In this episode of Sound Advice, audiologist Doug Leonard from ASI Audiological Services of Iowa discusses the complexities of pricing in the audiology industry. He emphasizes that hearing aids are not commodities and that the professional component in their dispensing adds value beyond just the price tag. Doug shares his experiences, likening audiology services to other professions where trust and skill play crucial roles.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today on Sound Advice with audiologist Doug Leonard from ASI, Audiological Services of Iowa, we're going to talk about pricing. And I think if you talk to anybody in any profession, whether they sell cars, they build houses, they dispense hearing aids, the price is not always as simple as just saying, here's the price, this will work.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, I agree wholeheartedly with that, John.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's a clumsy way to say it, but.
SPEAKER 01 :
But it's true. And, you know, it depends on what you're buying. I mean, if I went into a store and I was looking for toilet paper and I can get a four-pack of toilet paper for $3 or I can go to somewhere else and buy it for $2 and it's the same toilet paper, that's fine. But hearing aids are not a commodity. There's a professional component that's involved with that. You mentioned contractors. If you had your trusted local contractor, and everybody has their favorite. We remodeled our house down in Atlantic 10, 15 years ago. The guys that did it, we loved it. They were great, showed up on time. If they weren't going to be able to make it, they called us and let us know. They were very good contractors, did an awesome job. But you can always find somebody that's willing to do it for cheaper. And if you are only shopping on price and not considering the skills of the craftsman or the contractor, the doctor, the audiologist, the dentist, or the electrician, you were really fooling yourself.
SPEAKER 02 :
It could all come down to the price of the materials or the price of the fact that, well, we may not see you again, so we're going to charge you this and hope that you don't come back. Whereas you build that relationship with patients. You want them to come back into your office, and you want them to rely on you for great service and to get exactly what they want.
SPEAKER 01 :
It's exactly. And, and, you know, we do establish relationship and we have a working relationship for patients, you know, for five or six years, you know, typical lifespan of a set of hearing aids. So we're going to see them twice a year for the next length of time. So we absolutely want to provide good service for them. We want to provide appropriate recommendations, what's really going to work for them. And, you know, you can't get fooled sometimes. And we're going to talk about this maybe in a couple of weeks about some different advertising things, but people who advertise quality of life and, um, quality of service and workmanship and things like that. And there's people that only advertise on price and, you know, quite realistically, honestly, I don't want patients that are focusing completely on price. That sounds bad. I want to price things myself for patients at a level that obviously they hopefully can afford. And then of course I can run my business, but if people are just buying on that, you know, they're typically not a patient that you necessarily need to have in your office.
SPEAKER 02 :
And when you come back to ASI, you know it's going to be Doug that you're going to talk to. You've been there for celebrating 20 years now with your practice there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, you're right, John. And that's important, too. You never know when you go to certain places. They're there for six months, and then they're gone. This is my baby. I've been, as you said, coming up to Carroll now for almost 25 years. And so I have a lot of personal things invested in this business, and that's why you work with me.
SPEAKER 02 :
you get Doug along with a great quality product when you work with ASI. Now again, screening, we can't stress this enough. This is the key to getting help for your hearing.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yep, it is, John. And if they want to set up an appointment for that, they can give us a call and visit with Teresa. The number is 792-5933.
SPEAKER 02 :
They're always going to be there to help you when you need them. It's ASI, Audiological Services of Iowa.
