Originally Posted by chip anderson
Is your point that opticians do not have quality products or quality service ?
Is your point that opticians do not have quality products or quality service ?
Yes and were you happy ? The hair dresser may have charged $ 150.00 for that "do' and they likely recieved a nice 15 to 20 percent tip and they were not asked to provide the client with free shampoo, hair spray and coloring . Geez when did you last get a tip ?
There are definitely two sides to this "give away" debate and there is merit to both sides .
Perhaps the real answer lies in the way we present our give away items to the customer. I'll bet that most of you keep your screws , nosepads , and replacement parts in the back room in some form of bins.
What would happen if these parts were on display in plastic bags , 2 screws to a bag , 2 nose pads to a bag , 1 adjustment in a bag ...and individually price tagged ?
Now as you fix and repair their glasses, the customer watches you open a new bag just for their glasses and he sees the individual cost of the parts going into his eyewear. Now he knows the value . You could still give it away at this point , but now they have a value to associate with your goods and service.
Do the same with cases . Display them with prices in individual bags and let the customer chose . You might have some that are free with the frame but the others are not.
Having the price on it and the way you present the product is important.
That's a pretty post!
Nice post, not as colorful, but loaded with nice tid-bits! :D ;)
I like this idea. And, I agree...presentation means alot.
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If placed in priced bags patients will buy "spares" then they will find out that whatever they purchased doesn't fit. Think of the different sizes and mounting methods in nose pads, screws and the like. It would be worse than people that buy those little screw/screwdriver kits and find they don't fit thier glasses.
But here they would have you to come back to. Whereas no one would face a Wall-Mart check-out line again just to fuss about a screw pack.
Chip
So you would continue the give away ?
I'd give them away before going trough the hassel of explaining all the options, do's and don'ts and for the PR of fixing it for free.
Now I have learned not to service contacts even on my old ex patients who's "insurance made them" or "Thier doctor says he's doing it now."
Don't even give loaners when they have gotten them for the doctor and need one for the weekkl-end and the doctor's office is closed on Saturday.
Chip
Honestly, what you do depends on your location and who you cater to. If you're an upscale boutique in New York, you can do whatever you want. Your clientele is there for exclusivity. If you're a big box, you do it free, because that's who you cater to; those lookin for something cheap or free. If you're a small town optical, you know most of your customers, and who's out of towners. Maybe you charge people who'll never come back, and you don't charge the family who's been buying from you for 30 years.
Bottom line to me is this, the more freedom I have to charge as I see fit, and give freebies where it's deserved, the more I enjoy my work.
I really don't think there is a single correct answer to this, thus, the different answers from everyone.
It depends,
Wes
Wesley S. Scott, MBA, MIS, ABOM, NCLE-AC, LDO - SC & GA
“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” -Albert Einstein
Can I post even though I'm not Canadian?
I think Wes is very correct. And so is Fezz and so is Heather and Chip.
At some point we have to start charging for adjustments and fits that weren't sold in house. The internet will force us to do this or we will fail.
Currently, we play it case by case. I don't like charging $2 for a screw. It's not worth my time to print a receipt. And what if they want to use a credit card:shiner:.
However, I tell all my staff that:
"Even though we may not charge . . . NOTHING IS FREE!"
They get shown some new frames or or asked about their "sunwear", or talked to about why "our screw won't come out", or they get to see our cool photo kiosk, or whatever. They are treated with respect and made to feel good. After all, that is what people will really pay for.
I posted this in another thread about charging for nosepads. We try to shower them with so much good infomation about quality eyewear, focusing on the perfect fit and a good cleaning that they almost always ask "How much do I own you?" We quote a nominal price and they pay with a "Thank You"
THe most important part it not getting the $5. It's selling yourself and your shop.
However I do believe that the internet will change the rules. In the future, the guys that provide free fittings for the internet labs will be dealt a harsh hand by the Darwinistic forces of free markets.
I dont think that mechanic example applies... so if someone comes to you for an adjustment and you do it for free, then they return the next day to buy glasses do you then charge them for yesterday's adjustment?? Sounds like thats what your mechanic does??
Yes, but we can't all afford beemers, now can we??
So you get what you pay for, right??
And if you didnt pay ME for it, you may not get it!! :D
Do BMW dealers offer free service on other manufacturers cars to encourage them to buy from them later?
AA
How much do BMW dealers charge for service? A couple hundred? How much would you charge for a screw, $10?
I am sure many body shops have ran discounts worth more than $10 on their services to encourage you to get more.
A more reasonable comparison is does my coffee shop or sandwich shop give away free samples to encourage people to try their service. The answer is YES!
McDonald's was offering free coffee for a whole month.
Agree.
do some R & D on this case............
Totally right.................but there several ways to go, discussed and tried out. Probably some of you get these cases a couple of times a week, so they are free walk in trials and you can do do some research and development to find a solution that works.
The OptiBoard is the ideal way to help everybody along because of instant communication and continuous update possibilities.
Honestly, I have had this happen and alarms in my head went off. I smiled kindly and reassured the patient that I am happy to help and adjusted the glasses. While doing so struck up a conversation with a point - to find out WHY he did not return to us for his glasses. I was sure it was not because the pt. forgot about the appointment or had forgotten where we were located. In fact I looked in the mirror then asked the patient what could we do to earn your business? Why did you decide not to return to us? The point here is if the patient didn't come back there was a reason probably due to my own fault and maybe I didn't even realize there was a problem but what better chance than now to discover a way to win this patient back. In this particular case, the patient had gotten their last glasses with us and the AR coating had scratched off so he thought they were junk glasses. Ended up explaining that the AR coating he had gotten from us was not compatible with his woodworking hobby. I was able to strip the coating from his last pair of glasses and he now had a back up pair of glasses. It tickled him pink that we could fix them. The "other place" had told him he had to have new lenses even though after the exam his script had not changed. I have a customer for life.
Strange how if you just ask the patient they will tell you everything you want to know. They are delighted that you care enough to ask.
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