HANDS ON - Pros and Cons
Charging for Services
by Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

You should charge for eyewear adjustments and related services patients come in each day to request...or should you?

Here are the pros and cons of charging for services, and how your colleagues address this controversial topic in their businesses.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE PRO SIDE

An acknowledgement of a job well done, a way of raising awareness of the services provided, and a worthwhile investment in patients' time and money are just a few reasons why some eyecare practitioners are now charging for adjustments.

Charging for adjustments can build respect for the work completed

TIME WELL SPENT

The population in my area goes from 19,000 in the summer to more than 120,000 in the winter due to seasonal visitors.

Patients may have newly purchased eyewear from elsewhere that needs adjusting, and they may or may not return for eyewear purchases in the future.

We have a sign in the office that explains that we offer expert eyeglass adjustment and fitting for $5, and include a bottle of lens cleaner along with a $5 discount coupon toward eyewear with the repair. The lens cleaner has our store information on it.

I sit down with them, take time to do a proper fit, and explain new products and technology while I work with them.

The results are positive: Patients actually tell me that they are happy to pay for my time and expertise.

--James McClafferty, LDO, owner/president, Image Eyewear, Apache Junction, Ariz.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

We post the following sign on our dispensing tables:

The following services are provided to our customers at no charge:

Optical Consultation: $10

Frame Adjustment: $5

Verifying Prescription: $5

Lens Insertion: $2

Replacing Screw: $1

Due to the significant increase in requests for these services, all others will be charged.

This gives us the flexibility to be able to charge or not charge.

Optical consultation can cover troubleshooting a pair of eyewear not purchased from us or taking measurements for industrial safety eyewear that will be ordered from a catalog.

No one whom I've charged has balked, and many have been return customers because they value my expertise and advice.

Charging fees gives value to the service.

-- Judy Canty, owner/optician Powell, Focus, and Canty Opticians Alexandria, Va.

Not charging for adjustments can help build a goodwill relationship between a practice and new or current patients

STORIES FROM THE OTHER SIDE

There are also opinions to the contrary from eyecare professionals who see charges for adjustments as counterproductive when it comes to building business.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

People who come into your store for eyewear adjustments aren't freeloaders! They are there for a reason, and that reason gives you an opportunity to build business.

I try to get my staff to look at each customer as an opportunity to make a sale, including those who come in seeking eyewear adjustments, repairs, and fittings.

Who couldn't use some lens cleaner, a pair of clip-ons, or other optical accessory?

Make a point of telling them about the latest optical technology.

Customers can get eyewear adjustments for free just about anywhere. They're in your store because they trust you not to take advantage of them.

If you compromise that trust they may not return when it's time to purchase new eyewear.

--Harry C. Jilson, owner/optician, Eyeglasses One, Hyannis, Mass.

A STEP ABOVE

In our store, we specialize in frame adjustments, so when a customer comes in and we adjust their eyewear it's something that really distinguishes us from our competitors.

When a customer comes in and leaves with their frames feeling 10 times better--and potentially they have better vision because their frames fit properly--they will develop a respect and value for you as a professional.

We never charge our customers. We believe that our customers have paid for that service through their eyewear purchases.

We did charge non-customers at our old location. However, because we wanted to bring in new customers to our new location, we stopped charging for services.

As a result, we see that many of these people have come in for adjustments and eventually purchased eyewear from us.

Eyecare practitioners have to keep in mind what charging can do to drive off potential customers.

--Cliff Anderson, optician/owner, Fort Optical, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada