"Remember always that the recollection of quality remains long after the price is forgotten."
Harry Gordon Selfridge
One near-universal law of psychology is habituation; we stop noticing objects we see or hear repeatedly. We often overlook things, usually because they don't matter to us too much. But there can be costs…
You're visiting a new dentist, the staff seem pleasant and professional, all is progressing well until a pair of safety specs are popped on to protect your eyes. As the specs loom closer, all you can focus on are the smudged lenses and dandruff covering the frame. Suddenly, you're questioning the hygiene of the equipment that's rooting around your mouth. Suffice to say, I never returned to that dentist, and never recommended the clinic to anyone else!
So, what do we see if we turn to focus on our field? Optometry is a thriving, progressive industry. Or at least, that's how we feel about it. But visiting many practices feels like taking a step back in time. While the eye care field is rife with innovation and cutting-edge technology, that's not always what patients perceive whilst sitting on worn furniture and being asked to choose "one or two" from behind a phoropter that could have been taken from the pages of a steampunk novel!
