Hakim | 06/08/2021

Tricks of the trade: Glazers

Most of us will, at one time or another, have felt like whacking our head against the nearest hard surface in frustration at the glazing house rep on the other end of the phone, telling us that they can’t do that job for the patient going on holiday tomorrow.

‘Why couldn’t they let us know they couldn’t do it earlier’, is a very common complaint heard in practices. However, on the other side of the coin, a glazing house is very commonly awash with sound of gnashing teeth and sputtering glazers as they bitterly complain about dispensers sending them work that looks as if no thought has gone into it at all. So, as someone who has seen this from both sides, here are a few ideas about keeping the glazers and, ultimately, the patients on your side.

Your Relationship with the Glazers

Try to avoid getting overly annoyed with your glazing house. Good communications and a good working relationship is absolutely vital. Glazers have a list of favourite practices and the quality and speed of your work will be affected by where you are on this list. If they have messed up and you have to shout at some one, always keep it about that job. Never forget, glazers sulk!

And remember, a time will come when you’ll need them. That day when the patient is going to a wedding tomorrow and you only transposed the rx in the right lens. On that day, the higher you are up that list, the happier the outcome is likely to be.

Glazers Know Nothing

When it comes to dispensing, and the pressures that go with it, glazers are deeply ignorant. They don’t have to deal with patients. They have generally have a set criteria as to how a job should come out and no pressure of expectations. We have to tell them. Let them know how you want it to come out.

The less you specify, the more generic the job will be. You want polished edges? Ask. You want the thickness of the lenses more to the front or to the back? Tell them. Glazers can do a lot more than they let on, but it involves more work. So tell them what you want. If you order a pizza with no toppings, you get a plain pizza.

What Do We Know?

We know we want happy patients. And we know we want good value dispenses. And using your glazing house well can be crucial in getting this right. Remember, not every lens type can go in every frame. And even if it can, this doesn’t mean it should. Ask them for advice.

A £1000 dispense is of no use if the lenses are going to fall out the frame once a week. For technical issues like this, glazing houses are a good source of knowledge. Ask them if what you want is viable, and if not, what else is available.

Keep Chasing

Remember that, although that job for the patient going to the wedding is important to you, it will be just one of several hundred for the person on the other end of the phone. So when you ask, very nicely, if they can keep an eye on that one for you and they say, very nicely, no problem, they actually can’t. It’s your responsibility to keep on top of these things and getting angry at them will just push you further down their list. And that’s not a good place to be.

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