assistant sales manager

sales consultant

sales manager

brand manager

manager in training

Stanton Optical

Don't get me wrong, hard work pays off and putting in overtime can be beneficial. However, at Stanton Optical you may work a lot of overtime with a not so good base pay. The commission rate is constantly being altered to fit "company needs". It's been over a year and I have yet to have a real employee evaluation nor raise. You can take pride in your work and the most reward you will receive is a typical "good job" acknowledgement without any real compensation or recognition. Regional and above management are very unorganized, not to mention moving up within the company also begs the question at what point do you require an individual to have a degree or basic business knowledge. There is a fine line between multitasking in a fast pace environment and biting off more than one can chew. The job duties for one Manager In Training seem reasonable on paper, but when you are carrying out all the day to day responsibilities it becomes clear that they literally want only single people with not outside commitments whatsoever. Also, it helps if you do not challenge your "superiors" or question the way things operate. Doing so will get you removed from the "favorites list". Overall, it is becoming more and more apparent that the company is sugar coating a miserable job life the same way they sugar coat missed promise dates to patients.

That being said, I do not believe the company has any real connection to their patients. At the end of the day they just want your money and the store metrics are the most important subject to the company. Obviously, the numbers show how well the store is doing in sales, but it is not the only thing that matters about a company. It is disrespectful to take money from a customer and agree to give them product within a certain time frame, then not follow through. And when it is realized that an order has an issue, the original seller is oftentimes not even involved in taking accountability. It teaches future management that accountability/responsibility is not important. So long as you maximize sales the best you can, it's okay if people are unhappy with services after purchase. Unless they throw a giant size fit, in which case we offer free product and avoid refunds as much as possible. I really do no think the company have very many educated professionals at the top to run things. Sad. Great concept for a store, just not the right leadership from the very top to the very bottom. Do not make it a career, you will be underpaid and constantly on edge just waiting for negative feedback and changes in policies.

As an OD Tech, you would start your day by setting up the doctors office and getting ready to see patients. You would call online appointments and confirm and turn on machinery. Once patients arrive for their appointments you would run their insurance to find their vision benefits and take payment for the exam, and get them pretested in 5-7 minutes. You might have to make a patient file if they have not been their before. While pretesting, you also have to be diligent about recommending Vision Club and other promotions regarding glasses, while still keeping a 5-7 minute pretest, as meeting those metrics is what can get you a $2 bonus (extra $2 an hour for that week). Your will also have to learn all of the technical terms regarding glasses, prescriptions, lab stuff, lenses, and contacts. You will also learn how to teach patients how to insert and remove contacts. During the week, there are shipments of contacts that need to be put together and alphabetized. You will also be expected to dispense glasses/contacts and adjust them when patients come to pick them up. We do try to get glasses done same day if possible, so you have to go in the lab and grab them sometimes. Dispensing includes troubleshooting if people are having difficulties seeing out of their glasses. There are a myriad of issues people can have, depending on what they wear. If the glasses were made wrong, you will have to put in an order for a remake, which can be a real hassle. Everyone in the store is cross trained for every other position, so you will most likely have to learn how the sell glasses and contacts as well, or at least be able to put the order in the computer. A big part of being able to sell is becoming familiar with all of the different promotions, lens types, contact types, and how to present pricing to people so they will buy. The hardest part of the job is probably finding enough time with everything going on (especially if its busy) to focus on what needs to be done THAT DAY. I really enjoyed learning all about the process of how glasses are made, and learning all of the different components of getting someone a prescription.

I come from a few years of optical experience, and the level of disrespect, mind games, lack of communication, lack of respect, goes way beyond what I could ever being to explain here in this review…They hire people from ZERO optical experience who are managers, assistant sales managers and so forth running the show, so when you run into an actual optical issue, none will be there to honestly, properly,and professionally troubleshoot your issues. There is no doctor on site or licensed opticians which also leads to further issues because you have  management who is not properly trained with zero experience telling patients “to trust their judgement and the prescription the doctor has provided knowing that not even management has proper optical training to troubleshoot any issues that you’d have. You also got management and upper management who fakes empathy and lacks proper understanding as to how to handle any internal issues either from patients or within employees,not to mention the gossiping and bad mouthing going on between management and associates. The pay is not worth your efforts, because it will be overlooked and you will be seen anything but a “team player” if you set boundaries for yourself or speak up on matters at hand. It’s a joke, and a shame that you’ve got people only in it for the money and benefit of self instead of actually caring and being a good decent human being and health professional. You will not get Saturday off unless you ask or request it, because they want you to always be available on the weekends. The glasses are CHEAP CHEAP AND CHEAP and barely any selection. If you look closely in the store you’ll see repeats of every brand and frame because they’re so cheap and they don’t care. You’re best going to work and get your eyes checked at an ACTUAL eye doctor’s office, where you can get proper care, and not have people who were half trained no matter “how long they say they have been doing this for”. Have some respect for yourself and don’t even waste your time..and if you’d like to try this as a career, myeyelab/Stanton is NOT the start for you, or even a pit stop. Just don’t. 

As a long term employee of this company (over 3 years), I've seen it undergo a lot of changes. The last two years have been very tumultuous, first with the commission changes and then, most recently, with the tier structure (how many hours and employees each location is allowed). 

This company is an excellent way to break into the optical industry. I have stayed throughout the commission restructure, the tier restructure and two regional managers because I truly enjoy what I am doing and the location I work in. 

BUT... I have seen far too many good people be termed with no notice, I've had to let go of good people with no notice and I've seen this company reach into people's pockets by cutting hours and overtime with no pay raises. I've seen weekly goals change mid-week with no acknowledgement (commission and bonuses are tied to weekly goals). 

Because of the tier restructure, you are running stores that do 50k a week in sales with little to no staff and you can forget about a lunch break. If someone takes a vacation, you can expect to work longer hours and have hard conversations about how overtime is not allowed. I've heard the frustrations of others in my position who just cannot deal anymore. 

I'll say this for Stanton as a whole: I've enjoyed working at my location because of the staff I've hired and brought on and the team environment we've created. But upper management does not care about the staff. Their philosophy is "if they quit, we can find someone else." They place no value on what makes someone a good employee. It really is up to you, as a general manager, to make your staff feel valued. Believe me, you will come up with some creative ways to keep staff working for you when corporate cares so little about their welfare. 

The changes are so frequent (and mostly all about money - how much you are paid, how many hours you work) it's no wonder people are quitting left and right. Working for Stanton will make you feel devalued as an employee but because corporate has so little interaction with the stores, the ability to run your store can make or break your experience.

I was very excited when I was scouted out to work for Stanton! I was told that leaving the place I was currently at making great money and an awesome atmosphere would be the best decision for me! I was promised better hours, and tons of money! I was very nervous but I took the leap! It was hard for me to leave my job at the time, but I was looking long term for my family. I was sent to Florida, and the training was very fast for my whole class. I was then sent to my store where I met the District manager. He seamed pretty cool and then he broke the news to me that my store was the worst in the company due to numbers and so much more. I was confident that I was going to pull the store back up because I know how great I am! I honestly feel like I could have done great there, but unfortunately I had to remove myself from the company due to not having my DM's support when my employees were not following the processes. I will say that my management above my DM were outstanding and when I did involve them, they made sure the issues that I was running into were corrected immediately and completely had my back! I know that the DM that was above me is no longer their so Yes this is why I would highly recommend anyone that wants to make great money go apply! Yes it is a fast paced environment, however you can make really good money there! The sad part is that it is about quantity not quality, which is scary when the health of a patients eye is not as important as it truly should be. That is one thing I will say bothered me the most. I used to go there until I started to work there and found out that I truly did not even need glasses that was sold to me prior to me working there. I wondered why I was never able to wear my glasses. I knew I didn't need glasses, but I was sold a couple pair prior to working. Well lesson learned for me in the whole experience.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Unfortunately, I cannot identify a positive “best part” of working there. The store was understaffed and employees were overworked, which made the work environment stressful and difficult to sustain.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part was working under Hickory store manager. She was often difficult to communicate with, and the work environment felt tense because of yelling, unpredictable behavior, and a lack of steady support from leadership. It made the job feel more stressful than it needed to be, especially when employees were already dealing with understaffing and heavy workloads.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There was not much of a positive work culture. The environment often felt disorganized and understaffed, and employees were frequently asked to come in on their days off or outside of their scheduled hours. It was also common to work past the scheduled end time, which made it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day involved helping patients, and most of the patients were kind and easy to work with. The more difficult part was the sales environment. There was a lot of pressure to make sales, and I felt that some coworkers were not always transparent with customers about pricing or options. In my opinion, the focus on sales sometimes came before honesty and patient care, and that made the workplace uncomfortable.

Overall, this company has shown that they lack integrity in its sales. They will fight tooth and nail to keep you from trying to get what you need, even if it's not with them and they've made it wrong MULTIPLE times or delayed orders by months at a time. I do not enjoy working here because of how the patients are viewed and discarded as nothing more than a pocketbook we are expected to shake down, then take the heat from them in person when their orders or wrong or take triple the amount of the promised waiting times.

I do not like working for a company that treats its people this way. If I were one of our patients, I would be livid with the manner my order is handled or lack thereof. I will note though that 9/10 that it has NOTHING to do with the in-person opticians or managers -it's mainly lab errors and owners of these franchises that will basically tell these patients they're sorry out of luck and then laugh as they pocket the money.

Aside from the overall shady business practices, the owners have a tendency to treat their employees as bodies to fill the store instead of ACTUAL people that need breaks, time off, or simply better pay. I do not know how corporate operate their stores, but I do believe it is much the same. The opticians and workers in the stores are nothing more than disposable and are expected to do NOTHING besides make money for something else while receiving unfair compensation and treatment.

I have been employed with this company for about six months. I am the licensed Optician. I am yelled at daily from customers upset about glasses being made incorrectly, taking too long, hidden charges. I am remaking orders mostly, because the employees on sales floor have no previous experience in Optical and have no idea what they are doing. management is the worst. there is no support system and I am often blamed for poor customer service and high remakes. I only dispense and correct orders but, deal with nothing but, angry and upset customers. HR is no help and company has made it very clear, they don't care about anyone weither it's customers or employees. They only care about the money made that day! I am not only beyond stressed from the yelling of customers at me for employees mistakes and lies but, I am overworked with orders needing to be checked in and customers picking up glasses. there is usually at least five customers waiting at all times to pick up glasses and the longer they wait, the angrier they get. no help at all from management. I had to complain about working over sixty hours a week and with no breaks. Also there is no chairs for employees to sit in, you expected to stand all day on a cement floor that they layed cheap unpadded carpet tiles on top of ( feet hurt all day). I am currently looking for another job. I wish anyone the best of luck if you are considering this company as a employer! This company only cares about the dollar!!!

I took the job because the commission for a high volume was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I interviewed for the GM position, but was told they were selecting another candidate with more experience. I still came on board to train and develop. Once hired, I was told the other candidate took a different job. This wasn't an issue as things happen. However, I learned that many of my coworkers (and peers throughout the organization) were told the same thing. I was then promoted to interim GM (given GM commission but not GM base pay) for a month before being fully promoted. We held one of the most productive quarters for that store in over a year before the company changed the commission structure MID PAY PERIOD leaving my staff to miss out on literally hundreds of dollars on their next check. When concerns were brought up, leadership was coached to say if associates were only concerned with pay "they aren't team Stanton". The toxicity of the culture was palpable walking in. Necessary repairs made to the building were not followed through on (carpet coming up and being a tripping hazard, leaking in the roof causing mold, floors flooding during rain causing mold, etc). Many necessary cleaning products had to be purchased out of pocket and not reimbursed because the philosophy was I, as the GM, should be willing to make the investment in my own business that would help me get a return. You live and you learn, but I hope this helps someone else avoid the shortlived nightmare I had to experience. 

I was excited to start the job but unfortunately it was very different than what I'd expected.
The store had me working past when I was scheduled multiple times due to overbooking patients and understaffing. Since we were unable to tell patients that we had a tele-doctor that resulted in understandably upset customers. We had customers in the store for over 3 hours waiting to be seen. The tele-medicine system was constantly not working.

 I accepted a lower pay and different position than initially applied for since they said I would get commission and bonuses; however, I did not receive any of this. One manager was talking about how the store was way under what they were supposed to be making in sales, which was extremely discouraging to me.
From that statement, and seeing how upset many customers were at the end of the exam I strongly felt that I would not be getting around the $45,000 - $75,000 a year that the hiring coordinator quoted when I initially was offered the job.

There was a high amount of miscommunication in regards to scheduling and how they ran things. There was an excess amount of drama among some employees. There was one employee who would yell, curse, slam doors and argue in front of customers on multiple occasions which is horrible for business and the work environment.  

I enjoyed the duties of a patient coordinator during training and some coworkers were helpful and nice but overall this company is not the place to thrive in the optic field at this time.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assistant sales manager 29 salaries reported	$19.07 per hour
Sales consultant 65 salaries reported	$40,031 per year
Sales manager 31 salaries reported	$20.53 per hour
Brand manager 24 salaries reported	$24.67 per hour
Manager in training 47 salaries reported	$19.87 per hour

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