Breaking bad news to a customer

[Opticia_n]

Hey everyone, hope your all doing well.

Scenario: Customer job had multiple re-dos, it’s been over a month, back and forth exchanges on the phone.

How do you guys typically break the news to your customers on the phone and what do you say in person when they come to pick up their glasses.

I want to create a script for this but of course our tonality and sprinkle of empathy are very important factors.

People in the office hesitate to make the call or do the pick up.

Any tips or scripts would be greatly appreciated

[optical24/7]

“ Hi, Mrs. Wigglybottom? I just wanted to call you to let you know that I’m having your new glasses remade. They just simply didn’t meet my standards in accuracy. We pay a lot for these lenses too, and I expect perfection. I’m sorry for the delay. We use the best lab out there, but I’m picky. I just wanted to call and let you know”.

Virtually every time the patient would thank me for having them “re-made”. “ I’m glad you caught that! Just call me when they come in right”.

Now, if it a BO, you can blame supply line delays. “ You’ve selected a very popular option for your new glasses. Unfortunately, there’s going to be a delay in getting them due to supply delays. The lab will be expediting them as soon as they receive the lens blanks.”

When they come in for pick up, just tell them, “ I’m sorry about the delay, but these are perfect!”

I’m not crazy about white lies, ( like the 1st line), and there are a few folks that appreciate the truth, but most will just loose confidence in your ability to deliver great glasses. The best way to loose a patient (forever) is for them to loose confidence in your ability. Just make sure you call them promptly. Don’t wait till they call looking for them.

[Mauro.Airoldi]

I admit that there are many differences between the US and the Italian market but it is difficult for me to understand how it can take more than a month for an RX, we are an RX company that works throughout the Italian territory. We are used to fulfilling RX+ HC + AR+ shaping in 2 days for 75% of orders, the remaining 20% usually also have a color and maybe some strange colored mirrors.
The remaining 5% is processed in a maximum of 5-7 days (usually they are RX remakes).
In our market, if an optician waits for a month, he changes supplier (and my boss fires me).

[Uncle Fester]

When it can't possible get worse and it does...

"I'm going to ask you to listen to your better Angel's right now as I have about a hundred orders in process at any given time and inevitably one or two just give me a Devil of a time."

"Guess what?"

They will every time.

Then you grovel and spiff them up at dispensing with stuff.

[Fleyed]

I'm iffy about scripts. Ideally when something messes up it's not typical so I would hate to have a typical answer for the patient. I have experienced that the more information you give a patient, the better they feel about why it is taking longer than expected. Also never forget that the word "TOLERANCE" is a curse word and will cause more problems than solutions.

[Opticia_n]

“ Hi, Mrs. Wigglybottom? I just wanted to call you to let you know that I’m having your new glasses remade. They just simply didn’t meet my standards in accuracy. We pay a lot for these lenses too, and I expect perfection. I’m sorry for the delay. We use the best lab out there, but I’m picky. I just wanted to call and let you know”.

Virtually every time the patient would thank me for having them “re-made”. “ I’m glad you caught that! Just call me when they come in right”.

Now, if it a BO, you can blame supply line delays. “ You’ve selected a very popular option for your new glasses. Unfortunately, there’s going to be a delay in getting them due to supply delays. The lab will be expediting them as soon as they receive the lens blanks.”

When they come in for pick up, just tell them, “ I’m sorry about the delay, but these are perfect!”

I’m not crazy about white lies, ( like the 1st line), and there are a few folks that appreciate the truth, but most will just loose confidence in your ability to deliver great glasses. The best way to loose a patient (forever) is for them to loose confidence in your ability. Just make sure you call them promptly. Don’t wait till they call looking for them.

You have definitely made some good points on referencing perfection and standards of accuracy.

If a customer is still dissatisfied after you said your sorry, would you throw in some freebies to make it up to them?

[Opticia_n]

When it can't possible get worse and it does...

"I'm going to ask you to listen to your better Angel's right now as I have about a hundred orders in process at any given time and inevitably one or two just give me a Devil of a time."

"Guess what?"

They will every time.

Then you grovel and spiff them up at dispensing with stuff.

Yeah i like how you presented that, with the right tonality i could totally see it working if you catch them in the right mood

[Opticia_n]

I simply pick up the phone and say

“Mr/Ms _____ I have bad news” and pause for a second to let them brace for what I’m going to say

I explain to them that there is a delay for xyz reason, say sorry for any inconvenience caused but we are on top of it and are prioritizing your glasses for you. Thank you for being patience.

I typically avoid saying have a wonderful day after delivering bad news.

[CME4SPECS]

I simply pick up the phone and say

“Mr/Ms _____ I have bad news” and pause for a second to let them brace for what I’m going to say

I explain to them that there is a delay for xyz reason, say sorry for any inconvenience caused but we are on top of it and are prioritizing your glasses for you. Thank you for being patience.

I typically avoid saying have a wonderful day after delivering bad news.

Bad news is a horrible way to start a conversation! Horrible! Try telling them you are calling to update them on the status of their glasses. Then tell them what optical 24/7 said!

[DanLiv]

“ Hi, Mrs. Wigglybottom? I just wanted to call you to let you know that I’m having your new glasses remade. They just simply didn’t meet my standards in accuracy. We pay a lot for these lenses too, and I expect perfection. I’m sorry for the delay. We use the best lab out there, but I’m picky. I just wanted to call and let you know”.
I’m not crazy about white lies, ( like the 1st line), and there are a few folks that appreciate the truth, but most will just loose confidence in your ability to deliver great glasses.

That is the perfect explanation optical24/7, and it's not a lie at all! There are super cheap labs out there that send crooked segs, misshapen bevels, wrong powers, scratched ARs, etc. I, you, and presumably everybody here does not use those labs exactly because we have stricter standards for ourselves and everyone we work with. Our redos and delays might be less if we played fast and loose and tried to pass off lenses that we know aren't up to snuff. But we won't do that. We know perfection is possible, that's what we demand from our labs, and that's what we deliver to our customers. It's worth being proud of, and worth taking the time to explain to customers. Like you optical24/7, I find they most always appreciate it.

[KrystleClear]

I unfortunately have been getting a lot of practice at this as we have been having endless problems with our labs and then frames and contacts being on backorder. (Thank GOODNESS we are transitioning to another lab!!!!)

Here's my spiel.

Hello Mr/Ms NAME, this is Krystle calling from GLASSES SHOP. I wanted to call and give you an update on your glasses. They are going to take awhile longer because they didn't meet our expectations when they came in from the lab. I apologize for the inconvenience but we don't want to give you glasses that aren't up to our standards. Thank you!"

OR if I know something is on backorder, I will call and update them to let them know we didn't forget about their order but we are at the mercy of the lab or supplier.

[Robert Martellaro]

Just make sure you call them promptly. Don’t wait till they call looking for them.

This. First and foremost. Check your work in progress reports once or twice a week. Follow up as needed.

All the best,

Robert

[waynegilpin]

we don't want to give you glasses that aren't up to our standards. Thank you!"

"At first I started to get mad and begin shouting. But we should be grateful. We're paying them for quality work and that's what they're doing."

By admiting first that I wanted to holler, but didn't because that would be childish and counter productive, they can't really start hollering at me.