Page 31 - HME Business, March 2017

RETAIL SOLUTIONS
Marketing:
The Secret to
Retail Sales Growth
Cash sales success hinges on providers blending
traditional and online marketing strategies. By Joseph Duffy
With cash sales becoming essential to the success of results. In my opinion those people have been misguided into thinking
HME businesses, providers need to understanding that marketing is the secret, “miracle growth” ingredient for driving customers into your store.
But in an industry founded on funded transactions and referrals, many providers feel lost when it comes to branding and formulating marketing strategy, including how to mix traditional and on-line advertising.
“As an industry, HME providers are traditionally documentation and equipment usage experts, not marketing mavens,” says Lisa Wells, vice president of marketing for incontinence product makter Cure Medical. “Many of our strongest providers have a clinical background, which makes them well suited for working with patients but not so strong in the fine art of communication and promotion.”
Wells says that regardless of how you are selling, people need to find you at the point where they are searching, and for most that means venturing online, including via a mobile device. So without a mobile friendly website and the use of Adwords or Google Map locations, your customers will find your competitors instead.
Although many experts feel that a mix of both traditional and online marketing is integral to success, Kamal Haddad, founder and CEO of HME e-commerce company Health Mobius LLC, says most HME providers should stick mainly with traditional marketing methods.
“There are many folks that have tried focusing their marketing efforts to a larger degree on the online marketplace without understanding why,” Haddard says. “That can lead to unrealistic expectations and undesired
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that a magic bullet exists online when, in fact, it does not. To be successful there should be a larger emphasis on traditional forms of marketing,
with about 25 percent that use online marketing to support traditional marketing efforts.”
Haddard’s concern with placing too much emphasis away from the traditional marketplace has to do with not defining the brand and forgetting that HME providers are in a high-touch, high customer service business.
“Most providers cannot answer these basic questions: How would you describe your brand? How would your customers describe your brand? Are you excited about your brand?” Haddard explains. “Bottom line, if your customers are not excited about how you present your products and services, i.e. your brand, then you leave an open door for them to go elsewhere – and yes that includes shopping online elsewhere instead of from you. Your brand must be clearly defined and it must include marketing your retail cash sales strategy as an integral part of your plan to succeed.”
Maria Markusen, director of development for VGM Retail, says that her organization recommends that providers that are opening a new store use a 50-50 mix of traditional and retail.
“You need a traditional method to get people in the door and that traditional method includes things like big signs and grand opening events where you invite referral sources,” she says.
She also says that your customer base will help dictate advertising ratios. For example, if your product mix includes organic pain relief and is focused
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