Throughout Heather Young’s journey from a regional manager at Target Optical to vice president, Eye Care, at LensCrafters and For Eyes, she has kept the doctor squarely at the heart of all she does. Young graduated with degrees in fashion merchandising and business, and after working for a decade in high-end retail, she joined EssilorLuxottica in 2006. Her first role was as a regional manager for Target Optical. A year later, she transitioned to LensCrafters as a regional director of operations, where she quickly discovered the vital role doctors play in the success of the business.
“When I joined LensCrafters, I realized there was a misconception about the doctor culture,” she says. To close the gap between store managers and doctors, she needed to shift the mindset. “If you make the doctor the heart of everything you do, you’ll be successful. Doctors are passionate about the health and well-being of their patients. They welcome and appreciate guidance on the business side of things; however, they are typically busy focusing on patient care and cannot always leave the exam lane to find out what’s needed in their practice management.”
BRIDGING THE GAP
Young’s insight led her to foster a collaborative relationship with the doctors, emphasizing open communication and trust. “I had a couple of great doctor mentors who inspired me to be on the eye care side, to mentor, mold and work more with doctors,” she says. “It’s a transparent and collaborative relationship.” And it’s a model she brought to her colleagues as her responsibilities broadened. “It was interesting being able to connect and build trust with more doctors across the country as my role expanded,” she said. “Scalable open communication meant taking what I did as a regional and carrying it through zone by zone and eventually the entire brand.”
Her approach involves building a team of doctors who work together as a collective, encouraging open communication through regular dialogue, meetings and regional mentor calls while tying both analytics and insights with practice management. She introduced programs where doctors had a voice, piloting new technologies like Clarifye digital exam equipment in Atlanta. “I wanted Atlanta to be at the forefront of new technology. Bringing doctors into the process builds trust by adding greater transparency and authenticity,” she explains.
That includes knowing where the expertise is strongest. “I never try to be something that I’m not. I step back when it’s a clinical decision, but I always take into consideration how the patient would feel and how I would want to be treated.”
Young’s leadership style emphasizes the importance of the relationship between doctors and store managers now as well. “When the doctor and store manager work together to put the patient first, we’re stronger,” she notes. “The goal is that we want patients to return year after year with their families—a holistic belief in the need for annual eye exams.”
POWER OF WORKING TOGETHER
To ensure seamless collaboration, Young instituted weekly pep talks between doctors and store market managers. These meetings addressed gaps in their working relationship, shared new lens education and provided training to build confidence. “Doctors don’t like to prescribe what they don’t know well; if they’re not confident, they go quiet,” she says. “That’s the trust we must build. We also ask doctors to support training and guide new store market managers and associates so their patients can have a consistent high-quality experience.”
LensCrafters locations often see patients with more complex vision or ocular health issues. Information flow in the other direction helps retail staff members understand the innovative lens solutions prescribed by doctors. “We want our doctors and stores to be working together,” she stated. That’s not really any different than her initial focus was in 2006. “It’s a matter of keeping it alive, and I continue to bring a voice to it.”
As the company grows, Young remains committed to preserving the culture of collaboration and trust. “Doctors want to feel included, like they’re part of the team,” she says. In her conversations with optometrists, she often asks what they want most. They frequently answer, “We want to know our patients are in great hands, with the team at LensCrafters taking care of them with the right optical knowledge.”
That knowledge informs all her interactions. “The doctor and store management relationship is the most important in the building,” she says. Because she enjoys spending time in substantive conversation with doctors and staff, she can remind them of their “why” on the days that are not as smooth. “Knowing their stories and keeping that dialogue alive is crucial,” she says. “After all, doctors and retail staff work best when they’re working in sync to serve the patient.”
Read more stories from EssilorLuxottica Eye Care and WO here.
