Work help
 

Please give me your opinion.
I've been presenting my lens design and treatment products in "good/better/best" categories for many years, but I find that those adjectives don't work well anymore. How do you feel about these descriptors?

basic/premium/deluxe
level 1/level 2/level 3
Older/recent/new

Any other suggestions?

bassic/premium/deluxe/suuuper-duuuuuper

older/recent/new means style or fashion to me. It doesn't speak to quality, so I wouldn't use that one.

But this raises a question. What exactly are you ranking? Price? Quality of build? Durability? Trendiness/fashion?

Oh, wait. I see you aren't talking about frames. You're talking about lenses.

Many stores are now using Good/Better/Best
But that has been going on for so long that it's about time for a change.

Maybe something like: value/choice/superior

We use the precious metals on our menu.

Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze. That might confuse your customers, though..

How about:

Diamond, Ruby, Emerald?

What are you describing? The quality, bells/whistle, durability...
Is the only real difference the cost or ???

i'm with classicman on this one...

if your going for the generic then the olympic-style metal ranking is probably the most common knowledge, but what i am sure a lot of customers ask you is - what's the difference? in what way is "better" better then "good"?

Yeah, you need something to convince customers like me who hear: regular/ a little overpriced/ absolute scam

call them Mike, Phil and Brian

What do you mean that they don't work well? Sales falling off? Misunderstandings?

How about customizing it to the customer?

Segment it so relevant folks (based on your feel/knowledge) get sold to in fashion, quality, safety, budget, or the "compromise" positions. Same products, different framing.

Someone that spends a lot of time on their appearance gets fashion-oriented adjectives.

hobo/accountant/SUPERSTAR

That might hurt sales of the Hobo class glasses.

WAIT....... unless they were Hobo-chic....

Like Peter Faulk in Princess Bride

http://www.robertroope.com/wp-conten...YerShirtOn.jpg

Liking that. Maybe basic/choice/superior?
Brian? Bri-an? That's just messed up, man.;)
Then I'd have to kill anyone who chose hobo.

I'm focused (heh heh) on Progressive Addition Lens designs and anti-reflective coatings.
There are about 170 different PAL designs on the market. Some were designed in the seventies, are relatively inexpensive, have very distorted peripheries, and low user acceptance. Some are cutting edge technology, are relatively expensive, have a great amount of usable lens, and high user acceptance. And of course there are products between the extremes.
There are a couple dozen anti-reflective coatings. They all reduce reflection to less than 1%. Low end coatings fail easily (scratch, craze, haze, orange peel), are difficult to clean, attract dust, and smudge easily. Over the last 10 years, the industry has added improved scratch resistance, substrate matching (to reduce failure), a hydrophobic layer (to improve cleanability), an oleophobic layer (to resist smudging), and an anti-static treatment (to repel dust).
I verbally explain these features/advantages/benefits to patients, and I have visual aids to help them understand.

What prompted me is that there is now a brand new (year old) completely different method of making PALs, called digital or free form surfacing. PALs have traditionally had the near vision power molded on the front of the lens, and a patient's distance Rx was cut into the back surface of the lens using what amounts to a cup lathe. With digital lenses, the front surface is spherical, and the distance and near vision powers are cut into the back surface, one "pixel" or point at a time using what amounts to a router.

So now I have the traditional PAL categories of good, better, best, and digital/free from. But people ask "well if the best are the best, why are the digital lenses more expensive". And I have to start all over again.

Sorry for the long ass post.

bester? bestest?

Tall, Grande, Venti.

The digital one is probably easier to manufacture. You plug in some numbers and push a button. But does it make a better lens?

It's easier to do a sprayed popcorn ceiling, but a nice plaster ceiling is much higher quality. I expect easier to be cheaper.

Yes, it does. There's less distortion, more usable lens. Lenses can be optimized, to correct for higher order lens aberrations, and can be personalized - tailored to the users needs.

Following on the Starbucks theme... skinny/milk/cream :)

Keep it simple... *** / **** / *****

Of course, sex sells... Attachment 36606


and then there is always guerrilla advertising... :flipbird: / :meanface: / :3way:
.

Would the customer's decision always be based on cost? All of these trichotomies seem to reflect cost -maybe you can find one that reflects need.....? Shift the focus, so to speak. Most people will get the implied cost/luxury differences....

coach/executive/business (ok still money)

leisure/business/mogul

Glasses were a nightmare for me in the last decade. I always used our insurance which was Davis Vision and my glasses never ever came out right the first time. I had pretty high astigmatism and nearsightedness while also needing help for reading. So the last time, I decided to spend the money (which ended up being nearly $600), AND STILL HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. That's when I decided to get the eye surgery.

Now I have the same problem but without glasses. WTH anyway.

three types of lenses:

1. toywtpf The Ones You Want To Pay For

2. toywb The Ones You Will Buy

3. toywtw The Ones You Want To Wear

Do you just need a fourth level?
Basic/value/premium/deluxe ...

Charlie Brown, The Fonz, Arnie, Chuck

That's what I'm trying for. Cheap/affordable/expensive doesn't address the reasons for the cost difference.

I guess for AR I could go

clear/clear and less scratchable/ clear, less scratchable and easier to clean

That's what I want to convey, but it's a bit wordy.

They are teh suxors X infinity. They portray that they provide a free pair of glasses, but the pairs that are free are worthless - crappy looking, poor quality, and poor vision. They are made by a Davis lab - the optician who takes your order has absolutely no control over quality. And, to be honest, I've heard stories where the optician doesn't care about the patient's problems because (s)he is making diddly on the transaction (I've also heard a Walmart Optical employee say "what do you expect, you bought glasses at Walmart for $39"). We do not participate with Davis for those reasons. BTW, I think that if you choose other than Davis product, you'll pay about average retail for the galsses - you don't get any savings, really.

clear / durable / smudge resistant

I'd avoid clear, because it implies the others are cloudy.

more clear than the rest though they're still clear/really durable not that the others aren't durable they're just not AS durable/not likely to attract wads of dirt and mud like the other ones that will attract smaller wads of dirt and mud

;)

Basic or at the bottom

Select

Premium at the top

If you need a fourth category I'd stay away from deluxe because it sounds like BS. I'd go with Custom since that sounds like I'm choosing the higher priced options like cryzal coatings, and so on.
Also the word Value implies that the others are not a value.

Basic is basic, it means you aren't paying for anything other than what you get.
Select has the implication that you are making a choice between a higher and lower option, it's been set apart for some unspecified reason.

In comparison to select (which means better in this case) Premium means the best.

Anything above premium sounds like "Very unique" it's silly.

Maybe instead of levels, you could present it as features, like upgrading a car. "Okay, so of course this great "clear" feature is part of the basic package, which is a great deal. Did you want to include the scratch-resistant feature?"

Adding things onto their glasses may make more sense, they don't have to know that it's actually an entirely different type of lens. And tell them that you're running a package deal, if they go for the "easier to clean" feature, hey, you'll throw in the scratch-resistant feature for free!

Cutesy, it's all good: good, gooder, goodest.

Jargon rating: 20/20, 20/16, 20/10.

Performance oriented: standard, enhanced, deluxe.

..........................or: basic, choice, superb.

Price oriented: budget, value, lavish.

Combination price and performance descriptions can help distinguish between products within a performance range; also, designate the low and high end products: budget-basic, basic, value-choice, choice, superb, and lavish-superb.

@ footfootfoot, I think of "value" as getting the biggest bang for your buck which is usually neither the cheapest nor the most expensive item; but, somewhere in between based upon my comparative shopping experiences. When price overrides all other considerations and one is looking for the least expensive product, I think of that as "budget" as it may not be the best value; but, it's all one can afford at the time. The term "deluxe" is fine with me as it typically means that something comes with all the options while the term "custom" means made to order which is the case with all eyeglasses low end or high end and is not synonymous with high quality as it is with other things (e.g. custom made knives). :2cents:

I'll tell you what I'd want, if I were a glasses buyer.

I'd want a set of demo pieces, with an actual lens of each type, plus bullet points of the features. That way I could hold it in my hands, and look at it up in the light and see that it does or doesn't have the stupid green anti-glare color the old ones used to have, and then you can show me how you now have to clean my fingerprints off the cheapy lens, but the good lens didn't get any fingerprints on it...

Got 'em.:)

what kinda prices are we talking here

present them as "packages" like the car industry does.

Lesiure/Home/sports/business........packages

baby bear, mommy bear, daddy bear and Goldilocks

Try to stereotype the customer that would want each option and then think of a nice term for that stereotype or a different aspect of that stereo type. Like polarized sunglasses are often associated with driving and lightweight ones with sports......

How about ASKING what the person's lifestyle is like and directing the options in that context?
You know like finding out at little about the person and then steering them in the direction
of the product that best suits their needs/lifestyle.
I believe its called needs-based selling. Once you've assessed the client you can offer your professional opinion
as to the best design and let them decide to go up/down from there.
By doing this it isn't you trying to pigeonhole them as much as them deciding which product they want.

When we were looking at assisted living facilities for my FIL, this one schmuck did that to us. He spent 5 minutes asking us a series of questions about what we were looking for and then spent 5 minutes basically regurgitating our answers back at us. Wasted a good 10 minutes of our time. I'm sure it can be done better than that dude did it, but I was very unimpressed.

It can be the best way to fit the right product to the person's need.
In your case the guy only really had one product so that approach really doesn't fit.
Schmuck? yup.

You still want a nice, memorable, descriptive name for the product you're steering them towards, though. However you sell it.

I prefer an ala carte approach, more "like let's "build" or "design" your glasses to suit your needs".

Of course I do that. That's covered in sales 101.

Right.

basic/value/superior

You'd be guaranteed to sell more in the middle sector because no one wants just the basic, and everyone wants value, but not everyone can afford superior. ;)

For me I would tell you that I don't want those nose thingys. What are those? They stick out and are adjustable. They make my head hurt. My nose will hold up a pair of glasses just fine, thank you. :)

Can you get those? In which category do they belong?

Of course you can get those. I prefer adjustable nosepads myself, but I have a wide bridge. They belong in the category "frame without adjustable nosepads".

Hahhahahaa! Of course!

;)

Then drop the cheesy category stuff and just make your recommendation based upon the information they give you.
I no longer understand what you are trying to accomplish