Well its been a few days since my last note. Been really busy getting ready for the Missouri Assistive Technology Conference and fight relly high blood sugars. Also last Friday the 11th, I celebrated 11 years of marriage with the greatest women in the world and look forward to many many more.

Thinking about my high blood sugars, I started thinking about the number of customers I talk to that have high blood sugar. I have alot of customer who suffer with diabetes as I do. I think about what I go through everyday and what I have already been through with my feet. I have already had to have toe nails removed and my feet and legs hurt when I am up on them alot. I have had a great working relationship with several other companies who sell and fit diabetic shoes. I refer them customer and they refer me customer. Its a good working relationship and it helps the customer get the proper shoes to prevent other issues later on. I am fairly young at age 40 to have the medical issues I have and to add issues with my feet and legs, it sucks. But its the hand I've been dealt and I get up and keep on going.

Build relationships with other vendors that sell the products you don't. Find a dealer that will love your customers thet way you do. The other dealer may never refer you another customer but so what, your doing what is in the best interest of the customer.

I am working on a special project thet is near and dear to my heart. I need your help though, do you have a customer that needs a new chair and doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance? Tell me their story I may be able to help through my project. Send me all the info you would collect to provide a new chair, tell me why this customer is so special to you, tell me their story and tell me your story. This industry needs positive stories and I want to tell your stories. I want to tell stories about good dealers who love what they do, who value their relationships with their customers and tell stories about your customer and how they have impacted your life. So please, send me your stories. Get your customer permission and send them to me. Their are hundreds and hundreds of life changing stories out their that need to be told, someone needs to hear them and we are gonna tell them. You've all read my stories now lets hear yours. I would love for the manufactures to chime in. I know folks from Pride and Invacare read this, speak up. Tell me aboutthat awesome dealer who loves his customers. Dealers, tell me about that awesome ATS or CSR.

Well I'm gonna close and see if the stories start coming in.

 

Chris

I had the chance yesterday to spend time with a customer who has MS and one who suufers with a recent spinal cord injury. The customer with MS was diagnosised approximately 17 years ago and started using a power wheelchair 7 years ago. She is currently using a Pride 1113 and has taken excellent care of the chair and has had very little issues with the chair. What I find hard to understand, is know that MS is a progressive disease, why would someone put her in a basic chair that will not meet her needs longer term. She has purchased cushions because the van seat caused her severe pain from day one, the joystick doesn't swingaway, the foot plateform wasn't adjusted right and the armrest do not provide the upper extremity support she requires. Why not put her in a base with a pressure relieving cushion, a positioning back and a base that could be easily modified as her conditions changed?

I am not saying that her base can't be modified but running powered seat functions through the joystick are not an option, putting a tilt on would be a challenge and it get high centered everywhere. She can't go up her back ramp without getting high centered, she is unable to get on her interior wheelchair stair lift without getting high centered so her independence is diminished.

Stop and think about what you are doing and what you would do for yourself. I can promise you that the person that sold them that chair would not have put themselves in that chair if they had MS or any other type of progressive disease. Love your customer just as you love yourself and if you don't love yourself that much, find another line of work.

Our industry needs positive things to come out about it. We hear all the negative stuff but what about the life changes that we assist with in this industry. Tell your stories and tell them loud. We need more positive stories to come out so we can show that there are more good guys and gals in this industry than bad.

 

Chris

When you are performing a mat eval or just measuring a customer while they are sitting in a chair, if you listen to what their posture is telling you, you will learn alot. Some folks just go in pull out their tape measure and note pads, write down a bunch of numbers and walk out of a customers home without ever laying hands on the customer. I use a tape measure and many other tools, but my hands have ears. As I run my hand down a customers back, I understand what is going on with their spinal alignment. While up close and checking their pelvic positioning, i listen to their breathing especially if they have a lung condition, cardiac condition or scoliosis.

As I hold on to their pelvis while checking for proper midline pelvic alignment, I notice their shoulder and trunk position. Can they hold a midline alignment independently, do they lean to one side or the other, are their shoulders rounded, how much of their back os touching the back of the chair and so on. While checking their lower extremity hip and knee flexion and extension, what is the position of their ankles. When sitting do they sit in a severe posterior pelvic tilt,anterior tilt, frog legged, abducted or adducted and what is their head position. As I am doing all this I am making mental notes and my hands are moving them into a midline alignment if possible and my hands are listening for increased heart rate, increased or decreased breathing and stomach rumbling. What are you doing?

I was recently in an eval at a physicians office, the customer had multiple medical conditions that required complaex rehab power wheelchair. This customer had diagnosis of multiple CVA's, MS, seizures, frequent falls with injury, severe weakness in the trunk, inability to maintain midline posture without maximum supports, mild kyphosis scoliosis and weak neck muscles. She had been evaluated by another local provider but physician told customer that she want her evaluated by me. When I arrived at the office, I walked into the exam room and was introduced to customer and her family. I explained to them how I conduct an eval and what I was doing at each step. I made my recommendations and the physician agreed and we then talked with the customer and family as to the what equipment, why the equipment and the process in getting the equipment.

After that conversation the daugther gave me the paperwork from the other provider. They had recommended a basic consumer power base with a captain seat and said that when they came to her home the only measurements they took was seat depth, seat width and door measurements. She said other than the eval that this physician had given her, I had probably performed the most detailed eval that her motherhad had in 2 years.

My advice is this, listen with your hands, your eyes, your ears and your heart. When recommending equipment ask yourself this, is this the equipment I would put my wife, my child, my mother, father or brother in? If you answer no, don't do it. If it's over your head, refer it to someone who is qualified to do it. Remember this, just because the person has achieved the ATS status means that they are an ATS. Be a professional, build relationships with your physicians, therapist, customers and know your limits. Don't do it just because you can.

I went to a home today and visited with a family as to what their daugther needed. She looked so uncomfortable and was hanging on the arm rest. The first thing I did was to move the armrest and ask why they had armrest on her chair? Their response, don't you have to have them on the chair? My response, can she use them with her upper extremity contractures? No, so why have them on their because thay can't be adjusted low enough and she is hanging on them. After removing the armrest, this young lady relaxed, she smile, her lung function increased, she started talking and her shoulders came into a neutral alignment. We are going to make a few more modifications but over all the other provider had done a wonderful job with the chair. The family had nothing but high regards for the other provider and so do I, the other provider had just reached his maximum capabilities. Know yours, ask for help, its not your body you will do long term damage to.

 

Chris

 

 

Well today is the last day of March and new Medicare rules go into affect tomorrow. One of the joys when mentoring up and coming stars in the industry, is helping them get through these times of change. I have couple of gentlemen working under my direction that are learning this business and one that has taken the ATS exam and is sitting on pens and needles waiting to see if he passed. Dealers across the country are scrambling to get equipment in and delivered prior to night tonight. Manufactures have worked overtime to get chairs to the dealers due to the new dead lines. Fun Fun Fun

Tammy and I have been working hard to help others get equipment delivered prior to tomorrow's deadline and can now focus and write a new blog. One of my greatest joys in this industry has been the 8 or so years that I have been able to work side by side with my best friend, my wife. Tammy has been there through the hard times, the good times, the really hard times when I had to take off after a heart attack and open heart. She has ensured that customersrecieved their equipment, repaired equipment, cooked, cleaned and raised the kids when I have been down. I understand the demands of this industry and the toll it takes on your family. The best staff, tech, assistant that a person can have is their wife. Tammy is my biggest fan, she has allowed me the opprotunity to be as successful as I have been in this industry. If it wasn't for her love and understanding, I would most likely be divorced.

I'll never forget the first time Tammy went with me on a delivery to one of my higher end users. He had been in bed with no wheelchair for 6 months. When he got his chair he asked if he could go outside, we of couse told him it was his chair and he could do what ever he wanted. Snow was flying and it was very cold out that day butthat didn't matter. He drove outside and with tears in his eyes, he turned to Tammy and said thank you. Tammy began to cry and looked at me and said this is why we do what we do. She understood all the late night, weekends and extensive travel.

Tammy is all that and a bag of chips. I am not the easiest person to live with, work with or be married to. I make more mistakes than the average bear and for some reason Tammy continues to stand by me. I know this may not be what you expected from this blog but every now and again we should tell those that allow us to be who we are, do what we do,  thank you and I love you. 

Tammy, I love you and thanks for all the years you have took my crap and stood by me. Sharron Potzmann, Thanks for being the best office manager an ATS could ask for. Rick, thanks for being a great tech and friend. Andy, Thanks for being a great friend and the best boss in the whole world.

 

Chris 

I know I have talked about building relationships and how important they are not only to your personal life and your business. Before anyone calls the HIPPA Police, I have permission to use his name. Through my work as an ATS I have made many friends that have and will last a lifetime. I have spoken at some of my pediatric customers funerals and at some of my other customer funerals as well. Through our work Tammy and I have increased the size of our family by hundreds. We have adopted grandparents, brothers, sisters and children. We have brought some of our customers that are our son's ages to our home for the weekend and have had customer stay at our home during this winters power outages.

These are not just customers they are family. Over the last 6 or 7 months I have developed a relationship with a customer that has become a close and dear friend. Mike Finkelstein is a brother that has used a manual wheelchair for ambulation for 43 years and spent the last 15 years of his legal career as an attorney working on behalf of those with disabilities. He has one of the most brilliant legal minds I have ever met and love him like a brother.

Tammy is out of town working so the boys and I spent the evening with Mike at our home eating pizza and playing chess. Mike also has a brilliant mind for and a deep love for the game of chess. He is giving my boys lessons and we enjoy chess club on Wednesday nights at an area public school. Mike and I can spend hours enjoying each others company, talking politics and about current events, long discussions about the Bible and many other topics. We grill out together, go out to dinner together and call each other to just say hi and I love ya. It is through my relationship with Mike that I have come to understand that it's ok for grown me to say I love you to each other. I felt weird about that at first but as we became closer and closer friends, I began to let my guard down and we can talk about anything. Mike your a dear and perious friend and I love you and value your friendship.

Tammy and I also have grandparents that we adopted when one of my other close friends passed away. Dean was a customer who became a close and dear friend that passed away about 3 years ago. Dean was one of those guys that when you meet him you just had to love him. When I met Dean his health was is so so shape and he had been in bed for 6 months to heals wounds on his buttocks. His physician called and said his wounds had heal to the point he could start getting up some, but before he could get up I had to modifiy the chair he had recieved from another local provider. Dean and I met and became friends. During the last month he was alive his daugther couldn't get him to go to the hospital or doctors without calling me first. One night he was having some serious issues and they couldn't get him to go so I went and picked him up and took him. He told the emergency room staff that we were cousins and wanted me back there with him. On his death bed he waited for me to tell him it was okay to leave this world and that I would take care of his mom and dad, 15 minutes later, Dean was gone. Tammy and I still take care of grandma and grandpa and will as long as we live.

These relationships will mean more to you and to your life than anything else. The people you become friends with will become your family and will help you build your business because they love you and they are your personal fan club. Mike I love you, Dean I miss you and good luck building your relationships.

 

Chris

Well the time has come for all good rehab people to be certified. Or at least thats what Medicare says. I know some like it and some dislike the fact that as of April 1st you have to be an ATS to sell rehab equipment. I for one am for it. I feel that for far to long that we needed to have rehab seperated from consumer power and Medicare found a way to do it. There are alot of folks that are saying how it will hurt their business but I believe everyone has had plenty of time to prepare. Since some waited till the last minute, they are scrambling to get equipment in and delivered by March 31st. Good luck!!!

I spoke to a few manufactures reps today that said they are scrambling to get chairs to dealers so they can get them delivered. I would encourage more folks to go to some training classes, get the on hands experience they need and take the RESNA ATS exam. This industry is the most rewarding industry a person could work in. The fact that we get to work with kids, tennagers, adults and assist them with regaining the freedom and independence, "It just doesn't get any better than this".

I want to congradulate those who recently took the test and passed and pray for those who took the exam and are waiting for their results. I know the waiting is hard and you are worry about what the furture holds. Here is what I can tell you, some of the most dedicated people in our industry have not taken the exam and soon will. Study hard and apply yourself and you can do it. One day  you will go to the mailbox and you will either get a big yellow envelope or a standard envelope. If you get a big envelope that has RESNA's name on it your good to go, if youget a small envelope go back inside and call to schedule for a retake. One of 2 things have happened, you either passed or failed. No sugar coating so stop worrying and get busy. No matter what you will live to fight another day.

Easter is upon us so Happy Easter to everyone and God Bless.

 

Chris

Yesterday I went to see a customer who has ALS and can no longer drive her chair using the mushroom joystick. As we were leaving her home I took a few moments to reflect how she must feel. She was very up beat about what was happening and how her disease was progressing. I just could help but to put my self in her shoes for a few moments and wonder how I would feel it that were me. I try to do that on a regular basis, I try to put myself in my customers shoes so I have a better understanding of what they are going through.

We often tell our customers we know how they feel or what they are going through, but do we really know or can we really feel that way. I know when I am talking to a customer that has severe cardiac issues, I can relate and put myself in their shoes because I am walking in those shoes right now. After 43 cardiac cath's, open heart and 4 heart attacks myself I can relate and understand how they feel from all the meds and understand what they are going through and how they feel. But can I truely feel and understand what an ALS or MS customer is going through? I know there are alot of other diseases and issues that folks may have but these are just 2 that have hit home this week.

Last night and this morning as I reflected on this I tried to sit and not move my hands, arms and legs for as long as I could. I thought about having to have someone get me a drink, feed me my food, change me becasue we couldn't make it to the bathroom in time and assisting me with dressing and bathing. I am a very independent person and I would .... well I don't know what I would do. When I had my first heart attack, I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and was told by the doctors that I could not work for 2 months. I went stir crazy. I went to every coffee shop in town 2 or 3 times a day. My wife and kids wouldn't hardly let me out of there site and people were always trying to do stuff for me. The hardest thing I have every had to do was ask for help because i couldn't do something for myself. At 34 years old that was a hard pill to swallow and it didn't go down very well. I have told somethings here today that I wasn't planning to tell about myself but I had to in order to make a point.

Our customers have disease that lead them straight to deaths door and sometimes the road is long and painful. Try to put yourself in there shoes and understand what they are going through or how they feel when they call you and are a little hateful or snappy. Try and sit for hours at a time without being able to move your legs, your arms or able to hold your head up. Try to walk or drive a mile in their shoes brfore you make that comment about how rude or hateful they were today. Would you be rude or hateful if you were in their shoes? How would you feel if your doctor told you that you only had 6 months to live or had a disease that would kill you inside of 3 to 4 years? I can also answer that question because 14 years or so ago I was told by a doctor that I would be dead in 6 months due to brain tumor.

Build relationships, love your customers and treat them the way you would want to be treated. Slow down, stop trying to be the Super Hero and stay focused. If you will put yourself in your customers shoes, be patient when they are rude and hateful and think how you would feel, your business will grow by leaps and bounds, you will be happier, your customer will appreciate you more and your life will be blessed in ways you will never think possible.

 

Chris

Well still waiting for the phone call from Invacare. I guess I will continue to update everyone so they know how the whole armrest things gets resolved or at least I get a phone call from the legal department or someone who knows how to handle these types of issues. I know that I am out on a limb and it better be resolved.

Today was an awesome day. Help a couple people with their mobility issues and met a couple new customers who we will help. To help someone who was diagnosis with serious health issues at such an early age. He rare form of cancer apread to her brain and she recently had a stroke. She now is suffering with hemipelgia and fits everyday to continue on and will not give up or give in. A power wheelchair was recommended to allow her increased independence with her mobility and to perform more of her ADL's independently. She is unable to ambulate due to severe balance issues, inability to weight due to lack of leg and ankle strength, severe foot drop and is unable to propel anytype of manual wheelchair due to severe weakness secondary to chemo.

She was assisted into the power wheelchair and boys she took off. She had freedom and was able to walk across the floor without help and without falling. The issue was a safe and independent transfer into the chair. She was unable to place her affected lower extremity on the floor to bear weight on it. This is where we need to work to assist our customers and help them get the additional support or equipment they need. Don't recommend something to them and not follow through with it. You just got her a new chair but what if they fall getting in or out of the chair and now can't use the device they needed because of further injury.

I called her physician and discussed the issue with him. The physician ordered an AFO and we called a company that employes professional who make custom AFO's. The AFO should provide the support she needs to safely and independently transfer in and out of the chair. Normally she would be recieving physical therapy but therapy will not work with her as long as she is recieving chemo. Now if this isn't our great government Medicare system at work. Who ever makes these policies need their head examined. A young lady has a stroke, is unable to transfer in and out of a chair independently, they won't work with her because she is on chemo and won't perform an evaluation because they may not get paid. So she falls and gets hurt and even more of our tax dollars will pay for ambulance trip, emergency room visit, possible long hospital stay, surgical procedure to fix what might get broke all beause they are told Medicare won't pay for eval and physicial therapy.

If you have a customer who needs somethingand your not sure what, call someone who will know what they need and who to call. Go to some classes, talk to therapist, talk to an O&P professional or call their physician. Don't just leave and do nothing. This customer thanked me and said they had my number on speed dial as Chris Mobility. The O&P professional will be there tomorrow and she will get the brace she needs to transfer with increased stability, safely and independently. Remember what I said in yesterday blog, build relationships, take care of your customers and do what's right and your business your referral sources and your life will all benefit.

Do you wake up everyday looking forward to helping someone or is it just a job? Exam your heart, if your heart is not leading your business and how you do your business, than maybe your in the wrong business. There are many RESNA certified ATS's that shouldn't be ATS's, don't be one or become one. If your not an ATS and are being effected by the April 1st deadline, be the best you can be, get into classes, study hard and get your ATS certification, we need more.

 

Chris

As I worked most of the day I wondered what to say in today's blog entry. This whole incident with Invacare and the armrest had me pretty upset and my last entry reflected that. The one thing I still don't understand is why we still haven't heard from Invacare? I will say that if this had of been Pride or one of the other manufactures I deal with on a regular basis I would have heard from them. Pride would have offered a new chair or wouldhave been working hard to make the problem right.

Well enough of that and on to an awesome story. I had the chance today to work with a long standing customer of mine. I worked with this lovely young lady on her first power chair when she was in the second grade and now she is in the eigth grade and will soon enter high school. To watch this little girl grow up into a young women is awesome. This is why I say this business is about relationships. Have me and the mom and others always seen eye to eye on every issue, of course not but we have always found a way to come to common ground for what is in her best interest.

This young lady has spastic quad cp and requires a power wheelchair with a seat elevator and standing frame. Everyone is going to say that we cannot get these items funded and soon. Well don't count us out because we will find a way to get these items funded because we can prove medical and educational necessity. We all know and understand the importance of standing and she needs to stand for proper growth, bone strength and many other health issues. The one thing we forget about is her self esteem. Should she be able to stand and look at her peers at the same level they are at? Should she be able to rise up to the same level they are at biology lab? Shouldn't she be able to go to a dance and stand up and dance like any other abled bodied person? Can you imagine what this would do for her self esteem? I know what it would do for mine.

It was awesome to assisther into the seat of a Blader power wheelchair and give her a brief run down on the electronics and how the powered seat functions work. She drove the chair around and was ready to stand. She hit the buttons and she stood up withthe biggest smile that I had ever seen. She stood for 15 minutesor so with no redness in the knees, no complaints of pain in her joints and than she drove around my office trying to hold back the excitement. To see the look on her face the gleem in her eyes and the smile on her face is exactly why we are in the business we are in.

Folks, the reason we are in this business is because of the relationships we build and help others. It's not the money, its not for any other reason than to be the best we canbe at what we do and help other who require our assistance. I said it once before, "How many people do you know that asked to be disabled"? Before you started working in this business would you have known how to purchase a wheelchair? Did you know the difference between an ultralight weight wheelchair verses a standard weight wheelchair? Pass it on, help as many people as you can but in all things ask yourself this, "Would I do this if this were my child, my mother, my brother or my grandma"? If your answer is not than don't doit to them. Don't worry about the funding, find it. Don't worry about the cost, buy a demo. Don't only worry about today, think about the furture. Will she breakdown, than prevent it from ever breaking down. Will he develop scoliosis without that support, than put it on and get throw in your commission if you have to. Do what's right, love and enbrace the relationship's you are building.

 

Chris Bennett, ATS

Today was a day when I don’t think Invacare could have found its way out of a paper sack with a road map. I have talked to many of you who believe that I have given Invacare a higher grade or rating because I favor them over other manufactures. Well that’s not the case. Invacare manufactures quality reliable equipment and I use their products the same as I do others. I will never let a manufacture dictate what I write on my blog. I don’t sugar coat things I tell it the way I see it and how it is.

This morning when I got up my phone was telling me I had a voicemail message. I looked to see who had called before I checked the message. Once I seen who had called I called my voice mail to retrieve the message. The message was from a customer, close personal friend and my attorney.

The call was to tell me that his armrest had broken when he attempted a pressure relief. He then followed his voicemail up with 4 or 5 emails. As I was walking into my office he called and told me what had happened and we needed to come pick the chair up and fix it. He also proceeded to tell how he could no longer trust this chair because on Wednesday of this week the other armrest had broken while doing a pressure relief. I guess I better set the stage. This customer is 57 years old and weighs approximately 170 pounds and has been in a chair for 43 years. He is a retired attorney and one of the most brilliant legal minds I have ever met. His old chair was a 15 year old Quickie 2 and he has performed this pressure relieving movement the same way for as long as he can remember.

He needed a new chair and had some positioning needs that lead us to choose an Invacare Crossfire T6. Yes I know the very chair I gave rave revues a few weeks back. The ergo seat is still the best frame design I have seen in a long time.  He received his new chair approximately 5 weeks ago and until Wednesday the chair was working great and then it happened. First the right armrest bolt sheared off and he came into the office and we replaced the bolt. Thought it was strange that that would have happened so soon after receiving the new chair. Then less than 48 hours later the other arm breaks. The bolts sheared off in the exact spot and bent the back mounting bolts.

I called Invacare to report the problem and was told they had never seen this happen, that certain funding sources purchase hundreds of these chairs and they have never seen this happen. I explained that this is a close friend and attorney and he was going to sue and we needed to get the problem fixed ASAP. I spent 4 hours on the phone trying to run down someone at Invacare who could address this issue and failed to hear from anyone except my rehab rep. He called everyone he knew to call but was unable to get anyone to call him back and get them to call me.

What do they expect the customer stay in bed till Monday? Hire a maid to come wait on him all weekend, cook his food clean his house and so on. What if I had not had a loaner chair to put him in while trying to figure out what is going on before he suffers serious bodily injury? I called my rep and left a very harsh message and will expose Invacare on this issue. Everyone needs to know what has happened. Has anyone else been having this issue and just not reporting it to Invacare? Please speak up, your customer may be in danger of injury and if he had not been on guard due to the previous issue and been in the area he was in, he would have had a major problem. I am “PISSED” and I am going to have some serious conversations with Invacare and they will make it right.

I don’t care that it is Friday; it shouldn’t matter when this happens. Invacare needs to exam their policies and have a better plan to handle these types of issues.  Please let me know if you or any of your customers have had this or an issue like this. Trust me Invacare will be reading this and they need to hear from you.

 

Chris

 

PS: I have road maps if you need one!!!!!

Well maybe the cat is out of the bag and everyone needs to know. The word around the water cooler is The Scooter Store is changing their name to Alliance Seating and Mobility. I have it from sources that The Scooter Store is changing their name and they are planning a press release before to long to announce it. Now if that isn't like trying to put lipstick on a pig. The company that has cause our industry the biggest black eye, deliveries equipment that doesn't work for individuals, deliveries consumer power bases to customers with ALS and so on changing it's name to make people think they are a rehab company, that's for sure a wolf in lambs clothing.

Consumers, therapist, physicians and other beware, the industry is fixing to take another big hit to our intregrity. When a consumer power criminal dresses it's self up in a fancy dress and high heelsand makes it's self look good but under all that makeup is the same ugly beast they have always been. I seen another commerical on our local TV this evening and it was Doug Harrison saying the him andhis wife started the scooter store for this resaon and that reason and the customers have the right to know this and that and so on. What he needs to tell customers is how many times they have provided chairs that were to big to fit through a customers doors, how many times they have been investigated by Medicare, how much money they had to refund and how they are trying to rape the industry. Why doesn't he explain that while the have caused more harm than good to our industry and how they are trying to create a monoploy in our industry and take away the customers right to choose what provider they want to provide their equipment.

This is an outrage and we have to do something about it. I cannot be the loudest voice on this. I cannot be the only person willing to mention the scooters store's name and be ready and willing to exercise my free speech rights. Come on people, you need to pass this blog address around so therapist, physicians and customers hearthe latest scam the Scooter Store is trying to pull. Just because you hired someone that claims they know rehab and are trying to sell some rehab chairs in Texas makes you a Seating & Mobility provider, pass me some of what ever your smoking because Doug you have gotta be smoking something. Think God Invacare and other providers havewoke up and smell the coffee and stopped selling products to the Scooter Store. The Scooter Store and others can put their spin on it and say that Invacare didn't stop selling to the Scooter Store and that the Scooter Store this and that. The point is Invacare will no longer let their product be disgraced by such a company.

I guess you can hear the angry in my voice. I am hot about this and am going to send letters, write more blogs and you should to if this makes you as angry as it makes me. Alot of you are reading this blog, this week so far we have had over 511 views and the count is growing. The government worked a deal with the Scooter Store recently and that pissed me off and what is funny, one of the Scooter Store's current employees use to talk about what a disgrace they were to the industry, how their recent settlement only incouraged them to commit fraud and continue to deliver products that benefitted the Scooter Store and not the customer. It's funny how easy it was for him to jump ship whan the boat is was on was going down and jump over to the other side. I wonder if he toldthem all of the things he said about them before he went to work for them? I guess the scooter store and those types of people belong together.

If you have read this blog but never responded, respond now. If you haveread this and are as angry as I am, forward my blog address to every therapist, physician, customer and law maker you can. We have to raise our voices and let evryone know what is going on and it needs to be stopped and it needs to be stopped now. We have to protect our seniors and other from falling pray to the wolf in lambs clothing.

 

Chris

 

PS: Is this a 5

One of the asspects I love about my years of working with individuals who require mobility equipment is teaching others to do what we do. Today was one of those days. I want to Thank Pride Mobility for a day of teaching, learning and relationship building. Jay Brislin, MSPT spent the day teaching some consumer power sales personal and is an expectional teacher. He had those he was presenting to involved, hands on taking notes, asking questions and presented the material in a way everyone understood. He presented that material on each person level and as the sales staff evaluated a customer he offered suggestions, provided instruction that was on their level and just performed an awesome job.

For me it was a day to evaluate some of the changes to their current electronics, upgrades to Prides powere seat functions and talk about up and coming changes. It is very apparent that Pride/Quantum is working extremely hard to improve thir current products, develop new products and redesign products that need to be changed. The other refreshing thing was to see how Pride continues to train their staff and how that training is increasing their reps product knowledge and application of the products. The team of Pride professionals that I spent the day with are very knowledgeable, eager to build a new and refreshed relationship built on trust, honesty and respect. This is the first time in a long time that I would feel good about selling a Pride product.

This blog has done exactly what I wanted it to do and that was to open lines of communication with the manufactures, dealers, consumers and anyone else that wants to get involved. I have daily conversations with manufactures talking about how their products are failing, what they can do to improve their products and customer service and how they can serve us better. Understand that in order for a manufacture to provide quality customer service and increasing sales they must first understand that one aspect of their business is to serve those who sell and use their products just as my job is to serve my customers. Its more that manufacturing a product and selling that product.  Tammy and I feel that we serve our customers and have a heart for serving our customers and for that reason our customer base grows daily, we have built life long relationships with customers and manufactures and look forward to going into the office everyday.

Pride has redesigned their rear wheeldrive power base and it appears to be a dramatic improvement from the old chairs they had. Check it out and if you need continued education and aren't sure about what Pride can do, call their education department or their rehab applications department and learn from some very knowledgeable industry leaders. For your continued commitment to listening when we complain, changing your products for the better, the redesign of your rear wheeldrive power base, I give Pride an A+. I know when you read some recent blogs you will notice I was hard on Pride for certain things, they have made and are continuing to make postive improvements. Trust me I will continue to monitor their progress.

Call Pride and see what's changing, I think you will be impressed I was.

 

Chris

In the days of funding cuts, down sizing and uncertain furtures, companies need information and new ideas to attract new customers, increase sales and change business models as business changes. I recently visited a friend of mine who is a DME dealer who hired a business consultant to advise him on changing from industrial location to retail location and ways to expand his business. The first thing the consultant suggested was buy inventory like a grocery store so when someone comes in you have the products on the shelf and ready to delivery. Now he has all this inventory and has items that he only sales once a year if that. His store looks great but inventory is not what he needed. He has 4 or 5 bath benches and may only sell one a month, he has 3 or 4 of every size compression hose his supplier had to offer, he has 5 to 10 power wheelchairs on the floor and averages 4 sales a month. He has lifts which he has never sold any and the list goes on and on.

The problem with the grocery store market concept his market doesn't support that type of store. With today's funding cut's and down sizing, small DME's as well as large DME's need to run lean and mean with inventory. They need to specialize in a certain area and not try to be all things to all people. The other thing is they need to get to know companies like McQueary Brothers, yes McQueary Brothers. Most of you may know them as a drug wholesale company but they are more than that. A little over a year ago they hired a gentleman by the name of Todd Twigg. Todd is an ATS and former Invacare rep. Todd was hired to start a DME wholesale division for McQueary Brothers and has done an excellent job.

McQueary Brothers has hospital beds, power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, wound care products, grab bars, bed side commodes and their product line expands every month. The advantage to ordering from them verse the direct from the manufacture is I order today and have tomorrow morning at no additional charge. McQueary Brothers serves a number of states in the midwest and the deliver daily at no additional freight charges. This allows me to stock 1 of each item rather than 4 of each item. If the product the customer requires is a non stock item for me I can order it today and have it tomorrow. I increase my profit because I don't have to have thousands of dollors in inventory, increase my customer service because I can have those odd ball items next day, no overnight shipping charges and friendly customer service. They aren't stocking off the wall brand items either, the sell Invacare, Bell-Horn, Drive, Jobst and many more. Now you may think I am paying a higher price than I would by ordering direct, nope, same or lower price in most cases.

In a time when manufactures are competing for sales, every manufacture should sell their products through McQueary Brothers. If I need a power wheelchair to deliver tomorrow and the manufacture can't get it to me for 4 days and end of month is tomorrow, I call Todd and next morning it's at my door. Now that's service. You need to check out McQueary Brothers if you live in the Midwest or find another wholesale company that can provide you with that type of service. To contact Todd Twigg you can email him at ttwigg@mcqbros.com .

 

Chris

 

I just approved my response to Simon Margolis' Love'em and Leave'em Markerters. My response will appear in the April issue of HMENews so I encourage everyone to get a copy and review it. I would post my response but I sure you all have had a chance to review my first response and will look forward to my printed response which is well written and address hi remarks in a calmer manner.

While I don't understand Mr. Margolis's on going comments, I wonder if it is that NRRTS has no other issue to hang their hat. We recent dropped our NRRTS membership and that is sad. I would think that an organization as large as NRRTS would have a greater voice, more political attitude and get results. Rather than refocusing your energies to attack companies that advertise on the TV or mass Media, NRRTS should be working with it's members to increase their sales, shore up their view points on the system and have a plan that will involve each member to have a stronger voice. These fly in and fly out trips to Washington DC may bring positive attention to the problem but how many dealers or members can afford to go to Washington with the drop in their sales, cut's in funding and having to focus on down sizing or go out of business. NRRTS needs to talk to their members and focus on them and how they can help each member stay in business, provide consulting to help the stay in business, provide a mentoring relationship to keep quality smaller dealers in business as many have already closed or could soon close if sales don't increase.

If you are a dealer that is having sales issues and aren't sure  what tomorrow holds, call your Prdie or Invacare rep and consider mass media. It is not as expensive as you might think and get educated to understands exactlyhow it works. You may think it is very expensive at first glance but if you weigh the number of people you can reach verses the cost of the ad and then the number of referrals you get, it is not as expensive as you think. Pride, Invacare and most other large manufacture will help with ad production, purchase of media ads and give you the ends and outs. I believe that any dealer that is running their business with the consumer's best interest at heart and uses the ads to grow their business would do good and increase sales using mass media.

I also believe the more quality dealers that run ads the fewer referrals will go to the scam artist and shady dealers. Do your homework, talk to the manufacture's who have experience media folks on staff and start markerting. Another good source for media is US Rehab and VGM. They have commericals they have and understand how media works and how it can increase your sales.

I guess I should be careful my competior may read this and go run ads. They are and they haven't hurt my direct referrals at all. This goes to show that these ads reach out to the general public who may not go to a physician that refer's their patients to you. Another opprotunity to build a relationship with a referral source.

 

Chris

PS: Typed in a hurry, don't pick it appart for correct english and spelling.

Thinking more about “The Machine” and “Love’em and Leave’em Marketers”, I spent sometime this evening surfing the web and exploring websites of on-line providers to see exactly what they offer and so on. I found out a lot of interesting facts and have a lot of questions and maybe some of you will have answers.

I recently reviewed Pride’s website and reviewed their standards. Pride discusses in their standards about lowest advertised internet price. This is the lowest price that internet dealers can sell their product for. I saw a lot of Pride products available for sell on the internet and one company with the name of, jazzy electric wheelchairs. In all the websites I viewed the wheelchairs were all priced about the same and they all have disclaimers that state some wheelchairs cannot be returned, they have a 25 to 30 percent restocking fee, free freight and so on. The one thing that caught my attention was the 110 to 150 percent lowest price guarantee. My question would be, doesn’t that put the price below the lowest internet price? Most internet companies said they would guarantee me the lowest price available on the internet and if I found it cheaper on another site they would lower their price and sell me the chair. Pride, you may want to check this out because this may violate your standards. I and others would ask that you post your response on this blog.

You can buy high end chairs, custom manual chairs, transport chairs and every scooter known to man. When people make comments about internet dealers they need to step back and think about a few things, what if they didn’t have insurance and had to pay cash? Would they not want the equipment at the lowest possible price? People travel to other states to purchase cars to avoid sales tax, they purchase medicine to save money and you can buy anything you want off ebay. Why not purchase a basic wheelchair or scooter over the internet if a local dealer cannot sell it for the same price? A few of the sites I was on even have measuring guides to better ensure the customer purchases the right size chair. I also noticed that some providers have an on-line store under a different company name to try and disguise their internet business. Some high end dealers are opening retail locations and offering travel scooters and chairs at rock bottom cash prices. What’s the difference in internet and rock bottom retail pricing?

Most companies know offer nationwide service and some even offer free in-home setup, so their goes that argument.

Don’t take me wrong, I want everyone to purchase from a local dealer and keep their money in the local market and so on but there is a large population that purchase everything over the internet and that’s okay as long as they know what they are purchasing, what the return policy is and have done their homework. I have had 2 customers walk into our local office today if brochures they printed off and said this is what I want, how much and when can you have it. In one instance we tried to ask some questions to ensure they were purchasing the proper equipment and was told this is what I want do you want to sell it to me or not? How many suppliers would not sell the product? In the days of funding cuts we are all looking for sales, cash or otherwise.

I again ask Invacare, Sunrise and other manufactures to post their standards of quality and ask Pride to address the low price guarantee issue and post their response on this blog.

 

Chris

Why is it that the Executive Director of NRRTS Simon Margolis continues to put down members of NRRTS? Today I read the most recent issue of HME News and there is Mr. Margolis talking about the “Love’em and leave’em marketers”. He makes it sound once again that all companies that use mass media to market their company and/or products are all the same and conduct their business the same. I recently responded to  a posting he placed were he refer to these companies as “The Machine”. He continues to draw attention to the companies that do mass media as the problem with the industry and while doing this he betrays companies that are Friends of NRRTS.

I for one have had enough. Mr. Margolis if you want to talk about these companies than be man enough to mention the companies by name. Don’t hide and lump all companies that use mass media in the same boat because we are not all the same. I agree with part of what you said and posted that in a recent blog entry that you can view at http://mymobilitymatters.spaces.live.com/ . I stated that companies like Pride, Invacare, Sunrise, Permobil, Balder and others need to help stop what is very apparent with some companies. We need to stop leaving regulatory issues up to the government and regulate our selves. One of the ways to do this is by exposing companies like the Scooter Store that sells a chair to an ALS patient, the drop shipping of chairs by companies like Mobility Products Unlimited and so on. Don’t lump all mass media companies in the same boat because when you do that don’t forget to mention United Seating & Mobility that has run ads in the past. As a former employee of NSM it appears to me and others that everything you say comes right out of the NSM playbook seeing that you are a former employee of NSM and many of the current and former NRRTS board members are NSM employees.

If I remember correctly were you not on some of the committees that worked on the code changes? It was right after that that all these different codes had allowable and the allowed amounts continue to drop.

I know that I will come under attack for what I am saying but it’s the truth. I have always had a lot of respect for Mr. Margolis until he starts putting me in the same league as these other companies because the company I work for advertises via mass media. If you really want to make a change start using mass media and you will take more customers from the companies that are doing it all wrong. Scooter America and American Seating & Mobility have worked to develop a process to ensure that each customer receives the equipment they NEED. We do not just sell chairs to be selling chairs. We do not drop ship chairs and we service what we sell. We have local office in the areas we advertise and if the customer requires a rehab chair they get a rehab chair spec’ed out by a RESNA certified ATS or RTS that is supervised by an ATS. Our current RTS’s are all taking the ATS exam and we will be in compliance with the CMS regulations. I feel the CMS is only regulating our industry due to our failure to regulate ourselves and companies billing for chairs they didn’t provide and other horror stories we have all heard.

I am a no nonsense kind of person and am willing to speak out. Others need to stop huddling around the water cooler and let their voice be heard. Our company is a friend of NRRTS Mr. Margolis and when you release a statement you need to ensure that you are speaking for everyone who supports NRRTS. If these are your personal views that leave NRRTS out of it.

 

Chris Bennett,ATS

I went on a fact finding mission and explored a number of manufactures websites. I was looking for information related to the manufactures quality standards and how each manufacture was responding to the April 1st. April 1st is when the RESNA ATS/ATP deadlines into affect. Pride Mobility was the only manufacture that had standards posted that I could find. I viewed Pride Mobility, Quantum Mobility, Invacare, Sunrise Medical, Permobil, Omega Trac, Shop Rider, Merits, Balder and many others. I was able to find Pride's standards for consumer power internet sales and Quantum Rehab sales standards. If any of the other manufactures have standards posted on their websites, it is hidden and not readily available.

This tells me and others that while Pride may have issues they let their stance be know to dealers and customers. By having these standards posted customer know that Pride is trying to ensure the quality of their products. I would really like to see Pride and others take a stance on dealers that sell consumer power products. There are alot of dealers that are here today and gone tomorrow, they sell what is in their best interest and not the customers and are trying to ensure that no rehab product is sold over the internet. I have had many conversations with Invacare and they have closed the loop hole in their system that allowed a rehab chair to be sold over the internet, but their needs to be more.

Setting a LAP (lowest advertised price) for internet sales doesn't do anything to ensure the customer gets the right product and so on. Closing the loop in your system doesn't ensure that the customers get's the proper equipment and neither does the ATS/ATP certification program. I know a number of ATS's that if I had a spinal cord injury they would be the last person I would want to fit my chair.

My point to all this is we all need to be working together and ensure that our products and services are what the customers need, it works properly, the chair will work in their environment and the dealer services what they sell. CMS is trying to regulate our industry because we are failing to regulate ourselves. Their is so much fraud in our industry that CMS is paying for chair's that the customer never recieved, it doesn't work in the person's home, it's to big or to small or it  isn't the right chair. I talked to a dealer last week that was asking what to do about an ALS customer that recieved a JET chair from the Scooter Store. This is what we all need to be working to ensure doesn't happen.

Alright manufacture's dealers want to know what we can do to stop the insanity. Protect the customers and not just be selling chairs to be selling ch