Every year at the Cherry Optical, Inc Christmas Party I come away feeling like we have some very sophisticated employees; some high-class folks. The reason being, we host an open bar, and our employees really enjoy that top-shelf booze! I feel confident that when I get invited to an employee’s house party or cookout this summer, I most certainly can expect Blanton's, Grey Goose and Bombay Sapphire for my cocktails and choice tequilas for shooting. But, this story isn’t about booze (even though the featured image is a pair of glasses - get it?), it’s about lenses.

I (Adam) wondered, "How do the lenses Opticians wear themselves compare to the lenses Opticians dispense?" You see, here at Cherry Optical, Inc we have this super-amazing program wherein supportive customers can order complimentary lenses for themselves by merely asking (we do like when you say, “Please”). So, I dug into some of this year’s data (1/1/2018 through 3/23/2018) and found some fascinating information.

During the first three months of 2018, we processed 792 complimentary orders equating to approximately 17 pairs per day. I then separated the data between lens types; progressive (398 orders) and single vision (394). The first thing that struck me was the number of single vision orders. Clearly, we have a decent percentage of young Opticians. Next, I choose to review the Top 10 complimentary-ly ordered lens styles within the types. Here’s what that looks like (see Chart (a)). Chart (a.) shows that “regular Single Vision” makes up most of the complimentary single vision orders. Eyezen+ and HD SV make up a decent chunk (30%) and then the remaining styles split up the last 12%. This information wasn’t overly surprising at first glance. But, as I thought about it a bit more, I was impressed with how quickly Eyezen+ has become a go-to for Opticians personal eyewear. And then, it hit me! The #4 most popular single vision lens style ordered by Opticians during this timeframe was Chemistrie clips! Wow! Now that is a shocker! Chart (b.) for progressive lenses was a bit more divided but shows a substantial trend towards Opticians wanting the top performance of Shamir Autograph III (#1) and Varilux X Design (#2). These two designs were followed by IOT Camber and a tie between IOT Alpha and Varilux Comfort designs. Varilux Physio W3+ is also popular. The shocker from this data was the #9 most popularly ordered complimentary progressive lens style; eyeRelax HD! This data was useful to look at and all, but I was interested to see if our customers are like our employees. Do we all drink Top Shelf when it’s someone else’s tab and rail when it’s our cash on the bar? Well, check out these graphs which compare the sales of the top 10 complimentarily ordered styles for non-complimentary orders. Oh, boy! Things just got interesting. Check out Graph (c.). In the world of single vision, 90% of non-complimentary orders are regular single vision compared to 60% of orders when ordered for ourselves. And things get even more interesting on Graph (d.) where we can see that 30% of the time we’ll dispense Varilux Comfort DRx to our patients but only 6% of the time we’ll order it for ourselves. Just as striking, we can see from Graph (b.) above, that nearly 60% of complimentary progressive lens orders are for Shamir Autograph III, Varilux X Designs or IOT Camber designs, but those three designs combine for only 14% of the progressive designs dispensed. The evidence is clear that we all like the good stuff for ourselves. Clearly, we need to figure out ways to express to our patients the reasons we select the lenses we do for ourselves. Regular single vision has better alternatives that many of you are experiencing. And while the Comfort DRx surely is a great lens, most of us are reaching for newer designs, with improved performance from Varilux and Shamir for our personal use. I encourage you to evaluate this info and use it to give you the confidence and belief in the newer, better products that are available and being worn by leading eye care professionals.