If your patient journey only offers one micro-no after another, here are 3 ways to get them to “yes!”

Invision July 2026

WE HATE WHEN A PATIENT or customer tells us “No.” It’s heartbreaking to learn at the end of their visit that they are not going to buy glasses from us. But the reason many decline to purchase eyewear from you is because your team has been sending them signals not to buy glasses.

It’s true! Every interaction between your team and patients influences whether they purchase eyewear. This can be created and built on at every touchpoint. Now, some of you may be thinking, “Just because we are not being intentional with our interactions does not mean we are telling the patient not to buy glasses!” and assume you leave the patient in a neutral state.

Wrong! I work with hundreds of independent opticals and the unfortunate fact is that if you are not actively influencing them to buy, you are unintentionally influencing them not to.

If you are not influencing micro-yeses, you are flooding them with micro-nos; small moments that discourage them from buying.

Intentionality influences consumers to enjoy the shopping experience and make purchases.

In psychology — and retail science — this is known as Commitment Theory. If a consumer is led down a path of small decisions favoring agreement, then they develop a psychological desire to remain consistent with the commitments they’ve made along the way.

This desire is so strong that reversing course feels inconsistent with who they are. Meaning that if a consumer makes micro-yeses along the way, when they get to purchasing, it is the logical next step and done willingly. There are a multitude of opportunities for patients to make micro-yes decisions. We’ll highlight three here and do a deeper dive into each in this month’s video. Scan the QR code for that.

1. Check-In. Most teams gather the necessary information, then ask the patient to have a seat for the tech to come get them. This is unintentionally signaling: Now is not the time to shop or look around the optical. This sends a “no” signal.

You have a beautiful optical. After check-in, escort the patient to it and show them your personal favorite brand, hand them your favorite frame, and tell them why it is. Let them know you are going to notify their tech so they can peruse the optical while waiting for the tech to grab them. This signals many “yeses” to purchase.

2. Color Options. Most opticals’ merchandising begins and ends with setting up sections for men, women, and kids. This is not influencing a purchase at all. Many consumers enter the optical, get overwhelmed, and conclude, “There is nothing I like here.”

Instead, use retail science and capitalize on how the brain focuses on similarities. Try showcasing multiple colors of the same frame. The brain will be attracted to the similarities then will choose a color preference. Creating color choices offers micro-yeses.

3. “Do you want to look at glasses?” If I could remove one phrase from our vocabulary … If I ask my son if he wants vegetables with dinner, what is he going to say? No! If I ask my son if he wants peas or carrots, he will choose one. The same goes for your patients.

Asking smarter questions leads to more impactful decisions and acceptance of what is being discussed. Questions ranging from, “Did you want a similar frame, or do you want to switch things up a bit?” to “If you could design the perfect frame, what would it be like?” Smarter questions draw patients in and get them thinking about their perfect eyewear.

If you hate hearing “no” and watching your patients walk out, know you can do something about it. Be intentional about every interaction with patients and build in micro-​yeses throughout their visit.