Medtrade Spring preview: Be more than a source of products, says speaker Lisa Wells

LAS VEGAS - Lisa Wells will be co-hosting a free workshop at Medtrade Spring 2020 about the importance of whole-person marketing. HME News recently spoke to Wells, vice president of marketing at Cure Medical, about offering HME customers more than just products.

HME News: Why is it important to support patients physically, socially and emotionally?

Lisa Wells: In the clinical studies we researched, I learned that people with disabilities, particularly spinal cord injuries, live twice as long if they have two factors in place—a sense of independence and a sense of support. And when we discovered that, we realized we had to start offering more than just catheter products to our community.

HME: What happens when you don't take a whole person approach to marketing?

Wells: A lot of care programs are really designed as product-pushing programs, rather than building up the whole person. Today's consumers are not only very savvy to that, but they see a blatant difference between that type of program and the type of support they received in rehab or in other traditional peer-counseling methods. So there's a major disconnect between what's called support and what's actually provided, unless it's associated with something they can sell. 

HME: What is the role of community influencers in whole-person marketing?

Wells: Community influencers are people who use the products you sell, they often have the same condition as other people you're trying to reach, and they're socially active within their community. People look up to them for lifestyle examples and motivation—that maybe they're not alone in this journey they're on. The benefit of that is, you get (insight) from a customer that you've partnered with on how to better refine your service offerings, and you have a bridge to your community that is relationship-based.

Editor's note: To attend, register for an Expo pass using code EXIV336063, then add the workshop to your registration.