27th July, 2007
Optical Scoundrels
There seems to be a growing belief that eye doctors and retail opticians are crooks out to deceive their patients and steal money from their wallets. Articles and news pieces have been surfacing with some regularity either implying or directly stating as much. See examples here and here.
The idea seems to be resonating with people and taking hold to some extent, becoming almost viral in nature. There are any number of reasons people believe it to be true. Not the least of which is human nature and our propensity to want to believe the worst, the most salacious, and the most conspiratorial ideas. However, I believe two of the biggest contributing factors to the growth of the “crooked optical” myth are internet sales and optical professionals themselves - but probably not for the reasons you think.
Internet retailers, to a large extent, expose the true cost of frames and lenses minus the overhead of a store front and providing services, with many offering products at prices well below what brick and mortars can offer. The tendency of consumers is to make the assumption, if retailer ‘A’ can offer a product for $X then that product should be available from retailer ‘B’ for $X and if not, retailer ‘B’ must be overcharging, regardless of whether or not retailer ‘B’ has additional overhead or is providing value-added services.
Some optical professionals, like many in professional services, have been slow to accept the information age and the growing level of consumer knowledge that has come with it, in some cases even resenting the educated customer or patient walking in and presuming to ask technical questions or even - heaven forbid - challenge assertions. In a society of ever-increasing open knowledge many professionals still feel the need to try to keep their professional knowledge secret or at least to not go out of their way to share it. This is quickly becoming an antiquated way of doing business.
To combat negative perceptions and more importantly encourage return business: share your knowledge, educate your patients, engage them, and make them part of the process, particularly when they show an interest or have made the effort to educate themselves. Use the opportunity to enhance the customer experience. Not only will your customers walk away feeling better about their encounter, chances are they will perceive a greater value in their purchasing decision. Who knows, they may even go tell their friends.
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Posted at 10:12 pm | Comments (3)
