HME News is the monthly business newspaper for home medical equipment providers. This controlled circulation publication reaches 17,100 home medical equipment services providers, including traditional HME dealers & suppliers, hospital- and pharmacy-o
Issue link: https://hme.epubxp.com/i/944166
HME Providers Pharmacies Home Infusions Hospice Home Health Providers at Booth 1665 MedTrade Expo Atlanta, GA 8/24-25/2017 Smart Talk 10 www.hmenews.com / march 2018 / hme news Revenue Cy C le Rehab sales 810-653-5000 | uni v e r salss.com Serving the nation's largest providers WE'LL CARE FOR YOU, SO YOU CAN CARE FOR THEM. SO YOU CAN CARE FOR THEM. Your patients rely on you for quality care and peace of mind. Don't you deserve the same from your software provider? Trust your systems to Universal Software Solutions. We'll be here for you. Always. Let our HDMS software help you run and grow your HME practice. From estimates and customer intake to patient care and billing, our strong built-in workflow engine and powerful API will allow for tight integrations across platforms, giving you more time for what matters most: patient care. See what we can do for you: HME Providers Pharmacies Hospice Home Health Providers Medtrade Spring Booth #554 Las Vegas March 27-29, 2018 a void spirals By Dan Greyn Q. h ow does inventory and warehouse management play a role in revenue cycle management? a . Too much inventory creates a sk the right questions By Bill n oeltin G Q. h ow can I be more influential or persuasive with a skeptical customer? a . The first steps toward provid- ing a great solution are to clearly understand the problem that needs to be solved, and to make certain that you and your customer are in agreement. Here are the next steps for gaining acceptance of your solu- tion. Ask these questions: Are they aware of the solution I'm recommending? Are they informed about it? Do they like it? Do they prefer it? Seems simple and intui- tive, right? It is, but don't skip a step and assume you know the answers. To be influential, you have to gen- uinely be interested in and under- stand the responses, so ask the questions and listen. "Are you aware of the solution I'm recommending?" If the answer is "no" then obviously the answer to the next three questions is also "no." Make sure you're armed with shareable information: handouts, videos, website links and samples. "Do you know about the solu- tion I'm recommending; do you have enough information?" Simply describing the features isn't enough. Your customer is more interested in how the features will benefit them. Ask them what they know about it and answer their questions. "What do you think about it?" The goal here is for them to like it. If they don't like it, find out why. The best tools for influencing a skeptic are proof sources, examples of how this product or solution has worked in other similar situations. Pres- ent case studies and testimonials instead of glossy product pictures. "Do you prefer this solution over the other possibilities?" If your cus- tomer doesn't prefer your solution, ask why and go back to the previous step. Understand their objections and discuss them. Don't forget to listen! It's a lot more important to be interested than to be interesting. hme Bill Noelting is principal at Noelting Creative Productions. Reach him at bill@ noelting.com. unneeded expenses and too little inventory means lost revenue. For many, inventory manage- ment is a necessary evil that isn't done well. Many businesses find it challenging because too many inventory management systems have been weakly bolted on to billing systems. This weakness causes insecurity for the CSRs who feel the need to verify inven- tory numbers themselves when answering inquiries. Also, ware- house personnel can't accurately forecast when to reorder so we end up with a downward spiral of inventory and an upward spiral of frustration. What would it look like if inventory management was "just right?" Warehouse personnel would maintain optimal levels of inventory, allowing CSRs to trust the quantities being shown and quickly respond to inquiries. Picking would be optimized by several tickets displaying on one handheld device so the employee only goes through the warehouse one time to fill several orders. Up- to-date sales history trends would assist with forecasting inventory and keeping carrier costs low. A "Goldilocks" scenario, but an excellent goal. The right software solution will make sure the right people are doing the right work at the right time. The improvements in medtrade booth 554 customer service and inventory forecasting will boost employee productivity, and reduce labor and carrying costs. You'll have accurate reporting from invento- ry to sale and from dispensing to delivery. You'll also have the data you need to make adjustments that will enable continued growth in your business. hme Dan Greyn is senior systems consul- tant, sales, at Computers Unlimited. Reach him at dan@cu.net.