How My Eye Doctor Got Me to Happily Pay More (with a Good Offer)

I’m up for my annual optometry appointment, which I without fail make at the exact time my contact prescription expires. See, I wait until the last minute because I don’t like getting dilated. It’s not that I’m afraid of the dilation. But usually, I’m going on a workday and dilation really cuts into my schedule; right now I’m a stay-at-home dad for half the week, so workdays are coveted and rare.

While booking the appointment, I asked the receptionist if I needed to get dilated. I know the answer is yes because it is my first appointment with them since being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, which can affect eyesight. I said my preference if I don’t need it, was to skip it.

She told me I did need to get the back of my eyes checked. They could do the dilation for free, and I’d have blurred up-close vision for 4-6 hours. Or for $39, they could do a digital photo of the back of the eye, which doesn’t affect my vision at all.

Guess how quickly I said yes to the photo.

Understanding the Problem

My optometrist understands a big problem I, and I suspect many of their patience, have: blurred vision for 4-6 hours would absolutely kill the rest of my workday. This is compounded in my case, by the fact that it’s one of 3 days I can actually work during the week.

So they crafted an offer using new technology which offers a better solution: checking the back of my eye without dilation.

It could be that dilation is cheaper so they need to charge more for the photo. But it could be equally likely that the photo is cheaper AND faster, but provides a much more desirable outcome. And they know they can charge for the outcome.

They knew my problem and offered a premium solution to fix it. That $39 gets me 4-6 hours of my workday back. It’s not even a question that I agree to the additional fee.

When you understand your customers, doing things like this is a no-brainer. You identify pain points, big and small, and determine how you can alleviate them, with additional offers.

So as you craft your products, services, and courses, answer this: What pain points can you solve with a small, additional offer?