How Eye-Tech Helped Dr.
Stauble Build His Practice
from the Ground Up

Meet Dr. Robert Stauble, OD

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many optometry practices to put their operations on hold. The office where Dr. Robert Stauble was employed was no exception — except, at a time when many others sat still and waited, he saw an opportunity: “I was in the corporate optometry space when everything shut down. I was sitting there, kind of bored, and just thought let’s start a cold-start practice,” he recalls.

Dr. Stauble, now the owner of SeeSharp, an independent optometric practice in Philadelphia, says he had always been interested in business and when he went to optometry school, he did so knowing he wanted to own his own practice one day. That time at home gave him a chance to put a business plan together, and in the process, formed a relationship with Drew Tucker and Scott Cheek, the team behind Eye-Tech.

We had a chance to talk to Dr. Stauble about how his relationship with Eye-Tech made the process of building his new practice easier than he ever could’ve imagined — and what that means for his patients at SeeSharp.

Meet Dr. Robert Stauble, OD

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many optometry practices to put their operations on hold. The office where Dr. Robert Stauble was employed was no exception — except, at a time when other doctors sat still and waited, he saw an opportunity: “I was in the corporate optometry space when everything shut down. I was sitting there, kind of bored, and just thought let’s start a cold-start practice,” he recalls.

Dr. Stauble, now the owner of SeeSharp, an independent optometric practice in Philadelphia, says he had always been interested in business and when he went to optometry school, he did so knowing he wanted to own his own practice one day. That time at home gave him a chance to put a business plan together, and in the process, formed a relationship with Drew Tucker and Scott Cheek, the team behind Eye-Tech.

We had a chance to talk to Dr. Stauble about how his relationship with Eye-Tech made the process of building his new practice easier than he ever could’ve imagined — and what that means for his patients at SeeSharp.

Setting Up the Practice

“I could probably call them right now and they would answer.”

From day one, Dr. Stauble says that with Eye-Tech, the focus was on more than just equipment. As the local representative for Marco Ophthalmic, he was put in contact with Drew Tucker by the manufacturer. “[Drew] was one of the first people I had talked to in the whole process,” he said.

From the start, though, the conversation wasn’t about Marco, or eye care technology at all, for that matter. “I had been talking to him for a while about not just equipment, but owning a practice in general and building out the space. He was just there every step of the way as a consultant.”

Dr. Stauble says he was amazed that Drew’s focus wasn’t on making a sale, but talking him through the steps and priorities involved with starting his practice. “He was basically interviewing me, asking me about what my favorite aspects of optometry are so that we could start putting together the list of things that I needed now and the things I could focus on later.”

This made the process of getting his practice set up easier than he had thought at the start. As he tells us, “Equipment is one of the biggest things in the budget. I didn’t have to worry about that because I was so confident in [Drew and Scott’s] ability to figure out what I really needed.”

Comparing and Purchasing Equipment

“The actual sales part of it lasted about 30 minutes.”

When it came time to start choosing equipment, Drew made it very clear that he was acting as a resource rather than a salesperson. “He never tried to oversell me. In fact, we were really on the same page, and I genuinely felt like he had my best interests in mind.”

During the buying process, this made it easy to weigh the pros and cons of different devices, but the fact that Eye-Tech proudly represents some of the most trusted names in the industry was helpful, too. Dr. Stauble reiterates, “Equipment is a big part of the budget. You’re really thinking long-term. If you’re signing a ten-year lease, you want that equipment to last.”

With this in mind, he says the guidance of Eye-Tech led him to choose Marco Ophthalmic technology to equip the exam lane: “You know you’re getting a really high-quality product with all the Marco equipment. It’s built to last and worth the investment for me.”

Technology that Empowers Patient Care

The personal attention that the Eye-Tech team showed during the buying process went beyond the transaction: “As a cold-start, I needed experts and I needed consultants.” Drew and Scott were able to provide that support for him in the early days of his new business.

This relationship helped him take some of the most critical steps in starting his practice, and their guidance with outfitting the exam lane also paid dividends for patients when he opened the doors at SeeSharp. With new, efficient technology that integrates seamlessly with his practice EHR system, Dr. Stauble said the “wow factor” of having the most modern equipment definitely showed. “Patients would say things like ‘This is the quickest and most thorough exam I’ve had’.” He jokes, “I tell them, ‘welcome to the future’.”

And, Dr. Stauble reports that having access to the latest and most advanced equipment makes his job easier as well. With automated technology, transcription errors and things that hurt efficiency and patient satisfaction are basically eliminated.

As far as his ongoing relationship with Eye-Tech, he tells us it’s just as strong as it was in the beginning: “I could probably call them right now and they would answer.”

Dr. Stauble feels that Eye-Tech played a critical role in making his business what it is today, and when he’s ready to add another location, Drew and Scott will be the first call he makes, saying, “I can call them up and say, ‘Hey, let’s duplicate what we just did.’ I love the fact that the relationship is going to make the next time even easier.”

Comparing and Purchasing Equipment

“The actual sales part of it lasted about 30 minutes.”

When it came time to start choosing equipment, Drew made it very clear that he was acting as a resource rather than a salesperson. “He never tried to oversell me. In fact, we were really on the same page, and I genuinely felt like he had my best interests in mind.”

During the buying process, this made it easy to weigh the pros and cons of different devices, but the fact that Eye-Tech proudly represents some of the most trusted names in the industry was helpful, too. Dr. Stauble reiterates, “Equipment is a big part of the budget. You’re really thinking long-term. If you’re signing a ten-year lease, you want that equipment to last.”

With this in mind, he says the guidance of Eye-Tech led him to choose Marco Ophthalmic technology to equip the exam lane: “You know you’re getting a really high-quality product with all the Marco equipment. It’s built to last and worth the investment for me.”

Technology that Empowers Patient Care

The personal attention that the Eye-Tech team showed during the buying process went beyond the transaction: “As a cold-start, I needed experts and I needed consultants.” Drew and Scott were able to provide that support for him in the early days of his new business.

This relationship helped him take some of the most critical steps in starting his practice, and their guidance with outfitting the exam lane also paid dividends for patients when he opened the doors at SeeSharp. With new, efficient technology that integrates seamlessly with his practice EHR system, Dr. Stauble said the “wow factor” of having the most modern equipment definitely showed. “Patients would say things like ‘This is the quickest and most thorough exam I’ve had’.” He jokes, “I tell them, ‘welcome to the future’.”

And, Dr. Stauble reports that having access to the latest and most advanced equipment makes his job easier as well. With automated technology, transcription errors and things that hurt efficiency and patient satisfaction are basically eliminated.

As far as his ongoing relationship with Eye-Tech, he tells us it’s just as strong as it was in the beginning: “I could probably call them right now and they would answer.”

Dr. Stauble feels that Eye-Tech played a critical role in making his business what it is today, and when he’s ready to add another location, Drew and Scott will be the first call he makes, saying, “I can call them up and say, ‘Hey, let’s duplicate what we just did.’ I love the fact that the relationship is going to make the next time even easier.”