My stores are in very tech savvy towns where customers are always trying to see what their P D is. On several occasions, after writing it down the customers have said..."oh its 62". One time the customers saw the P D and cancelled the order. I have come up with a very simple way to combat this little problem..... Just take monocular P D and now ALL P D's are a 6 digit number. Example 290300 (59) or 310305 (61.5).
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No one is concerned with the fact that this person recognizes his clients as tech savy and is "writing" a PD down? Update to a computer and put a privacy filter on your monitor problem solved.http://www.opticians.cc
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Originally posted by mrmac View PostMy stores are in very tech savvy towns where customers are always trying to see what their P D is. On several occasions, after writing it down the customers have said..."oh its 62". One time the customers saw the P D and cancelled the order. I have come up with a very simple way to combat this little problem..... Just take monocular P D and now ALL P D's are a 6 digit number. Example 290300 (59) or 310305 (61.5).
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Originally posted by Chris Ryser View PostAnother thread on PDs. In the ftsr 5 posts none of you have mentioned if the customer has walked out and you did not make the sale or did you ?
I have enough confidence in my products and services that I'm comfortable giving a patient his or her PD; if what they end up with is somehow inferior to what I am providing, that individual will be back looking for the expertise and supplies that I can provide. I also understand that in the current economic climate, there's a very good chance that my patients might simply not be able to afford a three-digit price tag on a product that he or she can purchase somewhere else for a discount; and if financial strain is the case for their wanting to shop around, I don't need to make anyone's life just that much more complicated by screwing around with them. I've been on the other side of the dispensing table when someone's dropped a number on me I simply couldn't afford for a piece of medical equipment I needed just to maintain the meager lifestyle I was already leading at the time. Do unto others and such.
The "tricks" in this thread are duplicity, plain and simple, and betray a spitefulness that is unbecoming of a "professional" in any setting. I see less concern for the patient getting an inferior product than I do individuals desperately trying to prevent their patients from possibly getting that product anywhere else, no matter the means.
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I think you're missing the point, Browman. Nobody is hiding info from a patient - they own the eyes and can measure for themselves whenever they want if they choose the DIY option of ordering online. The problem is all of the people who want to take time away from paying customers by demanding assistance in order to purchase elsewhere. Sometimes they'll try to trick opticians into doing this work for free, pretending to be a customer and then walking once they've taken advantage of the professional services we provide. Many, many others then expect more free service with adjustments, repairs and troubleshooting when their cheap, crappy glasses aren't satisfactory. Yeah, maybe sometimes a few of these folks might convert to paying customers. Most will not, and I have too many legitimate patients to serve to waste my time on someone who has no intention of ever buying anything from me.
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Originally posted by tigerlilly View Post
Many, many others then expect more free service with adjustments, repairs and troubleshooting when their cheap, crappy glasses aren't satisfactory. Yeah, maybe sometimes a few of these folks might convert to paying customers.
But does the service have to be free ?
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Originally posted by tigerlilly View PostI think you're missing the point, Browman. Nobody is hiding info from a patient - they own the eyes and can measure for themselves whenever they want if they choose the DIY option of ordering online. The problem is all of the people who want to take time away from paying customers by demanding assistance in order to purchase elsewhere.I have come up with a very simple way to combat this little problem..... Just take monocular P D and now ALL P D's are a 6 digit number. Example 290300 (59) or 310305 (61.5).I use inches. Really throws 'em.
Doesn't sound like there's any problem in "wasting time"-- more like a gleeful kick out of deceiving someone.
Many, many others then expect more free service with adjustments, repairs and troubleshooting when their cheap, crappy glasses aren't satisfactory. Yeah, maybe sometimes a few of these folks might convert to paying customers. Most will not, and I have too many legitimate patients to serve to waste my time on someone who has no intention of ever buying anything from me.
If the product is not of a poor quality... It's just another wakeup call to our industry that there is a reason besides "oh, they're cheapskates" that patients are going to online retailers.
I've seen the complaint in threads before, "They have a Gucci handbag and a Mercedes in the parking lot, but they want to get $10 glasses online!" The response to that shouldn't be, "Spendthrifts," it should be, "Why?" That person probably didn't log onto a website and order that car and that handbag for a pittance-- they went to a storefront where they were provided a service, and they paid lots of extra money for that service and that product. Why? Because it was worth it to them. Whether for some real or perceived functionality, or simply for the brand name, that individual was willing to spend extra money because it was worth it to them. That should make it our priority to figure out why they do not consider the glasses in the store worth it. There are designer frames-- Gucci and Coach and what have you to match that purse and those shoes. So it isn't a matter of branding. What is it a matter of, then? Why does that individual think it's worth it to drop $30,000 on a car but not $X on a pair of eyeglasses?
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In our woods lots of people lease or buy their cars from smaller leasing companies and not from dealers, even though the leasing companies still have to get the car from the dealer!
I ts just cheaper! Dealers got used to it and still service them!
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Originally posted by Browman View Post
So it isn't a matter of branding. What is it a matter of, then? Why does that individual think it's worth it to drop $30,000 on a car but not $X on a pair of eyeglasses?
These days there are more cars leased than purchased. Maybe you should start another new venture in the optical and lease out your glasses for a 3 years period and the 3 rd year could be pure profit. Then you take them back and donate them and get a tax break and lease the same customer a new pair.
However with 33 million people without work and no other income than food stamps they look for bargains in everything, and so do others that have lower incomes than the used to have. Specially now that they say another recession is coming in the next few month.
Are you buying Peaches for $ 2.39 a pound when the next door place sells the same fruit at $ 0.99 for a pound. This a purely human reaction and has worked for hundreds of years.
The barber that cuts my hair has uped his price to $ 20.00 a hair cut, which he does in 15 minutes, and probably uses the same scissors for the last 20 years.
Our washing machine stopped working the other day full of soapy water. The service man came at 7.30 am, emptied the machine by hand and then took the pumpout hose of the outlet and handed me a 5 cent coin and said that is going to cost you $ 139.00 for service. 30 minute later he was on his way to fix somebody elses. He did not accept a cheque because they bounce, a VISA card was the only thing he would take.
We all have to start adapting to a new world and its new way's of doing and giving service.
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Originally posted by Browman View Post[/B]There are designer frames-- Gucci and Coach and what have you to match that purse and those shoes. So it isn't a matter of branding. What is it a matter of, then? Why does that individual think it's worth it to drop $30,000 on a car but not $X on a pair of eyeglasses?
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