A key part of making the sale is listening to your clients’ needs. But for David Slater, those crucial conversations were becoming increasingly difficult due to hearing loss.

“At first I just said to myself ‘okay, you’re getting older and it just happens’. I downplayed it,” said Slater. “But then I realized I couldn’t hear a lot of the conversations I was around. In business, everything that's said is important.” 

As a medical imaging sales representative for nearly 30 years, David knows the importance of building relationships with his clients. He often travels for on-site visits to demonstrate equipment to radiologists, managers and administrators. Conversations about system configurations and other business often continue over dinner or drinks – a situation where David increasing found it difficult to follow what was being said.

“In a restaurant or a bar, a lot of times there's music playing, there's 50 to 100 people around you having loud conversations and laughing, and it makes it very difficult to hear someone, even if I'm sitting next to them,” recalls David. “I had to ask people to repeat themselves, and, and even when they did, it wasn't clear to me.”

David was embarrassed by having to ask his clients to repeat themselves two or even three times. He could see they were getting irritated as well – something he felt was impacting his ability to form good relationships. “I don’t want to frustrate the people I do business with.”

Worse yet, missing important details could cost him a deal.

“During those moments, that's when you get the best information. That's when they tell you what they like or don’t like about what they've seen,” says David.  “If I don't hear this information, I can't craft my final proposal to them showing that I understand what they need, and finalize the sale.”

Wanting to make the most of his prime earning years before retirement, David turned a chance encounter at the gym into an opportunity to improve his quality of life. A friend referred him to field trials at Unitron where the company was looking for busy professionals to test out the latest technology in hearing solutions. 

“I said ‘I’m in!’ and that gave me the chance to try hearing aids,” says David. “This opportunity showed me exactly what I'd been missing, and how much easier it might be to sell a CT scanner than if I didn't treat my hearing loss.”

“It’s been a much richer experience, and much more enjoyable in a business setting. I can have conversations and be confident that I'm going to hear, and that I'm not going to have to ask someone to repeat themselves.”

David enjoys his hearing solution for more than just in-person meetings. Not only is the conversation easier to follow on business calls, but the integration with his phone makes it easy and more convenient.

“The ability to take incoming calls on my hearing aids is fantastic. You just hit answer and it's right here and no one else can hear it. It's clear, it's crisp. I love that.”

With retirement on the horizon, David can already see the benefits of a hearing solution for his social life as well.

“I laugh more because I hear more, and that's not a bad thing.”