Selling used possessions online can be quite the ordeal. Have you had the “Marketplace” experience? You can really learn a lot about people by just simply conducting business in this fashion. Here is how my experience usually seems to go when I post a for-sale listing for an item.

Query: Is this available?”
Response: “Yes—I just posted it 3 minutes ago.”

Query: “Can you tell me about it?”
Response: “The advertisement has photos with all the specifications and technical details.”

Query: “Where is it located?”
Response: “There is a map in the posting that shows my location.”

Query: “Can you ship it?”
Response: “The details in the advertisement say local only—no shipping.”

Query: “Does it work?”
Response: “Yes—I do not sell items that do not work.”

Query: “You listed it as being in good condition. What is wrong with it?”
Response: “Nothing, really—it’s a five-year-old, $200 chair, and you’re getting it for $20.”

Do you ever feel like you have had this “Marketplace” experience in practice? How many times have you explained to patients that contact lenses physically cannot roll back behind the eye? Or, that they should not “clean” their GP lenses in their mouth?

When our days are long and grueling, it is easy to begin wishing that people were more fluent in silence. As Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Yet, we cannot forget that they are our customers (and patients). So, we must continue to educate and re-educate them at every visit.

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The goal of Contact Lens Spectrum is to provide you with timely and thought-provoking articles that will help you become a more successful contact lens practitioner. Please let us know how we’re doing! E-mail CLSpectrum@pentavisionmedia.com with your comments or article submissions.