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Add-on Sales
Are we really doing the best job possible to increase wheelchair sales and make our customers happy? The answer is, not usually. Can sales in this product line be significantly improved? Yes, absolutely. Here are six ways to make it happen.
- Set wheelchair and accessory sales goals.
First, take a look at your wheelchair sales over the past two years. Figure out the percentage of your total wheelchair sales and then examine how your staff does with selling accessories. Are wheelchair sales going up or down? If sales are up, that is a positive sign since the overall wheelchair market has been growing. If sales are down, then your organization isn't keeping pace with the overall market.
Next, take a look at wheelchair accessories. Does your organization sell more or fewer accessories per wheelchair sale? Does this differ with standard and power wheelchair sales? Does it differ by type of payer, including cash sales? The accompanying table may help you analyze your firm's wheelchair sales in greater detail. For a more in-depth analysis, add specific data on types of wheelchairs or accessories.
After you have taken a look at the past trends, set some realistic goals for your business. With the total home medical equipment market growing around 10 percent a year in the United States, a 10 percent increase in sales would be achievable. You will need to consider whether or not you will focus on wheelchair sales to referral sources and/or managed care organizations in the coming months. Also consider whether or not you will be promoting retail sales in your markets through advertisements, billboards or other promotional strategies. Set a goal that represents realistic growth, but one that is attainable by your organization.
Goals are important to set by product line because they focus the entire organization, including your salespeople, customer service and retail staff, on specific tasks. Organizations that set goals by product line do much better than those that keep things open-ended or unspecified.
- Get the right people in place.
We work in a relatively complex industry, and referrals to our businesses come through a variety of means, sometimes through sales reps, sometimes through word-of-mouth between customers.
It is both expensive and time consuming to generate referrals; once we get a referral, we need to take the best care possible of each and every customer who comes to our business.
