buildAutomation

AI Automation for Optometry practices in Geelong

Optometry practices leak revenue through the two-year recall cycle and spectacle quotes that walk out the door unfilled. We train two or three of your people to build automations that run eye-test recalls, chase unsold dispenses and prompt contact-lens reorders automatically, then build the harder integrations with them so you own it outright instead of renting it.

~7%

of Australian SMEs have AI running an actual process, not just a chatbot trial

National AI Centre, 2026

Most agencies build your automations and bill you forever. We do the opposite - we train your own people to build and own them, so when we leave, the capability stays in your business.

Callum Holt, Founder, 13Labs

Last updated: 2026-06-30

Where the manual work hurts in optometry practices

For most optometry practices, the same handful of jobs eat the week - recall reminders, spectacle and contact-lens follow-ups, patient intake and collection notifications. Here is where Geelong optometry practices lose the most time and money:

1. Two-year recall reminders are worked off a list by hand, so lapsed patients quietly book elsewhere.

2. Patients leave with a spectacle quote and never return to order, and nobody follows up.

3. Contact-lens patients run out and switch to an online supplier before anyone prompts a reorder.

4. Patient history and health-fund details are collected at the desk instead of before the appointment.

None of these are your actual trade or service. They are the repetitive admin wrapped around it - which is exactly the work that can be automated and owned in-house.

What your team will automate

These are real flows we build with optometry practices - mapped to your workflows on the tools you already run (Optomate, Sunix, Oasis, Xero), not generic templates:

Recall reminders. Two-year eye-test recalls are tracked and invited automatically instead of being worked off a recall list by hand.

Spectacle quote follow-up. Patients who left without ordering glasses get gentle, automatic follow-ups to convert the unfilled dispense.

Contact-lens reorders. Lapsing contact-lens patients are prompted to reorder before they run out and switch supplier.

Pre-appointment intake. A new booking triggers history forms and Medicare or health-fund details before the patient arrives.

Click-and-collect alerts. Patients are notified automatically the moment their glasses are ready, clearing the dispensing bench.

We start with whichever of these is costing you the most right now, so you see something working early rather than at the end.

How the program runs

Over six to twelve weeks, shaped around your business and your heroes. Done with you, not to you.

Map and diagnose. We sit with your team and map your real workflows, then pick the automations with the best payback.

Build along, together. Weekly working sessions where your people - your practice manager or optical dispenser is the typical hero - build real automations on your own tools, with us beside them.

We build the hard parts. The genuinely tricky, integration-heavy or compliance-sensitive flows we build with your team so they learn by seeing it done.

Independence and handover. Your heroes run solo. We leave a documented playbook and an optional low-touch get-unstuck line. No retainer required.

Own it, do not rent it

Most Geelong optometry practices have two options today: pay an agency a retainer that never ends, or try it themselves and watch the pilot quietly die because nobody owns it.

buildAutomation is the third way. One investment that ends, not a cost that never does. Your people make changes instantly instead of raising a ticket. The capability stays and compounds in-house instead of walking out the door with a contractor. And you finish with live automations running your business, not a slide deck of ideas.

See exactly how buildAutomation works.

Optometry practices in Geelong

Geelong businesses sit between two pressures: a fast-growing residential corridor at Armstrong Creek and Waurn Ponds flooding them with enquiries, and a tight local labour market where admin and front-desk hires are hard to keep. A trades or services operator working the Belmont-Highton-Newtown belt benefits far more from training their own office admin to own enquiry triage and quote follow-up than from renting a black-box system from a Melbourne agency 75km up the highway. Since the Ford plant closed in 2016, Geelong has rebuilt around services rather than manufacturing, with the relocated WorkSafe Victoria and Transport Accident Commission head offices anchoring a CBD professional-services cluster and Deakin University at Waurn Ponds feeding the region's largest workforces.

We run buildAutomation with optometry practices right across Geelong - including Geelong CBD, Newtown, Geelong West, Belmont, Highton, Waurn Ponds - in person where it helps and remotely where it does not. 13Labs is a Melbourne software studio, and the program is the same wherever in Victoria you are: train your team, build the hard automations together, and leave the capability behind so you own it.

At a Glance

Manual job todayWhat we automateWhat you get back
Two-year recall reminders are worked off a list by hand, so lapsed patients quietly book elsewhereRecall reminders: Two-year eye-test recalls are tracked and invited automatically instead of being worked off a recall list by handTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
Patients leave with a spectacle quote and never return to order, and nobody follows upSpectacle quote follow-up: Patients who left without ordering glasses get gentle, automatic follow-ups to convert the unfilled dispenseTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
Contact-lens patients run out and switch to an online supplier before anyone prompts a reorderContact-lens reorders: Lapsing contact-lens patients are prompted to reorder before they run out and switch supplierTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
Patient history and health-fund details are collected at the desk instead of before the appointmentPre-appointment intake: A new booking triggers history forms and Medicare or health-fund details before the patient arrivesTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team

Frequently Asked Questions

Most of our recall list is lapsed - can automation win those patients back?

Recall is the highest-value flow we build for optometry practices. The system tracks every patient's two-year due date, sends the invitation automatically and follows up the ones who go quiet, so lapsed patients come back instead of drifting to another practice.

Who manages this day to day - we are not a technical team?

Your practice manager or an optical dispenser owns it, not a developer. It is point-and-click automation connected to Optomate, Sunix or whatever you run, and we train them and document everything so the capability stays inside the practice.

How much does buildAutomation cost for a optometry practice?

It is a one-time program fee, scoped to your business and the number of heroes you want trained - not a monthly retainer. Tell us where the manual work hurts most and we will come back with a clear scope and price.

Are you based in Geelong?

Yes. 13Labs is a Melbourne software studio working with businesses across Victoria and Australia, in person where it helps and remotely where it does not.

Related Pages

Train your optometry practices team to own automation

Tell us where the manual work hurts most. Callum reviews every enquiry personally and will come back with a clear next step - a one-time program, not a retainer.

Enquire about buildAutomation