I firmly believe our job as independent opticians is to deliver an effortless eyewear experience. So let me give you my definition of ‘effortless’…
Our success as independent opticians is directly proportional to how effortless we can make things for our clients. Our job is to make the client’s life easier. The thought “How can I be of service?” needs to be the first thing on everyone’s mind when a client walks in or calls on the phone. The way we can be of maximum service to clients is by having a deep understanding of what clients really want, what makes them tick, what their frustrations and desires are, listening effectively and with empathy, seeing everything from their perspective no matter what, and making them feel important (which they are… no clients equals no business). Only then are we in a position to present effective solutions to them? Our belief is that serving clients is about creating clarity for them and helping them make good decisions by giving them expert guidance every step of the way. Dispensing expertise, optical expertise, service expertise. We are experts at getting results for our clients. Our mantra is ‘We make this easy for you.’ Effortless is the word that sums all this up.
But Effortless is not just a word. It is something we do and bring to life for clients every day, day in, and day out. This is about being a process-driven practice. We have effective processes to make Effortless happen in every area of the practice. We refine processes so that they work and evolve as needed. If something stops working and stops producing effortless, we spot it early and we fix the process. Effective processes are what create consistent results and a consistently outstanding experience like clockwork. Effective processes are what make it easy for the team to maintain high-level performance in what can be a very chaotic, fast-moving environment. The processes make it easier for the team to succeed and enjoy work while creating amazing results. And having these processes in place is what gives you, the owner, freedom from your business. This is about building your team, setting them up for success, leading them and empowering them. You cannot do this alone.
A process-driven practice leads to a happy, fulfilled, high-performing team that gets impressive results every day, even when you are not there. And making everything Effortless for your clients will make clients happy, keep them coming back and bringing their friends. Effortless makes everybody’s life easier.
The giants of our industry, Specsavers, Boots, Vision Express and others do not think this way. Nor can they deliver effortless. They focus on low prices, generic solutions, a one-size-fits-all all approach and often what they deliver is a ‘computer-says-no’ type of service. Effortless is the antithesis of all that. The competition can’t touch us when we excel at making it Effortless for our clients. We treat each client as an individual and not a number.