K. Ray Katz

By most standards I am a senior citizen, but like most “old people” I do not think of myself as being old – just highly experienced. I grew up in Baltimore where most of my family and my two lovely daughters still reside. I have enjoyed over thirty years in the hearing care field as a Dispenser and business owner. I started out as an in-home sales and service consultant before working with an ENT and finally buying a well-established hearing aid sales and audiometer servicing business in Tucson, AZ. That office grew into several offices with three Dispensers and three Audiologists. During those years I wrote articles for a number of different trade publications, gave lectures, and was an officer of several state and national organizations. My hobbies are rebuilding our house – we never get finished with one before starting the next – and writing – although some of my readers have probably wondered if English was my first or second language. Eclectic is a word that describes my varied work history: New York Stage Manager working with artists such as Joan Baez, Isaac Stern, and Robert Frost; Special Agent/Investigator for Military Counter-Intelligence (please – no jokes) in the US, Europe and Asia; and Sales/Distribution Manager for a large East-Coast bakery. My wife and I now make our home in Henderson, NV when not traveling in our motor home.

A Few Forgotten Facts

The pressures of business can sometimes make us forget or ignore some of the rules. Some are unique to our professions while others apply to all businesses. Here are few and the way I understand each to apply. “NEW” What is a new product. It is generally accepted that a new product is something that has been on the market

Old Thoughts

Anyone who has been in the hearing aid field for more than a year has run across some situations or had some experiences that remain with you forever; some good, some not so, and others funny, or simply unusual. As we approach the end of the year we often feel compelled to look back and remember them, and relearn their

Some More Advertising

Six weeks ago I wrote a post about advertising trends and my hope that everyone was about to have a good Fall Sales Season. This past week my wife and I traveled to Tucson, end of year medical appointments, visiting old neighbors, etc. Gas was 50 cents lower there than in Las Vegas. On Sunday morning I bought a copy

Hearing Aid Sales Counseling Room Layout

Throughout my life I’ve had the opportunity of visiting a large number of professional offices, both Audiologist and Dispenser, as well as scores of government offices. My primary reason for being in each location was either to visit my peers or conduct my assignments for Army Counter-Intelligence (no jokes please). At first I paid very little attention to the way

House Calls

How many people reading this article have ever made a house call? Don’t be shy…go ahead and raise your hand! In years gone by, all sorts of professionals made house calls. I can remember our family doctor coming to the house when I was sick (Yes – I am that old) and my father and his accountant sitting at our

Strategy vs Competition

The big news in retail Hearing Health the last few months has been the entrance of United Health with a “Direct to Consumer” marketing/sales strategy. This has the potential to cause significant problems for standard dispensing model offices, however; let’s not all run for lifeboats just yet. It will be at least a year before we are able to make

Hearing HealthCare Licensing

Do you have a good working knowledge of your state’s licensing laws and regulations? If you do, can you answer the following question: What is the purpose of the licensing laws/regulations in your state? ANSWERS: (You may choose more than one.) 1. To protect the consumer by ensuring dispensing professionals have an adequate knowledge to safely dispense hearing devices. 2.

Who’s on First?

The “Who’s on First?” routine made famous by Abbott and Costello remains a classic. It was designed to take a simple idea and create total confusion. The audience understood what was going on while our two comedians ran around in verbal circles. Running around in circles and achieving less with each rotation is what can happen when a stranger or

End of Life – Part ll

My blog two weeks ago started talking about death – not your everyday audiology subject! Fortunately we are in a profession that only sees the coming of “the final event” in our clients, not the actual event, as do physicians and nurses. While others may leave us, we ourselves will never personally experience such an event – or so each

Smart Hearing Aid Advertising or…

In last week’s blog I said that I would have more to say this week about End of Life Planning, however, the following subject seemed to be more timely. I promise that next week I will return to Disaster Planning. Ahhh October! Summer is on its way out taking its record weather with it; quickly dropping over the horizon as