Know When To Fold 'Em

I recently received an email from Invacare announcing their new folding 3-in-1 commode. Drive Medical has had their version available for quite a while now. We have use the Drive product ever since our rep told us about it. From the pictures, it looks like the Invacare product is similar to the Drive product.

Why is a folding commode important?

• Keep all the parts to the commode in one place. Never get to a house or hospital again only to find that the splash guard is missing.
• Portability for the customer. The product folds easy enough that the users can take it with them when they travel. Makes any hotel room or family member's house that much more accessible.
• Easy to store in the warehouse and on the retail floor.
• Can be shipped via UPS/FedEx.
  

The folding commode only handles 250lbs where the non-folding version will usually handle 300lbs, so be careful who this product is recommended for. The folding commode does cost a couple bucks more than a regular commode, but we have decided that the benefits outweigh the price difference and have converted most of our commode stock to the Drive folding product.

Become a Grab Bar Guru [How To]

Grab bars can add a lot of safety and security to the bathroom environment. Nearly all DME retail outlets sell them. I even saw some at Albertson's today while I was shopping for groceries. But a grab bar in a box is not worth as much as a grab bar securely attached to a wall.

If you currently sell grab bars but do not offer installation services, set yourself and your company apart by adding a needed service. There may not be a huge profit margin in the grab bars, but the installation is fairly simple and labor is always good for the bottom line. This is also a chance to get into a clients home to perform a full home evaluation and find new ways you can help your client improve safety and independence at home.

Click through the slide show to get a step by step illustration of just how easy it can be to add a new service to your product line. The slide show can also be viewed as a full screen presentation for training your technicians before tackling the next job.

The Bath Safety Value Meal

I was looking at the latest Graham Field sales promotion sheets when I noticed that an idea I had in the shower a long time ago has taken root. Graham Field is selling some of their related products in packages. The bath safety package comes in two flavors, they each contain a hand held shower and grab bar and then either a bath seat or a transfer board and safety mat. This package can be marketed very easily to your end users: "Buy a package, increase safety, accessibility, and mobility, all while saving $$$!"

There are also packages that are marketed to retailers to break up and sell the individual pieces. Unless you would normally sell a client a walker, quad, and single point cane at the same time.

This is an idea that I had while working in a company that had a retail showroom but most of the attention was on delivery and billing third party insurance companies. I shared my idea with a manager and was approved to sell these value deals with a 10 to 15% discount. The only problem was that the idea never took hold amongst the staff. Cash deals were so rare that sometimes people willing to spend real money were turned off from the company by employees trying very hard to make sure they documented all of the insurance information correctly.

The baby boomers and their disposable income are starting to retire or are caregivers for their own parents. Thanks to Ronald McDonald, we are already programmed to buy three items instead of one when given the choice. Turn a single item sale into a three or four item sale by creating package deal discounts but make sure you make it easy for your staff to advocate for your sale.

How do you make sure your clients 'have it their way?'