For any business, maintaining a steady cash flow is important. But, as HME dealers know, that can be a big challenge—particularly for those who have to rely on reimbursements from agencies such as Medicare. However, cash flow does not have to be in a continual logjam, with money trickling through at the whim of government bureaucracy.

Apart from the financial benefits for dealers, there are also the needs of the patients to consider. Power lifts help fill these needs. “What we find is that 50% of our power mobility customers need some form of transportation for their product—so we saw it as an opportunity,” says Pete Fujimoto, owner/operator of Mobility Express of Georgia, Roswell, Ga. “We also know that there are some large national marketers involved in selling powered mobility [that don’t sell lifts].”

Though these are devices many patients want, lifts do not come cheap. But dealers can make the lifts affordable by offering an array of models at different price points and financing arrangements. “You have to take into consideration what the patient can afford and can’t afford, because Medicare does not help with any of it anyway,” says Alan Daoud, sales manager for AJ Mobility, Ruskin, Fla. “If you stray away from Medicare, a lot of people say you are shooting yourself in the foot. But not necessarily, because it is a cash deal.” Lifts have become a big part of AJ Mobility’s business—about 45%, according to Daoud. For Fujimoto, it is only about 15% to 20%.

Creative Financing and Marketing
Both dealers offer financing to their patients, with some variations. AJ Mobility offers a 90-day deferred interest option, and Mobility Express has a rent-to-own option, both in addition to more typical payoff instruments. Though Fujimoto does offer some lifts for home use, the majority of chair lifts that both dealers provide are for vehicles.

Offering the power lifts is not enough. To make this product line successful, dealers have to market the product to customers in a variety of ways. Fujimoto says that one of the most important marketing approaches is to have a retail space where the lifts can be set up and the patient can see them in actual operation. He maintains a 7,000-square-foot showroom where patients and their families can try out the devices. “I think having the [lifts] in the store is key,” he says. “It is hard to imagine what some of these lifts are like from a photo, but actually getting your hands around one, pushing the buttons, taking the chair on and off yourself is important.”

In addition, Fujimoto does other traditional marketing including taking out quarter and half-page advertisements in the Yellow Pages. Daoud’s marketing efforts are aimed at car dealers and various local associations. He also takes out advertisements in the local newspaper.

Outside sales are also part of Fujimoto’s marketing approach. “We visit doctors’ offices and hospitals and assisted living facilities—because not everybody can come in,” he says. Helping marketing efforts are the manufacturers, some of whom offer printed materials to support the product.

Once a sale is made and the necessary financing has been made, then the lift is installed. This is typically a flat $150 rate and involves affixing the lift to the vehicle. It is during the installation process where dealers can run into some serious trouble with their customers and turn what should be an easy cash sale into a loss.

Avoiding the Pitfalls
According to a major lift manufacturer, the biggest mistake providers make is focusing on making the sale. This usually means that the provider offers the wrong lift for the patient’s vehicle—typically one that will overload it and make it unsafe to drive.

For Daoud, this ignorance is the biggest hurdle to having a successful power lift niche. “The first thing you have got to do is learn about the product,” he says. “I go down to [a vendor’s facility] to find out how the lift works. You can’t sell someone a lift that is not going to work for them. You have got to take every case into consideration. Some vehicles can take a lift and some can’t. With all the manufacturers that you have now, they have databases set up so you can call them and let them know the type of vehicle. And they will tell you if it can take a class one or class three hitch, or whether you can mount a lift on the inside or not.”

All of the lift manufacturers offer free training to providers. And it is time well spent, says Daoud. “I feel that it should be mandatory for everyone to go to schooling and see how these lifts work, because we have seen lifts come in that other dealers installed that were not right. And we have had to redo the job, and the end user is left out hanging on a limb,” he says. “The manufacturers offer these universities, and if a dealer is definitely interested in getting into this market, he should take advantage of them. It does not cost you anything except your airfare.”

But putting in the right lift is not the end of the dealer’s role. Guaranteeing satisfaction—and future sales—is something else the dealer has to be cognizant of as well.

It’s About the Service
AJ Mobility offers its power lift customers a service contract that includes inspections at 6-month or monthly intervals depending on the manufacturer recommendation. “We label the lift, similar to when you get an oil change,” says Daoud.

Mobility Express of Georgia does not offer a service contract to its customers. Instead, Fujimoto says, he offers free inspections and maintenance, which has been a recipe to increase sales. “What is nice about this is that you are making sure your lift is still in good condition,” he says. “So you are reducing your liability on the one side. You are bringing the patient back into your store—always a good idea. You are staying in touch, making sure everything’s working, maintaining the relationship. And at the same time, you are making sure that the product you have provided is in good working order.” In addition to free service, Fujimoto also offers service round the clock.

Fujimoto adds that he thinks that the manufacturers, generally, do a good job supporting the product. While both Daoud and Fujimoto are focused on helping their patients in the present, they both have their hopes for the future, which includes innovations that will make the power lift easier for patients to use.

The Wish List
Daoud hopes that lift manufacturers will develop inside carriers and find a way to eliminate the need to drill holes in the body of the vehicle. “A lot of manufacturers are starting to go with an inside carrier system, and I definitely see that as the right path,” he says. “What I would like to see is that typically every chair would be able to fit inside the vehicle with these carrier systems. We are limited to what chairs can go in and not just because of designer flaws within. My wish is that in every vehicle we don’t have to do any drilling.”

Fujimoto’s concern is less on the particulars of future technology. “I would wish that lift manufacturers would not forget that, in many cases, it is the patient who is doing the work,” he says. Both men agree that it is unlikely that lifts will ever be covered by insurance.   

The best development for the lift market is probably that it is expanding and advancing technologically at the same time. “It will naturally grow because the number of powered mobility users is growing,” says Fujimoto. “I see it changing to smaller, more compact carriers. The two leading manufacturers have both brought out microlifts—which are half the cost of the big ones and half the capacity—but in a lot of cases that is all the patients need. So clearly we see a trend toward miniaturization.”

C.A. Wolski is associate editor of Dealer/Provider.