Creating an Eyewear Experience

Wendy Buchanan: It’s all about seeing yourself as that expert but then being able to create that amazing experience for people that they just can’t get online and they can’t get it down the street at a big box store.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Hi! This is Bethany Fishbein. I am the CEO of The Power Practice and Host of the Power Hour Optometry Podcast. And I’m really excited for this episode today. Last week, we talked about how the most profitable practices that I’ve seen are ones that have really embraced Primary Care and have focused their schedule, their attention on doing eye exams, contact lenses, and glasses. And really analyzing to make sure they’re doing the best job they can in those areas. My guest today is someone who I think can help significantly in that area. So I’m happy to have Wendy Buchanan. Wendy is a licensed Optician and an Eyewear Image Expert. She’s the founder of Perceptions Eyewear, which offers a personal eyewear styling experience in a customer’s home or office. And she trains others on her “Be Spectacular Eyewear Styling System”. Did I miss anything, Wendy?

Wendy Buchanan: That was pretty much wraps up my world. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Awesome! Thank you so much for being here. So I’m curious first to learn about you. Talk about your career path a little bit and how you found your way into what you’re doing now. 

Wendy Buchanan: Okay, well, I started my optical journey as a licensed optician working for some of the big, big companies and found that if I was going to make any money, I had to go into management. And I started managing a couple of locations. And I was probably about 9-10 years in and I’m like, I don’t love this. I didn’t think that being an optician meant managing people and operating all that comes with that. And I thought you know what, I’ve made a mistake, and I need to figure out what I’m going to do next because I was like, I can’t do this. I can’t see myself in this role for another 20 years without going absolutely crazy. And I just stayed open and I think that is one of my strengths is that I’m always curious and I’m always open about who people are and what’s happening and jobs that they’re in. And I fell into an image consulting course and learned that there was a science to dressing body types. I think what attracted me about optical was that it was a science and that there was like a system and process and things I could learn that I was really good at it. Always loving fashion no and then found out that fashion is actually science-based too. If you are a trained expert, and I thought I’ll be an image consultant. This is my way out.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Like what is an image consultant? I feel like I need one.

Wendy Buchanan: An image consultant is really like your style coach and a coach that helps you dress your specific body type. putting you into colors of clothing that work with your personal coloring that are your style. So looking at cut of clothing, color of clothing, and what is your personal brand, your personal image, what does that look like? And as image consultants, we help you built out that brand or your personal style. And it can be glasses, which is my area of expertise now but it’s your facial features. It’s your hairstyle, how do we create balance with everything so image consultants are like style coaches

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: I do need one. When you were doing that, and I know we’re talking about optical but I’m just curious. Are you going shopping with somebody? Are you bringing things to them? Are you saying look for things like this? Like what is that process?

Wendy Buchanan: Well, when I started my company 26 years ago, it was called Perceptions Image Consulting. And I started that company to be a stylist for clothing. And I would work with women mostly, and I would take them shopping, I would bring clothing to them and get them into the right style. And the more I worked with people, especially women that were wearing eyeglasses just became so obvious to me that their glasses were a complete disconnect to who they were how they were showing up the clothing style and colors that I put them into. And they would mention that their goal now my glasses just look all wrong for my outfit. And I’m like you’re right. I was so focused on leaving the optical world that I wasn’t even seeing eyeglasses as fashion or opticians were medical-based were science-driven. And I wasn’t seeing that fashion element. One client that day said to me, “Well, you’re an optician Wendy, Why don’t you get me glasses to match my outfit?”. I got excited because I’m like, Oh my gosh, glasses are fashion and if I can style eyewear as a fashion accessory, then I think being an optician could be really fun and impactful because you’re actually helping people not just see well but you’re helping them look good and you’re helping them more importantly just feel really great like the way that they want to show up because I think this like a great fitting jacket. You put a great-fitting jacket on or a pair of killer shoes. You feel great. And now you forget about you. So I completely changed my whole business in that first six months and it became Perceptions Eyewear, I didn’t want to open a retail store because I had done that for 10 years and I was looking for something new. And I kind of forged my own path and I created a mobile eyewear boutique. And I had to build my brand that my brand was styling eyewear to make people look and feel really good. It’s funny now because the lenses almost become secondary. When we’re doing the eyewear delivery. People are like “oh my god, they look great. I feel so good.” They’re looking at a full-length mirror. And it’s like we’re five, eight minutes into the delivery. And I’m like, “Oh can you see out of them? How’s your vision?”.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: That’s kind of how it should be, you know, in a patient’s mind. They assume that they’re going to be able to see they went to the optometrist, they got a great prescription. So the assumption from them is they’re gonna see well, and it’s important to bring that focus back to how they look because I think you’re absolutely right about that mismatch. Like, I don’t know if I have any ophthalmology, like retina specialists as listeners, but they’re out there and they’re wearing crooked Dollar Store glasses. And I’m like, Guys, this makes a difference. So when you’re doing mobile eyewear styling, what does that process look like?

Wendy Buchanan: So it’s a personal appointment, no distractions. What I found in retail that I was always running, I was running from answering the phone to an adjustment to delivery to helping somebody pick up glasses. And that for me personally, and it may be I’m a little ADHD, I had a hard time focusing so for me it was just scattered. So I imagined that if it was scattered feeling for me, it had to be for my patient. And I decided that if it was my own business, I was going to be in control of that time and I booked personal appointments. And then I’m going through I kind of have like my spec style process and spec kind of breaks down to really like see myself as the expert and then how they want to be seen and engaging and connecting with them to influence and close but it’s looking at everything, some of their wardrobe pieces and not that I always have the wardrobe involved depending on location but the colors they wear I’m visually assessing their personal coloring I’m analyzing their facial features, not that I’m always communicating what I’m seeing, but I’m bringing it into the conversation as it relates to eyewear and then showing them three or four pairs that are really going to work for them and based on our consultation and showing them when they wear it why they wear it, what that perceived image is when they have it on and they feel that too. Like they can see it they feel it. You can see body language change. And so it just creates more of an experience and a story and it’s that story, that they tell their friends that drives the business.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Who are the people who call you for this?

Wendy Buchanan: It’s diverse. I had a reach out today from a young man who’s 22 years old. I’ve fit 80-year-old seniors with colorful bold glasses, men, and women, I don’t typically deal with children’s glasses, but I think it’s a value system more than it’s a demographic they really value experiences. They value their image they see the importance of looking good in whatever job that they’re in. They’re willing to invest in nice eyewear. Sometimes they come to me because they’ve had a bad experience. Oftentimes they’ll come to me because they’ve had a great eye exam and there was no glasses and that was their optometrist. Especially during COVID, like my business grew like almost 40% I remember one lady in specific she said, “ I was going to my doctor’s one-stop shop. I’m going to get it all done, because I don’t want to be out shopping and going and she went in came out and called me and she said there was nothing there that I liked. And there was nobody there to help me.” I’m kind of filling that gap. I think that’s in our optical industry of the people that want that full service. And that’s why I started to train because I could see the gap five years ago and I was like I can help you close those sales so they don’t walk out and come to people like me and spend 1000s of dollars. 

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: I want to get to your system but I’m still on the mobile eyewear experience. So somebody finds you they call you and then do you get a picture? Do you do a zoom to know what you’re walking into? Or do you just take your bag and you show up? 

Wendy Buchanan: I take my bag and I take everything and I show up fully engaged with that person focused only on them, listening to everything. They’re telling me their body language, I’m watching everything and pulling that in and really just asking a ton of curious questions. And then I start to make recommendations and then tell them and talk to them about why that framework. And I kind of joke with some of my clients. I’m like, You should be a little scared before you meet me and you should be a little bit uncomfortable after I leave because I’m moving them out of a look that maybe they weren’t for five, six years because they didn’t know what else to do. Or they didn’t see anything else or they didn’t know how to wear it and I’m showing them away to wear it. So it’s very personal, um, usually 45 minutes to an hour when I book a client, sometimes that’s 20 minutes and sometimes it can be an hour and 15 depending on the individual personality.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: So knowing nothing about the person that you’re going to go and sit across from how many frames do you have with you?

Wendy Buchanan: I carry about 350 pieces.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: That’s important. There are so many practices that we encounter that feel that they need to have 1200 frames in order for people to feel that they have a selection. And that’s not the case. So I was interested to see what you were bringing. 

Wendy Buchanan: Yeah, well, I think having one frame style in four colors is a little bit of a waste of space and money in your inventory, having that one frame in that one color. If that’s not suited you go into one of your other lines, instead of having like that duplication of product. And I think that’s what I learned like I started out with a dozen frames and would sell from a inventory of 12 frames and would close every single appointment. And I look back now and like I’m not sure I could do that now. But I had the right mix in that well that I could actually fit and so I think it’s really identifying exactly what the styles are making sure there isn’t a duplication, streamlining your inventory, working within your inventory like I don’t special order frames for people either. I work with what I have and I kind of moved but then I built an inventory based on a system and based on my spec style personality so that I got color and I got style and materials and shapes and design lines all covered off within different segments of my inventory.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: At the end of your visit our most people buy in one pair. 

Wendy Buchanan: No, they’re typically buying three or four pairs and that’s probably I would say about eight out of 10 So there’s still 20% that are just buying the one pair at a time. And last year, I sat down with one couple and they bought, I think it was 14 pairs of glasses. It was a $13,000 sale with a husband and wife. And I love sharing that story because when I met the wife the very first time she only bought one pair of glasses but I gave her the most awesome experience and the most awesome frame to suit her style with one pair. And it took her out of her comfort zone which she wasn’t entirely comfortable but we went through kind of all the checkmarks why it worked for her. Then she got so many compliments for the next three or four months that she wore them that she’s like you need to come back. I need more glasses because I have never felt this amazing in a pair of glasses before. And so then the next time she bought three pairs. Then she introduced me to her husband and he bought three pairs and then I met her son and his wife and they bought two pairs each and then you know over the years so like not to say that this happened overnight because it absolutely didn’t. I built it up one pair at a time and I built a relationship and trust and competence with them. That when I saw them that last time that’s what they did. They spent that much money. And I was like thank you I said “You know, I really appreciate your business. This is a big sale. I’d like to give you new lenses in your frame that you’re repurposing” and they said to me, “Oh Wendy, you don’t have to do that. It’s not your fault. We want this many pairs of eyeglasses.” And I like that’s the kind of people that you want to create. Those are the clients that you want to serve. And I said to her “I do have to take some responsibility because I did kind of create a monster with you. An eyewear addict” and she laughed and she said, “Okay, Well, you don’t have to.” I said, “I would really like you to just accept this gift from me.” And I had to like force her to take a discount. I just said to her there’s no one like you I just absolutely love you. But it’s all about seeing yourself as that expert but then being able to create that amazing experience for people that they just can’t get online and they can’t get it down the street at a big box store. And I think as independence that’s so important that we create that brand that goes with our medical clinic to

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: I know that there are people out there listening to this that have an office and feel like they can’t get a patient to spend $100 Let alone 13,000 or we were on a conference call and somebody was talking about the amount of time their optician wanted to spend with a patient and she said we don’t have time for them to spend this much with each patient. So how do you translate what you’re doing with a very personal experience? One-on-one, you’re in somebody’s home, no distractions to something that works in a busy practice. 

Wendy Buchanan:  I teach the same system but when you know it so well. I was doing a style show at an optometry clinic that I had trained and so this woman came in well she was had insurance that would cover that $100. We knew exactly what frames in that clinic bill into that price point. So when she walked in, I asked her three questions went and picked the one frame that was going to work for her head it was likely the only frame that was going to work with her because that selection was very small. And I said this is exactly what you’re going to need. This is why you’re going to need it. This is how it works on your face. This is how it’s going to work with your wardrobe. And we were done and it was under five minutes. And it was closed and done because of those few curious questions. She felt heard. She felt seen, she felt understood. So when I made the recommendation there was credibility. We didn’t need to look at five or six frames or hum or haw, “I don’t know, Do you like this? Oh, I don’t know. Do you like that?” It was like I was leading that sales process. And it was fun. Five minutes. Okay, that’s covered under your insurance. Did the PD, done! It can work even at that price point from a productivity standpoint, that they’re still getting an experience to a certain extent. And she did say to me after and there was a little bit of a tear in her eye and she said no one has ever treated me that nicely when I bought my glasses before. Like we didn’t plan that that was a perfect teaching moment in that clinic because they do have a lot of people like that that come in, but it’s still being respectful and honoring what their budget is and what they need but still giving them a style experience to and they’re going to tell their friends it’s just gonna just go there like even though it’s that clinic, you get the eye exam, you get the sale. They have friends who aren’t covered just under insurance who need nice glasses too.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: In that story you told, the system and the process that you were using was able to get you that great result and also save time. I think that’s important because as you’re talking about it, my initial thought was, you can’t take that long. And so talk a little bit about what kinds of questions if you don’t mind that are helping somebody narrow down what somebody will need, and also convey that confidence that “I’ve listened, I’ve heard you, enough that I’m only going to show you one” and you’ll know that it’s right without feeling like you have to try everything on I know it’s right because I’m the expert. Like what is that question process?

Wendy Buchanan: Sometimes like what I did specifically with her? I think this is an easy one that everyone who’s listening can start tomorrow and it’s simple. What colors do you love to wear in your wardrobe? That question alone I start almost every single consultation with and that all it is is it’s an easy lead-in instead of “oh, what can I help you with today? Or what are you looking for today? Or what style did you have in mind today?”.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Or the absolute worse, “Did you want to look at glasses today?”.

Wendy Buchanan: Oh yeah. It’s like now you defer your expertise back to them? Well, they know nothing about what they want. Because they aren’t the experts in eyewear. They don’t know what the product looks like in your dispensary. And so I started with that question. She was wearing kind of a floral pattern in her shirt I said “Do you like to wear a lot of patterns like flowers and stuff that looks a little more romantic in your clothing or do you typically go with solids?”. And she said, “Oh no, no, I like pretty things”. I was assessing the weight of her jewelry like she had a necklace on so, I was looking at the shape of it. And it was a little bit more rounded and she was more of a full-figured woman. So when I chose the eyewear, they were blue because she told me she liked blue. They were pretty they were feminine. They were a soft oval in a blue plastic that had an embedded little sparkle in the plastic and they were wide enough for her face. So I wasn’t putting her in teeny tiny glasses. And I said “This is perfect. It opens up your eyes because you’ve got these big beautiful eyes. It opens up your eyes. I said I like the way that it lifts up the cheekbone and it really balances nicely with your jawline but what I love more than that is that it’s a little bit softer shape and it’s more pretty so it works with the style of clothing that you like to wear and it’s even mimicking the shape of the jewelry that you’re wearing”. And she was like, “Oh, yeah” that was our conversation. That was the sale and so it wasn’t salesy or pushy or even inauthentic. I was communicating to her exactly what I was seeing and what that translated into what I call a spec style. So she was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s me. I’m feminine. I’m pretty I like softer shapes. I love blue. Who doesn’t want their cheeks highlighted and their eyes to pop everybody”. And so I said “The frame you came in with had a really strong line and it was cutting off your big beautiful eyes. I want to open those up”. And it was all real things. I wasn’t making any of that up. It wasn’t salesy. It wasn’t a commercial. It was real life. And I said there’s no other frame is covered under your insurance that I would put you in this is the best it’s perfect for you. And we were finished. She loved it. We were done. I felt like I had done a good job. So there was satisfaction in that and the sale was complete. 

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: That’s awesome. So when you’re in an office, you’re teaching the system and you’re also giving some thoughts or some advice on the inventory or the selection of frames that the office should carry. So we already know that you’re favoring quality of the selection over quantity, right? Because if you’re getting 100% capture rate with 12 frames, then you know how to pick them up. What do you find in most offices that they’re doing wrong or missing or could be doing better?

=Wendy Buchanan: I see a lot of black and tortoise shells, I see a high percentage of black and tortoise shells it might have a different label or a different brand but it’s still black plastic or toward a shell. And it’s at a quite a high percentage. So we’re usually starting to taper that down. I love discovering the spec style of the buyer. So usually I can look at the inventory. And I said I bet the person who’s buying your inventory is this spec style and this spec style. And they’re like how do you know that it’s like well, just naturally we’re going to buy what we like so if you’re more classic and conservative and you’re doing the frame buys, you’re probably not going to buy a dramatic or artsy colored or crazy shaped frames because you might be thinking in your head who would ever wear that?

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Right? Because you wouldn’t. You would never.

Wendy Buchanan: Yeah. And so it’s really looking at that diversification of the inventory to be sure that it is enticing and inspiring to all five spec styles. And that way you’ve got the opportunity to sell to 100% of the people now I understand if it’s under insurance, there’s going to be limited styles and we have to work within that. That’s just life. You’ve also got to have some street smarts and be flexible enough to pivot, right but take the information. That’s kind of the biggest thing that I see. And so it’s teaching them first about the specs style so that then when they are doing their bind, they can see it themselves. Oh, that I would never wear that but I know who would wear that. I know how to present that frame to someone based on what I see in the through that and I were styling consultation, then you really shine as the expert because you’re able to do it in your own way to nobody’s going to be me. Nobody’s going to be you. We’re going to sell in your own individual way that’s authentic, that shows that you care and that you’re really giving them that personal touch to

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: Can you give an example of what some of those spec Styles are?

Wendy Buchanan: Let me talk about the inspired artist because probably one of the biggest spenders and the one that I usually see that most optometry clinics don’t have represented on their boards. So the inspired artist is very eclectic in their look. So they’ll mix up clothing that you would never think goes together so they might wear like a bulky sweater with a sequined skirt. I’m being excessive to kind of give you a visual of what that looks like. They will mix up colors in their wardrobe, like orange and pink they might mix up or lime green and pink so it’s usually brighter colors or odd mix of colors. They’ll wear artsy type of shoes, they definitely want to create their own look. So they’re the people that if you say I’ve got x and x brand that’s really trendy right now we’re seeing it on all the runways. The inspired artist is going to roll their eyes turn around and walk out because they already have figured out you don’t know who they are because if you knew who they were, you’d know that they don’t want to look like anybody else. They’re not there to follow trends. They’re there to break the trends, create their own look and really be different. They don’t want to be categorized. We’re talking about categories of spec style, but I probably am not communicating that I’m saying looks like you just really want to stand out. You just want to have your own look and you don’t want to look like anybody else and you’re artsy and you’re creative. And I said “I want to show you the frames like that no one else would wear” and they’re like, “Ah, please, yes.” Even just that communication. They’re like okay, she gets me she understands me that’s like emotional oxygen and those are the frames that we’re not taught to sell and style as opticians or in optometry school or as ophthalmic assistants. You’re not taught that skill. You’re taught what’s good medically. And so what I bring is styling into it. Not that you’re going to wardrobe but you’re going to be able to visually assess their wardrobe and know what that means and what their value system is and what they really appreciate in style. And then transfer all of that into our sales.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: This is so mind-opening. I think about the things that we hear and people saying things like we want to have an optical that feels accessible to everyone, right or we want to have an optical where a wide variety of people can find something they love. The sentiment is right. But immediately the untrained brain translates that to a price point. I want to have an optical where everyone can feel comfortable finding something for themselves. And the first thought is, so therefore I need to have frames that are $100 and frames that are $1,000 like I don’t know why we take it to money but as I’m listening to you, I’m thinking and optical where everyone feels comfortable might mean having something that everyone’s wearing is very trendy right now on the runway and having something that is unique that not many people can wear but I think you’re gonna love. It’s just such a great shift in the way to think about that. For someone to say I want to do this, I want to create this experience in my office. I want to train my team to be able to understand people this way. Is it generally upscaling pricing any optical or is it really expanding but not necessarily about that?

Wendy Buchanan:  I think it’s more about creating an experience for the patient that’s different, that it’s not the same old, same old the optical gallery doesn’t look like every other optical gallery and every other Optometry Clinic that, it doesn’t look medical, that it’s just strictly medical. It’s great that you have medical but I think you have to decide who you want to be and then who you want to serve. Like who are your ideal clients? Not to say that you are going to eliminate the $100 completely you’re going to have a selection. But making the decision do I want to start to attract that more mid to high-end clientele? And if that’s your choice, then it’s like okay, then what does my inventory look like? Because that is a huge, lucrative market. I do virtual. So I’m meeting with people all over the world and the most common thing is I just can’t find these beautiful brains anywhere in my neighborhood. And it’s like, Well, why not? Because they’re available to all of us. But there is an investment into independent eyewear, boutique designs, there’s an investment, and if you don’t have the skill set to turn that into money to revenue, then you’re hesitant to invest in that. So it’s like you almost need to invest in your team, that they have the confidence and the style expertise to sell combined with the right product to create that experience for your clientele. So it’s not just one thing it’s kind of a combination of everything. But I believe that people buy from people and our power is in our people to invest in our people so that they stand out so that they have confidence so that they’re empowered to lead the sales process. They’re empowered to maybe it’s one or two team members that are the expert stylists so if you want an extraordinary VIP styling consultation, “We are going to book you with Kim. And Kim is going to spend 30 minutes on divided attention with just you because I know from experience and working within different clinics that if you can give them that 30 minutes on divided you can double your sale in 30 minutes, not with the insurance people obviously but with that different client. If you’re not stopping to greet someone coming in the door, or starting to check someone in and do a pretest or stopping to talk to someone else that just walked in that you’re just focused on them. They feel so special and it’s such an easy thing for us to do and it’s done so little.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: And probably makes the opticians day as well to be able to have that real connection with somebody in that time and not have to be focused on other things while they’re trying to do it so.

Wendy Buchanan: I think it helps with retention especially right now. You know, we’re trying to get good people and attract new people to our industry. If you’re presenting the job description as something that you can grow with that we’re going to provide training that you are going to be given the tools to be an expert stylist to be able to close sales to know they’ve got that support and that they can grow and learn keeps them in your practice. And they’re like “Oh, and I can learn how to do that and I can learn that and I’ve got someone willing to invest in me to help me grow in my career”. And that’s attractive to people right now. I’ve worked with clinics where we brought in people with zero optical training came from graphic design or fashion you know, they were working at a store in the mall selling clothing and brought them into eyewear and taught them this system. Well, they see it so fast, because they’re already creative fashion people. So I think it’s bringing in and attracting a whole new generation of people into our industry and letting the Eye Docs do what they do best. Do dry eye do the eye test do everything medical, that’s your love and your passion. And then empower your team to style and sell.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: That’s perfect Wendy. Thank you so much. If somebody wants to get in touch with you, I know you do trainings, you do workshop, you do in-office trainings, where’s the best place to reach you?

Wendy Buchanan: You can find me on Instagram @bespectaculartraining. And then my website is bespectacular.com/optical/. It’s a lot of fun and I even do remote like I just started working with someone in New Zealand doing a remote training. So it’s a lot of fun and there’s just like there are so many different options and I do a lot of what do you need and that’s exactly what we’ll focus on. So really, you know, finding what that gap is in the clinic and then making sure that we address it and train it and fill that need. It’s fun. And people get excited when you get excited like that might be why I sell so many multiple pairs is I truly get excited getting the right glasses on the right people. So I think it’s infectious when you got that energy it kind of rolls out into the entire buying experience.

Dr.Bethany Fishbein: You’re describing something that helps you get great staff makes your staff members feel good, makes your patients feel good and makes money for your office sounds like it doesn’t get much better than that. So thank you for sharing your story and your expertise. You gave your contact info and for more information on Power Practice, you can find us online at powerpractice.com/ .