How has the Ideal Audition network developed in France?
We launched the Ideal Audition network in 2012, following an in-depth analysis of patient needs. From 2012 to 2015 we only had three centers and we refined, structured and modeled our concept of democratizing hearing aids with a premium service.
After 2015, there was a craze from hearing care professionals who wanted to integrate the Ideal Hearing concept, due to our transparent business policy and innovative digital mode of communication. We have developed in branches and franchises, until reaching the fiftieth center in 2021. By the end of 2022 we will reach 100 centers, and our ambition is to reach 200 centers by the end of 2025, and thus reach the podium of the three most large in terms of number of hearing aids sold by 2030.
How has accessibility to a premium service been the driving force behind your brand?
Before the government introduced 100% health, there were no affordable deals on hearing aids. The patients considerably delayed their adaptation, which generated greater deficits and difficulties in adaptation. Our starting point was to put the price brake. The challenge for us was also keeping prices affordable for high-end category 2 hearing aids, and our prices haven’t changed since 2012.
The market is experiencing significant competition, how does this push you to stand out?
In fact, there are more and more players, in particular opticians, entering the market. The competition brings a questioning, which we had done since our creation. In order to provide a premium hearing aid service throughout France, we had to rapidly develop throughout the territory and insist on training hearing care professionals. One of the trends in our sector, which seemed essential to us, was to standardize and obtain Afnor certification, in order to give a quality guarantee to the patient.
We have organized the activity of each center with a couple formed by a hearing care professional and a technical assistant, present 5 days a week, which provides availability and real experience for the support, monitoring and maintenance of hearing aids. And we insure all lines of hearing aids for four years against breakage, loss and theft.
How do you ensure that human values remain at the heart of Ideal Audition?
We have launched training days, called IA’cademy, which are held three times a year at our facilities with all our teams, in subjects ranging from pedagogy to new technologies. This is important, because we are here to provide the patient with a pleasant experience and to show them that the device does not have to make them anxious.
This content was produced with SCRIBEO. The BFMBUSINESS editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
Source: BFM TV
