Properly marketed, incontinence products can substantially strengthen your bottom line. However, before this can happen, you need a solid business approach to selling. Flying by the “seat of your pants” will not cut it. The first step is to develop the business components that will generate sales and profitability.

1    Employ a salesperson with incontinence expertise.
Product knowledge is critical in developing a successful incontinence destination business. At least one staff member must be able to demonstrate empathy, product knowledge, and solution-selling. Knowing and being comfortable with incontinence products is the starting point for building a long-term customer/salesperson relationship.

Remember, older customers generally prefer older salespeople with whom they can relate and trust to discuss intimate personal issues. Because end users of incontinence products are most often females aged 55 and older, the best salesperson for this job is often older, too.

2    Select a “Category Captain.”
Selling incontinence products is a long-term commitment that takes ongoing marketing and advertising. To protect your margins and maximize your profitability, select a vendor that is willing to partner with you. Discuss with the vendor representative what the vendor can offer in terms of continuous product training, sample packs for customers and referral sources, showroom displays and signage, literature for mailers and referral source handouts, open house cosponsorship, and in-services for both your staff and referral sources.

Requesting that vendors and distributors provide periodic in-services to train your staff on the products is an especially good idea. Salespeople need to be familiar with all major incontinence brands on the market, not just those that you stock and sell. In this way, your salesperson can provide informed recommendations to customers and compare the brands you carry to the customers’ current brands. Focus these presentations on how incontinence products can improve the client’s daily quality of life and better the end user’s medical condition.

Another important item to discuss with vendors is what co-op advertising programs they may offer. Co-op programs differ widely and may include free products, free sample kits, 5% off invoice, 50% off any ads, ad slicks for print ads, ready-made television ads, extended dating, and promotional pricing.

Remember that vendors with co-op budgets enable you to promote your incontinence products with more frequency and repetition—the keys to success in marketing and advertising. If your current vendor says it cannot help, try the competition. They may jump to meet your needs and get your business.

3    Choose merchandising that offers a complete product selection tailored to your respective customer demographics.
Start by having your primary incontinence vendor set up its recommended planogram. Stock and display name-brand products and include an alternate brand, such as a private label or generic. These alternate brands are often “medical grade” lines that customers will not find in chain stores and therefore cannot price compare. Try to display products by type, not brand.

Have at least one staff member that can demonstrate empathy, product knowledge, and solution selling for incontinence products. Knowing and being comfortable with incontinence issues is a conduit to building a long-term customer/salesperson relationship.

As products begin to sell, keep a record of the most popular brands and Stock Keeping Units (SKUs). Then rearrange the planogram and move these top sellers to the center on the eye-level shelf. In young, urban communities, for example, name-brand and generic pads and liners are shelved front and center with the most depth of stock because they are the best sellers.

Finally, keep close track of what you display in your incontinence section. It is a good idea to shelve brochures on incontinence and product selection guides from manufacturers or distributors to help educate customers and close sales. Also, shelve sizes small to large from left to right (the way people read). Offer case packs on the right to increase sales-per-customer. Display a sign proposing free home delivery to alleviate the customer’s embarrassment and then offer to sign the customer up for an auto-ship program. And never shelve the adult incontinence products next to the baby diapers or feminine hygiene products. Adults do not want to be reminded that they are back in diapers.

4    Create a showroom layout that helps generate sales.
The design and layout of your showroom will greatly influence your ability to capture sales and increase sales-per-customer. Locate the complete incontinence category adjacent to related categories such as skin care, bathroom safety, and aids to daily living (ADLs). This will help generate cross sales and maximize sales-per-customer. Attempt to meet all of the customer’s needs in this category by presenting complete lifestyle solutions.

Remember to cross-sell other home health care products that help to meet your customer’s similar needs or values. For example, whenever a hospital bed is rented or sold, discuss usage of bedside commodes, bed pans, urinals, incontinence products, underpads, and mattress covers. It is also interesting to note that incontinence customers are the primary purchasers of bathroom safety products, so ask if they have any problems with balancing or rising when in the bathroom. All of these add-on, companion products will help both end users and caregivers improve the incontinent person’s daily quality of life.

Finally, remember that where you sell is important. Incontinence products cannot be comfortably sold while standing in an aisle. People are too self-conscious and withdrawn. Customers need a private place where they can speak freely. When a salesperson is seated at eye-level across from a customer, he or she is able to establish a rapport and comfort level when discussing this embarrassing topic. Place a desk in a back corner of your showroom or use a table and chairs in a fitting room to create a private, confidential, and reassuring environment.

5    Develop an ongoing marketing and advertising program.
Traditional print advertising is used successfully by the mass market to sell incontinence products at low price points. However, this is not a profitable market in which to compete. Home health care providers should only need to use print advertising to announce that they now carry a major brand line, sell case packs, or offer value-added services, such as a home delivery program.

Instead, direct marketing to current and potential customers is usually the best approach to grow your incontinence business. Include consumer literature—such as product information (available free from vendors and distributors), general incontinence information (available free from nonprofit support groups), and sales offers—with all in-store purchases, mailed invoices, and home deliveries.

Whenever and wherever you have contact with current customers, remind them that you are a destination for all of their incontinence needs. For potential customers, use direct mail or presentations for retirement communities, long-term care, and assisted living facilities, as well as for hospital discharge planners.

6    Start an auto-ship and/or home delivery program.
Such a program can create monthly reorders for incontinence products. Offer an auto-ship program for discreet case packaging delivered or drop-shipped directly to the customer’s door, thereby eliminating any embarrassment from buying these products at a store. Lock your customers into automatic reorders and then present health care information updates for opportunities to cross-sell them related products.

Any home health care company can sell incontinence products. As an example, my company developed a turnkey 90-day incontinence program that provides profitable cash sales for our franchises. While the majority of our 58 franchisees were traditional rehab dealers that focused on government reimbursement, incontinence products have opened the door for a lucrative monthly retail cash flow. (See “MEDIchair’s 90-Day Intro Program for Incontinence” on page 38.)

The key to generating such meaningful sales and profits from incontinence products is simply a serious, detailed business approach to selling, a plan of action, and passion for continuous improvement.

Miranda Caldwell is a category development specialist at MEDIchair, Calgary, Alberta, North America’s largest HME franchise operation. For more information on the company, visit its Web site at www.medichair.com.