Age friendly Wednesdays in store allow all of our older customers a chance to enjoy their visit.

Description

We began our AFI Wednesdays first by tailoring our clinics to suit the customer needs.
This involves every area in store and every staff member in store starting from our Call centre .
Our call centre will monitor the diary and give our older customers longer appointment times to speak with the optician , they always recommend our Advanced eye test with our OCT scan to check their eye health and also make sure to give as much information possible to make their journeys easier.
After this our floor staff get involved by welcoming the customers in with a smile.
They have made an older playlist including the likes of Frank Sinatra or Doris day for all our customers to sing and dance along too.
All of our team will give each person more time in store to allow us to deliver the best customer service including giving a goodie bag for each customer to take away on the day.
We have comfy seats in the waiting area available and some treats on standby for anyone thats a bit peckish or would simply just like a treat.
Our Opticians and Hearcare team have more time to allow for very thorough tests and a longer conversation with our customers to make sure we get the best results.
Lastly our lab will be involved by producing the glasses for each customer giving them the best finish possible , they communicate back and forth with the floor team and our opticians always making sure to give each person the best care.
As a whole each person in store is extremely involved in our customers journey, our team love this and our customers do too.
Its simple ,its effective and its a pleasure to be able to do .

Aim of Initiative

To give the BEST care to our older customers and allowing them to enjoy their experience more in store

Who is it aimed at

Anyone over the age of 70

3 Steps critical to success

1. Giving more time for eye tests for both optician and customers benefit.
   IE. if their is a health condition that may need more investigation or conversation you have the time to discuss this / if a customer needs a wheelchair accessible room or any sort of extra assistance that we do not need to rush them and they can enjoy their time in store.
2. Making sure all optoms have the same clinics running as to not make the store too busy and loud.
   If our diaries allow for anything else on wednesday mornings the shop could get too busy and too loud, some of our hard of hearing customers would find this difficult.
   Or anyone who may be cautious of busy places can come in knowing they will be in and out without any hastle in store etc.
3. Changing the atmosphere – changing are seating area / music on playlist / offering treats and goodie bags will help our customers enjoy this visit so much more and makes them smile.
   Some customers dont get a chance to chat to too many people so they enjoy a laugh , a sing and when needed a little one to one chat.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Sometimes it can get naturally busy in store if the diary is not prepared correctly – so training the team to help manage this.
2. Customers not showing up or cancelling last minute can be difficult when we have a huge amount of people waiting for these slots. We just try and stress if they cant make it to please call in advance.
3. None else

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Loyal customers returning on Wednesday AFI mornings
2. Customers get the best service possible.
3. Staff enjoy the experience and in return make them smile.