HME providers who want to expand their cash sales would do well to look at adding vehicle lifts to their product mix, experts say.

“Given the challenges facing the industry, specifically with competitive bidding, we've seen a shift by providers to add a complement of retail-related products. For those providers, [vehicle lifts] can be a very rewarding category to participate in,” notes Cy Corgan, Pride Mobility Products' national sales director of retail mobility.

Providers are gravitating to these products because they are one of the top cash-selling items in the industry, as well as at the top of customers' “I need” lists, explains Sarah Penix, business development manager for Harmar Mobility.

“We're seeing a lot of people get on board the cash sales train,” she says. “Reimbursables used to be the core part of what [providers] focused on, but the industry has forced them to turn to cash sales to stay in business.

“It couldn't have come at a better time,” she points out. “The industry and world is changing. The baby boomers are coming to an age where they need these products.”

Penix says she has heard from a number of providers who have started selling lifts after having to turn away customers who requested them.

“We see an actual need that is increasing dramatically, and that is going to increase cash sales for dealers,” she says.

And with the population aging and more income at baby boomers' disposal, the market “can go nowhere but up and forward,” adds Mike Krawczyk, marketing manager for Bruno Independent Living Aids.

Matching Needs to Products

But it takes more than simply putting the products in the company inventory. Successful vehicle lift providers will train their sales employees to match the needs and abilities of the customer with the right product, Krawczyk says.

Some lifts will depend on a user's ability to stand and be able to work a switch, while others do not, he explains.

“Do they need a lift that does everything for them, or one that requires some manual operation that is a little less expensive?” Penix questions. For example, she says, “If it's a little less expensive, but [the user] can't manually fold the platform, it doesn't do them any good.”

The provider also should talk to a vehicle lift customer or caregiver about how a particular health condition might affect their abilities in the future, Krawczyk says.

“What someone is able to do today may be radically different than what they are able to do in two or three years,” he notes.

While many customers want to purchase a product that will last them years down the road, others will be satisfied to buy something that works for them now and then will buy another product when their abilities change, he explains.

“It's a ray of sunshine to have someone talk with them openly and honestly about what they can and can't do,” Krawczyk says. “Most of the time people don't like to address these things, but if someone is interested in buying a product for auto accessibility, they want the dealer to be open and honest so they can be, too.”

Geographic location also will affect the type of lifts customers want to purchase.

“Obviously, you won't sell as many outside lifts in Wisconsin or Minnesota as you will in Arizona or Texas,” Krawczyk says. “People living in colder climates don't necessarily want to have their mobility device outside of their car.”

Providers also should let customers know they don't necessarily have to drive a minivan to use a lift, advises Todd Bick, national sales manager for Freedom Lift. Many new applications are out that allow people to use lifts with SUVs and trucks.

In other words, Penix sums up, a provider who wants to be good at selling vehicle lifts will help customers narrow down their options based on their individual wants and needs, and then let them select the product they prefer from what's available.

“When you know it's the right product for the customer, it's not a hard sale,” Penix says. “You know you're helping them get their mobility and independence back.”

Thinking about Compatibility

But the customer-vehicle lift matchmaking process may not be simple.

With more than 900 mobility devices in the marketplace and more than 5,000 different vehicles dating back just to 1996, finding a lift that will work with the mobility product and the vehicle the customer already has can be a challenge, says Brian Mills, Pride's product manager of lifts.