Retail has become more challenging throughout the past several years. The long recession, a changing health care system with new rules, competitive bidding program, changes impacting third-party payers, increasing competition from the large drug chains and e-commerce retailers have all added to the challenges the HME/DME retailer faces. These dynamics have forced HME/DME retailers to become more competitive in order to thrive. Many retailers continue to grow their businesses by providing outstanding personalized customer service and a plethora of cash products (non third-party reimbursed) or, better stated, cash generating products. The key for the HME/DME retailer is determining which products will best fit their existing clientele when expanding their cash business offerings.
MedCenter Systems, LLC, the maker of The MedCenter System, has begun its seventh year of business, experiencing strong revenue growth and increasing retail distribution every year since they first launched in May 2007. More competitors have entered this market recently, with a wide variety of medication dispensers and aids to offer. The demand for this variety is still growing, and will continue to grow long term, as the Baby Boomers continue to outlive their parents in overall years.
More than 78 million Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 comprise the driving force of this long term growth. These Boomers occupy dual roles—acting as both caregivers for their elderly parents, and also as consumers, actively using their own medication dispensers. Nearly half of the American population is reported to take at least one prescription medicine daily. More than 10 percent take up to five prescription medicines per day. Close to half of these people are reported to take their prescriptions incorrectly, causing a $300 billion annual cost to the U.S. economy in additional hospital and doctor visits, lost time from work, disability and—in some cases—even a premature death.
A developing trend among many major retailers is the use of suggestive selling techniques. Increasing retail competition has revitalized the need for suggestive selling among several retail trade categories. To accomplish this, the retailer suggests a selection of smaller pick-up items at the checkout counter—priced at 50 cents each, or three for $1. If five customers per hour choose the $1 purchase, the retailer earns $5 additional sales per hour. If the store is open 12 hours per day, this will increase daily sales by $60; that is $360 per week, $1,440 per month and $17,280 per year in increased sales revenues.
Savvy HME/DME retailers should consider using medication dispensers and aids as a suggestive selling opportunity to expand sales within their target market. A typical HME/DME customer is often a caregiver, or simply shopping for themselves. It is likely that they or someone in their family takes a medication. By offering the customer a selection of medication dispensers upon checkout, the provider is welcoming a new customer back to the store in the future. In turn, this future customer might consider your retail store as a valuable resource for future care, whether they are the caregiver or the patient.
To maintain these shoppers as future customers, DME providers should position their stores as an expert on medication dispenser education and application. A provider can do this by helping the customer create an effective system for managing and scheduling medication intake, which benefits allow for better health and longer independence. A good way to begin this relationship is by asking questions to better understand your customers’ medication practices. Asking these questions will allow you to better help your customers, and may also lead you to greater sales per customer in the future.
The following are questions to start you on your journey to suggestive selling with medication dispensers and aids. The MedCenter Systems has provided a great approach to answering each of these questions with examples of practical application of their product lines.
Trouble managing medications?
Statistics say that 4 in 10 are people in nursing homes because they cannot manage medications. The MedCenter System is a medication management system that organizes a patient’s pills for one month. The four-alarm talking reminder clock maintains a schedule for each dosage period, with proper spacing between daily dosage periods. This interactive approach offers more than just a simple pill organizer—it asserts acknowledgement with each alarm, keeping a patient more aware.
Traveling with pills or vitamins?
The MedCenter Weekly Traveler can contain up to four daily dosage periods per day, for up to seven days in a durable locking case.
Caring from a distance?
The MedCenter Your Minder is a clock with six recordable daily alarms that allow family or loved ones to record a message as reminder for medication use. For the patient whose family is farther, Your Minder can help ease the feeling of loneliness as a result of distance, while also serving as a reminder.
Suggestive selling is nothing more than learning your customers’ needs and finding ways to offer possible solutions. Providers can remove difficulty from suggestive selling with extensive product knowledge. Retailers must view themselves as consultants, experts and problem-solvers for the customer, particularly because most customers dislike a hard sell. Many HME/DME customers will appreciate product suggestions that might ease the burden of care, provide solutions and offer them peace of mind.
By using suggestive selling techniques and training employees to do the same, a retailer can quickly improve sales revenues with a marginal effort. As an HME/DME retailer, your existing customer base is an ideal target market for medication organizers and aids, as well as complete interactive systems like The MedCenter System.
