- Hello, I would like to welcome you
to the Laramy-K OpticianWorks Training Center.
Where today we are going to look
at how you take a lens order
and help guide your customer on the lens style
that will best meet their needs.
(upbeat music)
Yes, indeed.
Let's talk about choosing
or a much better word, guiding
your customer on the choice of lens style.
Now, what do I mean when I use the word style?
(trumpets blowing)
- I make this look good.
- No, not really.
- Well. I mean, ultimately,
will it be,
should it be single vision,
single vision intermediate,
single vision near,
an office progressive style,
a regular progressive style,
a lined bifocal, an occupational.
That is what I mean when I talk about style.
I'm not talking about material or brand.
Because here's the thing.
There is nothing on a lens order,
a prescription, that tells you.
Here is a great example.
You might assume distance and single vision,
you'd probably be right.
But there is nothing on that slip of paper
that says that.
Here we have a lens order with an add power,
but nothing that says
what the customer actually wants or needs.
Absolutely nothing.
Here is a copy of one of my own from a few years ago.
Full distance powers with an add.
But nothing that notes what I want or need.
So, nothing on a lens order tells you
what style is going to best serve your customer's needs.
And a side note,
there is nothing on a lens order
that tells you or your customer
that they must do anything.
Okay, there's another video, that one,
one out my all time favorites to be honest with you
after the hundreds,
the 150 that we've put out.
One of the greats.
Watch that one to see what I mean by that.
Now here is something else
I want you to watch out for.
Equal both eyes,
we then combine with an add,
it ends up being plano.
Here are some math that even I can do.
Minus 125 plus 125 is zero.
Nothing, plano.
This person could easily just take off
their single vision distance glasses and see up close.
In fact, they would see better doing that
than through any progressive,
not to mention the huge difference in cost.
And look, I don't care about the note,
and that is not enough cylinder to make any difference.
So make sure that you keep your eyes
and your ears open for that scenario.
We will role play this at the dispensing table
with Consi, the customer in just a moment.
As always, all of this stuff comes down to you.
If you want to increase your value as an optician,
this is what matters.
Not the ABO, not a license, this stuff.
This is what being an optician is all about.
I've got a few minutes here
before Consi, the customer arrives.
Once again, this one is really for you, newbies out there.
The folks that aren't being provided any training at all.
No one can tell you exactly what to say,
because of course every situation is a little bit different.
What I can do for you
is to provide you with this role play
and the language,
so that you can begin to build
your own presentation skillset and toolbox.
I think this video boils down to,
well, your mom.
And what did mom always say,
or least my mom did?
- All right, let's hear what momma has to say
on the subject.
- You don't know if you don't ask.
While you are listening to your customer,
listen for these keywords.
"Gosh, I wish they made,"
"Huh, I wish I could get,"
"Ah, what I really want is,"
they can lead to second pairs.
And not second pairs
because of some corporate flavor of the month
or a second pair for your commission,
but a genuine, legitimate second pair
that will actually make for a very happy
and returning customer.
Keep in mind that in many cases,
you may have the customer's old records
in front of you for review,
and of course, the glasses that they are wearing now
to help act as guides.
Beyond what we are covering here today,
it comes down to working
on those lifestyle open-ended questions
that we've talked about before.
What do you do for work?
How do you use your glasses?
When do you use your glasses?
Practice that language.
Now, if we have reached this point,
you will already have a lens order in your hand.
If you aren't sure how that happened,
well, go back and watch this entire dispensing series
from the one called Optical Store Appearance
and Maintenance Checklist
all the way through to this one.
And of course,
there is plenty more on the OpticianWorks website.
And I am going to repeat myself here.
If opticians took a stronger role
in guiding customer lens style choice,
they would increase their value.
Don't be afraid to recommend anything
if you know it would be a better option for them.
Okay, yes, you have the lens order in your hand
and in your head.
You are of course making the best guess.
Single vision, well, plain old distance glasses.
Higher add, progressives.
But back to what did mom teach us.
- Mama says that alligators are ornery
'cause they got all them teeth, but no toothbrush.
- You'll never know if you don't ask.
And as a newbie,
you want to be doing everything possible to avoid a remake.
So for our role play,
we will pretend that Consi, the customer is here
for the very first time
and we have no previous records.
Hello, new Consi, the customer.
- Hello. - How are you today?
- I'm doing well, thank you.
How are you? - I'm doing well.
We have got a lot to cover today.
Are you ready? - Ready to go?
- Okay. Very good.
As I just mentioned,
you should already have a lens order in your hand,
and we should already have kinda sort of talked about this.
So this should almost be a double check sort of thing,
but we may also dig a little bit
and uncover an entire new world.
There is the lens order that she just handed me.
Give you a second to look at that.
I would look at this
and I would immediately assume
just an ordinary distance pair of glasses.
So what am I gonna do?
I'm gonna ask her that, right?
This looks like a, you know, typical,
you know driving at night kind of thing.
Is that right?
- Yup, that's the one.
- 99% of the time
that's the answer you're gonna get.
But there are other answers that she might give you.
For instance, she might say-
- This is supposed to be for the computer.
I talked to the doctor about that.
- Not an unusual situation.
Now, somebody out there who's very bright is gonna say,
"Well, what difference does it make?
She's gonna end up getting the right thing anyway."
Yes, but who's going to end up looking like the fool here?
Okay, not the doctor, not the customer.
She's gonna come back
and she's gonna pick up those glasses,
and I'm gonna insist,
how's it look out there?
Look out the window.
She be like, "What is this guy talking about?
I need these for here, right?"
So that is what you're trying to avoid
when you hear that language.
And you would also use an intermediate PD.
She may also say-
- No, these would be for reading or like close work.
I did talk to the doctor about that.
- Also not unusual because your lens order
does not tell you what lens
your customer actually needs or wants.
She may say-
- No, I wear them all the time.
I am completely blind without my glasses.
- Not unusual, a minus 150, minus 75,
and a minus 150, 50.
You know, we see with our brains, not our eyes
when we ask that question.
I kinda threw in the,
"Oh, you know, just driving at night."
To me, that's what this looks like,
to her, these glasses may mean
the difference between blinding,
being able to see.
Which of course also means she might say-
- I don't know, this is my first pair of glasses.
- Could also be the case.
Not really a surprise at all.
Again, listening to the language.
What am I doing?
I'm talking, I'm asking, I'm listening.
Good optician stuff.
Let's take a look at another example.
Oops, that's number three.
This is lens order number two.
I'll throw that up there for you to take a look at.
You'll notice this time that I have an add power,
which might make my lead in,
"Oh, I see an add power,
you're gonna wear progressives again?"
Which would not be a great idea.
Not a good lead in.
This add power is low enough
but this may be her first pair.
If I say, "You're going to wear progressives again,"
that kind of means that she's been wearing them for a while
and I may be calling her old.
Not a great lead in.
Instead, I might say,
"I see a low add power here.
Are you thinking about going into a progressive?
- Yeah, it's finally time
to get a of progressive I think, yeah.
- Perfect, right?
That's what kinda thing you wanna hear.
You're just gonna head towards the progressive idea.
She may say-
- No, those are supposed to be just for the computer.
I did talk to the doctor about that.
- What would I be doing?
I'd be doing my intermediate conversion,
taking half of my add power,
adding it to my spare power,
and making her pair of intermediate single vision glasses.
She might say-
- No, those are should be for like reading
or like closeup work.
I did talk to the doctor about that.
- Certainly a possibility.
Gonna take my full add power add it to my sphere
and send her on her way
with her wonderful single vision readers.
She may say-
- I don't know what those are.
- I'm throwing out the word progressive
or no lying bifocal, whatever you wanna call them,
and she may have no idea what I'm talking about.
She may not even realize that there's an add power
on her lens order.
Opens up the avenue to have a discussion.
She may say-
- Well, what are my options?
- Right, I mentioned to you,
are you thinking about going into a progressive?
That kind of leaves it our door open to,
well, maybe there are other choices.
Maybe it is an intermediate single vision,
maybe it's something else.
She may say-
- My friend had me,
wanted me to ask you about something called an office lens.
- Very possible, especially someone younger
just going into a progressive lens,
working around the office,
listening to the other gals and guys.
You know, maybe she works in a real,
like an optometry office something place, small.
You know, short distances everywhere in her work field.
An office progressive may actually
be a much better choice than a full in this first pair.
Great talking, right?
Talking, listening, that is what this is all about.
We're gonna reuse lens order number two there.
I'll throw it back up for a second.
And you'll notice that the add is a plus 150
and the sphere is a minus 150,
which brings us to zero.
So my lead in may be,
don't you just take your glasses off when you need to read?
- Well, unfortunately, for my job,
I have to have gloves and a mask on all the time,
so taking my glasses on and off
100 times a day doesn't work.
- That is exactly what you are going to hear, right?
She could easily take her glasses off,
see perfectly well,
probably does it all of the time,
except she has this one situation, work,
where she simply can't do that.
So it's worth asking,
it's worth talking.
It also just shows that yeah,
you know what you're doing
until you're kinda looking out for her, okay?
This pair of progressives
when she walks out the door
is gonna be 800 something dollars.
If she doesn't absolutely need them,
let alone want them,
you know, you might make a customer for life,
and certainly for a few years
before she actually has to have her progressive.
Lens order number three,
I'll put it up there.
Our add has jumped from a 150 to a 250,
so obviously, she's been wearing something
in order to see things up close.
So my lead in may change and I will probably just say,
"Ah, I see, add power 250.
Are you wearing a progressive now?
- Yup. - Okay.
Happy with it, gonna do that again?
- Yup, that sounds good. - Good.
Little confirmation, affirmation.
That's what we're gonna do.
Head down the progressive road
and all things will be good.
Again, folks, we cannot cover every possible scenario.
I cannot tell you what to say to someone,
that is up to you.
This is about listening to the language that we're using.
That drawing out, the sharing of information.
And make sure that you practice this
so that you get good at it.
And you build your own toolbox and skill set
for this kind of work.
Thanks for watching.
If you're watching us on Facebook,
please give us a like.
Watching us on YouTube,
please hit that Subscribe button down there in the corner.
And make absolutely certain,
regardless of what style lens you choose
to put your customer in,
it comes from Laramy-K.
And I will see you again next week.
Thank you so much for watching.
If you're watching us on Facebook,
please give us a like.
Watching us on YouTube,
please hit That Subscribe button
down there in the corner.
And make sure that every lens style
regardless of what it might be comes from Laramy-K.
I will see you again next week.