retrospectives

Optical or Sales Personnel…

A timeless topic from April 1986

Three months after Eyecare Business began publishing back in 1986, we asked ECPs a question that's as timely today as it was then: “When you hire a dispenser, which is more important to you—technical (optical) experience or selling experience?” Excerpts of their answers follow.

SALES, SALES, SALES

“What I opt for is salesmanship. If an individual doesn't know how to sell, there won't be lenses to cut and edge and frames to adjust.

All my newly hired dispensers, newcomers or veterans, are on a 90-day probation. During that period, I watch how the dispensers approach customers, whether they are excited about selling, their product knowledge, and their appearance.”

—Richard Cooperstein, Pearle Vision Center, Hollywood, Fla.

“With the advent of the superstores and fashion-oriented eyewear, selling capabilities have become a new priority and outweigh technical experience slightly.”

—James E. Skoney, OD, Eye Care Plus, Birmingham, Ala.

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE IS KEY

“I'd favor technical experience over selling experience. It's important that patients see eyewear not as a commodity, but as a service.”

—Robert C. Janot, OD, Montagne Vision Clinic, Lake Charles, La.

“I'd take technical over sales experience. I've got one dispenser with great technical experience and limited selling experience, and another with excellent sales experience and negligible technical experience. They learn what they lack from one another and from what I teach them.”

—Burton Kraft, OD, A Brighter Image, Washington, D.C.

A MIX OF BOTH

“Experience in both is very important. It's a must to know how to sell the product as well as what the product is all about. The two go hand-in-hand.

I put [prospective employees] through the paces in the lab, testing them on design, soldering, and all that's involved. I also put them at the counter for an hour or so, making sure they don't use high-pressure tactics, but sell subliminally.”

—Norman Childs, Squirrel Hill Eyetique, Pittsburgh

“You've got to have both. I can determine how people [will] come across in selling by how they talk to and face you, and how they ask questions. I also want to see how skilled they are with eyewear, so I'll bend a frame out of shape, have them readjust it on me, take a small frame and have them place a large lens into it, and have them take out one screw from a frame and put it into another one.”

—Bernard Levin, OD, Covina, Calif.

“My number-one goal is a satisfied customer who will come back and give me referrals. If the new dispenser can get along with the patient and satisfy his needs and desires, that helps achieve my goal.”

—Wayne Skjold, The Spec Shop of Kalispell, Kalispell, Mont.