Transitions Academy ignites passion for education, strategic planning

From Staff Reports

Orlando, FL-The keys to building a successful dispensing operation centers around solid education, planning, and marketing.

For more than 1,100 eye-care professionals (ECPs) from North and South American, the 17th annual Transitions Academy provided such tools to develop their owns action plans for growth.

“This year, Transitions Academy was all about igniting belief, passion, and action among our partners,” said Brian Hauser, general manager for U.S. and Canada, Transitions Optical Inc.

“Education and activities throughout the first day of the track reinforced that Transitions lens wearers not only have high levels of satisfaction, but that they also are emerging as loyal and passionate advocates for the Transitions brand,” he said. “As the track continued, attendees were given tools to develop their own action plans for continued growth outside of the Transitions Academy forum.”

The invitation-only event here in January kicked off with a welcome reception, featuring live entertainment and messages from Hauser and Jose Alves, general manager of Latin America for Transitions. Activities concluded with the Transitions Academy awards ceremony, which honored the industry’s finest in lab, retail, eye-care practice, human resources, and vision benefits broker categories.

Education track

Education being the backbone of the Transitions Academy, the educational track began with keynote speaker Drew Dudley, founder of Nuance Leadership Development Services. Dudley encouraged ECPs to discover the leader within themselves.

During the North American marketing session, Sherianne James, director of North America marketing, focused on the “power of choice” and opportunities for labs and ECPs to increase patient satisfaction by creating the experience patients want.

The session also reviewed the outcomes that are possible as a result of taking advantage of the marketing and educational resources available. Attendees were encouraged to build actions in their own businesses.

Expanding on the academy’s theme of “belief, passion, action,” attendees learned strategies for igniting their businesses through a series of Franklin Covey workshops. The “Working at the Speed of Trust” session provided tips for identifying and addressing “trust gaps” within a business and creating a more positive working environment.

The “Five Choices to Extraordinary Productivity” session inspired employees to make more selective choices about where to invest time, attention, and energy. A third workshop, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” provided ECPs with tools to help maximize performance and reach career goals, both individually and as a team.

Vincent K. Young, MD, an ophthalmologist, explored how certain lifestyle factors-including smoking, obesity, poor nutrition, use of medications, and lack of sleep-can take a toll on vision, and explained how preventative eye care and the right eyewear can help keep employees seeing their best.

Company announcements

Transitions also delivered several product and program announcements during the meeting.

The company reported that the introduction of Transitions Vantage lenses in 2012 added another choice to the brand’s everyday products, which included original Transitions VI and Transitions XTRActive lenses. These lenses provide patients with the ability to choose the adaptive lenses that meet their preferences. The sales data indicate that the newest everyday lens brands are increasing in popularity.

Transitions also announced that Transitions lenses will be the “Official Sponsor of Sightseeing,” a program focused on educating consumers about how they can achieve an enhanced visual experience to “see the sights” in their everyday lives with the Transitions brand of products.

To enhance the program and make it even more meaningful for patients, Transitions conducted research into consumers’ interests and identified four top passions: music, sports, travel, and cuisine. Based on the results, Transitions selected influential celebrity ambassadors for the upcoming year and identified several event sponsorships providing the opportunity to bring the enhanced vision experience to consumers.

Awards announced

Transitions presented its annual awards including:

• Diversified Ophthalmics Inc. as the U.S. Lab of the Year;

• SVS Vision and National Vision Inc. were named the Regional and National Retailers of the Year;

• Complete Family Vision Care was named the Eye Care Practice of the Year;

• Anthony Glaub was honored as the Vision Benefits Broker of the Year;

• Maurice Evans Jr. was named the Human Resources Visionary of the Year.

Transitions also honored ECPs in Canada and Latin America, including:

• Rachel Hill-Campbell (from Personal Optical) as the Eye Care Professional of the Year;

• Lunetterie New Look Eyewear as Retailer of the Year for Canada;

• Laboratório Technopark as the 2012 Brazil Lab of the Year;

• Centro Integral Optico as the 2012 Latin American Lab of the Year.