCO)
loyalty programme where now you
can make your loyalty points go even
further. Each time you increase your
VCO status you will receive a 50 per
cent increase in the value of your points.
To find out more, ask your Essilor
Account Manager for details or visit
www.essilor.co.uk
Milestone Mike
Mike Kirkley
started out as the
Sales Director at
The Essilor Group.
30 years on he is
now MD and
partner. He
celebrated
his 30th year on
1 March 2013.
www.essilor.co.uk
News in brief
And the
WINNER
is…
HSE says drive safely at work
It is estimated that up to a third of all
road traffic accidents involve somebody
who is working at the time and many of
these are due to the driver’s failure to
observe the Highway Code.
According to the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), some employers incorrectly believe that
if they comply with certain road traffic law
requirements, such as company vehicles having
a valid MOT certificate and employees holding a
valid driver’s licence, this will surely be enough
to ensure the safety of their employees and other
road users when they are on the road.
The HSE’s Driving at Work Guide applies
to any employer, manager or supervisor
with staff who drive, or ride a motorcycle
or bicycle at work.
The leaflet suggests ways to manage
the risk to drivers’ health and safety, and
highlights key areas such as the eyesight
requirements set out in the Highway Code
so that drivers don’t put themselves and
others at risk.
For more information, please go to
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.htm
Scientists grow
complete eye
Scientists at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Education
in Rajastahn have grown a complete eye with intact lens,
retina and other components.
The researchers took the lens of a donor tadpole and
implanted it into the tail of a recipient tadpole. Within days,
the cells, in the presence of a vitamin A containing substrate,
had evolved into a complete eye.
This breakthrough is, of course, at an early stage and
further species work will need to be done, but the potential
for re-differentiation of transplanted ocular cells into a
complete eye might offer some hope for the future.
www.essilor.co.uk
Following last issue’s Visionary
competition, we are delighted
to congratulate Jonathan
Partridge, owner of Jonathan
Partridge Optometrists with
his wife Beverly in Shrewsbury,
as our lucky reader to win the
one-day cookery course with
the fantastic Nigel Brown
Cookery Academy, worth £350!
Jonathan wins this amazing
opportunity after we
interviewed the celebrity chef
Nigel Brown on his culinary
success and how he couldn’t
live without Essilor’s Optifog
lenses while cooking.
Congratulations to Jonathan
and let’s not forget our runnerup, Charlie Gregory from R N
Roberts & G L Rees Opticians,
Cardiff, who will also be able
to get cooking this month with
a half-day cookery course with
Nigel Brown worth £95!
Crizal offer
extended
In the last edition of Visionary,
we announced the arrival of
our new Crizal UV lens cloth
that was originally going to
be available until the end of
March. We've had lots of great
feedback from you about the
cloth and as a result, we've
decided to extend it until the
end of June on Crizal Forte
UV and Crizal Alize+ UV
lenses. We are also looking at
making lens cloths available to
purchase through VCO points
in the coming months.
Visionary Issue 2/2013 5
Update
Varilux S series has taken the industry and patients by storm
to revolutionise varifocal lenses. We asked Andy Chapman
of Chapman & Myers for his thoughts
The clearer picture
their individual perfect sight solution.
“We like to work with our patients in
choosing something that fits with them
as an individual, with their lifestyle
choices, and we see Varilux S series
doing just that, being offered on a longterm basis for all types of wearers.”
Here’s what patients have to
say…
Mrs Myatt, Stourbridge
“Fantastic! Adjustment between my old
lenses into S series has been effortless.
My vision is much clearer with less
distortion and is far better and wider
in the middle and reading area.”
Andrew, pharmacist, Brecon
“These new lenses are significantly
better, giving a clearer, sharper,
brighter view to the world.”
Hector McLean, Cirencester
“The distance in peripheral vision is
noticeably wider than my previous
lenses. I am very happy with my new
vision in all respects.”
Andy Chapman, Managing Director of the
Worcestershire and West Midlands-based
optician, Chapman & Myers, one of the
region’s leading group of independent
opticians, has been amazed at the
reaction to the Varilux S series and
sees the Essilor product range becoming
even more popular with his customers.
He says: “People have responded
DID YOU KNOW
“You can dispense
Varilux S Design and
Varilux S Design Short
lenses to your patients
using standard measurements.
You don’t need to take any additional
measurements and you don’t need
a Visioffice measuring device.”
6 Visionary Issue 2/2013
extremely positively to the S series,
in particular the Varilux S 4D.”
As introduced in the last issue,
Varilux S 4D takes the lens to another
level with 4D technology, where the
patient’s visual reaction time is greatly
improved. Andy continues: “People have
been delighted with the overall result and
adapted from their old lens to the S 4D
with ease. We had a lady who was once
a long-term bifocal wearer and very
recently she tried the S 4D and loved it. I
think for a patient like this who has never
tried anything else to then immediately
feel comfortable is a significant step up
to the other products already out there.”
Chapman & Myers Opticians operates
from seven practices and Andy explains
they like to work with patients in finding
Julia Fox-Clinch, Cirencester
“Very happy with new Varilux S design,
they enable me to see everything
I need to at work and home without
the need to change spectacles.
I would highly recommend Varilux S.”
Andrew Holder, Cirencester
“Perfect from the start. I was
shocked at how easy they were to
adapt to. These have wide fields of
vision without swim and are well
worth paying extra!”
John Penman, Weston-Super-Mare
"I would highly recommend the
S series, brilliant."
www.essilor.co.uk
Transitions
The new Transitions Signature VII adaptive lenses, using real-life
testing, have radically improved photochromic lens technology, as
Jonathan Arnold discovered
Transitions Signature VII:
The new Transitions
Signature VII adapt
to the surroundings
8 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
Transitions
Breaking new ground
radical new range of adaptive lenses
for everyday use has been launched by
Essilor, called Transitions Signature VII.
Deploying a patented molecular
formulation known as Chromea 7 –
which keeps more molecules activated
to absorb more light – these new lenses
are more responsive to light conditions
by taking into account such key aspects
as reflected light, geography, time of day,
temperature and the position the wearer
adopts when using Signature VII.
The research that went into the lenses,
based uniquely on real-life conditions
rather than solely conducted under the
more traditional laboratory conditions,
has delivered a truly groundbreaking
approach to adaptive lenses. This new
way of measuring the performance of
photochromic lenses – called Life 360
– shows that Transitions Signature VII
lenses are 21 per cent darker on average
in brown and 15 per cent darker in grey
than the previous generation of
Transitions lenses.
These are truly revolutionary
measurements for a truly revolutionary
A
More than 200
different real life
conditions were
tested, covering
temperatures,
angles of light,
UV and weather
conditions, and
geographies
www.essilor.co.uk
product. Your patients wear their lenses
every day, all year long, in a variety of
locations, temperatures and weather
conditions. Because they move from
inside to outside, from sun to shadow,
and change their position in relation to
the sun, all of these factors need to be
considered when understanding how
best to improve and develop
photochromic lenses.
And while ‘static’ measurements
in a limited set of isolated conditions
are of undoubted value, performance
evaluations and measurements are
only meaningful if they reflect what
patients are actually experiencing
when wearing their lenses.
So by using real-life conditions, real
locations and real situations, Transitions
has developed a new proprietary
methodology for designing and analysing
photochromic performance. And this
is where the story becomes that much
more exciting: for the first time more
than 200 different real-life conditions
were tested which represent more than
a thousand different scenarios covering
temperatures, angles of light, UV and
weather conditions, and geographies.
So rigorous has this real-life testing
been that Transitions Signature VII
lenses are now significantly more
responsive in more situations than
ever before.
Of course, these tests were done with
actual wearers and the transmission →
Signature VII
™
Visionary Issue 2/2013 9
Transitions
More than 200 real-life scenarios were
tested, making the Transitions Signature
VII perfect for any condition
and photochromic measures have been
correlated to their experience and feedback.
So what were the findings that came
out of this extraordinary series of real-life
tests? Overall, 89 per cent of clear lens
wearers and 93 per cent of photochromic
lens wearers described their experience
wearing Transitions Signature VII lenses
as “excellent”, “very good” or good”.
Indeed, 82 per cent of clear lens wearers
felt that their wearing experience was
“superior” to what they had experienced
with clear lenses before trying
Transitions Signature VII. The real-life
research found that “this superior wearer
experience is due to an optimal balance
of benefits – better darkness outdoors,
improved responsiveness in more
situations, speed of activation and fade
back and clarity indoors and at night.”
Some of the other statistics to come
out of this real-life research are equally
impressive. For example, compared with
the earlier generations of Transitions
lenses Transitions Signature VII lenses
offer greater temperature stability,
were darker in the conditions that matter
(helping to improve wearer comfort and
vision quality) and compared with
Transitions VI, were more reactive to
indirect sunlight, making them darken
in bright conditions when the wearer
is facing away from the sun. This is
important, as your patients should be
made aware, because reflections from
sunlight can make it difficult to see.
CUSTOMER GUARANTEE
extends for a full 60 calendar days.
If they don’t love them in that time,
they’re free to exchange them for clear
lenses. All you have to do is return the
Transitions lenses to us within 100 days
from receiving them back from your
patient, with a claim form, and we’ll
send you the equivalent clear pair free
of charge. Claim forms are available
to download from the Essilor website.
Crizal Transitions Signature lenses
as well as all other Crizal Transitions
lenses from Essilor, are covered by an
exclusive consumer guarantee known
as Love ‘em or Leave ‘em.
We’re so confident that your patients
will be happy with their new Crizal
Transitions lenses that we offer a 60day Love ‘em or leave ‘em guarantee.
This exclusive guarantee is a great
way to reassure your patients about the
benefits and quality of their new lenses
and the excellent service that they get
from your practice. It’s very unlikely
that a patient will ever return their
lenses but if they do, you can reorder
the same lenses as a clear pair which
will be sent to you absolutely free
of charge.
This no-quibble guarantee starts from
the day on which your patient collects
their new spectacles from you and
10 Visionary Issue 2/2013
New POS packs
Why not advertise this guarantee in
store with point of sale material? A POS
pack consists of an A3 showcard, 50
patient leaflets about the guarantee and
50 guarantee cards. You write the date
when the patient collected their new
glasses on the guarantee card. Stamp it
with your practice details and give it to
the patient with their guarantee receipt.
Transitions Signature VII provides the
right amount of tint, to improve quality
of vision in all conditions, and are 20
per cent faster to return to clear than
their predecessor.
The lenses are available in a contrastenhancing brown tint or a neutral grey
tint that doesn’t affect colour perception.
Naturally, both colours meet all
standards for driving in any conditions.
It’s also important to remind your
patients when discussing Transitions
Signature VII that like all Transitions
lenses, Signature VII block 100 per cent
of harmful UV rays from passing through
the front surface. When this frontal UV
protection is combined with a Crizal UV
coating, your patient will be afforded a
much greater defence against UV, with
Crizal UV eliminating UV reflection off
the back surface of the lenses. In fact
a very good way to communicate this
revolutionary UV protection is to use
the E-SPF value, which like SPF on skin
care highlights how many more times
protected from UV the wearer will be
with these lenses (than without lenses).
With Crizal Transitions Signature VII
delivering an E-SPF value of 25, it is clear
these lenses deliver incredible protection
from hazardous UV.
All in all Transitions Signature VII
have reached new levels of performance
and wearer comfort. Shouldn’t your
patients benefit from such leading
edge technology?
www.essilor.co.uk
Attracting new customers
Having a solid marketing strategy in place
is vital in order for your business to attract
new customers
Meeting your
patients’
needs
he most common problems that
eye care professionals (ECPs) are
facing in the current economic climate
are low footfall and low conversion rates.
Independent opticians need new
patients but new patients rarely turn
up out of the blue. That’s why it’s
important to have a solid marketing
strategy in place that enables your
practice to reach potential new patients.
Unlike fast-moving consumable goods
(FMCG) retail environments where
consumers can see and immediately
appreciate what’s on offer, the patient
benefits of spectacles, in particular the
lens element, isn’t obvious at a glance.
As consumers aren’t educated or
knowledgeable about optical products,
T
12 Visionary Issue 2/2013
their limited education only usually
occurs when they have an eye
examination – commonly at the two-year
recall stage, and only when they are
recommended corrective eyewear.
But as lifestyles change rapidly, so
do patients needs. What suited your
patient 12 months ago might not
suit them now and if your practice has
got something great and different to
offer but you’re not telling potential new
patients or existing ones about it (outside
of recall), then they’ll never know!
There are many ways in which you can
talk to potential new patients. One of the
most cost effective is through a window
display advertising a specific message
or offer. Window displays can include
anything from a poster to a fully dressed
window. It’s important to be clear on
what you want to tell passers-by and
what you want them to do as a result
of your marketing efforts.
Another way to do this is through
advertising in local papers and
magazines. Multiple insertions are more
effective but one-offs linked to a specific
offer are also proven to generate interest
and footfall.
Many consumers have embraced the
online revolution and use the internet
to research as well as to shop. Having
a web presence is a must for any
optician. If you haven’t got a website,
getting one would be a wise investment.
Your website is essential for
communication and for enabling potential
patients to find you. It’s your opportunity
to set out your positioning and to tell
consumers what’s on offer, in order
to generate new enquiries.
Once you have an online presence
you’ll need to optimise your website
using search engine optimisation so
patients can find your website. This is
where things can get very interesting:
for example, incorporating some key
words into your site which consumers
would typically search for when looking
for an optician or for new specs. Key
words content and inbound link building
need to be updated regularly to keep a
constant flow of traffic to your site. You
can work with optimisation companies
who will do all the work for you for a fee
or if you have a member of staff that has
www.essilor.co.uk
Attracting new
customers
ROGER BAMBER / ALAMY
It’s important to be
clear on what you
want to tell passersby and what you
want them to do as
a result of your
marketing efforts
an interest in websites, they could do it
for you. Constantly updating the site
through optimisation will maximise its
effectiveness. This will increase your
hit rates, and having the right message
on your site will lead to an increased
number of enquiries.
The most successful practices use
a mix of marketing strategies to increase
footfall. If you are running an offer and
choose to advertise it in your window,
make sure it goes onto your website
as well so the reach is as broad as
possible. You can enhance your
marketing offer even further through
patient mailings or leaflet drops to
households in your local area.
It’s important not to neglect
existing patients when marketing.
These patients already have a
relationship with you so they are a good
target group and possibly the easiest
www.essilor.co.uk
to turn a visit into a sale. Why not invite
your patients back into practice a year
after they last came in rather than
waiting for their next recall? You could
invite them to an open day, to preview
your latest frame collection or to hear
about the latest lenses and technologies.
It’s a great opportunity to make
additional sales outside of the usual
renewal cycle and it’s a great opportunity
for your patients to experience
new products.
Many opticians offer a free specs MOT
for patients who have recently purchased
specs. This includes cleaning and frame
adjustments. Again, it’s a cost-effective
and great way to get patients to come
back into your practice outside of the
usual recall cycle and once they are
with you, you can take the opportunity
to introduce new ranges or the idea
of a second pair.
Many opticians don’t feel comfortable
with “selling” to patients, as optometry
quite rightly falls under the medical
profession umbrella but it’s important
to remember that it’s the actual sale
that keeps the business going. It’s easy
to assume that a patient won’t want a
particular product because they have
never had it in the past, or they can’t
afford it – but unless you ask, you’ll
never know.
Essilor’s marketing department can
provide a range of marketing support
initiatives to Varilux Consultant
Opticians through the VCO loyalty
programme. This includes
posters/advertisements that can be
personalised to your practice, and even
augmented reality iPad dispensing
apps like Eyecast pro. There is also a
vast range of pre-written letter
templates that you can download from
the Essilor website, under the ‘support’
section. You will need your username
and password to login.
If you are interested in receiving
dynamic sales training for your staff,
Essilor has a range of training options
that can be delivered by your Account
Manager in your practice.
Contact your Account Manager in
the first instance if you would like more
details about how Essilor’s marketing
or sales training can help you to grow
your business.
Visionary Issue 2/2013 13
Essilor instruments
Paul Cumber, Essilor Ltd’s Instruments Manager,
talks to Visionary about Essilor’s groundbreaking optical
instrument range and how it can benefit your practice
Leading edge
instruments
Paul Cumber
demonstrates
Essilor’s impressive
range of leadingedge instruments
14 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
Essilor instruments
ny visitor to Essilor Ltd’s stand at
this year’s Optrafair will not fail to
notice the range of Essilor’s instruments
on offer. From the now well-established
high-tech Mr Orange and Mr Blue, to
the ever popular Kappa, Gamma and
Triplets edging equipment and the unique
Visioffice measuring device, Essilor
has always prided itself on its ability
to produce leading-edge equipment.
Paul Cumber, Essilor Ltd’s
Instruments Manager, is unequivocal:
“Essilor has always been at the forefront
of optical instrument equipment design
and technology. More recently Essilor
has added to its range of products with
its new optometry equipment. We now
have a comprehensive range of high
quality optometry equipment with
products such as automatic phoroptor
heads, digital slit lamps and LCD test
charts. We can also offer refraction
furniture and state-of-the-art equipment
for fully automatic objective refraction,
Keratornetry, Tonometry and
Pachymetry”. Paul adds: “Our optometry
range offers the quality of equipment
that you would expect from Essilor
together with our service levels and
first-class technical support.”
Paul is only too well aware that if
COMPETITION
Visionary is running
a two-part
competition.
Answer Q1
below and
bring your
answer to
the Essilor
stand at
Optrafair, where
you will receive Q2. You can then submit
your answers and if both are correct
you could win a M'eye Fit Touch!
Q1 What is the name of the Essilor
device that acts as an information hub.
Come to the Essilor stand at Optrafair
on April 13-15 for Q2!
www.essilor.co.uk
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID BURTON
A
you have invested in any Essilor
instruments you need to be reassured
that should something go wrong “we
react very quickly. Our factory-trained
technicians all know how important it
is to our customers to keep down-time
to an absolute minimum.”
Essilor’s measuring devices are known
for their leading-edge technology. The
Visioffice, Essilor’s premium product in
this field, enables customers to dispense
Essilor’s premium lenses – indeed you
cannot do so without it. Visioffice allows
the optician to obtain every possible
parameter required for today’s modern
lenses with extreme speed and accuracy.
More recently Essilor has introduced
a new measuring device called M’Eye Fit
Touch. M’Eye Fit Touch is a small
handheld measuring device which will
fit perfectly at the dispensing table like
no other device.
With M’Eye Fit Touch you will be fully
equipped to significantly enhance the
overall customer experience. M’Eye Fit
Touch will be on display at Optrafair.
Paul is keen to stress that in addition
to this impressive range of leading-edge
instruments, the Essilor stand at
Optrafair will also include some “new
things” not yet announced. Visionary will
report on these latest developments in
the next issue but whatever is unveiled
at Optrafair is bound to create the same
wave of interest that all of the other
Essilor instruments have generated
over the years .
Paul says: “Essilor has become a
‘unique player’ in the optical equipment
market. With the launch of our new range
of optometry equipment, I believe that
we are now the only supplier who can
offer a total equipment solution for each
area of the optical practice. This ranges
from the front of shop with our
measuring devices through to the
testing room and into the workshop.
“We also have strong connectivity
through our Essibox, which is a device
that acts as an information hub,
transferring data from each piece of
equipment to the other. This is then
automatically transferred to your PMS
saving time and eliminating errors
that are often made through manual
keying of data.
“We are very proud
to be able to provide
such a wide range of
equipment solutions
to our customers and
we look forward to
seeing you on the
Essilor stand.”
Visionary Issue 2/2013 15
Web design
Clive Davy explains why it is vital that you connect with your
customers in the digital world and develop an online presence
Make the most of your
online presence
t’s a fact. We live in a fast-moving, connected,
digital world. Any independent optician who is
yet to recognise the importance of effectively
communicating using all of the channels available –
both digital and traditional – risks losing out. One of
the most basic starting points is to ensure you have a
website that is much more than simply a shop window
with some attractive images and a contact number.
If you are paying a monthly hosting fee for your site,
what value for money are you getting from it?
Essilor recognises the importance of producing a
fast-changing, regularly updated, effective website
and is here to help. Clive Davy, who looks after
digital and marketing at Essilor Ltd is unequivocal.
“If you have an out of date, badly constructed site,
you may as well not have one at all. It is vital that
your practice website ranks highly on any search
engine.” That means ensuring that search engine
optimisation (SEO) for your site is as good as it can
be. The importance of having up-to-date content
with the right keywords that will be picked up by
search engines might not be widely understood.
Other things like links to videos on, say, a
personalised YouTube channel or Twitter and
Facebook pages, will all help your website’s natural
search engine rankings. Piccadilly Opticians in
Birmingham does this to great effect. Without this your
website ranking can slip and end up being buried on the
fifth or sixth page of any search results. And how many
customers will bother to mine down that deeply?
Customers using the internet in this way to search
for information on frames, lenses or their local
optician will almost certainly see displayed on the
first page the names of the big multiples, which
deploy time, effort and resources to ensure they are
among the first – or one of the first names – to be
seen. But there are ways to compete with this, even if
you are a small, independent optician. Essilor, through
your Account Manager, can help put you in touch with
I
16 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
If you have an out of
date, badly constructed
site, you may as well
not have one at all
specialist agencies that know how to navigate through
this complex landscape and ensure that anyone
searching for a local independent optician will see your
entry in a prime position in any search engine results.
Not only that, but Essilor also provides images
and Word documents containing information about
its main lenses – Varilux, Crizal and Transitions
– that can be easily uploaded and incorporated
into your website.
Clive Davy adds: “It’s vital that you add value
to your site through such add-ons as online
appointment booking systems, having a
Google+ page, more interactivity and links to
your social media presence. Linking to your
own YouTube channel, which can, at the very
least be populated with free Essilor video
content, is much easier to set up than might be
imagined. Again, with the help of recommended
agencies this can be implemented quickly and
cost effectively.”
Even if you are good at ensuring your site
is regularly updated and has some of the
necessary ingredients to make it interactive and
informative for customers, do you know exactly
how many customers use your site and in what
way? Do you know which facets are more
effective than others? And even if you do, are you
regularly changing and upgrading your site
to reflect this vital data?
Clive Davy says that using tools such as Google
Analytics is important in monitoring what traffic to
your site is actually doing. Admittedly, this takes time
and effort but without understanding how your website
is being used by visitors any changes you make may
not be as effective as they could – or should – be.
http://piccadillyopticiansbirmingham.blogspot.fr/
Is your website working for you? Is it helping to
drive footfall into your practice? If not, Essilor can
help you give it a service and MOT using the tools
described above. To find out more please contact
your Account Manager.
www.essilor.co.uk
Visionary Issue 2/2013 17
Advertisement feature
Innovative software
for your practice
Optisoft’s practice management solutions help to make your life
easier, save you money and help you to provide better patient service
E
stablished in 1989, Optisoft is one of the
market leaders in providing specialised
computer solutions for independent opticians
and the optical profession.
So what makes Optisoft different? In a word:
innovation. Optisoft leads the way in developing
practice management solutions for opticians
that are flexible, user-friendly and cost-effective.
Based on Optisoft’s insight into the optical
market, there is continual investment in
research and development of new technology
that meets the changing needs of your business.
Instead of simply offering your optical practice a
piece of software, Optisoft provides you with a
total end-to-end optical solution that can keep
your practice up to date, ahead of the game and
as competitive as possible.
Not only is the software solution for retail
opticians modular so you can choose different
elements at different times if you want to, it
also saves time, reduces cost and improves
efficiency.
The Optisoft optical solution works by
automating many common processes that
your practice carries out each and every day.
Improved efficiency comes from the
administration time saved in securely handling
patient information and repetitive tasks.
Managing appointments, recalling patients,
processing payments, stock control and
providing dispensing opticians with all the
information they need can be handled
more easily too. All of which adds to
your patients' satisfaction.
One of the reasons why Optisoft practice
management software solutions for opticians
are so successful is that it reflects the real world.
Your optician practice forms part of a journey,
and that is why Optisoft have developed classleading ophthalmic software programmes
which focus on the patient from the moment
they first walk through the door, to their
continued returns to your practice.
Here are some other key benefits of
the software.
• Integrates with Office 2013 to provide a
familiar, intuitive and modern interface
• Latest technology provides a completely
digital experience for practice and patient
• Communication with patient by their
preference; email, SMS or letter
• Remote printing of reminders to cut down
administration and mailing costs
• Automated SMS appointment notifications to
ensure patients attend
• Online lens catalogues updated automatically
by most major suppliers
• Support for Essilor Affinity Programme and
other ad-hoc marketing
For more information on Optisoft, telephone
0845 230 1230, email [email protected] or
go to www.optisoft.co.uk. Optisoft will be at
Optrafair, Hall 20 Stand O20.
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Polarised
The dangers of UV rays cannot be overstated. For sportsmen and
women, drivers and other users trying to combat bothersome
reflected glare, Essilor’s Xperio lenses offer total protection
Learning
from
www.essilor.co.uk
Visionary Issue 2/2013 21
Polarised
n the last issue of Visionary magazine
we highlighted just how critical it is to
remind patients of the dangers of
exposure to UV rays and what protection
they should seek.
It’s a little known fact amongst
consumers that 20 per cent of cataracts
may be due to exposure to UV rays. Nor
do many consumers know how damaging
UV rays can be to young people and
children. So the need to be able to explain
to your patients what the dangers are,
what precautions to take and what
products are available is key, especially
as summer approaches.
I
The new Xperio
brand is right at the
forefront when it
comes to offering
polarising lenses
that have a 99.9
per cent efficiency
Here is how the driver views the road without Xperio lenses
Here you can see how vision is improved with Xperio lenses
Essilor products are geared to ensuring
that the best possible protection is
available against the menace of
bothersome glare. The new Xperio brand
is right at the forefront when it comes to
offering polarising lenses that have a 99.9
per cent efficiency as well as many other
distinctive qualities. You can read more
about the Xperio lenses below, but
at the outset it is worth recalling how
polarising lenses work.
When light hits a smooth and horizontal
surface (such as a road, water, snow or
sand) it becomes polarised and vibrates
in a horizontal plane. This causes a
bothersome, disabling glare that attacks
the eyes. Ordinary tinted lenses reduce
bright light but do not stop or exclude this
glare. Polarised lenses – and especially
Essilor’s Xperio polarised lenses –
are designed to cut out this glare by
22 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
Polarised
eliminating reflected light through the use
of a special polarising feature. Indeed,
only polarised lenses protect our eyes
from both bright light and reflected sun
glare giving total UV protection.
This is an important distinction that your
patients should be made aware of.
Standard tinted lenses do block bright
light but they do not block reflected sun
glare. Polarised lenses, in the shape of
Essilor’s Xperio, are a new generation
of sunwear that give the kind of total
protection that certain users – such
as professional drivers and water and
winter sports participants – would
benefit from immensely.
Essilor has commissioned and been
involved in substantial research over
recent years that reaffirms the importance
of polarised lenses over tinted lenses –
particularly when it is deployed in these
specialist fields of work or activity. One
such piece of research conducted at Ulster
University asked professional drivers to
compare their responses to using normally
tinted lenses for a week and then
switching to polarised lenses for the
same time frame. More than 80 per cent
of these users found the polarised lenses
far more beneficial.
Another piece of independent research,
conducted by the New York based
Institute of Vision Research, examined
the benefits of Xperio lenses in a driving
environment. It concluded that “contrast
sensitivity and reaction times can be
significantly improved by using Xperio
polarised sunglasses when driving in
daytime in both young and elderly wearers.
This result has implications in respect to
driving comfort and safety and it may
Polarised lenses,
in the shape of
Essilor’s Xperio, are
a new generation
of sunwear
www.essilor.co.uk
particularly apply to patients with
decreased contrast sensitivity (from cataracts and other conditions)”. The same
research also showed that by wearing
polarised lenses a driver’s reaction time
improved by one third of a second. This
might not seem like very much but it
means that the wearer can stop his or her
vehicle seven metres sooner at 50mph –
the length of a zebra crossing.
As already suggested, Essilor Xperio
lenses are also perfect for water sports
users in activities such as sailing or
fishing and winter sports such as skiing
and snowboarding – indeed, wherever
the eyes are under constant stress from
the sunlight reflected by flat surfaces.
When it comes to research conducted
specifically with Essilor’s Xperio, 70 per
cent of wearers preferred them to
standard tinted lenses for their waterrelated activities. And those individuals
used in the test sample should know
– 30 Australian lifeguards were surveyed
by an independent third party and gave
the thumbs-up to Xperio.
So Xperio provides a range of benefits
that can significantly assist patient
comfort – from unmatched clarity of
vision to true colour perception and
almost total UVA/UVB protection.
Evidently polarised lenses will be
attractive to those with a distinctive
need for such protection. However, you
may, in your practice, feel that Xperio
might be prescribed as a second or
additional pair for those patients
looking for added protection against
glare that standard tinted lenses
cannot provide.
Patients may be interested in an
intermediate stage between standard
tinted lenses and polarised lenses, which
comes in the shape of adaptive lenses
such as Essilor’s Transitions Signature
V11 range (see page 8). Essilor has just
unveiled its Transitions Signature VII
lenses with Life 360 Performance.
These lenses were developed using reallife rather than only lab-based research,
and are another breakthrough in Essilor’s
long history of changing the way we
think and prescribe lenses to patients.
But those patients looking for
complete protection from bothersome
glare should be guided towards
Essilor’s Xperio lenses to solve
this perennial problem.
Visionary Issue 2/2013 23
E-SPF
It is important to make consumers aware of the dangers
of UV rays, and Essilor’s eye-sun protection factor (E-SPF)
plays a vital role in vision protection and eye health
Talking E-SPF
n recent years there has been a major
increase in the number of consumer
health messages we receive. Health
organisations use a range of different
media to get their messages across and
the chances are you’ll be exposed to
weekly, if not daily, health messages
in one form or another.
Hot topics in health include obesity,
stroke prevention and heart disease, but
although our eyes are one of the most
important vital organs, we don’t consume
anywhere near as many health messages
about them as we do other subjects.
I
DID YOU KNOW
“72% of consumers
are unaware that clear
lenses offer any
protection against UV!” (1)
24 Visionary Issue 2/2013
Promoting eye health is one thing that
all industry-related professional bodies
and practitioners have in common, but
as independent opticians, you now have
a real opportunity to own UV health
messaging by promoting ‘Eye-Sun
Protection Factor’ (E-SPF) and making
consumers aware of the hidden
dangers of UV.
Originally developed by Essilor
International, E-SPF now plays a vital
role in vision protection and eye health.
It has become the international index
certifying the overall UV protection
provided by a lens.
The objective of the E-SPF index is
to raise consumer awareness about
the importance of protecting eyes
from damaging UV rays. It allows
the comparison between different
lenses according to their level of UV
protection. By educating patients on
this unique evaluation system you can
help increase consumer knowledge
on UV and improve visual health by
protecting the eyes from the invisible
and often irreversible dangers of
UV light.
By incorporating measurements
of both transmission and rear surface
reflection, the E-SPF provides a simple
yet effective way to grade the total
protection offered by a lens. As with
the index used in the skincare industry,
the higher the E-SPF value, the greater
the level of protection against damaging
UV rays and light.
1) Ipsos Omnibus survey for Essilor
International – Base: 5000 respondents
in Five European countries (France,
Germany, UK, Italy, Spain) 2011
www.essilor.co.uk
Advertisement feature
Product news
Photoengraved
Lace from JF REY
Pushing back the limits of
innovation, JF REY has created
the Lace concept. Each shape
has its own exclusive pattern,
the incredible precision of which
demonstrates the highly precise
engraving work performed in their
facility in the Jura, France. The
result is an extremely lightweight,
graphic lace effect. Available in
male and female styles and a variety
of colours. www.jfrey.fr
JF 2498 - 2228
Stand out from the crowd
Opticians have to decide how they want
to market their practice – or practices.
Nowadays there are regular articles as to
how independents should approach it. The key
issue is to do something that is both, effective
and affordable – and builds your brand. Modern
media provides many options that are
ever changing.
Running in parallel with this can be a simple
and inexpensive means of maintaining or
boosting a practice’s brand image and reach
– by branding your own cases, cloths and lens
cleaners in a way that makes you stand out from
the crowd. The value is twofold; a branded
product is a constant reminder to your patients
and an advert to their friends, acquaintances and
colleagues, encouraging both customer loyalty
and new business so ensure it represents your
brand philosophy.
If you are a service and design led
independent, ensure that’s what your bespoke
products advertise, through well-considered,
quality product and design. Caseco have been
developing bespoke products with opticians
for over 15 years, Peter Wood, Managing
Director at Caseco has seen this need develop,
“with opticians becoming increasingly aware of
the need to distinguish their practice on the high
street we are constantly being challenged to
push boundaries for bespoke products, and
utilise a variety of progressive techniques to
satisfy these requirements.” Word of mouth is
still the best, most trusted form of advertising,
so make your practice a talking point.
www.caseco.co.uk / Optrafair – Stand N20
JF 2496
Koali's natural inspirations
Launching in the UK at Optrafair 2013, Koali's
latest concept is inspired by the elegance
of the Quetzal, a tropical bird with multicoloured plumage.
The triple-layered acetate temple suggests the
movement of the bird's wings conveying a feeling
of refinement and lightness while stylised feathers
create the decorative effect of the frame.
Both the temples and acetate or metal
fronts are available in gloss or matt finishes
with a variety of subtle colour gradients.
Quetzal is available in six styles (three full-rim
in acetate and 3 supra, in stainless steel).
Koali Quetzel
CSR
Visionary spoke to Essilor’s Health, Safety and Environment Officer,
Jenefer Richards about the challenge of reducing environmental impact,
looking after staff and having a workable sustainability programme
Taking full
responsibility
he term CSR – corporate social
responsibility – is an essential part
of contemporary corporate thinking, and
for very good reasons. Reducing carbon
T
26 Visionary Issue 2/2013
footprint, examining every aspect of
energy usage and wastage, looking at
ways to involve local communities,
ensuring staff are well trained and content
in the workplace – all of these things
fall under the general heading of CSR.
Essilor Ltd is playing its part in
these arenas and is committed to
www.essilor.co.uk
CSR
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID BURTON
doing everything it can to limit its
environmental impact. In addition
it is developing its relationships with
local communities and doing much to
further staff satisfaction and improve
workplace conditions. Recently Essilor
Ltd was awarded the Carbon Trust
Standard in recognition of its efforts
to reduce its carbon footprint.
Perhaps Essilor’s biggest challenge
is to limit its environmental impact.
The company has made huge strides in
this area particularly in its water usage
reduction programme. It used to take
26 litres of water to make each lens but
now Essilor has managed to reduce that
figure to an impressive 11 litres.
Jenefer Richards, Health, Safety and
Environment Officer at Essilor Ltd,
explains: “We have to heat and soften
water for the lens-making process.
Grinding lenses leaves small particles in
the water and by using centrifuges we
can filter out those particles so that the
www.essilor.co.uk
water can be recycled and reused.
Any water that can’t be filtered here
on site is taken away and industrially
centrifuged for further use.”
Jenefer adds that Essilor Ltd is also
running energy efficient machinery, has
sensor-triggered lighting so that lights
are used only when necessary, constantly
tries to reduce its waste to landfill, and
tries to recycle practically everything
other than apple cores (the local council
does not take food waste) and tissues.
“Another challenge”, says Jenefer, “is
finding someone who can use or recycle
the bits of lens swarf that we are left
with. It’s a problem because of the
composite nature of the plastics used
– a mixture of polycarbonate and CR39,
a plastic polymer, which makes it difficult
to melt down for re-use.”
Furthermore, Essilor Ltd is participating
in the government’s cycle-to-work
scheme in which the company purchases
a bicycle for interested staff, the cost of
Everything Essilor
Ltd does, whether it
is reducing energy
consumption or
sponsoring a local
village carnival, is
part of its impressive
sustainability policy
which is then offset through a ‘salary
sacrifice’ programme before tax and
National Insurance are factored in.
“Essentially,” says Jenefer, “staff get
the bikes at half price, which they can
then use for a more environmentally
friendly commute.”
Essilor has also reduced its quantity and
type of packaging used to despatch lenses.
“We’re batching for despatch now,” says
Jenefer, “so that five items go in one pack
rather than five separate packages. And all
of our packaging is recyclable.”
On the staff side Essilor Ltd has
undertaken a project with the Institute
of Customer Services to achieve Service
Mark Accreditation (see page 30).
We ensure now that staff surveys,
questionnaires and other material
keeping staff informed and happy
meets the Institute’s rigorous
standards for our accreditation.
The business is also striving to
work more with its local community
in Thornbury just outside Bristol. “We
sponsor local events and get involved
where we can – a significant number
of people who work here live between
two and five miles away.”
Everything Essilor does, whether
it is reducing energy consumption or
sponsoring a local village carnival, is
part of its impressive sustainability
policy. But then you wouldn’t expect
anything else from Essilor.
Visionary Issue 2/2013 27
Sight test
A look at innovative non-lens products chosen
by independent practioners. Rob Gilbert talks
about the stylish Italian frame: Persol
Celebrity style: the
range for the stars…
The films stars’ favourite
models on the map, with the popular
714 blue lens in the film The Thomas
Crown Affair, and was often
photographed wearing the stylish
649 model off screen.”
Also popular with many of the
James Bonds of our lifetime, Pierce
Brosnan wore the Persol 2672-S in
Die Another Day and more recently
our modern day Bond, Daniel Craig,
wore models 2244-S and 2720-S in
Casino Royale.
Rob says: “It is no surprise that these
frames are still so popular today. These
are effortlessly cool and stylish classics
that suit both men and women which is
why I had to put Persol as my favourite
non-lens product”.
Along with Persol, Henry Smith &
Hamylton offer a wide range of designer
and fashion eyewear and also an
exclusive ‘Art of Eyewear’ range where
Rob has a second favourite product with
their very own ‘Commemorative Range’
Rob explains: “We had ‘The
Commemorative 1887’ range of frames
made, all inspired from retro and vintage
looks with unique names after both the
current and previous Henry Smith &
Hamylton company owners.”
For more on the luxury Persol frame and
other designer eyewear on offer from
Henry Smith & Hamylton opticians visit
www.smithandhamylton.co.uk
PHOTOS: INTERFOTO; PHOTOS 12; KEYSTONE PICTURES USA / ALAMY
This month, the luxury Italian eyewear
company, Persol, is centre stage for its
stylish sunglass range. Formed in 1917,
the name derived from ‘per il sole,’ which
in Italian means ‘for the sun’. Originally
made for pilots and sports drivers, it soon
hit the big screens with Hollywood film
stars and is still a favourite today
because of the pure handmade Italian
craftsmanship and its trademark silver
arrow known as the ‘supreme’.
Rob Gilbert of Henry Smith &
Hamylton opticians in Leicester is a huge
fan of the designer sunglass frame and
revealed he even has a pair! As well as
Rob being an advocate for the brand,
many screen stars have made the Persol
frame famous, as Rob explains. “They
were originally made cool by Steve
McQueen, who put two of the Persol
28 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
In addi
addition
tion to showc
showcasing
casing the late
latest
est range of Re
Retail,
etail,
Testing
e
and
a
W
orkshop
p Equipment, we will pr
esent our
Testing
Workshop
present
re
evolutionary new
n
V
a
arilux S series lenses
revolutionary
Varilux
Team Essilor
Meet your team
here at Essilor Ltd
ServiceMark™ accredited
Accreditation
World-class
customer service
Award-winning
Meet the
Essilor team customer service
Simon Johnson SMC (Tech)
Technical Support Manager
I have worked in lens manufacturing for
more than 32 years. I am responsible for
giving technical advice and resolving
issues patients may have with their lenses.
I manage the EDI team and am involved in
internal training. I am also the Senior
Practical Examiner for The Worshipful
Company of Spectacle Makers.
Jonathan Cohen
Sales Operations Manager
My role at Essilor is to define the strategy
which will help our customers to grow their
businesses.This means I analyse where the
potential and the future of the independent
market lies and make sure that Essilor is
offering the optimal tools (product,
services, technical training, business
consultancy, marketing, instruments, etc)
to help its customers fulfil their potential. I
am also involved in implementing the
optimal business partner relationship.
Pete Dodd
Head of Quality
I am responsible for the quality
management system, ensuring all
certificated, legislative and other
requirements are achieved. I work closely
with the manufacturing teams to ensure
our product quality and performance
standards are achieved. I also coordinate
customer and external audits, which
entails working closely with commercial
teams and supporting the customer
improvement activity.
Carrie Anne King
Customer Comments
Coordinator – CRM Department
I have been with Essilor for 12 years.
My current role is to coordinate
customer feedback to make sure it gets
back to the relevant departments. Every
piece of feedback received by Essilor is
reviewed and acted upon when there is a
specific action. Customer feedback is very
important to Essilor as it enables the
business to continuously improve its
products and services for our customers.
30 Visionary Issue 2/2013
ssilor has always been proud of
its service offering and in 2011
the company joined the Institute of
Customer Service (ICS). Now
Essilor has a dedicated team of
people within the business whose
only mission is to Improve
Customer Experience (ICE).
As part of the ICE initiative,
customers are periodically invited
to give presentations to Essilor staff
about their personal experience.
ICE team members have worked
hard to improve delivery/despatch
and have worked closely with the
rest of the organisation to achieve
the ‘ServiceMark Award’, which is
only given to companies who can
demonstrate high levels of
customer and staff satisfaction.
It focuses on six main areas:
commitment, credibility, capability,
continuity, constancy and creativity.
Essilor demonstrated well in all
areas which supported the ICS
requirements.
At the end of 2012, Essilor
underwent further rigorous tests by
the Institute and was categorised
as being ‘world class’ in customer
service. The first stage was an
internal survey, conducted by ICS,
where 85 members of staff
answered a 65-question survey. The
second stage was a survey with 100
randomly selected opticians who
were asked to score Essilor in
various categories from one to ten.
The responses confirmed that
Essilor is indeed an award-winning
organisation when it comes to
customer service.
In early 2013, an independent
auditor carried out a very detailed
assessment of Essilor’s activities,
E
Mike Kirkley receiving the ICS award from
Samantha Starbuck, ICS Account Director
interviewing no fewer than 65
employees. The auditor was very
impressed with the work ethic and
the customer focus of all Essilor
employees and recommended to the
ICS that Essilor should be awarded
this much-coveted accreditation.
To date no other spectacle lens
manufacturer has this accolade.
Comments from the
ICS report:
“All the directors, managers, team
leaders and staff interviewed were
found to be extremely helpful,
professional and keen for the
company to help their customers
achieve a world-class customer
service. It was good to see how
ServiceMark had supported the
commitment to work harder to
develop an outstanding customer
experience. A number of areas for
improvement have been identified
since committing to ServiceMark
and we are confident they will
continue to impact positively upon
the service provided.”
www.essilor.co.uk
The refurbishment of your practice is one of the largest items of
expenditure that practice owners will face. By planning ahead with
the paperwork, you can maximise the generous tax and VAT reliefs
available to help towards the costs, explains Marc Bennett
Let the taxman
pay for your
refurbishment
ost people will have come across
Benjamin Franklin’s famous
quotation about life that “nothing is
certain except death and taxes”. However,
this saying now needs to be updated to
read, “nothing is certain except death,
taxes, and the fact that your builder will
not be around to supply paperwork years
after a refurbishment is completed”.
Given the exceptional nature of
refurbishment expenditure, it’s not
uncommon for HMRC to commence an
enquiry into a practice’s refurbishment
that may have started some two to three
years ago. However, what’s extraordinary
is the sheer number of occasions where
the paperwork never arrived because the
builder either went bust /did a runner/
emigrated or disappeared during/after
the works (delete as applicable!).
If there’s no paperwork, or the wrong
paperwork that doesn’t itemise the
expenditure, then the cost of the
refurbishment is likely to rise significantly
because of the loss of tax relief.
The key to maximising the tax benefits
available is simply to plan ahead. Appendix
1 sets out the timeline of a typical
refurbishment. The time to get all the
paperwork together is right at the start
of the planning stage with architects and
surveyors where the works should initially
be broken down into three categories
•plant and equipment
•fixtures and fittings
•improvements to the premises
M
For a total refurbishment of £100,000
plus VAT, there will be a maximum
www.essilor.co.uk
recovery of £20,000 of VAT plus £20,000
of corporation tax savings for a Limited
Company. The tax relief can therefore
be up to a maximum of 40 per cent of the
total refurbishment costs which is why
this exercise is so important and requires
almost as much care and attention as the
plans themselves!
Full tax relief at 100 per cent is
available for plant and equipment
expenditure as defined under existing
legislation and so professional advice
from your accountant will be required at
the planning stage to ensure that the
wording on plans and invoices accurately
reflects the true split of the expenditure.
As outlined above, significant amounts
of VAT will be incurred on the
refurbishment and therefore at the
planning stage the expenditure will need to
be split between sales (full recovery) and
clinical expenditure (partial recovery).
The objective of this article is not to
provide chapter and verse on the technical
aspects of tax relief, as that’s what you
pay your accountant for. The simple
message here is that early planning is
absolutely critical in order to obtain
maximum tax relief.
Financing a refurbishment can be
difficult enough at the best of times but
maximising the reliefs available from the
taxman can certainly make a significant
contribution to the overall cost.
Marc Bennett of tax strategy and VAT experts
A+E+L Partners opens up some of the taxplanning world’s best-kept secrets in a regular
series of articles aimed at saving you money.
Appendix 1
Timeline of refurbishment works
START
Plans,
architect/
surveyor
END
Builders
start
Argument
with builders
Architect
emigrates
Invoice
required
Appendix 2
VAT relief available
100%
Sales
Cabinets
Showcases
Lighting (sales)
0%
Clinical
O.C.T
Exam room
Dispensing
40%
Both
Air con
Carpet
Lighting (general)
Subject to de minimis
Visionary Issue 2/2013 31
ILLUSTRATIONS: ANDREW BAKER / DÉBUT ART
Training
William Anderson, MD of The TeamWorks, explains how
understanding the way in which you can influence customer
choice and perception can make a real difference to your practice
32 Visionary Issue 2/2013
www.essilor.co.uk
Training
e all have influence. Once you know
where your influence comes from
you can deploy it wisely, using it
effectively and efficiently.
So where does your influence come
from? There are six forces of influence.
Each is based on a fundamental human
need or emotion. Four are very valuable
for eye care professionals (ECPs) as you
take patients on a journey through your
practice. Firstly, I will describe each of
these four forces and then suggest where
you might deploy them in the patient
journey and how you can manufacture
them. The result will be improved
influence when and where you need it.
W
The fundamental forces for ECPs
Liking
We all want to be liked of
course, but this force is more
powerful than ego alone. Most
humans live and work alongside people
who are similar to them; we ghettoise
amongst similar and familiar faces. This is
critical to our comfort in life. So, by
deploying liking your aim is to sound, look
and like similar things to your patients.
This will make you feel familiar to them
and, as a result, they will feel comfortable
with you. This is a great base from which
to build rapport and trust.
You should deploy liking when you meet
somebody for the first time. When you
welcome them to your practice greet
them with warm smiles and open body
language. There is a successful
community practice in Aberdeen that
replaced all those pseudo-medical images
of eyes with their own family photos. This
creates liking as soon as the customer
crosses the customer threshold.
Authority
Humans love authority; the
power it brings as well as the
guidance and control it offers.
We obey parents, teachers, doctors and
politicians all our lives. This means that
your prescription or recommendation,
delivered with authority, is going to be
obeyed. But how do you deliver with
www.essilor.co.uk
authority? You need to slip on the
uniform of authority: your jacket or lab
coat. You need to stand up straight or
sit tall. You should do this surrounded
by evidence of your skill in this field; in
the consulting room below your
certificates and alongside those clever
machines optometrists use these days.
Establish authority and they will listen.
Commitment and consistency
We all want to be trusted.
Trust is in part born out of
consistency. So humans want
to be consistent with their commitment,
especially when they have made a public
commitment to do X, Y or Z.
But here’s the rub: good negotiators
and sales people ask for the business.
Excellent negotiators and sales people
then go silent, leaving the customer
to make their commitment. Once this
commitment is out in the open, there
is an internal pressure pushing the
customer to be consistent with
their commitment.
My brother runs a chain of restaurants
in Sydney. When he took over operations,
‘no shows’ on a weekend were up at 30
per cent. He listened to the booking
system and changed the script into a
question followed by silence. “Will you
please ring us if you cannot make your
booking?” Followed by silence. ‘No
shows’ fell to 10 per cent. People want
to be consistent with their commitment.
Follow these rules when you ask for a
commitment and you will consistently
secure the sale.
Social proof
You have deployed all your
forces’ influences in the right
order and the patient is nearing
the end of their journey. You have their
trust in your hands and now you must
hand it over to a colleague. Please
don’t drop the ball at this point.
Human beings study a scene and
follow the crowd. In this case they
want to know that you trust your
colleague to continue their excellent
You should deploy
‘liking’ when you
meet somebody for
the first time. When
you welcome them
to your practice,
greet them with
warm smiles and
open body language
care. So you have to make a display
of this. A warm smile and good eye
contact between you and your
colleague is the non-verbal element
of this. Touch is also good here. Now
compliment your colleague in an
appropriate way before leaving the
customer in their capable hands.
In short, if you like and trust them
the customer will too – similar,
familiar, comfortable.
I have been in practice and sadly
this sort of handover is rare, so you
will need to rehearse with each
member of staff.
So what now? Take a step back and
look at the customer journey through
your practice. Ask yourself: Am I
deploying my forces of influence with
clarity? If not, how will I change?
William Anderson is the Managing
Director of The TeamWorks, a highly
creative training company. William
brings to the team knowledge of
neuroscience and psychology in order
to tap into the natural workings of the
brain. As a result, The TeamWorks
understand the brain for your
commercial gain. If you would like to
pick William’s brain contact him on
[email protected].
Visionary Issue 2/2013 33
Useful tools
Eyecast Pro
Snapshot
Varilux S series
Pricing
survey
EyeCast Pro
Sometimes it’s difficult to know what price to charge
in your local market. Visionary recently conducted a
survey with independent ECPs to find out how much
you charge for Varilux S series lenses.
S Series
1.5 Clear
S Series
1.59 Clear
S Series
1.6 Clear
S Series
1.67 Clear
SW
£340
£377
£380
£404
SE
£351
£364
£384
£407
N
£317
£342
£356
£378
AV
£336
£364
£374
£397
S Series
1.5 Trans
S Series
1.59 Trans
S Series
1.6 Trans
S Series
1.67 Trans
SW
£399
£439
£447
£470
SE
£412
£427
£454
£478
N
£378
£397
£412
£424
AV
£397
£424
£438
£459
103 opticians were interviewed around the UK (split
from each of the three main areas). The results have
been split and averaged between the three regions
highlighted below.
Areas:
North (N)
South West (SW)
South East (SE)
Launched in February this year
and designed specifically
for the iPad 2 and above, EyeCast
Pro is a huge leap forward from
the original EyeCast app that we
launched in 2012.
EyeCast Pro showcases 15 of
Essilor’s top products with four
of these having virtual reality
(VR) and augmented reality
(AR) product sections.
Augmented reality is a great help
to dispensers as it removes the need
for actual lens samples. You can
demonstrate the key product
benefits to patients by overlaying
simulated prescription lenses onto
a real-time view of your current
surroundings – an area within your
practice for example (the images
which is captured by the built-in
camera and displayed on the iPad
screen). It’s safe to say that the
new app takes dispensing aid
applications to a new level.
Features include:
• Varilux S series module
including demonstration videos
with VR and AR
• Lens thickness with index and
prescription comparisons plus
VR and AR
• Ability to create two different
tours – one for presbyopes,
one for young adults
• Transitions simulation module
with VR and AR
• Redesign of Varilux module
showing fields of view with
VR and AR
EyeCast Pro can be downloaded
from the iTunes App Store but
remains locked until you enter
a licence code which can be
34 Visionary Issue 2/2013
purchased from Essilor using your
Varilux Consultant Optician (VCO)
points at a cost of 7,500 points.
Each licence unlocks one iPad.
If your practice is not currently
part of the Varilux Consultant
Optician programme, a licence
code can be purchased for £100.
Please contact your lens Account
Manager or Clive Davy at
[email protected] for a licence
code. Licences can also be
requested via the EyeCast
Pro web page (in the News
section on www.essilor.co.uk)
which has demonstration videos
of the app in action.
If you’ve read this far you
must be interested. Contact us
saying you saw this article in
Visionary magazine and get
EyeCast Pro for half price – that’s
only 3,750 points or £50!! Offer
only available until the end of June.
For more information and to
request access to the full app,
please visit
www.essilor.co.uk/news/pages/
eyecast.aspx
www.essilor.co.uk
Henry Beaumont Eyewear
www.henrybeaumont.com
The Independent Eyewear & Glazing
Company For Independent Practitioners.
T: 0116 251 8936
F: 0116 262 4205
info@
henrybeaumont.com
As a completely independent British company our eyewear is designed
specifically to meet the style and dispensing preferences of the UK market.
From contemporary fashion and designer led styles featuring Swarovski Gems,
through to functional classics that cater for both extra large and more petite
fitting requirements. We continue to offer one of the most comprehensive
eyewear ranges currently available solely to UK independent practitioners.
NEW
UNLIMITED VISION
2 EXCLUSIVE REVOLUTIONS INSIDE VARILUX S DESIGN
WHATEVER THE DISTANCE, WHATEVER THE SITUATION,
NEW VARILUX S SERIES PROVIDES YOU
UNLIMITED VISION LIKE NEVER BEFORE
REVOLUTION IN LENS TECHNOLOGY
During lens calculation the fundamental
structure of the lens is reengineered to
ensure wearers equilibrium in motion.
REVOLUTION IN LENS DESIGN
The lens calculation takes into account the
physiological differences between the 2 eyes
to guarantee wearers wide angle vision.
Essilor®, Varilux®, Varilux® S™ series, Varilux® S™ design, Nanoptix™ and SynchronEyes™ are trademarks registered in the name of Essilor International. Photograph: Philippe Gueguen – Frames: Tag Heuer – Concept: HEREZIE .
®