If that person was not a patient, the office may want to do the whole new patient process just like when you go to a new doctor, even if you only have a small infection that requires a 5 min prescription.
It would be interesting to know where that person bought the aid: $495 after paying a bundle price, pay as you go or bought over the internet.
There is something called opportunity cost: The time I spend flashing the firmware could be spent selling a $5000 device. $495 probably means “I am not interested in doing that”
Hey , send me the aids, I’ll do it for $200 (I wouldn’t – too much responsability if something goes wrong, that also has a price)
I could ‘train’ an 8 year old to service the brakes on your car, would you be happy with that?
$495 is excessive, but it might be an ‘I don’t want the bother’ charge, or ‘we’ve never seen you before: but we’ll take you on at the upgrade’ charge: which is fair enough. If you waltzed into my place with aids you didn’t buy here: it’s pretty much what I’d charge you to test/verify and run the upgrade.
If you were fitted here and came in for your annual check: we’d absolutely do it as part our service agreement.
If you’re a medical professional and you have an ‘I don’t want the bother charge’ then that speaks volumes, I don’t think that’s you Um Bongo from what I’ve observed on here and the time you take to explain things to people.
I would prefer to call it the ‘I’m missing out on a new opportunity charge’ or the ‘I’m too busy for new business charge’.
I met Matthew Allsop from Hearing Tracker by getting him to prove to me the value of what he could bring to my KS10 setup through the knowledge that he has as a top audiologist and challenging him to improve music for me. He made my hearing aids stupidly better by re-programming initially for a really low charge. He valued me, spoke to me, listened to me and since then I have bought new moulds, a Roger ON, a new pair of Spheres. My Mum has bought new new moulds and been reprogrammed. My son, new Lumitys. My colleague at work, new moulds new, programming.
Now I understand that the true success is a marvellous technology and the the wizard that programs them BUT to charge a ‘I don’t want the bother charge’ that opportunity would have been missed.
FWIW Matthew doesn’t mind me upgrading and playing, I do this mostly for second sets and to adjust my KS10s to have the same tweaks and adjustments that Matthew applies to my Infinios. For simple things it’s just the hassle of revisiting in London when I am in Kent for a seven minute software upgrade. I think the way Matthew works is a game changer. He would have upgraded me for free for buying the Spheres from him (and the associated service charges that brings) but he doesn’t have to as it’s really easy to do myself.
I suspect you’d appreciate a patient that values you and your input but also occasionally looks for a bit of value too.
Holy cow man, you guys trying to make excuses for a straight out rip off who even think it’s acceptable to charge $1 let alone $495 for a free firmware update that is supplied for free from the manufacturer who also happens to give the software to the clinic for FREE, and then have the gall to try and hide it as some kind of “service fee” because I gotta connect your and take 5min of my time, don’t try and piss over everyone,you can’t fool us we know exactly how it’s done and the time it takes.
they charge too much for a major firmware upgrade. I understand dealers not wanting to spend the time they would otherwise spend selling new hearing aids. That’s one of the reasons I went via self-programming. Dealers need to think about how to retain hearing aid customers. If he was offering me expensive services for a simple firmware upgrade, I certainly wouldn’t want to be with him anymore.
I must be missing something. My experience is that you connect the aids to the programming device, note the message that there’s new firmware available, answer yes when asked if you want to install, watch the bar creep from left to right or else go find something else to do until it’s done. Not something you’d need to go university to learn how to do?
So here is a question : would you offer that person a firmware upgrade as a DIYer? And if something goes wrong, would you be willing to do all it takes to get the aids back in perfect condition?
It’s like taking your car to a mechanic and say “ too expensive , I can do it myself “.
I suspect like the auto industry I work in ultimately the OEMs will figure out how to do it safely and take the dealers out of the equation by doing these OTA upgrades free of charge via the app. Let’s face it you guys don’t need or want this business and the OEMs would rather deal directly with their customers and bring you in if and when needed.
would you offer that person a firmware upgrade as a DIYer?
Sure, along with all the same caveats for any other service or repair I occasionally do for friends. But also subject to my usual filters for friends. But hey, if you want free help then you need to be a decent and responsible person. Otherwise, ask Joe Rogan or whomever instead.
The big change here is of course that software is as much part of the product as hardware and the OEMs can deal directly with the consumer on software if they deliver it reliably. You guys are there to take care of sales and distribution for anything difficult you send the problem back to them anyway.
Now if your model is focused more on service than sales you’ll remain relevant but if you abuse your position and chase service through overinflated costs for limited value the market will move away from you.
Disruption is hard but it’s always a race to the bottom if you don’t focus on service imho. Value your customers as opportunities, I agree a service shouldn’t be free but it does have to be proportionate.
Get it right tho and you’ll have more business through upsell than ever and it will be far more profitable.
It’s not just the time to do the actual upgrade. If a new client wants any kind of service, the provider has to get their information, open a patient file, and do whatever other administrative stuff they have to do to establish a new customer relationship. It’s not the absolute end of the world, but it is time and resources spent; plus, if anything goes wrong, the “simple” upgrade could turn into a lot more time invested in the new patient.
$500 still seems excessive to me; but if the person is not an existing client of the clinic, I would think that some reasonable fee is appropriate. Ideally, it should be high enough to pay for the time spent, but low enough that the client will feel interested in continuing the relationship.
I could ‘train’ an 8 year old to service the brakes on your car, would you be happy with that?
I always enjoy your analogies with auto. I can definitely relate.
A brake job on a life and death vehicle if brakes fail is very different than a hearing aid firmware update. The physical needs to do either job. One is pushing buttons on a computer and the other can be limiting for even some grown men.
This is a great story about how Matthew Allsop works. I agree with you that his model is fantastic. I wish all audiologist would adopt his approach.
IMHO, most people will want full server support from their audiologist. Others, such as some of us on this forum who - including myself - are willing to pay audiologists for their services to get even better hearing. I too am fortunate to have a great audiologist near me who knows I buy online hearing aids from an authorized audiologist, but see her for custom molds, programming, etc. - things I can’t do myself - and am happy to pay her for those services.
As a retired IT professional I see things a little differently. I am glad to see a hearing aid company that ia doing a major firmware update like this and offering it to the ones that all ready bought the previous generation. It is a refreshing breath of air in my opinion. It actually makes me more interested in jumping ship from my present hearing aid brand of 15 years to Phonak. To me it says that Phonak cares about the ones that are wearing it’s products. Maybe it will wake up the other companies. I have seen way too many companies update the firmware and sell the same equipment as a next generation product when previous generation owners only needed a firmware update if they vould get it. And I have also seen where the firmware update was offered to previous generation owners at a discounted price of at least haldlf the cost of a new product. Now that is the ripoff if you ask me.
When I asked my about returning my I90 Sphere ’s that I had just received last month, they told me no need, just come in it is a firmware/software upgrade that will take 7 minutes 7 the HA’s will not be Ultra’s with all the features. The charge was $0.00. $495 is ridiculous I would find another provider. Even if one did not get the HA’s from that provider, a nominal charge for 7 minuteswould be acceptable by most, or the provider if they were a good business person would U/G as a good will gesture in hopes of creating a new patient. BTW, the Ultra U?G is FANTASTIC the differences are very noticable.
San Francisco
Wales, UK
Kent, England
Croatia
BC
