"I Love the People, but... I'm Sick of this Industry."
Let me explain….
I've spent my life in the hearing care industry. At 14 years old, I would walk across the street from high school to my parent’s hearing aid practice, and started to help out because I realized it meant I would make it home more quickly. Being stuck in an office until 8 p.m. on a school night isn’t fun.
I would clean, write up hearing aid repairs, file paperwork, answer phones, but mostly, I began dealing with….. The complaints! “They fall out of my ears.” “I hate my voice.” “I feel like I’m in a tunnel.” “It’s too loud.” “It’s too quiet.” “I can’t hear on the phone.”
What I Learned First…
Most hearing professionals begin with the objective to SELL hearing aids, or move units, as the manufacturers say. Most don’t care too much about the hard times their customers might be dealing with. I have learned the importance of ensuring proper instruction and programming from day one.
The average rate of returning a hearing aid, once purchased, is 20% or greater.
Our rate of customer hearing aid returns, on average, has been consistently 2%, this is not an accident, it’s what happens when you actually care.
I received my education….backwards. I seem to do everything that way, why not this?
My first job wasn't selling anything. It was fixing what went wrong. Every complaint from first time hearing aid users to those who had been wearing them for years.
My first word…. Was ACTUALLY, “Why?” It has come in handy for heading off most problems from the very first time a hearing aid is pre-programmed. I’ve been told, I have great intuition, but, I think it’s moreso, I’ve heard…. and had to solve….it all!