Have You Been Framed? Why Labs Should Be in the Frame Business
Feature article in March 2006 issue of
LabTalk
Lab Operations - March
2006
Have You Been Framed? Why Labs
Should Be in the Frame Business
By
Seth J.
Bookey
The
question is, why aren’t you in the frames business?” asked Evan
Aptaker, co-CEO and chairman of Nouveau Eyewear. “It’s perfectly
natural: If you sell the hamburger, you should sell the bun. After all,
it’s the glasses business. You already have a cost structure and support
for the sales reps. It’s not that much more complicated to add frames. It
enables labs to open and hold accounts that are important to them.”
Frames represent more than just good
business for the labs that sell them. They offer solutions to independent eye
care professionals and optical retailers, while boosting a lab’s image as
a partner when competing against big-box retailers. Candi Levri, president of
Homer Optical, said her lab’s mission is to be the very best resource for
everything independent ECPs put into the eyeglasses they dispense. “We
want our customers to come to us for all products and services related to
eyeglasses. By combining frames that we carry and stock with lens packages, we
can supply complete eyewear to our customers in both value and premium
categories at a service level that helps separate them from large retail
chains.” “If you don’t do it, someone else will and you can
lose business,” said Mark Kline, director of sales for Detari Eyewear. He
also notes that 75 percent of optical offices use two to the three labs.
“Selling frames helps you accommodate your clients.”
Packaging Profit
Successfully selling frames requires more
than just offering ECPs frames and lenses together. Most labs have found success
by selling a variety of packages for children, men, and women, using everything
from high-end frames with premium lenses and add-ons down to value-priced
bundles for ECPs with budget-minded customers. According to Steve Sutherlin,
president of Sutherlin Optical, where frames account for seven percent of the
lab’s business, “Package programs have been very helpful. Our value
package program is intended to generate second-pair sales. Packages help us get
complete pair sales, even with rimless, which we bundle with our premium AR and
other options. We can also remove options from the package.” Dale
Parmenteri, vice president of Balester Optical, explained it this way.
“When a wholesale lab sells a frame only to an account, there is literally
no profit in the sale if that frame is returned. The advantage the lab has is
its ability to stock frames that are used on Rx. Once a pair of lenses is
inserted into a frame, you know the job will be dispensed and little chance of
exchange, resulting in a profitable sale. A finished Rx with frame supplied
remains our most profitable sale. We have kids’, drilled rimless, safety
and sports packages that provide full service and discounts for
packaging.”
Balester Optical has
been in the frame business since its inception in 1934. “Early in my
career, frames represented 40 percent of our business,” Parmenteri said.
“However, those were the days of glass lenses, and plastic was just
gaining ground. Today, frames sales account for about six percent of our annual
sales.” While the overall frame business has declined, particularly stock
frame sales, he notes that “the niche lines we carry and the packaging we
still carry produces profitable frame sales. This adds value to our offerings
and a reason for ECPs to use our lab.” Using a packaging approach has
another benefit as well. “Packages are easier to present to
patients,” said Charles Lee, The McGee Group, a frame manufacturer.
“There’s less sticker shock when you don’t detail the frame
price first. We work out the pricing with labs so they can present pricing to
the ECP.” Lee added, “It’s been proven time and time again
that once they get frames on the board, the doctors will send the frames in for
the Rx.”
Faster Turnaround
A benefit for ECPs who use labs with
frame-and-lens packaging is faster turnaround for Rx jobs. At Sutherlin Optical,
only frames that are part of the lab’s package program are inventoried.
“On the high-end frames, we take the order and then have it delivered
overnight,” said Steve Sutherlin. For some labs, turnaround can be even
faster.
At Expert, frames account for
about eight percent of the lab’s business, and the lab offers its accounts
a variety of package programs—“Kids’ packages, sports
packages, thrift and value, drilled rimless,” explained account rep Tom
Culley. Culley has found customers “don’t have to send the frame off
the board to us. We can supply it with Rx, saving turnaround time and no hole on
the board at the ECP’s office. Plus, it saves postage and shipping.”
Expert Optics also services many of its accounts with its own pick-up and
delivery system. Combined with remote ordering, turnaround time is reduced
dramatically.
Computerized data in the
form of frame tracing also quickens turnaround time. Pech Optical has all the
edging information in their computer for all the frames they supply to ECPs.
“This enables us to ensure a perfect fit and ease in lens fabrication.
Pech-supplied frames are a value to our accounts with the incentives we offer
for complete frame-supplied Rxs,” Barbara Cobb, frame buyer for
Pech.
A Frame in the
Door
Labs have found some unexpected
benefits from being in the frame business as well. “The frames are a great
door opener. Sometimes, the frames get us in the door when folks don’t
want to talk to labs,” said Sue Murray, president of Cumberland Optical.
Expert Optics’ Culley agreed,
noting, “Frames can be a way of introducing an ECP to our lab. Sometimes,
frames-only customers have opened some doors to the full services we
offer.” At Pech Optical, Cobb said that the lab’s dedication to the
frames segment of its business has led “to a gradual change in how we
supply frames since we introduced our ‘Direct Rx Program.’ We are
now partnering with the direct frames companies to enhance our frame-offering
capacity.”
Unhappy Returns
One downside labs find when supplying
frames to go with their lens products is the issue of frame returns and
exchanges. Sutherlin finds the return rate “outrageously high. Some ECPs
act like we’re loaning them the frames rather than selling them.”
Labs have found ways to reduce the risk of
frames that boomerang. At Cumberland Optical, DVI software helps keep track of
which frames are doing well and which ones aren’t. The strongest strategy,
though, seems to be the relationship between the lab and its frame suppliers.
“We work with profitable, well-known lines. We’ve arranged
profitable terms and return policies [in advance],” Murray explained.
“We get advance notice on lines that are going to be discontinued.”
She also picks suppliers with a diversity of styles. One of her suppliers,
Zyloware, offers collections that cover all of Cumberland’s package needs,
from value-priced lines to high-end, with styles covering kids through adults.
Murray also noted that how well
organized the supplier is affects the returns issue. “It’s harder to
make returns and keep up with smaller companies in terms of what’s
discontinued,” she said. Expert Optics’ Culley noted
“suppliers give notice when frames are going out of style.” The lab
works with a trio of longstanding suppliers for its primary frames, and about
four newer suppliers for its secondary frames. He also noted that his suppliers
“are pretty good about changing the inventory as needed. There’s
responsibility and accountability—that’s part of
retailing.”
Barbara Cobb at Pech
Optical explained how her lab has trimmed the number of frame collections it
carries, and it concentrates its efforts “on those frame collections and
fully supports those frame vendors. We are receptive to all new and innovative
products to enhance our frame offerings. We offer as many diverse frames as
possible for our ECPs.”
While many labs
are trimming down on suppliers, Sutherlin Optical deals with as many as 10
suppliers out of a potential list of 22 manufacturers. “Vendors can change
on any day. If someone new meets our needs, we’ll work with them,”
Sutherlin said. The lab also has a few exclusive dealerships for some frame
suppliers.
Parmenteri at Balester Optical
said that its vendors are “supportive and remain committed to the lab.
Unfortunately, there are fewer of these frame suppliers to choose
from.”
Another issue for labs is
service. “Turnaround time and how quickly they can get product to us is a
big issue,” said Expert Optics’ Culley.
Picking Proper
Partners
Some of the most successful
lab-supplier relationships are the ones that are seen as partnerships. At
Zyloware, which has been in business for more than 80 years, labs are regarded
as true partners. According to James Shyer, executive vice president of
Zyloware, some of the frame manufacturer’s longest-standing lab clients
have been in business almost as long as
Zyloware.
“We’ve built our
companies together. The labs’ expertise has made our business better.
They’ve taught us what’s needed in a frame and they give us
technical feedback,” said
Shyer.
Along with working closely with
labs to prevent inventory and return problems, Zyloware has two staff members
devoted completely to wholesale distribution so the labs know whom to call at
Zyloware. “It’s a matter of superior service,” Shyer added.
Zyloware also gives labs sales personnel incentives, and he considers his lab
partners “part of my sales
force.”
In addition to supplying
POP, counter cards, and posters for ECPs, most suppliers also go the extra mile
of providing customized brochures for labs to use when selling frames to ECPs.
Detari Eyewear’s Mark Kline works closely with labs to help them live up
to the company’s acronym-name (Detari stands for “Don’t Even
Think About Returning It”). Detari also supplies rotator displays to show
off two 24-style package programs created just for labs. Kline also explained
how the company’s new upscale offering, the Adin Thomas line, was created
based on lab partners asking for a premium frame product to help raise their
margins. Kline also gives an hour-long presentation to labs on how to sell
package programs. “I can show them how easy it is to sell them, as well as
profitable,” Kline said. Detari also has a trade-in program. A lab that
orders 300 frames is billed for 200, and Detari picks up the old inventory.
“It’s an inexpensive way to get a small inventory of frames,”
he added. “Our motto is that we want to be their partner, not their
competitor. We’ve taken a different marketing
approach.”
The McGee Group supports
its lab partners in a variety of ways, including ABO courses. They give lab
clients 90-days’ notice when a style is going to be discontinued.
Customized brochures from McGee include the labs’ phone and address, and
can relate to either individual brands or package programs. Charles Lee
explained, “The labs often complain that they don’t have enough time
with the buyers, but they do. Once they are done with the presentations, they
could sell packages by simply leaving a brochure behind.”
Detari’s Kline concurs, noting
that labs “shouldn’t spend too much time on it. They have to sell a
concept. This is an ‘oh by the way’ sort of sale you make at the end
of a sales
call.”
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Posted: Wed - March 1, 2006 at 09:27 PM