Help, My new employee taking too long selling glasses....

**s-man-optiker** · 10-03-2012, 08:58 PM

Advice would be appreciated, I hired a "seasoned veteran" optician, she's 62 years old with a lively personality. The problem is that she makes the selling process painfully long. I can tell my patients are having a negative experience and thsi worries me. The problem seems to be with the amount of time it takes calculating payment and insurance amounts. I honestly just want to say, "Hey, hurry it up!" but I'm sure there's a more sensitive way to go about encouraging her to speed up her patient encounters. Yes, I know some patients need more time, I'm not talking about those people...haha :)

**shannon** · 10-03-2012, 09:17 PM

Ugh, that is a tough one. On the one hand, it's good that she takes her time...but then you don't want the patient to feel like she's starting to waste their time or get frustrated thinking that she may not know what she is doing. When she was hired, was she familiar with the types of insurance that you currently take and with calculating payments? How long has she now worked with you? Is there anyone who is willing to work with her, possibley give her a few "pretend" sales that involve different insurances and have her calculate them when there is nobody waiting...maybe she will be able to get the feel of them and gain more confidence out on the floor.

**Johns** · 10-03-2012, 11:00 PM

Ok, I missed the crucial part about the time consuming part being the calculation of prices and insurances.

For my chronologically seasoned employees, I made sure that our price lists were comprehensive, yet easy to read. Also, the receptionists have all the insurance benefits pre-figured, and relay them to the optician at the time of hand-off.

**jefe** · 10-03-2012, 11:16 PM

Attaching electrodes to the nipples and linking the lines to a switch under your control could be the answer -- that or some other negative consequence the employee would learn to associate with too much chatter.

**Johns** · 10-03-2012, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by jefe

Attaching electrodes to the nipples and linking the lines to a switch under your control could be the answer --

Dude! Maybe it's a bit late in the evening to be posting without counting to 10 first!

**MikeAurelius** · 10-04-2012, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by s-man-optiker

Advice would be appreciated, I hired a "seasoned veteran" optician, she's 62 years old with a lively personality. The problem is that she makes the selling process painfully long. I can tell my patients are having a negative experience and thsi worries me. The problem seems to be with the amount of time it takes calculating payment and insurance amounts. I honestly just want to say, "Hey, hurry it up!" but I'm sure there's a more sensitive way to go about encouraging her to speed up her patient encounters. Yes, I know some patients need more time, I'm not talking about those people...haha :)

OK, but are her numbers more accurate than anyone else's in the store? If so, then is it worth speeding her up and having her make a mistake in the calculation that costs you money?

**Robert Martellaro** · 10-04-2012, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by s-man-optiker

The problem seems to be with the amount of time it takes calculating payment and insurance amounts.

Training.

Another reason to stay out of these service plan networks.

**becc971** · 10-04-2012, 09:22 AM

Have her follow your other employees who are a little more efficient at it when she can so she can see how they do it. or when you see her struggling, go over and help her with it. "fake" claims also work too, when i did our training manual i just kept different versions of plans as we saw patients with them and used the plan info as a training tool for new people. clearly she also needs to be reading her customer better, some people want quick in and out, and some want to be chatted with, just the way the world of retail works :) but if most of the issue is with insurance calculation, then you just need to have her practice as much as possible, it never hurts to let patinets know that she is new to it either so they have a little more patience.

**AustinEyewear** · 10-04-2012, 10:37 AM

Maybe there are two types of opticians assuming each type is competent in optics:

A) Those who can get their sales jobs done along with paper work, cleaning and other tasks required to make an optical run smoothly.
B) Those who only sell, and require additional support personnel to help them get their paper work, cleaning and other tasks done.

Please replace the word sell with fit as you deem appropriate.

**jefe** · 10-04-2012, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Johns

Dude! Maybe it's a bit late in the evening to be posting without counting to 10 first!

You are absolutely right.

**sharpstick777** · 10-04-2012, 12:47 PM

First. Offer training on each of the insurance plans you take, one at a time. She is new, and she may not want to admit that she in all her years never worked with Insurance company A and B.
Two. Let her work only those plans and patients she is familiar with, until she gets her speed up.
Three. Equip. Is she looking for a calculator every time? Waiting for a computer?
Four. Are you using EMR software? They can be confusing, and difficult to learn. There is no similarity between brands.
Five. Re-train, re-time. You want to look for improvement, not perfection.

I have one office I worked in the that called ME SLOW too. The problem? I had to go into an exam lane (often waiting for a free one) to use a working computer. We didn't have one working computer in Optical.

**AustinEyewear** · 10-04-2012, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by sharpstick777

I have one office I worked in the that called ME SLOW too. The problem? I had to go into an exam lane (often waiting for a free one) to use a working computer. We didn't have one working computer in Optical.

That is sad. Employer should always work or be working on providing staff all tools necessary to be efficient and get job done. No excuses!

**uncut** · 10-04-2012, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by s-man-optiker

Advice would be appreciated, I hired a "seasoned veteran" optician, she's 62 years old with a lively personality. The problem is that she makes the selling process painfully long. I can tell my patients are having a negative experience and thsi worries me. The problem seems to be with the amount of time it takes calculating payment and insurance amounts. I honestly just want to say, "Hey, hurry it up!" but I'm sure there's a more sensitive way to go about encouraging her to speed up her patient encounters. Yes, I know some patients need more time, I'm not talking about those people...haha :)

I would start the conversation with:

"I couldn't help but notice that you were struggling with calculating payments and insurance amounts..........How can I/we help you to improve the speed at which you are accomplishing this difficult task?" And...............take it from there, depending on the answer. Listen carefully. You may find that what AustinEyewear says in post #12 is your answer.