An open letter to ODs and MDs

[EyeFitWell]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
OD, MD, and even LDO does not replace a Business Management Degree. However, we are frequently wearing many hats. Think about all the work you do as an optician that aren't even close to what you went to school for-like dusting shelves!
Independent offices frequently end up with a doctor or optician managing. This doesn't mean they're capable or good at it, it just means they have to do it. It could be worse - some people have to answer to a manager who has NO idea what is necessary in an optical shop.

It's tough to find, but when you do, hold on tight to the job with a reasonable manager! And if you want cut and dry perks/bonuses, switch to a corporation, but you'll have a new set of things to put up with there.

My mother asked me why I wanted to be "just an optician" (you could have been a doctor...) and I thought long and hard about that question. What I came up with is, I don't want to be "just an optician". I want to be the best darn optician this city has ever seen! I want to show people what they should be getting and expecting from opticians! My customers would never have to lie their way onto a board like this for clear answers about their eyeglasses. Why is this important? Because it seems to me, in my humble opinion, that there is a SEVERE lack of really fantastic opticians out there! The whole industry seems to be full of nut jobs, multi-tasking doctors who end up promising above the amount of time and effort they have to give, and beat down employees of all kinds who just don't care anymore.
We have to be the change we want to see. I am out to proove to the public that your optician is your BEST FRIEND. We can do sooooo much that they don't realize! I want people to see how their glasses can be a joy instead of a pain. Let's all be the change we want to see in our field.

[Johns]

But since obviously Johns and Chris Ryser own their own businesses and know so much more than I - let's look at this for a much simpler perspective. How much money do I generate for the practice? According to our 2006 gross income, 84% came directly from eyewear sales. I'd love to see you two gracious business owners provide a salary comenserate to cause and effect. I caused 84% of the gross dollars that came into this practice - shouldn't I in effect receive 84% of the salary pool?

You proved the first sentence of this quote by what you wrote in the last sentence.

How much money DO you generate ?

"Generate" implies you are creating this revenue all on your own. I could replace any of my top opticians/sellers/wealth generators/dispnesers/etc.. and w/in 2 weeks be right back to level we were before. I don't care who they are. Anybody/everybody (including myself) can be replaced.

[Cindy Hamlin]

Intriging offer - although I have my own ideas on merchandising well beyond basic frame boards and such - my wife is a interior designer (another difficult industy to get a foothold in as she's currently unemployed as a designer) and honestly, we have the dispensary designed and ready to go.

I am confused? Johns makes you a very generous offer to set you up and you balk? You can't get more handed to you then he has offered. So take his offer now and later you and wifey can have the shop you desire.

What gives?

[Chris Ryser]

By the way.. these rules weren't made by the doctor.. they were made by me.
Cassandra

Cassandra...............Congratulations for an excellent post and an excellent attitude. You have made some nice and big steps forward since you got sick at the lab job.

Your post should be framed and hang on the wall by all unsatisfied emplouyed opticians.

[cinders831]

An open letter to ODs and MDs:

I'm in no way knocking any of the ODs or MDs on this board - but what is it with you guys/gals? What makes you think you can nickel and dime a optician to death? Sure, it's your practice (at least in my case) and you went to school for X years and are certainly due the respect your title deserves. But in all honesty - what part of my job do you really think you can do successfully? In the parctice where I'm employed, my sales accounted for 84% of the practice's gross income last year. I don't pretend to do your job - let me do mine.

Why do you incesently feel the need to look over my shoulder like I'm going to do something that might possibly hurt your practice? The success of the practice is as much my goal as it is yours - my job depends on it.

Why do you deny me the few perks of my job? I'm the one that sold 50+ pairs of Varilux Transitions as apart of the Varilux/Transitions Plug Into The Power promotion...why should you get the five $50 gift cards associated with those sales? Why should I hand over the comp coupons I get from reps who I work with and utilize to help your patients? Why should you get the freebies I get from trade shows - I paid my own way after all. When a rep comps me a frame, how dare you charge me for it - I work with these reps not you - they are offering me something for helping their bottom line.

Why do you feel the need to lie to me? Don't tell me we didn't acheve our goal of 10% over last years sales - I can run the same reports you can. I know we are 16.4% over last year. I know I'm due that profit sharing check - you just don't want to caugh over the money to someone who worked their butt off to provide your patients with the best possible service.

Why can't you treat me the way you expect me to treat you? I'm a professional just as you are - I may not have the degree behind my credentials, but I'm as competant as any other optician with my level of experience and background. You expect me to shoot straight with you - why can't you extend me the same courtesy?

/Rant Off

As some others have said, "their" not all the same. I am also in a practice in Michigan and the practice I work for is a partnership, both of my Bosses are awesome. All spiffs are shared amongst entire staff, any reward dollars earned go in an account that we use to go the the east/west conferences. We also track our numbers and are also paid monthly "bonuses" based apon the meeting of our respective goals. You do sound a bit disgruntled and I can appreciate that. I would encourage you to talk with your boss, if they dont offer you the appreciation you feel you deserve then start looking for someone whom does. I wouldnt mind a look at your resume myself.

[Audiyoda]

I am confused? Johns makes you a very generous offer to set you up and you balk? You can't get more handed to you then he has offered. So take his offer now and later you and wifey can have the shop you desire.

What gives?

I wouldn't call it balking - but I have had my own business plan in place for a few years. And with my wife an interior designer (who happens to until recently, design and sell optical furniture for a ELOA lab in west Michigan - they just abandoned her division so she's unemployed) I have many of my own ideas - start up capitol has always been my biggest hurdle. Actually, my biggest hurdle now is the economic climate in Michigan - it's down right bad.

I really do appreciate Johns' offer - but fixtures is really something I don't need. With my wife's contacts, those would come easy. I honestly think I have enough contacts with frame reps that I could get a good deal of my stock on consignment. My problem would be start up capitol for marketing all those other ancillary things business startups run into.

And as Chris Ryser said, I'm going back for my masters in Digital Media Arts - I had hoped to be out of optics within 3 years. But that can certainly change - my wife and I had assumed that her job would stand the test of time. But now that she's back on the job market unexpectedly and that we're considering starting a family - I may need to rethink my going back to school.

The bottom line for me - after reading through everything in this thread and re-reading what I posted - is that I am very tired of being lied to and being treated like just another employee. I know I am just another employee, but as some here have posted, there are plenty of ODs/MDs that treat thier employees as something more. I believe in rewarding people for what they do - and obviously others here feel the same. My problem is I work for someone who doesn't feel that way :( - I left a place that treated their employees like dirt and I thought I was going to work for someone different. I heard all sorts of great things about him from multiple people in the industry (LDOs and ODs). Now to find that they simply aren't true - along with the billing isses we've had for a long while...I'm just tired of it all.

[Audiyoda]

You also made a high sales figure because you wewre perked up by salesreps to sell high end and high priced lenses.

Sorry Chris, my sales figures come from selling what my patients need. I don't sell multiple PALs, I stick with the Physio/Physio360 or Definity/Definity Short in some cases. Not because someone told me to sell them - but because having worn multiple PALs in my life (I'm esophoric) I have found that the Physio360 is truly as good as teh hype. But I also have a conversion rate (from D-seg to PAL) or almost 60%, so we're seeing plenty of former D-seg wearers converting to PALs (my predicessor told most of them PALs would not be a good choice for them). I don't sell Alize or Alize w/ClearGuard (except on the Physio30), I sell my lab's in-house variant that IMO is better than Alize. The average frame cost in the office is $159 - we do have a few that are $349 - but I'd estimate 70% of our stock is between $129 and $179.

I have yet to have a rep offering anything without me first asking - I'm not affraid to ask for a comp frame or a comp coupon for lenses. But every rep that I deal with was told when I can on board that they are not to offer anything to anyone in the office unless two conditions are met: 1- A staff member must ask them - they cannot offer unsolicited. 2- When they are asked, they must offer a comp to anyone else in the office as well. If they can't do that, then no one gets a comp...but it's a small office so there's never been a problem. I should have made that all clear in my initial posting - sorry that I didn't. But I also don't abuse the system - I got two comp frames last year and three comp lens coupons. Big hairy deal - my beef was that I got the doctor a comp frame and he turned around and charged me for my comp!!!

Anyway - I wasn't 'perked' by anyone. I sell the products I like and sell the products I fell our patients need based on their lifestyle and Rx.

[Chris Ryser]

Anyway - I wasn't 'perked' by anyone. I sell the products I like and sell the products I fell our patients need based on their lifestyle and Rx.

If that holds up, you better have a good talk with the owner...............after having explored better conditions elsewere. And then make a move for the better.

[Audiyoda]

If that holds up, you better have a good talk with the owner...............after having explored better conditions elsewere. And then make a move for the better.

Those are my plans for Monday. Should make for an interesting start to the week.

[Chris Ryser]

Those are my plans for Monday. Should make for an interesting start to the week.

Monday has come............and is gone.

We are all burning to hear the good news.......when will you give us an update ???????????

[ilanh]

Here's some advice from the other side:

As an M.D owner of an optical shop I have employed several opticians over the years. I strongly believe that this problem could have been avoided by making the compensation arrangement much more transparent and generous.

In my practice opticians are rewarded based on Net income generated ie: costs are subtracted from profits. They get a base salary plus a percentage of the net income. The net income is easily calculated in the following way: Every optical vendor that we have is placed on the same credit card; at the end of each month the optician is given the monthly credit card statement to verify all the costs. Every pair of glasses sold (and every optical insurance payment) is, likewise, registered on our office based software; therefore, the optician receives a monthly total of optical receipts. Net income is calculated by subtracting the monthly costs from the monthly receipts.

If you want to make the formula more precise you can include all fixed costs and the previous month compensation into the equation. Fixed costs include: rent, optician benefits, phone, office supplies etc. You can assign a dollar value to this. Add to this cost the total compensation that the optician received last month. Now add the monthly credit card expenditures and you have the full monthly cost of doing business. This may be a more accurate way of visualizing your business.

Total Optical Revenues (eg:$40,000) - [Fixed costs (eg:$1500) + Previous compensation ($4800) + Optical expenditures ($7500)] = Net Income ($26,200)

A decent base salary and about 10% of net income will make for a very transparent system and a very motivated employee (in the example above the optician earned a commission of $2620 in addition to the base).

[EyeFitWell]

It seems to me that the main problem with the origional poster's employer is that she was promised said payment, then lied to and told she didn't make the mark but she did.
I've encountered this several times in this field. For example, hired on for X dollars/hour with a promise of a dollar raise after 90 days. Then, 90 days come and go but no raise. Now, I get all offers in writing.

Being told you'll get paid a certian amount and not getting that is illegal and should not be tolerated.

[Bill West]

....this profession has two kinds of people. Those that do and those that want to do.
Most people just do not have the guts to take the plunge and neither do they really have the desire to succed on their own.
Complaining and gripping will never change things for anyone.
Risk taking and hard work will pay off for those that want it bad enough.
Just be sure you have what it takes, then GO FOR IT!
Dreamers are sometimes just that. Dreamers and schemers will make it work.
I'll say it again,"you have to be dumber than a brick to fail in retail optical". :cheers:

[FVCCHRIS]

You want the perks? Tell the owner to take back the paycheck they just gave you. Next, give them a percentage (about $100,000.000 should cover it) of the start up costs they plowed into the practice. Next, pay a percentage of the marketing costs and all other overhead associated with the practice. Now, work for about 3 years without a check, like most owners first do.

No check for 3 years??? Can't agree with that. How'd he pay for mortgage/rent/utilities/groceries???? Maybe not the profit they hope for initially, but they certainly do get a "paycheck". Chris..

[Johns]

No check for 3 years??? Can't agree with that. How'd he pay for mortgage/rent/utilities/groceries???? Maybe not the profit they hope for initially, but they certainly do get a "paycheck". Chris..

Chris,

That was based on my own experience. Actually, I was just going over my Social Security statments this weekend, and saw that it was closer to 4 years. I poured every penny right back into the business, and didn't stop until I knew it would be able to survive. We lived off of the income from my wife's job the entire time, and it wasn't easy.

That was my point. Business owners put everything (and I mean everything) on the line. Employees, on the other hand have risked nothing, and expect a significant piece of the action.

If someone has been swindled, then they should take legal action. It does make you wonder what the other side of the story is. My first stop would be at the courthouse to file a suit, not to post an open letter on OB.

[FVCCHRIS]

I copy that about the tight margins, huge initial expense and the risk you have to take. I hope it has paid off for you. Are you happy you rolled the dice? Some of us can get to whining about our position in this life(myself included) but I truly believe, in the overwhelming majority of cases, we all get what we deserve in life, good or bad. Chris.

[Johns]

I hope it has paid off for you. Are you happy you rolled the dice?

It truly has paid off, and I can take no credit for it. I have been blessed beyond anything I deserve, and I truly owe it all to God.

[Audiyoda]

Monday has come............and is gone.

We are all burning to hear the good news.......when will you give us an update ???????????

It's been a very busy week...:shiner: Not job related, the spring semester started.

Anyway...really, not much was accomplished other than my employer knows that I've called his 'bluff' on the sales. His eplaination is that he doesn't go by what our software says - even though everything is in inventory (including actual wholesale and the discounted amount we actually pay for frames and lenses). So I asked him what he's basing his numbers on - and he quite honestly wouldn't tell me. His final 'answer' for lack of a better term, is our PM software and Quickbooks. So my question was what does Quickbooks know that Compulink doesn't? My bonus was not to be determined on overall office numbers (professional fees, contacts, accessories and the like) - just the dispensary (Rx eyewear). And for that, everything is done in Compulink. Insurance is taken into account and in the end, the dispensary was 16.4% above the number he gave me from the previous year. So I'm still at a loss over that.

We did straighten a few other issues out - but nothing big and now get this: all shipments are being re-routed to his HOME first (yes, you read correctly). So he or his wife can verify everything that comes in first, then he'll bring it to the office the next day. :hammer:

I'm of course looking for something else - in any field. I'm tired of the optican industry in this area. I really envy those of you that work for decent people - and those of you that are decent employers that treat your employees with respect - good for you!

[gemstone]

My appoligies Audiyota. Opticians aint spit. You should go to walmart. They need opticians , for now anyway. ODs and MDs don't need you. How many independendent opticians do you know. Maybe 1%. The only way this will ever change is for the opticians to start refracting. Someone told me more than once that they MDs and ODs only spent two days in school studing refracting. Any excuse I have ever heard that opticians can't refract has been without foundation.

[Ory]

Someone told me more than once that they MDs and ODs only spent two days in school studing refracting.

Yay! More hearsay!

Looking over the course curriculum on any school of optometry website will show that this is blatantly untrue.

[fjpod]

Heresay is right...everybody knows OMDs only get one day.:hammer:

[specs2see]

i feel your pain, i myself in 22 years have worked for countless Dr.s with that same attitude. i was talented enough to teach these people as a staff instructor at the number 1 optometry school in the country. UC. BERKELEY. but that was not enough for some.
however, i did find out that they are not all like that. i have met some M.D's that have completely turned over their practice to me, paid me well, gave me company credit cards and allowed me to be a signer on the bank account.
for the most part is was the Od's that had the chip on their shoulder (not all) the MD's seem to not want the hasstle of running day to day operations in thier dispensary, they want to consentrate on surgery.
the OD's seem to want total control.
and are the least qualified to run the place.
if your doc does not appreciate what you are doing and is not willing to pay you for it, you will never change their mind, it's time to move on.
there is a doc out there who will love what you do, trust you, and pay you for it.
i hope that i didn't offend any of the DR's out there, if you are not one of the docs described here good for you we need more like you .
if you are are well, GET A GRIP>> :finger:

[specs2see]

1 st of all, as someone who taught these guys and girl refracting, "it just aint that hard"
if you need more than 1 day to learn how to use a phoropter, you are in the wrong field.
2nd, i am speaking for OD's , they spend the last year of there education in clinic seeing real patient's (refracting all day) and on rotations, again refracting all day. in my experiance the hardest instrument to master for the clinician was the slit lamp.
these folks do know how to refract nad , very well i might add. by the time they graduate. it is one of the simplest task's they have to master.
so whoever told you that they bonly spend one day doing it, i would not take advice from that person again...
have great day all:D :cheers:
p.s
i can teach anyone to refract in one day, honing the skill and becoming faster only comes with practice/.........................

[fjpod]

Wait! I can teach refraction in...half a day!

[Ory]

Bruce Bergez (the Great Glasses owner) can teach it without even beeing there. You guys are underachievers!