Recognizing Retail

The retail store is quickly becoming a profitable and popular place for selling, displaying and educating customers about our products and services. Many of us have moved from an off-the-highway warehouse location to one much more visible to our customers. The home medical products store in a strip shopping center or small building is now becoming an integral part of the local community or town retail center. But what does that mean for our sales strategy?

While your referral sources are familiar with your respiratory program and vast array of rehabilitation products, they may not be familiar with your store. They may have seen your sign from the highway or noticed your location on the way to work, but are they familiar with all you offer?

Because many salespeople may not receive commission for retail sales, their interest in the store is often limited. Because other product lines are a major source of revenue for many companies, some salespeople may forget to talk about the retail store.

It's time to give the retail store some extra recognition. So what can we do and where do we begin? How about considering these ideas:

• Review all existing marketing materials

  Take a look at all of your existing brochures to make sure you have noted that your corporate address is not only an office location but a retail store as well. Some people may think it is only a place where you store equipment and not a location for customers to take an up-close look at the products you sell.

• Schedule a referral source open house

  Plan an open house and invite all of your professional referral sources to come by and take a look. Plan the open house for more than one day; just in case some people cannot make it one day, they may show up on another.

• Mail a newsletter announcement

  Create a one-page newsletter or announcement letting people know about your retail location. Do a direct mailing to your important referral sources, then visit their offices to make sure they have received the notice. Outline your major product lines and invite the referral source to share this information with your patients. Ask if you can leave additional announcements for them to give to patients.

• Host an educational program at the store

  Develop an educational program (with CEUs if possible) and invite different professional groups to come to the store and take a class.