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Thread: This Week's Video: Wrapping Up Lens Add-Ons

  1. #1
    Master OptiBoarder
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    This Week's Video: Wrapping Up Lens Add-Ons

    Fog, Blue Light, Specialty Tints, Edge Polish
    See: https://youtu.be/EN9DpdJAdwQ

  2. #2
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    *Admittedly, I haven't yet watched the video, but...*

    My question for the room - WHY do you still call things "add-ons"??? It's insane.

    Wheels or an engine for a car are not add-ons.

    Windows and doors for a house are not add-0ns.

    Wings on an airplane are not add-ons.

    So why on earth do you part out a wholistic lens with "add-ons", "additional charges", and a list of "options" a mile long...each with an increase in price attached? Didn't we lear decades ago to design a best form product from the start, that has all the items needed to acheive the best possible vision for the patient? Why aren't you presenting "the lens" as just that - a singular object, that meets or exceeds the patients visual and lifestyle needs?

    Do VSP and EyeMed have you that firmly by the cajones (with apologies to the ladies, as I don't know more appropriate Spanish female variant of the same) that you automatically part out everything you make? Are you charging "add-on" fees for nosepads on a new frame? Screws? Temples? Why don't you? The entire "add-on" mentality just escapes me.

  3. #3
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    These would (still) be categorized as add-ons because a customer may choose to add them or they may choose not to add them.
    Neo-Chrome, tints, AR, polish, polarized, the list goes on and on --- they aren't for everyone and they aren't automatically placed on every lens.
    I appreciate the passion but it seems to be a bit misplaced.
    And yes the wheels and engine on a car are add-ons - you choose the 4cyl, 6cyl or 8cyl model - you do choose between the steel rims or alloy wheels.
    Yes - you do choose the add-on features of the windows and doors in your home - vinyl, aluminum, dual pane, single pane, metal, wood, 4 panel or 6 panel.
    I think you are simply choosing to take issue with a simple use of language or the term add-on?

  4. #4
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    No. Material, AR, lens design (aspheric, lenticular, etc) are not add ons. They're critical components of any decent lens, and I disagree sharply that they shouldn't be basics added to EVERY lens design. We should have enough pride in what we do to understand this. There are enough schlocky joints out there that are happy to do the bare minimum, and start at the bottom.

    "Add-on" mentality didn't really start until the "insurance" companies decided they wanted to inject their system into the industry and started creating "upcharges" and other b.s. for their bilked masses. It's the fastest way to turn what should be a medically and optics driven design, into a strictly money/sales based disaster. And yes - I do take issue with parting out medical care, optics, or best form. We all should.

  5. #5
    Master OptiBoarder
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    Hmmm, OK so let me get this straight..
    If you go to buy a new car you don’t actually look at the build sheet?
    You just accept at face value whatever the salesperson says is the right car for you?


    Do you think that the Lexus RX 350, RX 350L and the RX 350S are all the same exact car?
    Or do you think that they are different versions of that same car which offer different features and benefits? Would you ask what those differences were? Or would you be OK with the salesperson just saying, “The RX 350L is the right car for you.”


    If you are shopping for new replacement windows for your home you get just one quote?
    You take at face value whatever the salesperson says?
    They are the expert after all.
    You don’t ask about their construction, warranties, thermal efficiency?
    You just assume they know what is best for you and agree with anything they write down on your contract?


    Do you do any research when buying a new product?
    Spend any time on Google?
    Read any reviews?


    If you are shopping for a new washing machine do you just buy the cheapest thing you can find? Or the most expensive? Or do you look for certain features? Couldn’t you call those features add-ons? Are you making the decision on what features you want or is the salesperson?


    Or are you putting opticians in some special category?
    Consumers shouldn’t question anything that an optician says?
    They should just smile and nod their heads at whatever the optician comes up with for a lens and lens price?


    Does a consumer not have the right to know exactly what they are buying? OK you got the Charmant 4158 frame, the Zenon 7 progressive, we chose the 1.60 high index lens material and you have the great non-glare coating.


    Or if the customer should ask, “What exactly am I getting?” You should say, “That is none of your business, I’m the expert here.”




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    If a customer asks me what they are getting I will explain exactly what they are getting and why it is beneficial. But I am always going to start with AR on an any pricing sheet, and make the customer take it off. If they have a -5 with a -2 cyl I am going to price out 1.67. If they have a -9.00 I am going to price out 1.74. I've worked in retail stores where people were looking for the best deals, and I work in an office now where most of our customers can afford and want the best products. They don't want to feel like they are being nickel and dimed though, the add on terminology brings that kind of sales to mind when I hear it. I know John that is not your point in saying add ons.

    If I have a conversation with a customer and talk about what they like about their old glasses and what they don't like, I don't say the transitions will be $75 more added on to the cost and the Crizal Sapphire will be $100 more added on to the cost. I just give them one base price after we have had a conversation. I will give a brief explanation of why what they are getting on their glasses will benefit them. If they ask for a detailed breakdown I certainly don't say no I AM THE EXPERT! I give them the breakdown with further explanations of how each product will help them.

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    I don't think I ever say anything about cost/price either?

    "OK you got the Charmant 4158 frame, the Zenon 7 progressive, we chose the 1.60 high index lens material and you have the great non-glare coating."

    If I was asked to break it all down I would/could but no, I wouldn't encourage nit-picking each individual price point either.

    Underlying all of this or "reading between the lines" for the OP this is about vision care plans?

    in the world today, ranting and being upset about the existence of vision care plans is like ranting about online eyewear sales.

    It is simply a part of the industry and it isn't going to go away so why be upset about it?

    It is like complaining that the sun came up this morning...

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by John@OWDC View Post
    I don't think I ever say anything about cost/price either?

    "OK you got the Charmant 4158 frame, the Zenon 7 progressive, we chose the 1.60 high index lens material and you have the great non-glare coating."

    If I was asked to break it all down I would/could but no, I wouldn't encourage nit-picking each individual price point either.
    +1

    That it how I do it as well. I think the idea of add-ons brings to mind a used car salesman-esque sales style. I don't think that is what you are saying but I can see where someone might think that.

    I think it is also fair to say that AR isn't really an add-on, it should be standard on every pair of glasses. In my mind I put AR in a different category than a fashion tint, or a mirror coating on sunglasses or even transitions. If you wanted to call those features add-ons I don't think I would argue too much with you. As someone who has sold outside of optics I recoil a bit at the term but I see where you are going.

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    OptiWizard KrystleClear's Avatar
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    I think it depends on your patient demographics on whether you can just decide to fit them with whatever you feel will best meet their needs and just tell them the price at the end. I definitely see the virtue in that and it probably works great for some. In a perfect world, all glasses would come with AR as a standard and everyone would get the lens material that would make their lenses thinner and lighter. However, glasses from independent opticals are not cheap, and patients have the option of going online and circumventing us as opticians and salespeople. I think it does go over better when you don't itemize each thing but rather just give a total, but I also won't refuse to tell someone how much something costs. I'm in a rural area and most people here cannot spend $1000+ on glasses every year. I personally like to take a look at their script, what they've had before, and ask them some lifestyle questions, as well as what their complaints are about their current eyewear and vision. A LOT of people are working from home and/or doing more Zoom/webcam calls - a good AR treatment will make a world of difference for them. On the other hand, a 20 year old Amish carpenter just wants something cheap and basic - will the AR treatment be the best for him in the long run? If he's the "wipes lenses with his dirty shirt" type and is working in an environment with wood particles flying around, perhaps not. He might be happier spending more for Transitions. I still offer these too him but explain the pros and cons and make my recommendations. That's just my personal sales style. I like to educate them and if I make promises I can't keep, then I'm the one that gets yelled at by the patient if they come back unhappy. I want them to have glasses that fit, that give them the best vision, and that they love. We have to make money too, but we have to also prove to patients that there is still value in a human optician versus going online and ordering glasses through a computer.
    Krystle

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    In a perfect “optics” world, thinner is the enemy

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    Hey Mr. Santini, I just sat in your class in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend and enjoyed it completely.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Thank you Becky.

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    Funny - I keep trying to picture the lab price list and catalog from this alternative optical world where there are no lens add-ons.
    Just 3 pages?
    Just 3 prices?
    SV, Lined Multfocal, Progressive - All singular.

    Is it like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter.
    Ah, let's see - the Lens of Requirement.

    I think a newbie being able to correctly price up a surface job is pretty important - to do that they have to think about building the lens.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by John@OWDC View Post
    Funny - I keep trying to picture the lab price list and catalog from this alternative optical world where there are no lens add-ons.
    Just 3 pages?
    Just 3 prices?
    SV, Lined Multfocal, Progressive - All singular.

    Is it like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter.
    Ah, let's see - the Lens of Requirement.

    I think a newbie being able to correctly price up a surface job is pretty important - to do that they have to think about building the lens.
    I think both things can be true, embrace the dissonance. You can have things that you price out on every pair of glasses and they are as close to automatic as possible, but they are still added on to the cost of the lens when you get the lab invoice. If I was training a new optician to sell I wouldn't use the term add-on though, which I think is Uilleann's point.

    Love the Harry Potter reference!

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