A story about how chasing efficiency led to fewer customers

I sometimes think about the balance between time and results in my work.
Working at an optician's, there are times when we are rushed. This is partly to reduce customer fatigue, but also to live up to the advertising slogan, 'We can make your glasses in as little as X minutes!'
But this isn't necessarily the right answer.

'Your customer service time is too long!'
'Your consultation time is too long!'
'The measurement takes too long!'
When I first started working at an optician's, this was all I was told. Just be fast. Fast. Fast.

It was like a race to see who could have the shortest customer service time. It was a world where only how many minutes it took to finish were discussed, rather than what kind of glasses were fitted for what kind of customer.

I felt like something was being left behind.

When it comes to glasses, if you have 100 people, you end up with 100 different pairs.
This isn't just about the prescription. It's about adjusting them to fit the person's lifestyle, job, habits, senses, and body.
So, even if the prescription is the same as the person next to you, their glasses won't fit you. Many people misunderstand this.

I believe that glasses tailored to each individual are the best kind.
Even with something like reading glasses, a pair from a 100-yen shop and a pair fitted by an optician are absolutely different, even if the prescription is the same. Not that the 100-yen shop ones are necessarily bad, though.

But to achieve that fit, the conversation between the optician and the customer is incredibly important, and detailed measurements take time.
Some people with short service times skip this. Although, there are some who are fast even after doing everything.

But well, I do understand. Time and efficiency are important in business.
If you spend too much time on one customer, you end up making the next customer wait that much longer. Some might even give up and leave.
If you could have served 10 groups in a day but only finished with 5, simply put, your sales are about half.
So, in business, turnover rate cannot be ignored.

But is it really okay to skip important things just for the sake of that turnover?

If you know what is necessary and what is unnecessary,
if it's okay to skip it,
and if the price and quality remain the same,
only then do I think it's acceptable to skip it. If time is saved on top of that, the value ratio might even increase.

'We're busy here,'
'The shop won't run if we do things like that,'
I've already left the shop that used to say those things, but as far as I know, they don't look that busy these days.

What was it that we were skipping for, again?

While I tilt my head at the idea that time is the only correct answer, I continue to chat with my customers.
So, well, I still take too much time.