Has anyone had any continued success charging for nose pads? People seem to resist this charge without fail. Even the ones who obviously did not get their glasses from us. Heaven help us if we tried to charge for an adjustment.
Has anyone had any continued success charging for nose pads? People seem to resist this charge without fail. Even the ones who obviously did not get their glasses from us. Heaven help us if we tried to charge for an adjustment.
Emmett: Look at it this way, unless you are getting super exotic titanium, or platinum or something, they are cheap. I see dozens of patients a year that say: "I'm coming to you this time because you were so nice about, adjusting, fixing, or replacing my nose pads and wouldn't ever charge me, I just felt I had to get them from you this time."
Of course, you may not need this good will in your business. But if you charge them and "the guy down the street" treats them nice and doesn't charge them, the patient sees you as Cheap!
Emmett,
Welcome to Optiboard!
:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:
(I finally beat SnitGirl to a warm Optiboard Welcome!)
Or you will only attract the CHEAP patients.Originally Posted by chip anderson
We haven't had much resistance. I will GIVE a patient a set of nosepads, but I charge them for installation. Of course the charge includes tightening of screws, adjusting and cleaning.
Maybe you could remind them what you just sold them. "Mrs Jones, these are the super comfy nosepads. I also inspected the frame and tightened all the screws, cleaned them up an adjusted them. Let's see how your tuned-up glasses fit now." Then proceed with a fit and talk to them about getting some rx sunglasses. $5 is a bargain. And if they buy the suns - no charge for the nosepads and cleaning and adjustment:bbg:.
If they give you a hard time about that, maybe there are better patients to cater to.
keep the receipt..........................
and all of it cost's you $ 5.00 and if you keep the receipt I will discount the amount from your next pair of glasses.
Emmet,
You would do well to listen to MarcE and Chris Ryser on this.
We charged $5.00 for the nosepads (if they did not buy them from us) and did a free adjustment as well.
A lot has to do with the presentation. If the person presenting believes $5.00 is too much then the patient will feel that and believe the same thing. If the person presenting is confident then the patient will be ok with the $5.00.
Good luck.
We replace at no charge if they purchased glasses from us less than one year ago. If more than one year old or if purchased elsewere we charge 2.90
Mike
I posted a sign on my counter a couple years ago, Minimum repair charge is $10.00. People know up-front that there is a fee, then I charge them $5.00 for pads only. For glasses I have made, I do it N/C, but they see the sign and now see the service value in purchasing from me. Most of them also expect to pay. Some don't, mine or not. I send those to chip.
A free set of nose pads and two minutes of your time is about the cheapest advertising that you can do. I don’t know of any one who ever built a successful business on $2.00 transactions. For the price of a lousy pair of nose pads you have the opportunity to make a two minute, face to face, sales spiel.
This is an invaluable opportunity if you have something to say. If not, keep your trap shut and charge the two bucks and smile all the way to the poor house.
I always ask up front "did you purchase these here?" I already know they didn't. They say no and I say "It will be five dollars per pair then, is that ok?" No one say's no. For our customers I replace nosepads and give the frame a once over at no charge, and they know it's because they are my customers.
And if your really good you can charge and still make a great sales spiel. It is not a one or the other situation and it is not all about the money.
The people who are giving these away are most likely the people that want the OD's to not charge for their medical services. That is the fastest way to the poor house.
I must say that I agree with MarcE on this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any other industry where you can get "parts" for free.
I understand that the cost is negligible, but over the course of time it all adds up. Most people are so thankful that you have made their glasses more comfortable that they don't mind parting with $5.00.
Like Mike though, we don't charge if the spectacles were purchased from us.
Just my opinion here.
As mentioned in another post in this thread, what other industry provides free parts and service besides the optical industry? All we do when we give ourselves and our goods away is reduce the perceived value of eyewear. We are our own worst business enemy. We ourselves are reducing the value- what is eyewear really worth if the people who sell it are giving their services away? Read that carefully and put yourself in the position of an uneducated consumer. We have conditioned our clients to expect everything for free- a warranty will cover anything, nosepads are free, lenses should last forever without scratching, you can buy your glasses down the road from the budget (el-cheepo) outfit but you get them fitted from the boutique place 'cause they know how to do it. And I could go on.....
So, at the end of the day, decide how we want our profession to be viewed by the eyewear consumer. If you want to give things away for the sake of potentially attracting a new customer, have at it. If you want to be viewed as the professional you are, and have clients who actually respect their eyewear, you might want to jump on the 'modest fee for service' bandwagon.:cheers:
The ironic thing is that giving things away doesn not build value or "good will" for the business. It actually devalues the entire business. It's human nature. If it costs nothing, then it is worth nothing. It's not about the money, it's about the perceived value. The wording that I stated above is the important. Ensuring that the patient knows you are a professional and MUST charge for your services is the MOST important.
Here are some ideas I don't have a problem with:
After they pay you the $5, give them a coupon for $5 off services or materials over say $50. Or even 10% off. This may get them back in the office when they are in a spending mood.
With that said, I many times give things away such as nylon retainer cords or an extra case, or cleaning cloth or cleaning solution. The difference is that these are items. They do not have a professional knowledge component.
Heck, I even give away Anti-reflection lenses, or high-index sometimes(when I have a coupon). But they get a card explaining the "Free upgrade". I don't want to devalue our services by giving away the professional component.
Does anyone else see the total difference in preception here? Of course I am sure that all of us believe we right and can't understand how anyone else can see this from an 180 degree different view.
Those of use that see a free value added service as an image enhancing thing and those that see this as an image devalueing thing.
Could this be some sort of indication about why some of us are so right or left wing politically?
Chip
I used to charge for nose pads (non-clients). Then we moved and to promote the business we did not charge. Interesting in the jump of those people who booked appointments and made purchases.
Again, another one of those things where we argue about the principal of it all and do not worry about business success.
You're kidding, right? Now we're complaining about devaluing our services by selling a scratch warranty or warranted frame? Who cares? If you're doing your job right, you're getting credit back on the warranted frame or lenses anyway. Patients dig that kind of thing and there's definitely value in that.
BTW, chances are that you also made more money on that scratch warranty, whether its Teflon, Alize, TD2, etc.
-Steve
Or, those that still give it all away, and those that won't.Those of use that see a free value added service as an image enhancing thing and those that see this as an image devalueing thing.
Having just said what I said, I really kind of like the $5 charge with a coupon for $5 off a future purchase, or 10% off a future purchase, whatever.
I'll have to consider that one.
-Steve
Of course the difference between a ***** and a great love is charging for something that shoud be given.
I actually can see how someone could see this from the opposite point of view. I'm not religious about it. And you guys have actually got me thinking. I don't strive for fairness, I want what is best for my business. I have no political, religious, social justice or moral issues concerning nosepads and $5 bills. I can also admit if I'm wrong. I'll let you know if I ever am:D.
Still need $$$ to pay the w####,.................... or the wife.
I like the chargeing for nose pads thing, but have neve worked in a practice that has done so. The coupon thing, I do that with my solder $35.00 and if you come back within a month to purchase eyewear it will be applied and I gotta say 50% or better come back to purchase. The nosepads, I do ask patients if they have purchased the eyeglasses from us, even though we don't charge. It gives me an opportunity to inform the patient that this is a valuable service we offer patients ours or otherwise. I also give them pointers on their eyewear. I can see by your lenses you wear a high minus Rx, that means you are a myope and should be looking for frames that have smaller lenses and where your eyes fit as close to center in the lens as possible, here let me show you. Then I will show them my SEIKO thickness chart and show them their lenses and lay it on there and show them how the fit can reduce the thickness or a smaller diameter can also help. Often times these people will return to buy their eyewear with us, becasue they think we know some trick the last guy didn't.
Soe other little pointers that can easily be addressed and noticed.
I can't think of other situations that I run across, but while they are a captive audience I like to try and sell them something especially since I have the influence of provideing something for free to them.
- Women that use hairspray, I will tell them to take the glasses off before styling their hair and if they need to purchase a small magified mirror, if they don't they are more than welcome to stop by and have us clean them.
- Bowed out sunglasses, tell them that wearing the sunglasses ont he top of the head does stretch them out and will reduce the life span of the frames, show them cords to hold them around their necks.
1st* HTML5 Tracer Software
1st Mac Compatible Tracer Software
1st Linux Compatible Tracer Software
*Dave at OptiVision has a web based tracer integration package that's awesome.
We had a meeting about this a couple months back... well, not specificly FOR this issue, but it was one of them. Should we charge for nosepads and solders? I'm the only one that solders in the office. If it's an outside pair, or a pair over 3 years old, I charge $30. If it's ours and between 2 and 3 years, I don't. To me though, nosepads are different. To me, they're part of the service you get when you purchase your glasses from us. Same goes with adjusting and tightening screws. Even for those who didn't buy from us origionally... the way I put it was this "If 50 people come to get new nosepads for glasses they didn't buy here, and JUST ONE comes back to get their next pair, we've not only made money, but we've also made a new customer that we didn't have before." And to me, it's as simple as that.
And for those who say you don't get things for free... when I get my oil changed on my car, I go in, get a free paper, free coffee, and a free grease job on my doors. Is it actually free? Maybe not, they might be able to charge me a bit less for the oil change if they didn't do those things, but, you know what? It's those little things that make me keep going back there.
We give away nosepads. I can see good reasons both ways. When I put a pair on I check screws and adjustments and clean them if needed. I always tell the person I am doing this and make it seem special.
Discount tire does free flat repairs even if you don't buy your tires there. After the fixed a tire for me free when I ran over about 10 nails I have always bought my tires there.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks