Even if I weren’t from Missouri, “The Show Me State,” (Why am I doing air quotes?) I would still have to see to believe. We frequently ask our customers to trust us when we tell them they’ll get used to their new progressive lenses. Fortunately, the vast majority of the time their trust in us is warranted, and they adapt to this new way of seeing. As opticians, we are asked to trust the computer when we receive verification values, for compensated digital lenses which are different from the prescriber’s Rx. I trust the algorithms of the lens design software; it’s the human element that worries me, e.g., when was the last time you calibrated how precise are the position of wear measurements provided? After all, the output is only as good as the input.

But for all of the times that we have to “trust,” we have increasing opportunities to use digital technology to demonstrate; to Show and Tell.

If you can show me, you can WOW me! We’ve all experienced this with our first polarized demonstration and exclaimed, “I need that!” And again, when we saw the magic of a photochromic lens that becomes a sunglass lens in the sun, WHAT! What a wonderful time we live in where we have technology that thinks for us, does chores for us, (let’s Roomba!) and has turned entertainment and shopping into convenient recreation at our fingertips.

I preach about using an interactive digital tablet to obtain precise frame and fit metrics, and to simulate and demonstrate lens features and benefits. Our magic Sharpie doesn’t say hi-tech, and it makes patients uncomfortable. Imagine this scenario: You’ve just sold a patient $450 lenses in a $375 frame. Then you whip out your trusted magic Sharpie. This low tech tool makes the patient uneasy as they feel you encroach on their personal space while aiming the tip of the Sharpie at their eye like a dart. And the unconscious message they receive is that your practice is low tech. Now flip that and imagine that same customer having their metrics taken with a tablet-based tool, and because they have seen a demonstration of the glare blocking effects of polarized sunglasses, they must have a pair. Now imagine how impressed they are when you use the new ZEISS C-UVProtect screening tool to show them the difference between the amount of UV transmitting through a UV380 lens versus ZEISS UVProtect UV400 lens. It’s a dramatic and effective demonstration. To learn more about this new tablet-based UV screening tool, take the CE in this issue titled “Making the Invisible Visible”and earn a free ABO credit. Seeing is believing! This is an important message, and now we can do more than talk. We can show and tell. Using tech to sell tech is highly effective and delivers the WOW factor.

Deborah Kotob
[email protected]