ROI

Return on investment! I often feel that too many DME dealers are not fully aware of what a good ROI can mean for their bottom line. Basically, every penny you spend has to create a return. When you ran an advertisement in your local newspaper, how many extra sales did that bring? Did the extra revenue from those sales more than cover the cost of the ad?

Some time back, I was working with two dealers serving very similar communities. Their companies each were in a strip mall, almost in the center of the village. Their competition was much further than walking distance.

To determine what to offer, we arranged a three-way conference call. We reviewed a number of products to promote and decided to offer a “heating pad”. Both dealers told me they were only sold when a physician or PT ordered using one. Dealer A said he averaged selling one heating pad a month and dealer B echoed that.

After some discussion, we selected a vendor to contact and made the following arrangements: Each dealer ordered three dozen units and had the price secured for two months. The vendor provided the ad and all the dealer had to do was include his business name, phone number, and address. The “SPECIAL” price was the MSRP. The ads were scheduled to run for three weeks on the Saturday newspaper obituary page.

There was also a bonus: Each heating pad purchased also included several other items.

 

How much of an ROI did they receive?

I was amazed. They found the results to be far better than they anticipated. I recall how hesitant they were when I suggested this, but they listened. The result was that each sold more than three dozen heating pads during the three-week period. A nice ROI!

At Medtrade in the fall, you should speak with vendors about working together with you on this type of promotion. The reality is that these will be rather small investments which can bring you a hefty return. Isn’t that why you opened your company, for the ROI?

 

Register for Medtrade using the promotional code, SHELLY, and get a Free Expo Pass. Why wait?

See you in Atlanta!