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. 10 Progress in lenses portfolio offers customers the health