Cash Sales Promotion and Focus!

Medtrade October 15-18

The market is dramatically changing; DME/HME providers and dealers are seeking OTC cash sale opportunities. They can no longer depend on CMS, Medicare or Medicaid. So, the folks at Medtrade are guiding the exhibitors to make cash sale programs an important part of their displays.

This need for cash sales is so important that Medtrade is setting aside 4,500 square feet of the exhibition floor as a HOME & RETAIL DESIGN CENTER. Do you realize how big this space is? You can definitely expect to see many new ideas and products!  You can also read more here: Click Here

You must keep all your Medicare and Medicaid customers. Experience has taught us they all have family caregivers who are looking for comfort items to allow them to maintain their own domicile. We are very aware that most Medicare clients have disposable dollars in their pockets and are looking for the same products. I know this is true because at more than 85 years old, I attend many meetings and speak to all my cronies. Finding comfort items is always a topic.

A couple of weeks ago I received a call from a dealer in Ohio. I was told his company sponsored a discussion on “Caring for the Elderly, Mom and Pop.”  He invited two local physicians to speak. They each delivered a brief message. The rest of the allotted time was spent answering questions from the audience. I was told that the response to this was fantastic. He felt that scheduling it from 9:00 AM until noon was sufficient.  He plans to do it again. He also invited many of his vendors to set up small displays with samples and hand-outs. Did this pay off? Yes!

Let this be your guide to many new sales and additional profits. At Medtrade you can arrange with the manufacturers for their aid in doing a promotion along these lines. Plan to visit the Home and Retail Design center and be sure that many of your staff as possible will view the same. 

I recommend that you make the investment necessary to bring staff members to Medtrade. Experience has shown us that there is a very large ROI (return on investment) when you bring them with you. 

Attention, HME/DME Providers

This year the Medtrade Exhibition will be more important than ever. Our industry is under a great deal of pressure. Yet despite this, a great many providers and dealers are doing very well. That is because they work in tandem with their vendors to develop new cash sales. There is nothing more satisfactory than ringing up a sale in your cash register, just a normal business transaction.

In yesterday’s blog I asked the vendors, manufacturers and exhibitors to spend more time at Medtrade offering OTC cash sales for the attendees. I recommended they bring new products and work together with you to build sales. You have to be there not to miss these golden opportunities.

It is a two way street! Providers and dealers each face the same problems and when working hand-in-hand, the results are fantastic!

To get the most from Medtrade, bring your key personnel. I spoke to a friend in Missouri who told me last year he brought two employees with him. When they returned each started several new programs they saw at the show. He said they were successful and so was he! This year he will attend with three sales people.

Split up your team up at Medtrade. Attend as many seminars as possible. Have all share with the rest of the team what they learned. Seek new products and ask for help with marketing. Arrange with the vendors to do a “dog & pony” show with your company. Ask them to make joint calls with your salespeople.

I am very fortunate that many of our readers feel free to contact me (WAT # 877-553-5127 and e-mail <shelly.prial@att.net). I will always respond!

As I said to the vendors yesterday; “when this happens everyone wins, you do, the manufacturer does and so do your customers.”

Attention DME Manufacturers

Attention DME Manufacturers

The interest level for OTC sales is growing daily. New items to show dealers and how to better market existing items by matching what they display more effectively to their clientele is key. You have to lead the way. This blog is being directed to the manufacturers and exhibitors who will be displaying at Medtrade in Atlanta this fall. 

My e-mail and phone calls have been filled with requests to know:

“How many new products are currently available?” 

“Which exhibitors are bringing excellent OTC items?” “Will we find many new opportunities this year at Medtrade?”

“Which vendors will show me how to develop new sales?”

These are the questions that I am constantly hearing today and the volume keeps growing. This is a direct challenge to you, the manufacturer and the exhibitor. When answered, it will open many new doors of opportunity for both your company and the dealer! I have attended every Medtrade since its inception and never have seen this much searching for help and seeking new items to market. This is why the Medtrade Exhibition this year is more important than ever. The attendees are reaching out to you.

The providers and dealers realize they can no longer depend on CMS or Medicare. They want to develop more cash sales! You have the products, so come prepared to attract many new customers. This year the DHME attendees will be in Atlanta trying to identify the many new items which will be introduced.

As a manufacturer, showing your wares at Medtrade, this becomes a golden opportunity. I urge you all to take advantage of it. Every DME/HME provider wants the ability to tap more deeply into OTC cash sales. They all feel they are really more effective than the giant stores. They know their clientele, the patients and the family caregivers and are best positioned to move products.

This Medtrade, bring with you aggressive programs for building sales. Offer the opportunity to have your reps make joint calls with their staff.  Hold “dog and pony” demonstrations for all the providers' employees to introduce and expand your line of products. When this happens, everyone wins! You win, the dealer wins and so does their customers. 

The Supreme Court Decision 2012

The Supreme Court Decision

Thursday, June 28, 2012, 11:35 AM, and my phone started to ring. The Supreme Court of the United States, with a 5-4 vote, has said that the health care legislation is not in violation of the Constitution. We have all been waiting to hear what they believe and they have spoken.

Please do NOT make any mistakes, which can cause you to lose customers. The politicians are going to scream in dismay or say thank you. You should not do either.

Study the legislation to learn how it can affect your company that is only as far as you should go!  Every market is different; don’t give any positive or negative comments.  When someone asks for an opinion, please state simply that you are waiting to see how it will work. Taking a side will be very detrimental.

Listen to your clientele, thank them for their thoughts, but never state how you feel. This is not the time to take sides!

Americans with Disability Act

A.D.A.

There is a great deal of magic in these three letters, A- D- A. Magic that can open new doors of opportunities for DME/HME providers. They bring you stepping-stones into a large market filled with potential new sales.

I was reminded of this when I had lunch yesterday with an old friend who built a most successful DME location in his hometown. He accomplished this because he recognized that A.D.A. (Americans with Disability Act) opened a door to not only perform a service in his community, but to become a lucrative source of new sales and profits.

The revised standards in the Federal Register for A.D.A. took effect in March 2011. I can write pages on this topic. I refer to it as the key to new OTC cash sales. No paper work, just some meeting, speaking, explaining and solicitation by you and your team. 

Contact your senator or representative in Washington and ask to speak with the HLA (health legislative assistant). Tell the HLA who you are, how much you appreciate the legislators support, and then ask if they would please get you a copy of ADA requirements.  They will do so cheerfully.

Wherever people gather, whether in a stadium, movie house, hotel, restaurant, school or house of worship, you can supply the things necessary to conform to this act. They must maintain certain supplies for accidents or emergencies. That is the law!

What makes this so exciting is that your company can provide them with the required products. You and your sales team have to make the rounds.  Identify all of the opportunities.  Be a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Your preferred vendors will give you handouts and other necessary material to develop these new sales. If you knock on doors, write to the newspapers, look for all the exposure possible, not only will you develop new cash sales (thank you ADA) but also solidify your reputation in the community. 

Information Please!

I receive more than 125 e-mails daily. I am sure that each of you experiences something similar. However, I will not complain about this, not at all. I get more interesting material via the e-mail that affects our industry and I am able to extract wheat from the chaff. You, too, can do the same.

Simply check the box on every e-mail that is obviously unimportant and trash them. Look at others which may be of interest and move them to spam to check at your leisure. When I do that I normally end up with only a dozen messages to read.

Here are a few lines from some of the important e-mails that came to me recently:

#1- “NSC Mailing Revalidation Letters in Yellow.”  This came from many state DME associations to their members. It alerted all to the problem.

#2-  “AAHomecare has saved the bacon once again.” A  similar message answering the associations. It proved to me the value ofworking together with both state and national associations.

#3- “Americans don't understand health reform? No kidding!

Isn’t that the truth?

#4- “The fundamental difference between home care and institutional care”, Elizabeth Hogue. Esq. has always sent valuable information, but if you do not open it, you miss it.

#5- "It helps us make adjustments to assist providers and manufactures in reaching their goals. It's a critical year for the HME industry, and the feedback will help us make adjustments to what will likely be the most important Medtrade show in our 30-plus-yearhistory." A valuable  reminder about the coming Fall event.

#6- The competitive bidding process was designed to improve the efficiency of Medicare’s procurement system, potentially saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. But many experts have criticized the auction, pointing out fundamental flaws in its design. Now, a series of experiments testing the auction structure show that it does, in fact, fall short of expectations.” This says it all.

My message is please take advantage of the e-mails you receive.  Opt-in to industry e-newsletters.  Interestingly enough, the HME Industry LinkedIn group just started a discussion about some of the "can't-miss" e-newsletters of our field.  Do you have any to add?  

Click Here to Visit the HME Network LinkedIn Group Discussion.

Read those that may affect your business. Carefully review the industry journals! Study all the material you receive from the state and national associations and of course, watch for the “shellysoundsoff” blogs.

Investing in future technologies: Home Telehealth

There are many opportunities available to a DME/HME provider. Like anything new, these openings must be investigated and must be determined if your company is able to make an investment in a new challenge.

At previous Medtrade Exhibitions there were speakers who explained the importance of Home Telehealth and how it should be marketed. The future for the health care industry may very well be based on how much of an effect Home Telehealth or Remote Home Patient Monitoring can be for DME/HME providers. Today is the time to get on the bandwagon.

Much of your volume emanates by referrals from physicians, nurses, technicians, therapists and home health providers. A solid base of your company has always been patients, senior citizens and family caregivers. Home Telehealth will put your company right is the center for them.

A very brief description is that the patient can sit down at their Home Telehealth station and send their vital signs instantly to their physician and other members of their healthcare team (like the supplier or family caregiver). The patient is able use their BP cuff, spirometer, scale, and blood glucose monitor, oximeter, EKG and other equipment currently available. By themselves or with the aid of family caregivers, they can affix the equipment and in seconds the reports are forwarded STAT and monitored.  Remote Home Patient Monitoring and Telehealth eliminates the need for hand-written and self-documented log books, which are not always maintained the way a physician needs to treat their patient.  The healthcare team can have real-time, on-demand data to notice trends and early warning signs more efficiently than ever before.

 

You should contact some of the Home Telehealth manufacturers to see if your company can become the local distributor. This equipment can be rented or purchased outright. This can be very exciting for you and set your business apart from your competitors.  Referral sources are looking for providers who are ahead of the game and providing the best for their patients.

Medtrade is currently working to develop a special section of the showroom floor for Home Telehealth.

Don’t miss the opportunity that Home Telehealth offers. Don’t put it off for tomorrow, take the first step now and see how you can become the provider of Home Telehealth in your market. If you don’t your competition will!