Last week I learned a valuable lesson. Actually that’s a funny choice of words because the lesson was actually about VALUE itself.
Here’s the backstory – I went to Walmart last year to get some new contact lenses. I always pick them up from there because it’s convenient and the prices are good.
Well this particular trip, the dispensing optician told me that my prescription was more than two years old, which meant that it was invalid and he could not issue the lenses. Hmm.
So at the time I needed the contacts because I was travelling and I knew I probably could not get in to see my eye doctor quickly enough. The optician mentioned that they had an eye doc at Walmart that I could go and see ‘right now’.
Convenient. Weird, though, because I haven’t seen anyone but my own eye doctor in probably 15 or 20 years. No matter, I was in a hurry. I went.
The doc rushed through the exam, changed my prescription (increased it) and sent me on my way back. I went to Walmart with my new prescription and got my new lenses.
They never actually felt right. Well, I could see very well but they felt too strong. I should have gone to see my own eye doctor right away but I didn’t. He also told me to read I might need to go and get ‘cheaters’, which I did. I felt like I was guessing at how to correct my own vision!
I eventually stopped wearing the lenses because it was difficult to read with them on, and I became quite dependent on the cheaters. I started to wear my regular glasses all the time, something I hadn’t done in many years, and then I would just take them off to read.
Fast forward to this week. I went to see my own eye doctor – explained my delinquency 🙂 and she fixed me up. She dropped my prescription TWO steps in one eye and gave me some free lenses to test it out.
Report – amazing. I can wear my glasses anytime, but I can also easily wear my contacts for distance and to read. No cheaters necessary. And she even said if I needed them to get +1 power. That’s (again) TWO steps below the ones I have been wearing. Craziness.
Her expertise in understanding my problem was so valuable, and it’s something I should have seen before. She probably would have even squeezed me in for a visit back then, but I never asked.
So … the lesson is that you need to value what you pay for. Not that the doc at Walmart was wrong, but I didn’t question him at all even though I wasn’t really happy. The doc I trusted I didn’t even ask. Totally my fault, the whole thing.
When we make decisions in our lives or in our business, we need to understand the whole situation and then make the decisions based on the value that is there for us.
Trust and relationships should outweigh speed and convenience. And if speed and convenience do win out, be sure to do your homework so that you are utilizing your new-found supplier or service provider to their value as well.
Would love to hear your stories about value and how you have identified it and used it in your life or your business. Looking forward to connecting with you!