A Note from the VP, Jim Greatorex: May 2023

Published in Home Modifications on May 26, 2023

A Note from the VP, Jim Greatorex: May 2023 By Jim Greatorex, VP, VGM Live at Home

I’m writing this after just getting back from Idaho after a successful Dealer Days with Bestbath and the ten member companies who joined us. It was a great learning experience to see how the product is made and the quality that allows a 30-year warranty. After the tour, we had great round table discussions which hit on many subjects including marketing to end users and how to compete with the major players in the walk-in tub market. The bathroom remodel is the fastest growing category in the home access market, and Bestbath is well set up to help our members grow and compete in the retail and waiver markets.

Another topic of conversation was the whitepaper we released last month on best practices for collaboration between home access professionals and home access clinicians, which are mostly OTs. Where we can have a huge advantage over other players in the market is to embrace the clinical referral and look to become their invited guest into their patient’s home. As we continue to help pave this path for members, we are mindful that the bathroom will always be a high point of emphasis for many clients. We recommend that if that category is not a strong point for your company that you look to develop a bath remodel program, whether it’s directly or via a sub-contractor. The requests for this service will easily come to us at the pace that ramps and stairlifts do now. If you haven’t reviewed the whitepaper, you can go here to download it. We are still welcoming comments.

Also, if you missed it, to help you bring great financing options to your clients we just launched Hearth last month. Their app allows a client to put in their information and in three minutes, 16 or more companies will compete for their loan. Learn the details in this 13-minute webinar we recorded last month. Besides financing, they also offer some basic software solutions that will help you produce quotes, take payments, and get signed contracts in the home.

Lastly, I wanted to chime in on our thoughts regarding the economy and its affect on our industry. Last year was a big growth year, where we saw the industry grow at approximately 20%. This year, we are seeing much more modest growth so far in the 5-8% range. So, if it feels like your growth is modest or a little flat, it isn’t just your company experiencing that. One positive note for you is that when it comes to health-related products, the industry rarely gets impacted when the economy has a downturn. Our products are purchased mostly as a need and not as a want. Needs-based purchasing still happens no matter what is going on in the economy. It could affect the size of the ticket, but if people need our services, they will find a way to purchase them. Overall, we do believe the industry will have a growth rate of 8-12% this year and the second half looks promising.

Remember to mark you calendar for our Building Opportunities Summit taking place November 9-11 in San Antonio, Texas. It’s going to be a can’t-miss event!

We thank you for your membership and all the great work you do in the communities you serve.

Jim Greatorex

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