We are always on the lookout for optical resources that can help your eyecare practice increase efficiency and boost profits through simple adjustments in your dispensary. That's why we want to share and walk you through this graphic created by Lacey Mielcarek, MS, ABOC, of Media Eye Works Ltd. Optical and EyeQ Graphics.

In this guest post, Mielcarek walks you through the reasons she wanted to create this graphic and how she hopes it will put the cost of quality frames and lenses into perspective for future customers.

Using Optical Resources to Educate Customers on Value

You might experience this scenario on a weekly basis: A patient comes in with specific complaints on their current glasses along with a wish list of how they would like their vision to function:

"I'm on the computer at work all day and it's so frustrating with my current progressives. I always have to move my head to look at my spreadsheets."

 

"My eyes and neck are so tired at the end of the day, it's just awful."

 

"Driving at night can be a little dangerous, so I sometimes avoid it altogether."

 

So, ODs go into detail about why the latest digital free-form progressives will solve their problems and how a good quality anti-reflective treatment will alleviate the night glare and help with computer strain too.

Maybe you learn that the patient's good friend has a beach house. Since that's the case, you explain that a pair of poloarized wrap-around sunglasses for the beach, and each sunny day in between, is what will be best for the patient. Ideally, you've got your patient excited and prepared to have a fabulously easy and comfortable new life with their new glasses.

You write up the order, take the precise digital measurements, and when you ask for payment the smile fades and you get the stare. "Wow! Why are glasses so expensive? You know what, I'm just going to do a regular progressive right now and hold off on the sunglasses. It's just too much money."

Suddenly you have to defend yourself against all of these "expensive" options for their glasses. Even though they were the ones who asked for better vision, recognizing they are requiring more from their eyes today than they were 10 years ago. What's your next move?

 

I wanted to come up with a new way to look at the cost of glasses. The best way is to put that cost in perspective to everything else we buy and consume on a daily basis.

I went home that night and opened my mail to see my cable bill in front of me: $110 for just one month of TV and Internet entertainment. They probably spend over $1,300 a year to watch other people live their lives while hesitating to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a pair of glasses they need to live their life!

That's why I created this graphic.

I wanted the graphic to reflect a typical day in Philadelphia. We drive to work, drink a cup or two of coffee, get a sandwich for lunch, and go home to watch television (preferably an Eagles or Phillies game). I calculated each of those costs based on my own bills to come up with a monthly figure to compare against spending $650 for a nice pair of digital progressives.

Each of these basic daily necessities cost more money than a great pair of glasses, so I wanted a way to clearly illustrate that to my patients. If you buy a pair of $650 glasses and wear them for two years, it's only $27 a month! Tell the patient to compare that to the cup of coffee they drink each morning. They'll recognize that when it comes to cost per use, glasses are definitely more affordable.

There are countless articles about how important it is for opticians and ODs to explain the value of a pair of glasses to a patient. But instead, maybe we need to explain the value of glasses compared to the activities and electronics they treasure each day.

I want to train the public to be as upset about not having a perfect pair of glasses as they would be if I took away their morning cup of premium coffee, or their cable package making it impossible to follow the stories and sports teams they support every night.

With free online tools for creating eye catching graphics, like Canva, it's easy for you to create your own education and awareness images for your own patients! We hope you can use this tactic (successfully) on your next dispensary customer.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on February 26th, 2015. It has been updated for relevance and richness of content on September 18th, 2018