In my practice, the summer months are often quieter as people are away on holiday. Do you have any tips on how I can maintain my income?

As temperatures start to rise with the onset of the Spring and Summer months ask your patients about their leisure lifestyles during the history and symptoms taking part of the eye examination.

For those that are active outdoors advise polarised lenses. These are often under-recommended and can have a massive difference in the clarity of outdoor vision as well as practice revenue.

Polarised lenses reduce eye strain, block glare, can be fitted with prescriptions, and often come with a UV-blocking coating.

Be aware though that, not all polarised lenses are optimum. Some low-quality polarised sunglasses only cut out 10% of reflected light. It is possible that some of your patients may have purchased these low-quality lenses from elsewhere.

Make sure your patients are aware of the quality of lenses they are purchasing as well as the difference between sunglasses with UV protection and tinted sunglasses.

Tinted sunglasses are not polarized and may not block UV light.

UV-coated polarised glasses are ideal for a patient whose lifestyle involves outdoor activity.

To help with marketing get all your staff to have their own pairs, post pictures on the practice’s social media pages, and recommend them to anyone that walks into your practice.

People browsing in your practice may try on polarised lenses, but not realize the benefits of polarised lenses. Have photo examples as well as demonstration lenses to back up your verbal explanations.

Make sure your staff has an effective demonstration routine. For example, they could take the patient outside and compare regular sunglasses to polarised lenses to show the difference in colour quality, clarity, and reduced glare.

There are also glare boxes that patients can look into to see the effectiveness of the polarization. Many people aren’t aware that polarization increases visual comfort.

In order to keep sales for your sunglasses steady after the summer ends remember that patients who have had refractive surgery, have sensitive eyes, or have cataracts are likely to benefit from polarised lenses.

Market polarised lenses to all your patients with convincing demonstrations. This will help maintain revenue during the quieter summer months and this could even extend into the cooler months.