Look Me In The Eye
 

Michael J. Yacavone

Let's talk technology. Bits, bytes, hard drives, RAM upgrades, Win95, Quote.com, cable modems, personal digital assistants, network computers, blah blah blah. This is the stuff of productivity, of efficiency, of commerce, right?

Not today. Today I want to talk about a very personal technology, the kind where it's person to person and eye-to-eye. What if I told you that for about $40 you could improve your business look, foster better personal connection with your clients, associates, friends, and family, and that this $40 expense would last for years, never wear off, and work for you every day improving your image. Would you be interested?

The technology I'm talking about is anti-reflective eye glasses coating.

Eye glass coatings?

You see, many business people wear eyeglasses. What most people don't know is that if they wear eyeglasses, other people can't see their eyes. It's a classic case of missing the customer's point of view: "I can see them, so of course they can see me."

But they can't. They can't see your eyes because the eyeglass lens reflects light back at the viewer, picking up everything from the overhead lights and the sunset outside the window to the glare of a nearby computer screen. Remember that the lens curves outward, like a bubble, away form the eyes. This has the effect of picking up light from all directions and using it to obscure what's at the center of the lens. From the other person's perspective, what's at the center of the lens? Your eyes.

What all this means is that when you're selling face to face, when you're leading your team through a difficult meeting, when you're talking with stakeholders, analysts, and the press - they can't see your eyes. If someone can't look you in the eye, imagine how much harder your job is!

This is very simply solved: Order a new set of eyeglass lenses, and specify that you'd like "anti-reflective coating" on the lenses. It costs about $20 per lens, and once applied, lasts for the life of the lens.

You won't notice any difference yourself. Oh, you might notice a slight coloration when you hold the glasses at a certain angle in some light. But by and large, you won't see any difference. And, what's worse, no one is going to walk up to you and say, "Gosh! I can see your eyes. I've never seen them before! New glasses?"

It won't happen. Trust me, you will get no positive feedback on your $40 investment. What will happen however is that you'll be able to look people in the eye, and they'll be able to look back. Your connection with everyone you interact with will increase. And, as I'm sure you know, it's the person that makes the sale.

One side note: Once the eyeglass shop has identified you as a upsell target, they may try to add on the anti-scratch coating, or the lost lens insurance policy. In my experience, none of the eye shop add-ons have any value, except for the anti-reflective coating.

And that one particular coating makes the difference between you seeing your customer clearly, and them seeing you just as well.

Plus, it's a lot cheaper than a new computer.