Opticare Crowned Winners of The Customer Care Award at Newark Business Awards.

On Friday night, at the rearranged, socially distanced, in your own home, Newark Business Awards event, we were very proud to be crowned winners of the Customer Care Award.

As a business that puts our customers at the centre of everything we do, it was fantastic to win. It feels wonderful to be recognised for all the hard work our staff put in every day, to make sure the service they receive is the best it can be.

As an independent optician, it’s extremely hard to carve a niche for ourselves in a highly competitive market, dominated by the large chains. By serving our customers well, and making sure we give them every care and attention they need, this is the recognition that we can compete successfully against the big budgets of the massive chains with care and attention.

Last Friday evening began with a few nerves, to say the least. We were up against some excellent businesses. Ourselves and the staff all dressed up and had our drinks at the ready. The awards were presented one by one by the relevant judges. It was a unique concept and although not the same as doing it in person, it was a great alternative and everyone had fun.

Our category arrived, sponsored by Chattertons and presented by David Rogerson. It was wonderful to hear the great comments from David in the build-up and even better when he called out our name. David said:

“They demonstrated a real sense their customers came first. They adapted their ways of working to help their most vulnerable customers in these challenging times.”

The award was made after a strict and intensive award process.  A judge from each category visited our practice in September to meet Shaimil and Kaash They asked us various questions and we showed them around the practice. Each visit lasted about an hour.

Amar-Kaash Gandecha, a Director of Opticare said:

“We are delighted to be winners of the Customer Care award and be highly commended in the Best Independent Retailer category. We have always centred everything in our business around our patients and to be recognised for this is a great feeling. Having been in Newark for almost 30 years we have built relationships with many people in the town and we are privileged to be able to serve the local community. The business continues to go from strength to strength and we will continue to invest in the best technologies and people so we can provide high quality eyecare to our patients. A special thank you to our amazing staff, without whom we would not be where we are today.”

Below are a few of the customer-focussed training, learning and implementing actions we do, which has lead to this award:

• Staff are sent on regular external training courses and we also operate in-house 1-2-1 training. We also invite guest speakers to our regular company meetings. This constant training ensures that our staff have the latest knowledge about the products we stock and the examinations we offer, for both eye care and hearing care.

• Measurement of customer satisfaction including online reviews for Opticare. We have had a huge increase in the number of reviews left by patients in the last 12 months and currently have Google and Facebook reviews, where we are rated 4.8 and 4.9 out of 5 respectively.

• A random selection of patients who have had new glasses is followed up a month after they collect them, with what we have named a ‘happy call’. This is an opportunity for patients to discuss with us what they like, or maybe don’t like about their new glasses, and we invite them in if they are experiencing any issues.

• Our ‘Optiplan’ provides our patients with a complete eye health plan with complimentary eye examinations, contact lens fittings, 3D-OCT scans, dry eye assessments and discount off their spectacles. We have found that this drives patient loyalty and interaction with the practice.

• We maintain good relationships with our local GP’s and hospitals to make sure that our patients are looked after when they are referred onwards.

• During 2019 we also started a new treatment called myopia control where we can fit children with special contact lenses designed to reduce the progression of their short-sightedness.

As a cherry on top of the cake, for the evening, we were also highly-commend in the Best Independent Retailer category. Just missing out on the top spot, but this just means we will have to try a little harder next year.

It was a great night and we wish to thank everyone who took part and helped make the event a success. We, of course, wish everyone who was included on the shortlist all the best, it was an honour to be included in such fine company.