The Perfect Pick-Up: Bringing It All Together At The Eyewear Pick-Up

Imagine, you just spent $1000 on a custom suit or your very first suit.

You are excited to pick it up when you arrive, they aren’t as excited as you are about your purchase. They bring it out from the back in a clear plastic crumpled garment bag.

Double-check the name to ensure they have the right person and tell you if you have trouble to let them know. You ask yourself what kind of trouble could I have, this is custom they took all the measurements. You leave and your excitement is squashed and replaced with buyer’s remorse.

By now you realize I am drawing a comparison to our patients picking up their new eyewear. You might be telling yourself that kind of experience doesn’t happen at our location, maybe not the whole scenario but perhaps elements of it do.

Creating a memorable last impression is key, and reviewing this process several times a year is a smart idea.

Elements for Success:

Presentation - present the product and case in a nice clean display tray.

  • Be sure glasses are clean.

  • Use their name, we like to hear the sound of our own name and it makes the experience more personal.

Fit eyewear - consider leaving the markings on, this is a terrific opportunity to reassure the patient eyewear was made exactly how they were ordered. This helps patients understand the importance of measurements and reinforces that their eyewear was custom-made.

Check vision - this is the whole objective, yet we often skip this step. Review len choice and see expectations based on changes such as power, lens type, and frame selection. Help the patient experience crisper sharper vision with resources such as reading cards, illustrations for task lenses, polarized demos, etc.

Adjust eyewear - when asked why people were not happy with their eyewear, the overwhelming answer was “it was uncomfortable”. If the eyewear is not comfortable, it ends up in a drawer. Friends and family hear about the frustration and we know that we lose business going forward. Comfort in eyewear is something within our control, we must ensure staff is trained and we take the time to get this right.

Compliment - choosing eyewear is a big decision and can be stressful, reassure the patient that they have made a good choice. Compliments always need to be authentic, to be authentic make compliments specific. For example, that blue makes your eye pop versus a good choice in color.

Say thank you - your patients have trusted you with their vision which is the sense we rely on the most, so thank them. They have choices, they choose your business.

Regular tune-ups - Let them know the interaction does not end here, encourage them to visit to ensure their eyewear is always fitting properly, or reach out if they have questions. At this point do not review all the things that could potentially go wrong.

Review proper cleaning and provide a cloth and/or cleaner. (Preferably with branding on it).

Creating a memorable impression when your patients pick up their eyewear will influence patient loyalty which as we know is key to the success of any business.

When we know better, we do better.


Nancy Dewald is a business development professional, workshop facilitator and optical industry veteran. She is CEO and founder of Lead Up Training & Consulting, which specializes in identifying business gaps, implementing solutions and developing leaders.

Article as seen in Optical Prism.

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