By Paolo Baiocchi, President INTERCAST EUROPE
We are publishing Mr. Paolo Baiocchi’s opinion as expressed in the September 98 iusse of "European Lenses and Technology".
We wish to thank the "European Lenses and Technology" editorial staff as well as Jobson Publishing for their precious collaboration.
As president of a company that manufactures sunglass lenses, I am well aware that the lens sector is driven entirely by consumer trends. And this is what we all need to keep sight o You may have a customer who has become concerned about getting sufficient protection from UV damage, or who requires eyewear to improve their visual performance at specific tasks; whatever the case, that individual is generating the need for a particular type of high quality lens. We all know that there have been soaring trends in eyewear use, increasing sales of high quality lens products, but there remains surprisingly little back-up material and effective marketing around sales outlets to help sell these products.
It is my firm belief that opticians will most benefit by passing on their professional advice and knowledge to the customer. They need to approach the task from the viewpoint that this is an opportunity, for both their business and professional status. Customers may not naturally express their concerns when it comes to lens purchase; they may not even know what their concerns should be, or what new lens technology is able to offer. However, deep down they want to learn about lenses - what their role in correcting their vision is, and what they can do for them.
An opportunity? Yes, because if opticians are prepared to invest in educating clients and spend a bit of extra chair time with them, the pay-back will be substantial. Rather than a customer who has been flogged something, you will gain a loyal client who has learnt from you and understood the value of your service. Of course, it is much simpler to rely on the crude technique of 'here's what we've got, buy it'. However, ophthalmic and sun lenses are products which if not dispensed professionally, with valid information and explanations, could put the customer at risk. A client who feels like that will not likely return to the same practice.
Fashionable frames and sunglasses come and go; some people might be inclined to buy them from department stores or discounters, but opticians will always retain the power to dispense high quality ophthalmic and sun lenses. And education is a key clement of this power. My own company has first-hand experience of the benefits of educating customers. Intercast invests considerable capital into product research and testing, and maintains a research laboratory which since 1984 has carried out numerous studies on the effect of light filtration on visual efficiency. The laboratory has worked in co-operation with vision research centres in Italy and abroad, and whenever we develop a product it undergoes fieid tests among sample groups. What we have seen is that these groups will rarely go back to the 'standard' product and ignore the merits of an added-value lens once they have tried them, and understood how they work.
All this requires a great deal of effort, but there is some support availabie. Federottica - the Italian association of optical retailers - is aiding opticians over here by organising a series of professional seminars that include lens modules. It considers that these tools are needed to help support the lens business. I would like to extend this spirit by inviting the whole of the lens and sun lens industry to do the same. You're not alone out there. l've participated in various professional educational programmes and seen for myself that opticians want to learn how to promote the value of quality lenses.
TOWARDS GREATER CHOICE AND SUPPORT
Developments in the lens sector are coming thick and fast, driven by research and development into materials and coatings - lighter resins with good mechanical strength; performance AR, scratch-resistant and anti-fogging coatings; photochromics; polarising lenses to cut out glare; sun lens filters for maximum UV protection without diminishing optical clarity - all this research is coming together to meet the demand for more specialised, individual usages. It is our responsibility to invest in education about this sophisticated product base and transfer it to the public.
At Anfao we are constantly inviting the industry to support practitioners with point of purchase back up, product literature, instore marketing etc. In this respect, I believe that the lens industry could learn a great deal by taking the approach of the pharmaceutical industry. In a modern European chemists customers have vast amounts of readable information and product back-up to help them make their choice. In optics, the choice facing the customer used to be either glass lenses or plastic lenses. Today, the product base has widened immensely but consequently it requires much more information, technical support and communication - education, basically. This must come initially from the industry, but then it must be applied carefully by the practitioner.
The optical frame market has been moving steadily away from its clinical approach to adopt more of a fashionable, cosmetic persona, following the argument that says 'you don't wear the same tie every day, why not change your eyewear too? In terms of lenses, there is something te be learned from this. With prescription eyewear, customers may never have used any correction. This should provide an opportunity to show them how wearing Rx lenses for the first time can open up whole areas of experience. Young presbyopes who are first time wearers, for example, once they are persuaded of the benefits of a pair of progressive lenses, coupled with a pair of smart frames, will be permanently convinced of the value of quality lenses.
Innovative products, like photochromics, the latest designs in progressives, aspheric designs, newly developed polymers and coatings are all helping to stimulate lens purchases. There is no question that the technology is developing very rapidly and will continue to do so.
Now the optical industry has to learn how to persuade the customer just how valuable their purchase is.
Paolo Baiocchi,
President lntercast Europe