I was just hanging up the phone after rescheduling an appointment for another snowed in patient, when the bell chimed alerting me that someone had walked into the dispensary.

When I looked up to acknowledge this unexpected customer, it was all I could do to not react to his appearance. This poor soul looked disheveled and unkempt, almost like he had spent the night outside in the elements. His boots were sloppy and untied and he was wearing a tattered, quilted, plaid flannel shirt that was doubling as a jacket. Thinking perhaps that this scruffy looking man was just looking for a place to warm up, I welcomed him with a smile and in the same manner I greeted all of our patients. "Hi, I'm Stephanie, how can I help you?" He tells me that he needs glasses and that he has never had an eye exam.

At this point, it had crossed my mind more than once that this man was a waste of my time. Even though it had been a slow patient day, I was the only employee and I always had a pile of work to do. Remaining professional, I told him that the doctor could see him in 15 minutes. His personality was about as drab as his appearance as he mumbled, "That would be fine."

After he illegibly scribbled his answers on our patient questionnaire, I asked him if he would like to look at frames. Just as I would have with any other patient, I handed him the most expensive frame on the board that would suit his face shape. I still remember, it was a Silhouette palladium frame with gold inlay on the temples and retailed around $400. He tried it on and I began to tell him the benefits of selecting a frame of this quality. I had not even gotten to the price yet when he interrupted me and said, "This one will be fine." Skeptically, I asked him if he'd like to look some more and with only a shake of his head he indicated that he had finished looking.

I set the frame aside and waited for the doctor. A few moments later, my new friend told me that he would need a second pair just like those so he could leave a pair at his office and a pair at home. With a smile on my face, I said "Okay, I will order another one for you", even though I was thinking, "Yeah, right" in my head. When he and the doctor emerged from the exam room, they were smiling and conversing. Stunned that "Mr. Personality" could carry on a conversation, I barely heard the doctor ask me for the frame that he had selected. The doctor then shook his hand and disappeared back into the lab, leaving me to close the sale.

I began to explain the lens options and again our quirky patient interrupted me and told me just to give him whatever the best lenses were. I finished writing the order for his three pairs of glasses and his exam fees. Before I finished explaining the charges, he handed me the very first Platinum American Express card that I had ever seen, and said, "Just put it all on this." His total was over $2,200! I walked back to the lab and asked, "What was that?" The doctor laughed and told me that he was a computer genius who owned a huge company.

I was young and still had so much to learn about being an Optician. Earlier that year, I had taken a class on not "pre-judging" your customers and to never assume what your customers can afford. That day, I had confirmation of what I had been taught and the importance of following these steps:

• Never judge patient's purchasing ability on their appearance.

• Always start with the most expensive frame in your dispensary. Patients will always tell you if they can't afford it, but rarely will ask you for something more expensive.

• Don't make the mistake of thinking that if you wouldn't spend $500 for a frame, your patients won't either.

• Make sure that you educate your patients on all of the lens options available to them and let them decide what they want to spend.

• Practice these steps with returning patients. Their financial situation may well have changed since they bought their last pair of glasses.

• Offer your best products to insurance patients, too. Not everyone wants only what their coverage will allow.