…a great way to stay on top of the dynamic field of Opticianry and make some friends in the process.
…a great way to stay on top of the dynamic field of Opticianry and make some friends in the process.
As some of you may know, I work for National Vision Inc. which is typically located inside Walmarts and now have free-standing stores called Vision Center II or America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses ( I work in one of the ones located inside Walmart). Lately it’s been more and more difficult to work there for several reasons. For one thing, we have quotas. Now I don’t mind goals per se, but what quotas do is set one up to fail even though one is making money for the business and, more importantly, working ethically. One gets penalized if one does not “toe the line.” If you believe a certain lens option is a detriment to the patient, too bad! You must offer it to the patient and speak well of things that either don’t work as intended or don’t work at all. All of our advertising consists of words like “virtually unbreakable” and other gross twistings of truth with the asterisk at the bottom that confesses differently. Worse yet, if you primarily do lab work, repair or dispense glasses, your work doesn’t even count. It’s all about “the numbers.” If you didn’t sell, you did nothing. The corporate line is starting to sound more and more like “take people’s money and run.” People who embody this type of corporate culture ultimately seem to become goons who can only function in that given corpo-culture. Corporate goons seem to think “the numbers” are reality versus a representation of it (and a very incomplete one at that) and therefore have a strong reality avoidance complex.
Optician n. One who is extensively trained in the interpreting of ophthalmic prescriptions and applies that knowledge to obtain the optimum visual and safety performance for the patient in a pair of spectacles or contact lenses.
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Friend n. 1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. 2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance. 3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade. 4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement.
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rneiderman@opticiansfriend.com
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February 5th, 2007 at 9:53 am
As for the first part, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I work for Luxottica, in a Lenscrafters, and it becomes more apparent all the time that their business model is about maximizing profits to buy out competition. The “by the numbers” corporate culture isn’t helping anyone, either. The latest thing is getting our remake percentage down, while at the same time advertising a 30 day satisfaction guarantee that encourages people to change their minds multiple times. It’s like they WANT their managers to falsify documents to keep their numbers under control. Sickening, just sickening.
April 18th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Hi Al,
Is there is a question to be answered or a problem to be solved here (as your title suggests) or are you just venting?
Keith
April 19th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Just venting. Had a few rough weeks leading up to my resignation. All better now.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Good for you. Wallie World is not a place for dedicated eyecare professionals. You can do better.
November 7th, 2007 at 7:37 am
I have been in optics for 40+ years, and I have taught optics for 29+ years at Cuyahoga Community Colleg in Cleveland, Ohio. I have seen and heard it all from student’s, licensed optician’s and others. Until we get higher education in place and upgrade our profession, companies will continue to down-grade our profession. I have worked for many years on getting education at the front-lines in Ohio. As I retire in May of 2009 I will be heading in a new direction. I also have worked for many companies along the way. We need to stick together. I also know that their are great places to work as an optician, you need to do your homework on thoses companies that interest you.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I work for National Vision also. I’m about to graduate from the tech school here in Southeast Georgia with a diploma in Opticianry. One of the things the instructors drilled into us was ethics, specifically not giving a customer something they don’t need or pushing them to pay for something they don’t want, just to get the commission. Then I go to work for NVI, and they tell me I have to sell a certain percentage of AR coating, Transitions, and–most disturbing–Progressives. They actually expect 60% of all multi-focal lens sales to be PALs. It’s a known fact that not everyone can adapt to the Progressive lens. We end up with quite a few remakes due to non-adapt, yet we’re supposed to keep our remakes and warranty work down to a minimum. To meet the quota for AR, they’ve told us to “bundle” this product. In other words, we’re supposed to give the AR coating to every customer automatically, instead of explaining its benefits and asking them if they would like to have it. I admit, selling a customer on the benefits of AR and hearing them admit they need it due to issues with glare, only to have them say No the moment they find out how much it costs, is frustrating, but charging these customers for AR whether they want it or not is just plain unethical. I think the whole purpose of these quotas is to set goals they know we won’t be able to achieve, so they don’t have to give us any raises.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I can understand a budget, but quotas are silly. We are health care providers first and foremost, not sales people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see businesses and especially the optical industry flourish. There is nothing wrong with making money! What I find unethical is pushing a product against our better judgment. Some people just like good old fashioned bifocals, and if the patient is happy, then I am too. Same with anti-reflective coatings, I absolutely love the new anti-reflective coatings that are available. They are leaps and bounds, better than they have ever been. Does everyone need it? I don’t know. I always offer it to every patient, because it really makes the lenses perform better, but if a patient doesn’t want it or needs, say… more scratch resistance than anything else, I offer them TD2 or Zeiss Foundation etc. At NVI specifically, I feel they made the error of introducing the “crizal” like anti-reflective coating without proper marketing. People are not going to shell out more money for a coating that many bargain hunters believe they don’t need even if it is an improvement over the old coating…and to make a quota out of it is too demanding.