Annual review Specsavers Annual Report LR Proof | Page 12
Advancements in audiology
The value of feedback
It has been another successful year for our audiology
Listening to our customers continues to be an essential
business as we continued to strengthen our offer in
and integral part of our business. Over the past year,
the UK, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
our global customer feedback system generated
Audiology is, simply, a core element of the Specsavers
in excess of 1.5 million responses. The results were
customer experience.
impressive, as more than 90% of respondents were
classed as ambassadors, meaning they were either
We were incredibly excited this year to launch our
extremely satisfied or very satisfied with the value
audiology partnership model in Australia. Our Australian
and overall experience at Specsavers.
customers can now benefit from real value for money,
by saving as much as 50% on what they were previously
Although we proudly invest in comprehensive mystery
paying for their hearing care provision. What’s more,
shopper schemes, first-rate training programmes and
our partnership model provides local audiology
high-tech feedback systems, it is touching thank you
professionals with a fantastic opportunity to own a
messages like this one from a customer in Denmark
business in a very busy market. With 18 audiology
that really inspire us to go the extra mile:
businesses now successfully trading from 31 optical
stores, we will continue to expand our offering of
the highest-quality professional service and the best
possible value in the provision of hearing outcomes. We
aim to have 100 audiology partners trading in up to 200
stores within the next year, growing to 150 partners in
up to 300 stores within three years.
In the UK, NHS referrals increased by 10% and private
sales by more than 13%. We also opened 25 new hearing
hubs across the country, reinforcing our commitment to
provide affordable audiology services to everyone. And
we launched a service for earwax-removal by trained
and accredited audiology professionals at many of our
UK and Republic of Ireland stores.
‘On the weekend, our youngest daughter broke our
Our ongoing commitment to innovate our ophthalmic due to his handicap, we called the store in advance to
lens portfolio saw a number of developments. Australia inform you that we would be visiting with a boy with
and New Zealand saw the launch of MirrorClear, which special needs. He doesn’t handle questions very well.
combines photochromic reactions technology with a We were greeted by the nicest optician, who quickly
flash mirror tint, and this has been a popular outdoor tapped into my son’s needs and found new glasses in
sun-lens choice that lightens when indoors. under five minutes. A huge thank you to Louis Nielsen.’
Additionally, with the introduction of UltraClear We are committed to delivering a high standard of
SuperClean to customers in the Netherlands and customer care to everyone, without exception. When
Spain, the anti-static, water-repellent and smudge- we realised, through customer feedback, that we could
resistant lenses are now available in all our markets. improve our service with people with a disfigurement,
son’s glasses. As he has severe balance problems
we embarked on a partnership with a specialist charity.
Our Dutch market saw volume growth of more than
20% on the previous year. A new hearing aid offer and
a revamp of our appointment system contributed to
enhancing the customer experience in the Netherlands.
We were able to maintain our consistently high levels Changing Faces supports people in the UK who have
of service and quality, with more than 99.5% of our any condition or injury that affects their appearance.
ophthalmic lenses being Colts-attested to exceed the As part of our drive to raise awareness of diversity
predetermined guarantees of service and quality to and inclusion, we worked with Changing Faces to
our partners. develop and launch a series of training modules to
more than 10,000 store colleagues. As a result, 73%
The introduction of Widex Beyond hearing aids proved
very popular this year. The innovative product uses the
latest technology to provide streaming connectivity
and full control of the wearer’s listening environment.
Our focus on the contact lens market continues, and of people serving our customers now say they feel
we launched easyvision unique as a subcategory of very comfortable about how to react when helping a
our trusted and exclusive easyvision core range. The customer with an unusual appearance.
addition of easyvision aquiane to our daily disposable
Designed to synchronise with mobile devices, the
hearing aids allow customers to adjust settings via their
phone to suit their own preferences, making listening
to music or using hands-free functionality a more
enjoyable experience.
Partners Andrew Fraser and Rochelle Fraser at the
launch of audiology at our Tweed City store in Australia.
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Progress in lenses portfolio offers customers the health