Illustrations by Keith Locke

A customer enters through the front door of your optical shop. A patient leaves the exam room and heads directly to your dispensary. Both situations are full of potential: potential for a satisfied customer who reaps the rewards of better vision as well as potential for a profitable sale in the dispensary.

How do you present the options to this consumer? Many dispensers find the best way to guide this patient/customer through his frame and lens choices is by starting him at the top of the price tier and working their way down. "We just show the best first," says Edward Beiner, owner of three optical shops in Miami (two Coco Lunettes locations and one Mr. Eyes) that have frames ranging in price from $200 to $800.

According to Bernice Olivetti, optician at Leonard Opticians in New York City, "You should let them know what they can have."

This selling strategy presents the best options to the patients while also educating them on why the frame or lens commands a certain price. Once they have this information, and are presented the mid-range and lower-priced options, they are armed with the necessary information to make the proper eyewear choice for themselves. The experts say this top-down selling strategy may encourage your customer to indulge in higher-priced options. That, of course, can ultimately increase your bottom line.

View from the Top

One of the first rules of success with this strategy, say dispensers, is not to pre-judge customers on their interest in higher- versus lower-priced product. "They deserve the best and they should be shown the best," says Olivetti. "I always show them a Cartier frame first, even if they say, 'Wow, do you think I can really afford this?' But you never know, even if you think they won't be interested in the best, you should never pre-judge them. I have been surprised many times."

Olivetti also puts her customers at ease by ensuring them that "it doesn't cost anything to try it on." And she says, "You generally get a positive reaction. People like to feel special."

At Visual Effects Optical in Chicago, Chet Steinmetz, O.D., says his average frame retails in the upper $200s, but that he starts each dispensing conversation with even higher priced options.

"I show them Bada and Okio, Oliver Peoples and Matsuda," he says. "I start in the middle to high end on the price scale and will only go down if I have to."

Another important tip to ensure the customer is pleased with his or her eyewear shopping experience is to always make him aware of the prices of the frames you are showing, especially if they are high-priced. "Once someone gets a sense of what they want, we start talking price," says Steinmetz. "But once we get into a pricepoint over $400, I explain that they have to really love the frame because of its price."

Sandy Fenner, an optician at Studio Optix in New York City's Rockefeller Center area, says her sale starts with showing the customer product based on a style and color that will work for them. "We don't start with pricepoints at all, just product that works for them," she says. "If someone expresses a concern about price, then we work within that."

However, Fenner does show the customer a range of product (from high- to low-priced) in the area of what they are interested in.

"We have some customers come in and say they want something very light, and then of course we show them titanium," Fenner explains. "We know that's going to be more expensive, and if it's too much for them we show them stainless steel or other less expensive light materials."

While showing the customer the higher-priced frame options first may eventually be beneficial to the dispensary's profits, it is also beneficial to the customer, says Stephanie Coren, frame buyer/assistant manager at Portland-based Eyes On Broadway. "We have that type of product here because it gives us something special to offer," she says. "If it has a higher price, it typically has an inherent value built into it."

To illustrate this difference to the customer, Coren will present the variety of frame options (by price) by laying them out side by side. "I will often present a range all at once to show people their options. Then they can really see the difference in quality and design and styling all in a row. This has an impact."

Positioning Lenses

Dispensers say they also present the high-end lenses to the customers first. However, most point out that lens choices, much more so than frame choices, are more tempered by the patient's prescription. Explains Olivetti, "The best lens for the patient is not always most expensive lens. You must do what the customer needs." However, she says it's beneficial to explain the pros and cons of each coating to the customer because "an informed consumer is a better consumer."

Studio Optix's Fenner adds that it is important to educate consumers, especially when it comes to lenses and coatings, so that they understand the value of the products. "The only way they can understand that is through their own knowledge and experience," she says. She notes that this strategy can also work in the long run, even if customers do not opt for certain coatings at the time of their eyewear purchase. "If you tell them about the night vision benefits of AR, and then they experience that their (non-AR) lens is not living up to this, they may come back in to have the AR applied," she says.

In many cases, however, dispensers say that their customers are already very knowledgeable about lens options even before they walk through the door. "Our clientele is very educated," says Steinmetz. "We rarely have to introduce high-index as an option. It's not a sell anymore, it's a statement: 'Well, I guess you're going to do the thin lens.'" Steinmetz also explains that if a customer insists on a different type of lens, he shows them a comparison of what the two lenses (high-index versus the other) look like side-by-side. This usually seals the deal.

One of the main aids in securing a higher pricepoint sale in both frames and particularly lenses, is gaining the trust of the customer. "I feel like with lenses I am being a doctor much more so than I am with frames," says Steinmetz. "What I tell the customer is that 'You don't know me, but you'll have to trust me and I'm going to take your money but give you a great product.' Hopefully I gain that trust and then they come back again."

Another factor that helps the sale is when the doctor personally escorts the patient from the exam room to the dispensary and explains to them what they need. "They always listen carefully to what the doctor wants for them," says Fenner. "And then I am very clear about what that lens or coating will provide for them."

Some dispensers choose to offer these high-end options � la carte. "We basically present the lens and then improve it with coatings, etc.," says Rick Hogan, owner of Optical Designs in Santa Monica, Calif. "If you don't offer this to them, they get angry that you didn't offer the option. And then obviously you are missing out on an opportunity to make a sale."

Others pre-package the lens options with coatings under one price. "With progressive lenses, we package everything: AR coating, scratch-resistant coating, etc. We tell the customer that these are the items that come included with the lens," says Beiner. "And if it happens that the customer is dissatisfied with the price, then we can always back down... but it should be done with grace. You say, 'Well, of course lenses can be done without AR, but it's going to affect their performance.'"

Finally, most say it is also critical for dispensers to have their own vast knowledge of the products they offer, especially the higher-priced options. "If you're in the midst of a $500 lens sale, you better know what you're talking about," says Fenner. "If you can't articulate the features of an aspheric or something like that, then you will lose the respect of the customer and his or her business."

"We want them to feel we care about them and their vision," says Olivetti. "And you should. The best sale is when you've done that successfully. The dollar amount is not measurable at that time, it's more about the service and looking good."

Adds Hogan, "If a $425 frame is not appropriate for the customer I am helping, then I will not even go there. You need to gain the customer's trust and confidence. If you just throw a $400 frame at them, it's not going to work and you will lose your credibility immediately. You can't go in with the thought that 'I'm going to sell this person the most expensive frame.'"

The bottom line is that when the customer feels that you are working for him, you have a lot of leeway. "It's the first part of selling," says Hogan. "Once you have that, you can do almost anything. But the salesperson who is profit-motivated will find that he is up against a lot of resistance... And it comes back to haunt you." EB