Lessons from an eyewear stylist

The choices available to customers when selecting eyewear in practice can be bewildering. Practice staff play a key role in guiding customers through the available options – and helping them to choose a frame that will put a spring in their step. 

Dan Scott

OT asked Scott for his tips on how practice team members can help customers in their search for the perfect frame.

Be curious

When considering what frames to recommend to a client, Scott will take into account facial characteristics such as head size, crest height, nose size, jawline, browline and skin tone.

However, Scott emphasised the most important aspect of any dispense is the ‘discovery conversation.’

“It is the information gathering phase,” he explained.

“You can't possibly make recommendations without knowing a lot about the individual,” he highlighted.

This conversation can cover how long a customer wears glasses for each day, what they are worn for and their preferences regarding the weight of frame and bridge fit.

When presenting a customer with spectacles, Scott ties his recommendations back to this initial conversation.

I have had clients say it has completely lifted them. Those are the most rewarding moments

In terms of facial characteristics, as a rule of thumb, Scott recommends that the top of the frame follows the browline, the bottom of the frame is opposite to jawline, and the areas above and below the frame are fairly even to create balance.

However, he cautions practice team members from sticking too rigidly to principles around face shape.

“Personal preference cannot be ignored,” he said.

“If you had an identical twin, you’d choose one set of clothes and your twin would choose another. Your face shape would be similar, but your style would be different because we are all individuals,” Scott emphasised.

The difference a frame makes

Scott shared that the difference carefully selected eyewear can make to someone’s outlook and daily life is “massive.”

Customers can go from feeling self-conscious about wearing glasses, to embracing the way spectacles make them look and feel.

“I have had clients say it has completely lifted them. Those are the most rewarding moments for any dispensing optician,” Scott shared.

Lunchtime listen: for more eyewear style tips, tune in to Dan Scott’s Eyewear Stylist podcast on Spotify.