A look at vendors, inventory can help cut return rate

Issue: March 1998

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - "I'm really getting tired of the vendor promotions," said Rene D. Soltis, FOAA, a dispensing optician in a private group practice here. "That's just one of the factors forcing frame returns to edge up to the point where they're now at a disturbing 30% nationwide," she added.

"Forget the toaster ovens and the microwaves the suppliers will give you as premiums for big purchases," she said. "That's being a coupon shopper, and there are no loyalties built between the dispenser and the frame rep and the company he or she works for in that scenario."

Ms. Soltis said she searches out vendors with the same philosophy, focus, vision and values that she and her employers have. "The vendors have to know where they're headed, not where the deal is."

To lighten the returns load, she evaluates her vendors on an annual basis to be sure the product line has not become flat or the quality and service have not nose-dived. "Dispensers get comfortable with using the same vendors year after year, and that can eventually work against them in terms of servicing their clientele," Ms. Soltis said.

How many vendors?

At the practice where Ms. Soltis works, she sees eight major vendors, three minor ones and occasionally gets into an experimental area of frame design to see whether or not it sells through. Her recommendation to her dispensing brethren is to use five to eight majors and three minors.

She told Primary Care Optometry News that frame buyers often rely on emotion in their purchases, rather than on what is most important: having each frame turn four times a year.

"When you hire a frame buyer whose only experience was working at a day care center or in a similar position," she said, "that person is not necessarily going to ask reps for vendor printouts on what's selling in the area or keep a vigilant eye on consumer demographics, trends and product mix. That person may not be aware of all the positive and negative features of the frames in the inventory," she explained.

"It's a win-win situation if frame buying is done as a team effort with dispensers and stylists all working together," Ms. Soltis said. "The group decision-making process offers a variety of knowledgeable viewpoints in terms of frame selection and helps motivate and empower staff members," she added.

"With eye care/eye wear professionals being the only segment of the fashion industry in which returns are an acceptable practice at such an astronomical rate," she said, "it's time for this particular industry to become more creative and more forward-thinking in the way it does business."

Trust is key

Dispensers and reps have to develop trusting relationships with each other, she concluded, "so that the dispensers can slowly mark down eye wear that's not selling and promote it as a value-added purchase to the patient, in turn getting returns down to a far more reputable figure, such as 10%."

About 15 years ago, Allen Vaughn, who is now president of MultiFacets, a California firm that deals with rimless frames and sculptured lenses, was finishing up 2 decades as a sales rep for four different frame importers and manufacturers. He can certainly vouch for the benefits of the dispenser and the rep building trust in one another.

"Although the companies I worked for didn't always agree with me, I usually talked the dispensers I dealt with over several years into letting me manage the frame bars and boards that carried products I was wholesaling to them," he recalled. "If there was merchandise that was sitting there and gathering dust, I would clean and repackage those frames and exchange them for colors and styles that my printouts and knowledge of trends told me would do far better for the dispenser," he said.

"You can usually rely on your frame rep to know what's selling and what's not," he said, "but sometimes, the dispensers will take the frames no matter how hard you try to dissuade them. And, as you might expect in cases like that, the frames keep coming back to the supplier."

Whittle time with the rep

"Our frame stylist spends 45 minutes to an hour with each frame rep," reported Dan Bintz, OD, "but I'd like to see that cut back to 30 to 45 minutes per rep, because it's less time that she has to take away from each patient."

Dr. Bintz said that, for the most part, he has had excellent dealings with reps, "but occasionally we've had padded orders that we've had to confront those reps about. We've also had companies give us only half of the wholesale cost back on returns of super-high-priced eye wear that put the frame `on sale' for 50% off just a few months after we've added it to our inventory," he added.

"I usually return discontinued frames," he said, "because getting parts gets too difficult down the road. And if certain vendors didn't have a return policy at all, I don't believe I could do business with them."

Carol Norbeck, the optician who runs Seattle's Optical Illusions for Washington State's eight-practice Paris Miki (where she is a vice-president), finds that even though the sales rep is her best advisor for what's selling in the area, "using a panel of consumers who enjoy eye wear works great in helping us determine what will sell and what won't."

Several times a year, Ms. Norbeck said she has 15 hairdressers in the area come by for a lunch hosted by her shop and one or two frame reps from noncompeting firms. The hairdressers are usually in their late 20s and early 30s - similar in age to many of the people in her shop's clientele - and they know what frame materials, colors and styles are popular among their own clientele. "My thinking is somewhat conservative, and I'm a bit older than these women, so they help me to see the lines on display from a fresh, young perspective."

Ms. Norbeck stresses that in addition to using this or some similar strategy with eye wear consumers, returns might well be eased if opticians and optometrists do not use a "take these frames back or I won't do business with you again" attitude with the reps. Instead, she suggests an open, frank discussion to figure out between the two of them how to sell the frames without repercussions on either side.

Do your homework

Bill Nolan, vice president of professional relations at Williams Consulting Group, agrees with Ms. Norbeck's philosophy. "Over time, dispensers intuitively develop a feel for what their customers like and dislike," he said, based on his experience as a consultant to numerous eye care/eye wear practices. "For this reason, one of the primary caveats is that they can't let the stylists make all the buying decisions based solely on what they themselves like or think is of value from the perspective of price points," he said.

More analysis has to be done up front, Mr. Nolan emphasized. "Reps and practitioners can work together to develop the best inventory possible in the office or shop through an in-depth look at the area's demographics and psychographics as well as trends in colors, styles and price points," he said. "It's pretty much a case of seeing what's selling in your area and then making sure that is what you carry."

Input from the frame reps is key, as is the optometrist's or optician's insight. The teaming of the two appears to be a must in the battle to rein out-of-control returns.

For Your Information:

Rene D. Soltis, FOAA, is a dispensing optician at the practice of Drs. Brutto and Goundie, 44 E. Broad St., Ste. 105, Bethlehem, PA 18018; (800) 424-8422; fax: (703) 243-1537. Ms. Soltis is also a spokesperson for the Better Vision Institute and the Vision Council of America. She has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article, nor is she a paid consultant for any company mentioned.

Allen Vaughn can be reached at MultiFacets, 339 American Circle, Corona, CA 91720; (800) 777-1409; fax: (904) 788-1938. Mr. Vaughn has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article, nor is he a paid consultant for any company mentioned.

Dan Bintz, OD, can be reached at 901 N. Main St., Elk City, OK 73648; (580) 243-1121; fax: (580) 243-1145. Dr. Bintz has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article, nor is he a paid consultant for any company mentioned. He is a member of the Better Vision Institute Advisory Council.

Carol Norbeck can be reached at Optical Illusions, 1525 Sixth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101; (206) 292-2505; fax: (206) 292-7495. Ms. Norbeck is a spokesperson for Vision Council of America's Envision Yourself program.

Bill Nolan can be reached at Williams Consulting Group, 3800 Normal Blvd., Suite 200, Lincoln, NE 68506; (800) 676-9076; fax: (402) 489-7032. Mr. Nolan has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article, nor is he a paid consultant for any company mentioned.