Fashion, function, feel and financials are the four key ingredients to execute the ideal frame selection, writes experienced optical dispenser and trainer Virgilia Readett.
Does a world exist where a pair of frames does it all? Namely, do they make the customer look great, feel as though they’re not wearing spectacles at all, and enable the lenses to perform to their full potential – all without costing an arm and a leg?
Frame recommendations are an art form requiring the juggling of many, often conflicting needs of our customers. Fashion, function, feel, and financials are the fundamentals of effective frame selection. By balancing these needs – including managing these compromises – we stand to gain improved sales, reduced remakes and most importantly returning loyal customers.
Fashion
Customers have varying levels of concern about fashion and the desire to look good. Whether your customer is after the latest trend or a conservative look, Ms Jacque Katsieris, managing director at ProOptics, recommends dispensers avoid being “afraid to step out of your comfort zone and your own personal choice, and venture into a different story to offer your patients”.
To enhance the aesthetic appearance of the frame selection, pay attention to colour and shape recommendations. Earthy tones pair well with warm skin undertones and cool vivid-based colours such as blue navy and black with cool skin undertones. The goal of shape recommendations is to create a sense of symmetry and balance with frame shape complementing, rather than matching, the face shape.
Prioritising fashion during selection will help customers to feel at ease and comfortable with their frame selection. Ultimately this will reduce exchanges, returns, and increase the likelihood of additional sales. Katsieris calls on dispensers to be fearless: “You have the opportunity to change someone’s look, showcase their personality and style by their frame choice. What a fabulous opportunity.”
Function
Function will call on all your technical expertise as a dispenser. Frames first and foremost are designed to hold ophthalmic lenses – we need to ensure the frame itself will function and allow the lenses to perform as intended. Bespoke eyewear craftsman, Mr Chris Savage, recommends this ‘F’ is given utmost attention as it “encompasses all of the other Fs”.
Prescription analysis and effective lifestyle questions will guide suitable material recommendations. A hypoallergenic material may be necessary – such as cellulose propionate, optyl, or titanium. Strength of titanium, beta titanium or nylon could be needed to accommodate specific occupations, hobbies, or age brackets. Perhaps the thicker rims of cellulose acetate would benefit holding the lenses more securely and disguising the edge thickness for the high ametropic customer.
Your skill as a dispenser is to recommend not just what will look good, but what will function well. Draw on your technical skills – optical crosses will illustrate the thickest lens meridian and guide shape recommendations. Consider also the base direction in prismatic prescriptions adding additional edge thickness. A shallow frame would reduce thickness for vertical prism for example. For multifocal, progressive and occupational lenses – will there be enough depth to allow these lens designs to work correctly?
The adjustability of the frame is paramount for the next F – ‘feel’, but it’s importance should not be overlooked for the optical functionality of the lenses. Can the back vertex distance (BVD), face form angle and pantoscopic tilt be adjusted as required for the prescription and lens design to act as intended?
When function is given adequate weighting, remakes due to weight, thickness, aberrations, and reduction in size of near section, will be eliminated.
Feel
Good frame selection is essential. We don’t want to defeat the visual comfort of the lenses by then inducing physical discomfort due to poor frame selection.
Mr Tony Perkins, account manager at Eyes Right Optical echoes this, stating that when a customer discovers a frame that feels amazing, it instils a sense of confidence. “This feeling of comfort and satisfaction tends to surpass all other considerations because ultimately, it is the customer who will be wearing the frame,” he explains.
The overall frame dimensions and rim size will impact the weight and therefore comfort. For high ametropic prescriptions, we need to balance whether the extra weight is an acceptable compromise for the look and function of holding and disguising thicker lenses.
It is paramount to consider the final fitting at frame selection. How often are issues with spectacles fixed by an effective adjustment? A lot, in my experience. The first step to an effective adjustment is a frame that fits well for your customer’s physiology. Your strategic frame recommendations will reduce remakes due to unsuitable frames that cannot be adjusted well.
An appropriate bridge type and size are crucial in achieving comfort and an even spread of weight between the nose and ears. For frames with plastic bridges, shape for shape is the aim – match the shape and size of the bridge to the customers nose as closely as possible. Nose pads are ideal for small and low bridges. An adjustable frame front will enable the wrap and BVD to be altered as required for the customer.
Consider the pantoscopic angle the hinges make to the frame front and whether this is adjustable with the thickness of the temples. How does the tilt then sit with the customer’s physiology. Can the ideal range of eight to 12 degrees be achieved? Frame width will either make or break the overall adjustment. Too narrow a frame and the splay to the hinge angle will be very dramatic making it difficult to adjust. Too tight and the customer may have unwanted pressure on their temples, and in some circumstances, frames pushing forward due to this force on the temples.
Moving to the back of the frame – does the frame have adequate temple length to achieve a suitable length to bend at the anatomical bend? Or on the flip side, is it unnecessarily too long – causing an unsightly long length behind the ear.
Communication is key during the frame selection process – why are you recommending one over the other, as Perkins explains: “Informed customers will appreciate why and how a particular frame feels great and justifies its value.”
Financials
The customer budget should not be overlooked during lifestyle questioning. Consideration for overall budget needs for multiple pairs and lens requirements will guide appropriate frame recommendations. Compromises on brand and material may be needed to meet the customer’s budget.
If the preference of fashion, function and feel outweigh the customer’s ideal financial expenditures, guidance on the benefit of quality products and the link to the customer’s lifestyle will build confidence to purchase. According to Perkins, customer loyalty “can only be achieved through a commitment to quality, as price alone cannot guarantee long-term loyalty”.
Balancing act – can it be achieved?
A trap we can fall into as dispensers is assuming which F will be most important for our customer. Customers’ preferences are as diverse as their optical needs, but effective lifestyle questions will uncover their priorities and where they may compromise. Consider when they will be using their eyewear, their occupation and hobbies, the satisfaction with their previous pair, what they are wishing to keep the same or change.
It is our duty of care to provide an appropriate service. This means the best optical recommendations that cater for individual needs and preferences. Perkins recommends taking the time to grasp this: “This insight helps in tailoring your offerings and recommendations to align with their specific tastes and requirements,” he says.
Time taken during frame selection will be earnt back with easier final fitting at dispense and collection, reduced troubleshoots – or quicker troubleshoots, reduced remakes, and repeat customers. Compromises may be necessary to reach a happy middle ground for each F – or the customer may choose to prioritise one over the others. Katsieris explains “every customer has a different checklist in their minds”.
Once the ideal balance is achieved – albeit uneven – Katsieris inspires for the fabulous : customers looking fabulous, feeling fabulous with a frame that fits fabulously. A frame selection and dispense carried out with care, each time, will lead to long term customer loyalty. These customers could potentially find specs that meet their needs elsewhere – but they come back to you because of your outstanding service. They become advocates for your practice by referring friends and family.
About the author: Virgilia Readett teaches with ACOD and has been in optics since 2012. She holds a Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing, Certificate IV in Training & Assessing, and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Communications.
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