Daniel Dinh now views Audiology from a new perspective

Daniel Dinh has always been interested in healthcare and helping people. After accompanying his grandfather to his hearing aid fitting appointment, he witnessed how his hearing devices were not meeting his needs – despite countless adjustments. It was this revelation that Daniel decided he would study to become an Audiologist and help his grandfather himself.

Then in 2017, he saw that Specsavers was displaying the prices of hearing aids.

“I was amazed to see how much cheaper and more affordable the prices for hearing aids were at Specsavers. I was quoting and prescribing my customers hearing aids ranging up to $10,000,” he says.

“My (then) employer’s prices were so much more expensive compared to Specsavers, and I didn’t know how to respond to my customers when they questioned the price difference. This had me wondering why hearing aids were so expensive.

“I also felt there was always an underlying pressure to keep selling, and try to hit monthly revenue targets and KPIs,” he says.

“Slowly it felt like my job was purely to churn out hearing aids with no regard to the customer’s needs. I would be questioned by managers why I didn’t upsell high end devices. Why was I only prescribing full subsidised devices instead of having customers top-up and pay out of pocket for hearing aids?”

In 2019, Daniel considered it was time to try Specsavers, but he needed to gain the leaderships skills required to manage a team. He spent the following year working with his employers’ team and took on leadership responsibilities. He then felt ready to pursue Specsavers.

“At the time, there was an employee position at the Specsavers Berwick store to cover an Audiology Partner going on maternity leave. Despite it not being a partnership position, it was a good opportunity to experience the Specsavers model – so I agreed to take on this opportunity,” he says.

“After working in the Berwick store, I was offered the position as audiology partner for Casey Central and, down the track – the Cranbourne store.”

Stepping in as the acting-partner has worked well for Daniel. It afforded him the opportunity to test the Specsavers way – prior to buying into a business of his own. As an employee and acting-partner, Daniel had access to all the resources and accounts, just like a usual partner.

“Thanks to Specsavers, I have developed a fresh understanding of how hearing care providers can operate. As a business, instead of marking up the prices to insane heights, they are priced fairly which is affordable,” he says.

“It is a different approach that aims to rely on providing more affordable health care to a wider range of people. What our competitors offer often results in only the wealthy being able to access hearing care services, leaving the ones who are not as well off, to put off their hearing care.”

As a Specsavers audiology partner, Daniel finds it refreshing to be supported by the team and other partners.

“I used to feel very alone at my previous work. I felt like you were only praised if you had a good week of hearing aid sales, and if you performed badly one week you would have a manager sit in on your appointments to observe and try improve your hearing aid selling performance,” he says.

“There is none of that here at Specsavers. I do not have to justify my performance to anyone. Our goal here is to advocate for more affordable hearing care to people and provide help to those who really need it.”

“Plus, I have the support of the optical partners in store who have been very accommodating and caring, and check that I have been integrating well into the store,” he says.

Daniel has big plans – hoping to develop and grow the business to employ audiology professionals and assistants to expand his care and reach. And the positive impact joining Specsavers has had on Daniel has been significant!

“Before joining Specsavers, I was quite jaded by the industry. Whilst working in previous roles, I almost changed careers to escape it. Thanks to Specavers, I’m glad I’ve stuck around to give Audiology another go. For other audiology professionals and assistants that are feeling the same as I used to, I want you to know that there’s an alternative way of working in the hearing aid retail industry,” he says.

“If you’re unsure if you want to stick it out with audiology, have a simple and confidential conversation with the Specsavers team to view audiology from a different perspective.”