Practical Tips for Power Mobility Retail Success

A 100-percent retail mobility provider shares insights on how providers can take their retail mobility to the next level.

• By Wayne Slavitt
• Sep 01, 2017

Great ideas are valuable, but they don’t mean much if you cannot put them into practice. Knowing the changes you have to make is not the toughest part of increasing your success; the difficult part is being able to implement those great ideas. Most of us know the ‘what,’ while far fewer know the ‘how.’ Let’s discuss some practical tips to succeed with retail power mobility.

Product Selection

Having a broad selection of scooters and power transport chairs (PTCs) is critical to being able to offer your customers various options. And while you probably would not show each of these scooters to every customer, having many models on display lets you easily provide comparisons in person, instead only from a brochure. Mobül is a G olden flagship dealer, so I know that Golden has a great range of power mobility products offering a wide selection of features. If you go with Golden, I would recommend you stock the following models of Golden power mobility products: Buzz LT, XL (three-wheel and four-wheel), and XLEX (three-wheel and four-wheel, LiteRider (three-wheel and four-wheel), Mini, and Envy, the Companion (three-wheel), and the Compass Sport. If you have the room, place the Patriot scooter in a prominent place on your floor.

Training

Customers expect your staff to be knowledgeable about everything in your store, especially the higher-priced items, like power mobility. Handing brochures to customers and telling them to read it is a retail non-starter. (That actually happened to me a number of years ago before I founded Mobül.) Failure to provide salient facts about scooters and PTCs, including how one model differs from another, will force that would-be customer to one of your competitors or to the Internet.

How do you best train your staff? First off, have your power mobility sales rep provide in-house, off-hours training. Break this training into a few sessions, if possible, to prevent classroom fatigue. Film the sessions for later recall and to train any absent staff members.

Another great training technique is role playing. Have one staff member play the role of a customer, and ask another to ‘sell’ a scooter to that ‘customer.’ Gather other staff around to watch this demo and have them critique the simulation to see if the following questions were asked:

• Why is a power mobility product being considered?
• Has the customer ever ridden a scooter or PTC?
• What are the customer’s pain points?
• What are the customer’s needs?
• Where will the power mobility product be used?
• Will the customer need to transport the scooter or PTC?
• Have you considered scooters as well as PTCs?
• Did you discuss suspension and higher battery capacity?
• Would a larger scooter or PTC be a better choice?

The role play’s purpose is to enable your staff to hear and critique the sales pitches of other employees. Plagiarizing someone else’s technique should be encouraged to develop best-in-class practices. Even more important is letting your staff put themselves in the customer’s position, providing a valuable perspective to fine tune a successful sales presentation.

Display

Power mobility products do take up valuable space in your store; yet, they need to be displayed and readily available for customers. I suggest that you place scooters and PTCs in a few different locations in your store.

Display them outside the store for customers to see when they drive by. If your store is located in a high-traffic area, remove the batteries and store them indoors. Also, place scooters and PTCs in visible sections inside your store, preferably more than one area. Consider placing a scooter or PTC on a raised platform to add visual height to your display.

Take full advantage of vendor-supplied point-of-purchase materials. For example, Golden does a great job providing professional banners and display towers. These eye-catching materials provide customers with informative visuals that enable self-education until a sales member is available. They also provide great color to your store.

Numbers

Set realistic sales goals for your staff. Make it fun by holding a daily sales contest for the most power mobility sales that day. Shift your staff’s focus to power mobility and watch your numbers grow each month.

Getting Help

If you need some assistance in growing your power mobility sales or with elevating your cash retail sales overall, consider getting outside help. Feel free to contact me to discuss how we can work together.

Wayne Slavitt is the founder and CEO of Mobül: The Mobility Store, and a consultant for The Primark Group (primemarkgroup.com), which offers a range of consultation services for HME providers. He can be contacted at (562) 599-9995.

This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of HME Business.