Products & ideas for the laboratory professional.
Issue link: https://opticallabproducts.epubxp.com/i/442985
january 2015 3 ROLLINS ON MARKETING OPINIONS best efforts, but that the lab will replace it. Ask if they have one on their frame boards that can be sent in to save time, and that you will order a new one for them. If they don't have the frame, then order it from the manufacturer. 2. "Walk a mile in the patient's shoes." How will the service failure impact the patient, who is bombarded with "One-Hour Op- tical" commercials on TV and in the newspaper? Oftentimes they don't understand that the special lenses that have been ordered for them have to come from overseas, and when there was a "breakage" on the frst pair, an- other set had to be ordered. Can we make a pair of single vision or other progressive lenses until the special set come in? We can get those to the practice tomorrow. 3. Finally, how can we make the account look good in the patient's eyes? Something as simple as a $25 gas card can have a huge impact. We don't want to break the bank when a service issue comes up, but it costs a lot less money to make a spare set of lenses and give a gas card than it does to fnd a new account! Turning Service into Success BY ERIC ROLLINS IN THE MID-'90s, Toyota's luxury car division Lexus had a re- call that could have been damaging to its reputation and hurt its market share. But, instead, Lexus decided to be proactive and strengthen the bonds of loyalty with its customers by calling them, setting up ap- pointments to fx the issue, offer- ing customers loaner Lexus cars, even going so far as to pick up and drop off the car for the customer, if needed. The bottom line was that the recall didn't hurt Lexus' reputation, it actually enhanced it as the story spread around the mar- ketplace and in the general public. Something that can be bad for the manufacturer actually turned into a great word-of-mouth advertising program as well as receiving posi- tive press coverage. What can we do in the optical laboratory business to turn our service failures into successes? Obviously we'd prefer if every job went out correctly and on time. But we are in the lab business, and often things go wrong. Sometimes a frame breaks, a lens is on back or- der, a power outage wrecks a batch of lenses in the AR system, or a job makes it past fnal inspection with a faw. How do we recover from the service failure in a way that builds our accounts' loyalty and keeps the patient happy? 1. Proactive communication. Don't wait for the account to call you looking for the job. Contact them and explain that the frame broke during lens insertion despite your Eric Rollins is a veteran of the optical retail, frame, and lab industries. His frm, Rollins Consulting, LLC, consults with three O's to improve proftability. You can email him at: ericrollins@comcast.net.