In conversation with Luisa Redaelli

Having 20/20 vision isn’t only about wearing the right eyewear – it also requires having the right frame of mind. Luisa Redaelli is a psychology and communications expert who works with optical professionals to help improve their relationship with their customers and the optical world at large. The IOA asked her a few questions about this often overlooked area of expertise…

How did you first start working in the field of optics and optometry? What has kept you involved for 20+ years?

I came into your world almost 25 years ago, I was teaching Design and Architecture at Art Academy. I have always loved eyewear, even if I have never had any particular sight issue. Wearing an eyewear is always a joy to me, but I don’t like strange or eccentric ones. I felt in love with a design frame, which was genial, at that time. It perfectly interpreted the concept of design: beauty, best functionality, a new way to use the object. I contacted the designers, we had a very nice relationship and they asked to me to be their communication consultant in Italy. It was a period of deep changes in my life and I accepted the challenge, to begin a new adventure and discover a new world. I knew only the surface of opticians job, I thought they were only glasses sellers. Never heard about optometry. I remained astonished to know how many skills, how wide the professional field is, how many things opticians and optometrists can do for people well being. It was to me a real “coup de foudre”, I felt in love with this job and still I am: opticians help people to see, vision and sight! That’s a great power!

I noticed that there was, and still is, a great gap between scientific skills and communication abilities. I mean, it was clear that communication was not one of the major interests. That was, in my opinion, a loss of potentiality. The only communication was the commercial one, given by the big frames and lenses companies. What a pity! So then I decided to work beside opticians and optometrists, to support them to improve their communication actions and skills. Meantime I graduated in psychology and then, much more knowledge to offer. Something has changed, less marketing (I don’t like marketing at all) and a little bit more sensitivity to the human relationship. There is still a lot to do, to increase the optician’s sensitivity about communication and to improve their skills!

What do you see as the major threats to opticians in coming years?

The world is changing very quickly: socio-economic situation and people mind. It is true that sight and vision issues are becoming much more important. Opticians can be protagonist, they are the first point of contact, easily contactable on the ground, sight and vision caregivers. It is important to be aware of that and to take care of human relationships. People need to be contacted, to be considered. Don’t be afraid by the web, use it at your advantage, to communicate. It is impossible to buy a professional eyewear online: opticians will always be important to people. Then, in my opinion, the major threats to opticians can only be their inability to talk about their job and skills and to keep in touch with people, listen to them, understand their real needs. If opticians remain “lazy” or they don’t change their language, in order to stay in contact to people, they’ll be losers.

What are the key skills that opticians need to develop?

I know that everything concerning scientific skills is part of optician’s interest and studies. Then my opinion is that they need to develop their communication capability. They have to study how to communicate in an efficient way. Communication is an art to learn and practice. It is a special skill and it is necessary to improve it. To find a new and valid language, not only speaking in a specialist or commercial language. It is necessary to find the way to stay close to people, to build up human relationships.

What are the biggest opportunities opticians should be looking to make the most of?

I feel that this is a very positive period for opticians, for many reasons. First of all sight and vision performances are over important. We use our eyes a lot, we spend many hours watching the computer video or a TV. Above facemasks, our eyes are speaking. Opticians are the first contact, always available. So the situation is open to stay in touch with people, to solve their issues and listen to their fears, talk to people. Let them feel that life goes on, the world is changing, not terminating. I hope opticians will use this special situation, this mad period, to build a community and get to know their customers much better, in many way, not only about sight issues. Let’s communicate, find a personal language and talk to people. Don’t limit your telling into a scientific performance, which is very important, of course, but not enough, nowadays. I would like that opticians would open their communication and find the human contact, catching the opportunity to build good human relationships.

This is the path to join the best success.

Luisa Redaelli was born in Milan, and now lives in a small village north of Lake Maggiore. A graduate in Architecture (from the Politecnico of Milan) and Psychology (from the Sorbonne, in Paris), Luisa has completed numerous masters and seminars. After working for many years with eyewear designers, Luisa has spent over 20 years as a communication counsellor for independent Opticians and Optometrists. She specialises in relationship psychology, a subject she also teaches at University-level. This special skill allows her to work with different organisations as a counsellor, profiler, team builder, professional mediator, and counsellor of ethical relationships and communication. In the optical field, Luisa collaborates with Federottica (the Italian Opticians Association), AdOO (Italian Optometrists Association) and Silmo Paris, as well as being a counsellor for several independent opticians and optometrists as well as a columnist, writing the monthly Caleidoscopio column for Ottica Italiana, the most important Italian optician’s magazine.