There are lots of medical professionals who work on salary, not because they can’t make it in a high volume, high pressure clinic, but because they don’t want to concentrate on “sales”.
A physician could make more in a private practice but there are thousands who work as employees in a hospital, on salary. Not everyone is interested in being a business person, just because they want to help people in a medical field.
I’m pretty sure you have no idea what Costco pays but I’ve heard that their regular employees like cashiers and stockers make around $17 hr which is much more than their competition. I assume they pay audiologists and optometrists the local professional rate.
In fact, Jim Senegal, the former CEO, was criticized for the pay and benefits, and the low markup on products. An analyst said if you quit treating customers and employees so well the shareholders would make more money. I paraphrase but he said something like, I’m building a company for the next 100 years. If you don’t believe in what we are doing maybe you should invest somewhere else.
Yes, what would I know, I only dispensed Siemens for seven years, the last four of which I was working for the number one Siemens retailer in the UK.
Yes, but they don’t bother to prove it, therefore it is just marketing hype.
Any good hearing professional with a track record of success can work for a clinic or chain that pays well. Those who cannot prove success like the safety of a low salary, without the pressure of having to do a good job to earn a bonus. I’ve never seen a successful hearing professional leave a company and move to Costco.
I know you lack the nuance to understand what I write, which is why we rarely exchange posts any more. If you think that is my logic, I suggest you might simply be projecting.
I have never worked for such a company, and I have always been paid a salary my whole career. I have actually only worked with two professionals who did work for one of these high pressure environments, and I am certainly not suggesting those are superior, in fact quite the opposite, the outfit they worked for should be shut down. They make cheap crap at local level and then use high pressure sales tactics. It disgusts me, and I would never suggest this is superior.
What I am saying though is that a hearing professional can work for a very laid back company, and put in decent work, take care of patients, and end up with an income far above what they pay at Costco.
I’ve seen a few drift in the direction of companies like Sams and Costco, and in every case they have been utterly failing to run their clinic well, are basically making a loss for the company, and then they think the salary idea is safer. But the thing is, they were failing because they don’t test well, describe the loss well, make the patient trust that they can take care of them properly, and so that is why their sales are low, and they don’t get referrals.
In my job, I don’t use slick sales techniques, or special closes I read in a book. I treat patients with respect, explain their loss, explain the solution, and let them decide. If you do a good job, sales techniques are irrelevant quite frankly. All patients want to know is that you are competent, and that you care and have the skills and equipment to help them.
The physician argument is irrelevant, because they get paid money just because of their credentials.
I kind of get what you are saying about business people though. I honestly never consider any bonus I might be entitled to when I work with my patients. I genuinely focus on doing the right thing for the patient, and that pays off naturally, so I don’t worry about it.
I apologize if I ever implied that only pushy sales people can survive in this profession, because I find such people quite annoying.
Well clearly I can’t refute what you’ve ‘heard.’ But I work with many hearing professionals travelling as I do. I observe which ones leave to go work for big box outfits, and it is certainly the case that the vast majority are failing to run their clinics well. Some have told me what they are being offered to go work at places like that, and it is well below what they would be making if they did a good job and ran their office right.
Call me a snob, but when I think of getting medical advice, I don’t think of Costco, Sams Club or Walmart. That’s why if I needed hearing aids, glasses, a haircut, or anything similar, I don’t go to these places.
I’m sure some people have had a great experience, and felt like they got a good deal. But the original thread here was asking the question if a company like Costco can compete with a clinic offering top of the line Starkey (in this example), and I stand by my answer that in general, probably not. You simply don’t get something for nothing in the medical field in the US, and there is always a reason (or reasons) why option A is cheaper than option B.
good hearing professional with a track record of success
and where do good folks build that track record?
pressure of having to do a good job to earn a bonus
really think Costco, Wally or whomever doesn’t care if their folks do a good job?
you mean sell a certain $$$ amount within a certain time-frame to get a bonus.
I suggest you might simply be projecting
may I suggest you are a big BS artist?
btw, why do you always add ‘in the US’ and ‘use to work for Siemens’ how long has it been since you fit a Siemens?
btw, I thought you were going to add me on your ignore list.
ZCT there is a member of this forum Delmar who is running one of the busiest Costco high volume location on west coast. From personal experience Delmar has been very helpful to many of us on this forum and in PM. He seems to be as capable as any professional on this forum. Before Costco employment he also worked on the other side of the fence for national hearing aid chain. Before you make silly statements regarding competency of Costco dispensers, consider the competency of hearing aid professionals in general! No amount of half baked logic will justify your statements.
You are talking about 2 different things here - being employed as a hearing professional & running your own clinic.
You talk so much about the costs of running your own clinic, but you have not done so.
I think the point the users are making here is that some people would rather work for a big box store at a reasonable wage than run their own clinic. I know my current professional says he makes the same profit on any aids he sells to avoid giving preferential treatment to certain brands or models.
Or maybe they were not good business people. It can be difficult to properly take care of difficult patients without affecting your income, if you are self-employed.
So do hearing professionals at the big box stores.
I am very sorry if my posts ever called into question the competency of all Costco employees. I am not privvy to such information. I’m sure as with any company some of their staff are amazing.
I’ve just noted that of the people that left my company to go work for them, they were being offered lower salaries than one could get elsewhere pretty easily, and they were without exception failing in their roles at my company. This experience makes me biased.
If I had seen highly successful professionals within our company leave for Costco, I’d have a different opinion.
Actually, I misspoke when I said I had always been paid a salary. I have run my own clinic, but could not do it for long because I was relocating, so I paid myself during that time. That’s how I am aware of cost prices and cost of doing business.
I have also worked for small franchise groups where I ran the clinic as general manager and practitioner. And I have worked for national companies. So I have seen this profession from various sides of the fence.
I get that. It’s just my experience that the people I’ve seen leave my company to work at a big box retailer have been pretty weak. This has colored my opinion, and is statistically not sound enough to draw absolute conclusions.
As for the ‘same profit’ concept, I have never worked for any organization that has incentivized me for recommending a specific brand or system. I have only worked for companies that give me free choice, or have opted to work for brands that are Starkey only.
I guess there might be companies out there that push certain brands and have access to multiple brands, but I’ve not been a part of that.
I agree self employed isn’t for everyone. I have no interest in opening my own clinic, apart from anything else I don’t want to be rooted in one specific community. If my wife got offered a nice job elsewhere, it would be nice to move and not have to worry about selling a business, for example.
For me personally, and based on the American health care system, I like a good balance of salary, benefits, and a bonus for doing a good job.
To each their own. There are clearly good and bad practitioners in every setting from big box to tiny one man clinics, to all the other types of business in between.
I’m not interested in proving or disproving level of competency of Costco dispensers. I recognize and appreciate contribution,knowledge and help by professional members of this forum to HOH community. It would be my pleasure to select anyone of them if they would be available in my geographic area. I also recognize the perceived incompetence of hearing aid industry professionals in general from personal experience and hundreds of posts of unhappy ha users on this and other forums. Selecting Cosco dispensers and painting them as less capable then the balance of the industry is not objective.
First, thanks for all of the imput and sorry if I caused any harsh feelings. :o
Second, I don’t think one should ever judge “whomever” employees as a whole, since we are all individuals with our own individual reasons and stories for our choices. Whether it be, had to sell my pratice and “take a job” somewhere to be by my mother who now has cancer, or maybe, took the job due to being fired because I, in fact, suck. All individual reasons. I guess, if you don’t feel completely satisfied with your audi, find a new one. Their only goal is to make one happy with hearing better, if they are not trying to acheive this goal(whatever they are paid), LEAVE.
I will say, I have only tried the siemens and wasn’t impressed due to the audi. He just wasn’t trying or explaining anything, I couldn’t even tell I had the HAs on, so I left. I then went to a Starkey and it definately had that WOW factor for me, just a little bulky. Then, I heard about the prices at costco, (reason for this post) and I’m going tomorrow to try them out. If the WOW factor isn’t in there, I’ll be back at Starkey. I might even ask my audi how he came to work there.
It’s so good to see others stand so strongly behind a product. This is truly a competitive market and almost fun to see that we are all in this together, separately. Really enjoyed all the feedback, and thats feedback in a good way.
Ha! Well you did ask one of those questions that can cause a bit of debate. It’s like going on a Chevvy forum and telling them you think the Mustang is better than the Camaro, or vice versa!
Just curious about this comment. What model did you get exactly that you consider ‘bulky?’ I thought the Starkey aids were pretty competitive in the size department, and have won numerous international design awards. Their Xino is the smallest in its class for example. So just curious what you tried (and sorry if you already posted this).
Hi, just go back from costco and tried on the resound futures. They were really nice but I wasn’t wowed. My audi said that due to achieving all the right frequencies I would need custom molds. I walked around and the heard many things, carts, kids, beeping ect. However, I talked to a few people and the speech clarity just wasn’t there, I wonder if the molds will help.
Before I make the leap, I made a appt with starkey for a second run. Maybe he will have one smaller than the wi this time. (ZCT it was the wi that was so bulky, you could see it above my ear.)
I did like the resound, it had a very natural sound which is a perk. They just didn’t blow me away. Maybe my expectations were just too high. I thought I would put these in my ears and step into a new world of hearing all thing and conversations. All the “things” were there, but what I really need is to hear my clients and partners since I’m going to be running my second biz in March. Personally, I didn’t realise there were so many screaming kids and wobbley wheels in costco. I guess lack of hearing has its perks too.
Another thing I was told, since I need custom molds they will not sit flush againt my ear. They will actually stick out a little, being 33 I’m not liking this. He said if I went with the cic he would adjust the vents but then bluetooth wouldn’t be an option. Not liking that either since being on the phone is part of the job. Is this true for starkey as well?
Also, my audi said he had 20 years of exp and had his own practice. He didn’t like rextons because something usually went wrong with them. I didn’t push for more info.
Why would they stick out? Maybe a mis-communication somewhere there. Rexton has bluetooth available in the Insite CIC, which Costco carries. You will probably have to get a trial of some model and get it adjusted just right to really know if it will work for you. The walking around the store demo is just for show.
I’ve had CIC models and I much prefer the RIC or BTE style.
I don’t know about longterm reliability but I dropped a Rexton Insite CIC into a full glass of water and it took a few seconds for me to fish it out. I took the battery out, dried it as best I could, rolled up some TP and stuck it in the battery compartment as much as I could. I put it in the hearing aid dryer and the next morning it worked fine.
I have had custom molds for at least 10 years… from Sebotec, Rexton, Phonak, Starkey and several local shops and none of them ‘stuck out’? if you think the Wi’s are bulky you might have a problem. You could look at the Siemen Pure SE’s. RIC’s with custom molds are much less noticeable than CICs.
I thought I would put these in my ears and step into a new world of hearing all thing and conversations. All the “things” were there
walking around Costco and expecting demo aids to be wonderful I think is unrealistic. actually walking out of Starkey, Siemens or anywhere and expecting instant satisfaction ain’t going to happen.
I would say since you need custom molds, you can’t judge accurately without them.
I tried both the Starkey Wi and ReSound Futures, in the office and the store, with domes. They were inadequate, because the low tones were all but non-existant.
But still I could judge the quality of speech, and I knew I wouldn’t get full sound without the molds.
Great, it’s good to know that the molds will help and also not to expect much with the demos in costco. As far as sticking out goes, I looked in the mirror to see what they looked like and he said they would actually look like this with your molds, and pulled the tube out a little. He said they would definately be seen. I don’t know maybe he sucks. Ha.
Don, interesting about the rextons and great story. Why were you holding your HA over a glass of water? Just kidding… Thanks for the advise, I’m going with the ric.
For the starkey, I’m pretty sure he said the wi. Of course, it’s very possible I didn’t hear him correctly. :rolleyes:
Well, I’ll make a decision come Tuesday. Thanks everyone for answering all of my crazy questions.
If you could see it above the ear, it was not fit properly. Have them try you with a longer tube length. It should be almost completely invisible from the font, if you look in a mirror for example.
Failing that, if you’re willing to give up on wireless, the non-wireless version called the X series comes in a size smaller. Also keep in mind there are two RIC Wis, a 312 and a 13. The latter is a bit ‘thick’ and you may prefer the 312 if that’s not what you tried.
So I went to starkey just to check them out again and what do you know, I bought them! Yay! I looooove them, so happy with my over all experience.
I had tried these on back in aug. and wifi wasn’t available in the cic. Well I’m glad I waited because it is now. So I got the molds done for my wifi cic wis, they will be in next Tuesday. My Audi is great, which really makes me feel better, I can’t stress how important it is to be comfortable and happy with your Audi. He also lowered the price to 4k for both. If the cic don’t work out then bte for $3600. Not too shabby compared to others prices. Even better, he said that in April (give or take) starkey is coming out with a remote to connect to your phone. Basically a Bluetooth, even though he wouldn’t use the word “Bluetooth”. That’s great for me, it was one of the main reasons I was considering Costco resounds.
Which by the way, i didn’t find anything wrong with the resounds, they were very natural sounding. However, the starkeys just did it for me. I put them in my ears and well, they made my heart sing:). I knew instantly these are the ones. (too bad I’m talking about HAs :D) So overall, I got everything I wanted-great price, great product, wifi, “Bluetooth”, trustworthy Audi, and cic. I’m very happy. Thanks to all who help me in HA research, you are greatly appreciated.
Oh ZCT, they didn’t stick up over my ear like I said, I must of dreamt that. Instead they were just a little big at the bottom of the ha. My ears are very small and they don’t hide well. At this point, I don’t even care. I’m doing the cic and even if they don’t work I’ll do the bte and let em ride. Everyone knows I need them so who cares if they can see them a little. It’s too good of product to pass up…
