Manual wheelchairs are the mainstay of the home medical
equipment business, yet very few sales reps spend much time
analyzing how to sell these products. Here are some tips:
Understand the differences in the manual wheelchairs on the
market. Can you tell your customer the difference between the
leading name brands and the not-so-leading name brands? All
wheelchairs are not built the same. You need to differentiate
yourself from other HME companies by becoming an expert in
different product line segments.
Manual wheelchairs are generally for short-term use for
patients. There are a plethora of reasons that people need these
chairs. Do you know the top diagnoses for these chairs? Can you
tell what they are for Medicare patients? For Medicaid patients?
For commercial patients?
The best way to “sell” a chair is to talk about
specific patients. Sometimes referral sources don't think about
manual chairs; help them find the patients who need them.
Think creatively. What about designing a creative package for
patients who need a manual chair and also need other HME
products? Think about bundling. For example, a post-hip patient
may need a manual chair as well as bath items.
Work with your referral sources to offer packages to patients,
and promote them to referral sources by diagnoses. Differentiate
your company with the packages you offer. You can also sell these
to managed care organizations.
How standardized are you with manual chairs? Think about
product formularies for chairs: These brands are best for these
situations; those brands are best for other situations. Many
HME companies standardize their brands, but they are not always the
best brands for patients.
Conduct mini-focus groups to make sure that the brands you carry
are the ones your patients want. Think about less medical-looking
options, for instance, for higher-end patients and those who have
money or are image-oriented. Looks do sell.
Train your intake employees to understand which chairs match
which kinds of customers. Offer to order chairs that aren't in
your regular menu if people want them. Consider having an e-mail
option so you can show patients chair options. Or, have your
drivers visit their homes and show pictures of options. Or, have
your reps or other personnel visit patients before they leave the
hospital to show people what they can have.
Make the sale personal. Then patients will really love your
business, and happy patients mean happy referral sources.
Alison Cherney is president of Cherney & Associates Inc., a
Brentwood, Tenn.-based marketing and sales consulting firm, and is
the producer of Homecare Power Selling, a sales training
program for home care sales reps. She may be reached at
615/776-3399 or through www.cherneyandassociates.com.
