Collections appointments can often get treated as the tidy-up at the end of a sale.
The frames return from the lab, you check fit, check vision, hand them over and then everyone moves on to the next thing. The decisions around which frames and lenses to choose feel like the main event, and perhaps by the time glasses are ready the patient’s excitement has cooled a little.
But I believe the collection is doing far more work than we give it credit for, so it’s worth looking at why, and how we might think about framing it differently.
Daniel Kahneman’s work on the ‘peak-end rule’ showed that people don’t remember an experience as the average of every moment in it.
They remember two things:
1. The most intense point
2. How it ended
The rest sort of fades and blends into the background. So the collection, which sits right at the end of this journey carries far more weight in the patient’s memory than the time it takes would suggest. Handled with some real thought and planning, it can become the moment they walk away not only remembering, but the one they share with others. That’s the loop worth understanding and worth closing properly. The ending you design isn’t the end of anything, it’s what sends the next patient through the door, or brings this one back.
The good news is that designing the collection experience doesn’t always take more time or money. It’s about pointing your attention at the right moments.
Aftercare is the natural place to start, and most of us already do it. Beyond presenting the frames on a smart tray, it’s the walk-through that counts, cleaning, everyday wear, and when to pop back for an adjustment. Done quickly it’s a checklist; done with a bit of thought it feels like care.
Make the cleaning part of the ritual when you demonstrate it. Have a cleaner you recommend, maybe a branded refillable bottle they can bring back and top up when it runs low, which gives them a reason to return. Invite them in any time, even if they’re just passing, because you’d genuinely like to know how they’re getting on.
And take the pressure off the adjustment. Rather than leaving them to notice a problem and book themselves in, tell them what to expect and when, and offer to make the first move: “We’ll give you a call in a few weeks to check it’s still sitting right.”
A QR code in the case to book a slot works too, though the call feels warmer to them.
Gratitude goes a long way, and it can be as simple as thanking someone for spending the time with you and choosing their glasses here. Better still when it’s specific, tied to the choice they made or the frame they were nervous about. That tells the patient you were paying attention. People remember being seen and a collection is one of the few moments in the journey where you have their full attention to give it back.
Then there’s the photo put their new glasses on, and offering to capture the moment, gives them something to take away. Worth being honest with ourselves here, because a photo can feel like something we’re taking rather than giving, especially if it’s headed for the practice’s social media.
The way round that is to make it theirs first. A beautiful portrait picture they wanted, in glasses they’re pleased with, on the day it all came together. If it happens to be something you can share too, that’s a bonus, and it should be a bonus you ask for.
These moments design the ending the patient walks away with. But there’s a second one that most of us never think about, and it’s the one that matters most for the practice.
The end the patient re-lives isn’t the handover. It’s the first time someone in their world looks at their glasses and says, “Oh, those are nice, where are they from?” That question re-opens the whole experience in their mind, and it happens days later, in a kitchen or an office, with you nowhere near.
What they say next decides whether the compliment becomes a story about your practice or a shrug and a vague answer.
This is where we can help before they leave. At Independents Day recently, I talked about priming the story, and the collection is where you do it. Give them a story that you want them to repeat about your practice, the way you do things and why.
The story should be one that is about them and their choice, one that will make them look good when they tell it. Tell them about a moment you know is coming too; “When you walk out of here people will ask you about these glasses, here’s how we’ve made it easy for you to tell people about them”.
Then give them a mechanism that encourages not just sharing the story, but also one that results in another potential patient heading into your practice. Give them the words you’d like them to say and a reason to say them.
The frames leave the practice either way, but a collection done well doesn’t just finish a sale, it starts the next one, whether that’s the same patient coming back or a new one arriving because of what this one said. That’s the loop.
To start the process of collection design, it’s worth asking: what’s this patient going to say when someone asks about their glasses, and who might walk in because of it?
Rebecca Thompson FBDO is a dispensing optician, eyewear strategist, founder of Eyestyle Studio and writer of Eye Style, a weekly journal exploring the business, design and the future of optics.