During the past few days I have been thinking (something I try to do as often as I can), not only about what salespeople need to do to sell more but about the causes our industry has historically fought and the political action we have had to institute to get the attention of key decision-makers.
Is it possible we have been sending the wrong sales message to the press, to Congress? Where did we go wrong? How can an industry that does so much good and improves the quality of life for so many receive so much press that never addresses who we are and what we are actually all about?
I think this all started because we called ourselves medical equipment companies. We sold that incomplete message to anyone who would listen. We had people believing we sell products like electronic stores, jewelry stores or shoe stores. The only difference is that in our business, you didn't need any money to pay for our most expensive or most valuable products, just a contract with an insurance company.
What were we thinking? Since we simply sold ourselves as medical equipment companies, we opened the door to those with larceny in their hearts. We were all about a diagnosis, the right paperwork and waiting for the check in the mail. Too bad it really isn't that simple.
Some devious minds found they could just make up patient names and act like home care providers. It was all about the forms being correctly completed. Heck, for too long, our sales message has been, "We are just in the medical equipment business."
And now comes accreditation. Yes, it will discourage many thieves since they are not used to working so hard to keep up quality standards. But do you think all of our problems will now go away? No! We could end up being accredited but with continuous falling revenues.
Maybe we sold ourselves wrong. Maybe we needed to talk about being an industry that changes lives, gets people back to work and allows people to take care of themselves, often eliminating the need for costly assistance.
Maybe the word "equipment" is our problem. Lawn maintenance equipment, cleaning equipment, construction equipment and then there's us — medical equipment. But it looks to me like we are the only ones who have equipment people cannot live without.
Televisions and home appliances had service contracts way before we even gave them a thought. Did they know something we didn't? When did they realize people needed their televisions so badly and wanted a reliable place to call for repair? How did AAA know people would join so they could have immediate emergency service for their cars? Why didn't we have service contracts years ago?
We cannot turn back the clock, but we can turn our sales message in a new direction. We are not solely about products. It has always been the service and the care we have shown our customers that has made all the difference. The speed at which we work enables hospitals to discharge patients more rapidly, allowing new and greater revenues to come in. The speed at which we repair oxygen systems often saves lives.
Have we talked about all of this during our sales call to America?
We may not be where we want to be in the eyes of decision-makers, but we are where we should be in the eyes of our customers. They realize that when they witness the expertise of our delivery staff, hear the respiratory therapist on the telephone at 10 p.m. trying to help them and see the wheelchair being repaired as they wait in our store that we are more than medical equipment companies.
It's not an easy road to travel but maybe with one step at a time we can look back at this year, grateful for the messages we sent out and the results we enjoy. If you are having a bad day, talk to your customer and ask, "What difference have we made in your life?" Once we hear the response we will really understand what we've sold.
It's 2009. Let's stop talking about selling medical equipment. Let's begin talking about what we really do — allowing people to live productive lives.
Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc. and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. You can reach him through www.DynamicSeminars.com or at 954/435-8182.
