First week to every year: what each visit is for, phone vs. in-store, and how to keep follow-ups from slipping
SEER SONUS Research·
Figure · The Follow-Up Rhythm
The rhythm moves from intensive to routine: the first month is about adaptation and fine-tuning, later visits about care and checks, with a hearing re-test every year. The dashed ring marks a point usually paired with a phone call.
Why Follow-Up Needs a Fixed Rhythm
Fitting day is only the beginning. The customer's real experience at home, at work and socially surfaces over the following weeks and months; hearing aids need regular cleaning and care, and hearing itself can change over time. Without a fixed rhythm, follow-up only happens when something goes wrong — often after the best moment to act has passed, and sometimes after the devices have already gone into a drawer.
A fixed rhythm makes care predictable: customers know when they'll be seen next, stores know whom to contact each day, and HQ can measure whether follow-ups actually happen.
Three principles
Every visit has a defined purpose
The next visit is booked before the customer leaves
Every visit is recorded
Five Follow-Up Points
Below is a common cadence. Exact timing can follow your store policy and each customer's situation, and the audiologist may add visits as needed:
01
First week
Confirm daily wear, comfort and confident handling, and fine-tune from the customer's feedback. Usually a check-in call plus one in-store visit.
02
First month
Close out the adaptation period: review the goals set before fitting, look at situations that are still hard, adjust and verify further if needed, and confirm the customer can clean and care for the devices.
03
Three months
Confirm the customer is still wearing them and habits have settled; clean, check, and replace consumables such as domes and wax filters; ask about any new listening needs.
04
Six months
Routine cleaning and function check, confirming device condition and warranty; the audiologist decides whether further testing or adjustment is needed.
05
Every year
Repeat the hearing test and update the audiogram, adjusting settings to match; review device condition, warranty and replacement planning.
Phone or In-Store?
Phone calls are for checking in and screening; adjusting settings, inspecting devices or re-testing hearing needs a store visit.
Item
Suggested channel
Notes
Wear and satisfaction check-in
Phone
Good for screening — if a problem comes up, book a visit on the call
Handling or charging questions
Phone first
Book a visit if it can't be solved by phone
Sound adjustments, feedback
In-store
Settings changes need the audiologist
Cleaning, consumables
In-store
The device needs to be physically checked
Annual hearing test
In-store
Requires test equipment and a suitable room
If a call uncovers something that needs a visit, book it on the spot rather than saying "drop by when you can." For customers with limited mobility or who live farther away, agree on a workable plan in advance — a family member coming along, or several checks combined into one visit.
Keeping Follow-Ups From Slipping
Book the next visit before they leave: end every visit by scheduling the next one instead of reaching out when it falls due.
Give every customer an owner: be explicit about who contacts and who adjusts, and hand over when staff change.
A daily follow-up list: build today's contacts and overdue follow-ups from appointments and customer records, not from memory or paper.
Define "unreachable": set a number of attempts and an interval; once reached, record the follow-up as incomplete and schedule the next try, so the list neither grows forever nor gets quietly cleared.
Measure completion: each month, check how many due follow-ups were completed on time, by store and by visit point. (See Operating Metrics a Chain HQ Should Watch for the definition.)
Standardize the record: date, channel, what was done and the next appointment, in fixed fields.
When follow-ups slip most
The responsible staff member leaves, goes on leave or changes store
The customer changes phone number or moves
After a first visit where "everything's fine," the later visit points are the ones most often skipped
SONUS AI keeps customer records and appointments together, so every follow-up is logged under the same customer and whoever picks it up next can see the full history.
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