Are you seeking a competitive advantage in your market? Of course you are. Well, here's one that won't cost you any money, but it might help you earn some!
Customer care. What is it?
Your most important asset is your customer. To keep that positive benefit working for your HME company, you must involve every member of your staff, because customer care means a great deal more than just being polite. Customer care is when your clients feel, when being serviced by a member of your team, that they are the most important people in the world. Because that's true, they are the most valuable participants during any transaction.
Customer care begins as a simple greeting when a shopper enters your establishment. The opening salutation “May I help you, please?” will often relax an anxious customer. Take the time to train your staff in recognizing the important role they play when interfacing with any patron, patient or caregiver.
I also suggest that when the sale is not a casual one, that a brief thank-you note be sent after the transaction. Good customer care will help you build the competitive advantage necessary today, especially as many of the country's giant marketers make inroads into our industry.
Listening
Most salespeople are very articulate. They love to hear themselves extolling the virtues of whatever it is they are trying to sell. In their zeal, however, they may often forget to listen to their customer. Your shopper will tell you what they want, provide all the details and other information that can help you close the sale — when you listen.
There is a big difference when you pay attention to your customer and hear them out. The difference is that in the customer's mind, they bought whatever it is they needed. You may provide them with exactly the same item, but when you lead the transaction, then the customer may feel that you sold it to them.
Making a purchase is rewarding for the consumer, but being sold something always leaves a little doubt in their mind.
Listen to your customers, and they will buy.
Facts or Figures?
According to what has been reported in one of the newspapers I read, 195,000 deaths occur annually as a consequence of medical errors. I find this figure to be very misleading, as it casts aspersions on how physicians and hospitals care for their patients. “Facts” of this nature give a very wrong impression to the average person and, thus, create doubt and fears unnecessarily.
The report indicated that 37 million patient records had been examined to arrive at the number of 195,000 deaths. I wonder how many people are killed just crossing a street? This is a very confusing number when you realize that by using the same figures, 36,805,000 people were successfully treated. The cup is certainly not half empty, is it?
Thanksgiving Day
Isn't it comforting to know that we live in the most civilized country in the world? Each year our nation sets aside a day for “feasting and giving thanks for divine goodness.” We call it Thanksgiving Day.
This is when everyone should stop and take a few moments to count their blessings. The October “Shelly Sez” commented on “… one Nation, under God, indivisible …” and to my pleasant surprise, I received many comments and kudos for what I said.
We voted, as a nation, and chose a leader for the next four years. It matters little which candidate you supported; what matters is that you had the privilege to express your choice. People cannot do that in many countries, but here, we can. Yes, we have a great deal to be grateful for, and one holiday follows another. Soon it will be time for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other joyful celebrations.
I am very proud to be a citizen in the United States of America where we can all enjoy freedom, and I count that as a blessing.
Sheldon “Shelly” Prial is based in Melbourne, Fla., with Prial Consulting and also serves as the director of government relations for Atlanta-based Graham-Field Health Products. In 1987, he founded the Homecare Providers Co-Op, now part of The VGM Group. He can be reached by e-mail at shelly.prial@worldnet.att.net or by phone at 321/255-3885.
