Profiting from a Retail State of Mind

Retail works in home health care (HHC). Retailer after retailer has proven this with impressive gross sales and net profits. Yet businesses continue to struggle when attempting the transition from reimbursement to retail. There is a quantum difference between the reimbursement business model and the retail business model. HHC business owners must recognize that consumers have completely different needs and priorities than institutions.

The Retail Model

Years ago, when approached by Kimberly-Clark to help them move to the front of the adult incontinence market, I wrote the “Winning Strategies” newsletter in HomeCare magazine, training HHC dealers on retailing this market segment. Within two or three years, Kimberly-Clark was the market leader. I usually ask those considering a move to retail a few simple questions:

• Do you have a showroom?
• How many lift chairs do you display?
• How many rollator vendors do you buy from?
• How many retail salespeople do you employ?

To successfully make the shift, a mindset change must begin. The old ways were perfectly suitable for a reimbursement environment, but not for retail.

Start with Location

Keep in mind, you do NOT want to be a single destination that requires customers to make a special trip. You want to be adjacent to other regular shopping destinations, such as drugstores, grocery markets or senior-friendly restaurants. Other fast food chains simply opened up as close as possible to a McDonalds location, as McDonalds had the resources to fund extensive marketing and demographic studies. In HHC, drug chains have a similar expansion route, so simply follow their lead and co-locate with them.

Merchandise to Close Sales

Baby boomers are our primary retail customers, and they make their purchasing decisions in retail stores while standing in the aisles comparing one product against another. You need choice in every category and within every product line if you want to close sales. This is a very simple retail formula—the more you display, the more you sell and the more you profit.

Hire for Attitude

Forget about health care professionals. In retail, you want retail salespeople. They are people-oriented and know how to build rapport with customers. Relationships drive repeat business and loyal customers. Hire for attitude and train for product knowledge. Within one month, good retail salespeople can have a comfort level with most HHC product lines. No, they will not be fitting compression hosiery or custom orthotics, but you can still have your medical professional on staff to help with these specialty categories.

Keep Advertising

Gone are the days of placing one ad for your grand opening and then nevermore.In the retail reality, if you don’t advertise, you don’t survive. Learn who your customers are and how to reach them. Once you find the best medium, advertise at minimum monthly in weekly neighborhood newspapers, biweekly in daily newspapers and two weeks per month on radio or TV.