The year is coming to an end. For some, New Year’s resolutions are just around the corner. One thing that I’d like you to think about, whether you’re a resolution maker or not, is follow up. As opticians we help make decisions with customers, yet sometimes we have no idea whether they worked or not. Wouldn’t it be good to know? After all, as I’ve said before, sales today is not about the transaction but instead the experience.

For example, I just received a new pair of progressives that weren’t as good as the ones that I was previously wearing. Since I was my own optician, I had to answer to myself when trying to learn what was different. I had to follow up because I kept asking the question—why? And I couldn’t say to myself, “You’ll get used to them.“ Turns out there was a shift of one of the corridors that didn’t show up when checking power and the position of the engravings. They were remade and are now terrific.

So, do you follow up? It adds to the experience of the sale for the customer and ensures that there hasn’t been one of those errors that sometimes occur that we can fix, if only adding persistence. It’s one of the things that makes for a great optician. Call that customer and check in. How many compliments on their new eyewear have they received, do they love their new lenses, what have they noticed? You are not suggesting that something might be wrong but instead that you care about their satisfaction.

This month’s CE by a follow-up expert Barry Santini, teaches the first part of a two-part course titled “The Science Behind Color Enhancement.” Why is this author also a follow-up expert? This CE is a result of his wanting to know more about color and filters so that his customers change the way that they think about sunglasses; also, that they see him as an expert. In this CE, learn about an understanding of rod and cone sensitivities to light’s visible wavelengths, why color is more important than you might have imagined, and especially for the optician, the opportunity color enhancement provides to grow an office’s practice.

• Mark Mattison-Shupnick, ABOM
[email protected]
2020mag.com/education