Interview with Todd Murray, President of Beltone North America
Dybala: Today we are pleased to spend some time with Todd Murray, President of Beltone North America. Todd, thank you for taking the time to meet with us today.
Murray: Great to be here, Paul.
Dybala: Just to kick things off, would you mind giving us a little of your professional background and what brought you to the area of hearing healthcare?
Murray: Before coming to Beltone I worked in management roles for several companies who focused on consumer products, most recently working as vice-president of store operations for Pearle Vision's 900-location US business. I came to work for Beltone because I saw a great opportunity in the growing hearing healthcare field combined with a trusted, recognized brand and established distribution network.
Dybala: : You have an interesting background, especially with your experience at Pearl Vision. Many people draw parallels between vision and hearing care, what has been your experience? Any lessons that you think hearing care should take from vision care?
Murray: The similarities are professional service required to sell a medical device and the critical importance of the intermediating in providing care and education to the end-user. The differences are more, with eyewear requiring less customization in the manufacturing process and very little stigma attached to the decision. Eyewear is fashion; hearing aids still have a way to go before becoming desirable rather than necessary in the minds of consumers.
Dybala: You have been at the helm of Beltone for about a year and a half now, so tell me about some of the larger objectives that you specifically have been focused on.
Murray: We have been working to build teamwork between our company and our network of providers to deliver a trustworthy, caring and professional experience to our patients. We do a great deal of research to understand the consumer's perspective and we share that with our network to deliver hearing care products and services that are of value to our market. In addition, we are focused on growing our brand. We have tremendous opportunity to provide the end-user a convenient choice to go for branded hearing health care. Our functional areas are all aligned with the same goals and expectations regarding customers first.
Dybala: Yes, and that leads us to the launch of the new Beltone North America headquarters! Could you tell us a bit of background on the facility and its development?
Murray: It's Beltone's 65th Anniversary and we feel, the perfect time to reflect on the legacy of our past as well as our bright future ahead. Our network is unique in that it is quite diverse, yet passionate about Beltone and our patients. We have ENTs, Audiologists, AuDs and second generation hearing care practitioners who own or work in Beltone practices. Some practitioners have been with Beltone for 40 years and we have over 100 new owners who have only been with Beltone for 3 years or less. Part of the power of the network is the ability for owners and staff to share ideas and best practices within Beltone. We are having a successful year and it feels great to be able to share our new state of the art building with our network.
Plans for this new building started more than a year ago and we are located in a northern suburb of Chicago called Glenview. The area is newly developed with hotel facilities, shopping, restaurants and a golf club for Beltone customers and visitors. It's perfect for our Beltone University Training Schools and CEU classes. We have over 50,000 square feet for our Beltone North America group and our GN Technology Center. This new location will help support the continued growth of our network and our brand. It is very exciting and will help propel us forward in the years to come.
Dybala: The inclusion of the GN Technology Center signals a strong move for Beltone and GN Resound in support research and development of hearing aid and related technologies. What are the short and long term goals and expectations of this partnership?
Murray: As one of the only hearing care companies with US based R&D, the innovation from this group will ensure our legacy of technology leadership focused on patient benefits. The GN Technology Center consists of Research Audiology, Custom Product Development and Fitting Software Development. The goals of this group and what they work on are consistent:
The Research Audiology group ensures that true end-user benefits are delivered in all new hearing instruments. Our clinical facility continually conducts new product trials and our GN Auditory Research Laboratory is one of the most advanced auditory research centers of its kind.
The customer products group is focused the development of the some of the most innovative in- the-ear hearing instrument designs in the industry.
The fitting software group provides PC software solutions to help hearing healthcare professionals ensure our hearing instruments are optimally adjusted to satisfy our patients.
We are fortunate that we will be working so closely to collaborate on the next generation of products to support our network.
Dybala: Well the facility sounds absolutely amazing and that you have a great R&D team in place. My only regret is that we are conducting this interview via the internet versus being able to meet with you at your new facility! I will definitely have to stop by and see it next time I am in the Chicago area. Thank you for spending time with me today!
About Beltone:
Founded in 1940, Chicago-based Beltone Electronics is part of the GN Hearing Care Group of global hearing care companies, utilizing advanced technology to produce hearing instruments sold in the United States, Canada and over 50 countries worldwide. In addition to providing outstanding service and support for its U.S. hearing care network operating in over 1300 offices in North America, Beltone remains the most trusted brand for quality products and care among its patients and adults aged 50 and older.
For more information on Beltone, visit www.beltone.com.
