In Tech there is so much emphasis on claiming that your new solution will disrupt the status quo, that much of the fundamentals of building a great brand never get considered. So often do great solutions suffer from poor communication due to a misunderstanding of how people learn about new technology in a business setting.

The foundation of any great branding exercise is to take that long list of features and simplify the message. People really can't grasp more than three or four big concepts at one time. And without letting your audience grasp those initial concepts, all the details become a big ball of confusion.

So, step one is to literally lay out all the features that you are in love with and must be explained in that 50-slide presentation, and sort them into a hierarchy to build a story around three or four big ideas. Those are your talking points - the things you present and want people to remember in your initial presentation; product collateral, website copy, even sales training. All those features you just sorted are the support points that get explained when you are granted the two-hour deep dive review.

Next, position your big concepts within the context of the industry as it stands today. Unless you have just discovered a new planet in the solar system, you have probably found a better way to do something than an entire industry of companies. And that's a good thing! It's much easier to explain that your better solution competes with others. Putting your solution into context with the current industry helps your customers understand your message since it allows them to leverage what they already know to learn something new.

With this industry positioning, you should now select one overriding concept that being the most important competitive differentiator - and create a memorable brand for it. As an example, at an analytics company I worked for, we introduced a suite of software products that provided 3D personalization. it was the only system that could determine the right product, at the right price, at the right time (the three dimensions). This was immensely effective as it telegraphed the positioning and benefits of the entire suite with a simple concept and memorable phrase.

Another extremely important exercise is to define your solutions practical application within the clients organization. Most people need help envisioning how to leverage your solution, and simply saying that it will speed up processing time or improve customer engagement are meaningless statements unless you explain how. Taking the time to explain in sufficient detail how your solution can be used is much more impactful. In addition to actual case studies, which are the bedrock of credibility for a new solution, developing a few relevant detailed use cases will enable your customer to envision the tangible uses of your solution no imagination necessary.

Finally, and this is a big one, there must be a clear statement of why the customer needs your solution. So often technologists are so focused on the features of the product, that not nearly enough attention is paid to the business rationality for purchase. For example, you must not only think about how the solution solves a problem, but also what the business outcome will be. At some point, your client will need to justify the purchase of your solution, which will only come from either increasing revenue or reducing expense. Of course, there are other business objectives, but few programs are initiated without a strong ROI story. Helping your client understand the business benefits are a crucial part of any sales process.

Since you have focused your messaging and branded a few key concepts, youll be able to effectively translate a great creative in advertising, digital marketing, and elsewhere. Integrated omnichannel marketing campaigns are the most impactful, so when you undertake them, message discipline is important. When I see the same message in multiple media, like banner ads and then in an email, I take notice dont you? The important point is that the same (or very similar) message is repeated.

Great technology brands are built on great concepts that address a compelling issue, which customers are willing to spend money on. The best way to communicate this is to simplify the message, put it into a context, and brand it to help them envision the uses and benefits they will enjoy.

About the Author George Ravich is a veteran of the FinTech and InsurTech industries, having been CMO of several industry-leading companies. He now has his own marketing consulting firm, Ravco Marketing LLC, which is focused on building the marketing foundation for high-growth tech companies.

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The Foundation of Building a Great Tech Brand - TechDay News

E Ryan T. Sauers Author's page

Ryan T. Sauers has spent 25 years leading and/or consulting with printing, graphics, promotional and visual communications related organizations. Ryan is President of the independent consulting firm, Sauers Consulting Strategies, founded in 2010.

Key areas of focus of the firm include: sales training, marketing strategy, personal branding, leadership development and organizational change.

Sauers is a frequent national speaker and columnist. He has been recognized as one of the top 80 CMOs in the world and achieved the top designation of Certified Marketing Executive through Sales and Marketing Executives International.

Sauers is an adjunct university professor teaching leadership and communication courses to current and aspiring leaders. He is a Certified Myers Briggs, DiSC and Emotional Intelligence Practitioner (one of few in US to achieve all 3 rigorous certifications related to human communications, personality & behavior).

Sauers is working on his Doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership and hosts a radio show in Atlanta (Marketing Matters). He is author of the best-selling books Everyone is in Sales and Would You Buy from You? More info at: RyanSauers.com

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Want to Grow Your Sales? Learn the Shiver Model - Printing Impressions

Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training Market Outlook: Business Overview, Industry Insights, Upcoming Trends

This report highlights market dynamics involving factors driving the Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training Market industry scenario, as well as market growth opportunities in the coming years. Market segmentation analysis was performed through qualitative and quantitative research, demonstrating the impact of economic and non-economic aspects.

The report includes various factors such as executive summary, global economic outlook and overview section that provide a coherent analysis of the Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training market. Besides, the report in the marketplace overview section defines PLC analysis, PESTLE analysis and Porters Five Force analysis that helps in revealing the competitive scenario with regards to the concurrent market revealing the probable scenario of the market.

Besides, the global Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training market report bestows significant information about the segmentation, distribution network, estimated growth trends, monetary and commercial terms, and many other crucial components relevant to the market.

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The major manufacturers covered in this report: CAE, Immersivetouch, Mentice, Mimic Technologies, Simbionix, Surgical Theather, Virtamed, VR Simulators, Zspace

Market segment by Type, can be split into: Hardware, Software and Service

Market segment by Application, can be split into: Medical Education, Training

Regional Analysis in the Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training Market The biggest demand for Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training from North America, Europe, and countries, like China. Asia-Pacific is home to the worlds fastest-growing market for Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training, which is reflected in the size of its industry and the rapid rate of expansion in output over recent years. Currently, different companies are aiming to produce Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training in many other countries, with current and new areas and projects that are undergoing continuous exploration and feasibility tests.

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With this Bulk Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training market report, all the participants and the vendors will be in aware of the growth factors, shortcomings, threats, and the lucrative opportunities that the market will offer in the near future. The report also features the revenue; industry size, share, production volume, and consumption in order to gain insights about the politics and tussle of gaining control of a huge chunk of the market share.

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Virtual Reality in Medical Education and Training Market Size 2026 Global Industry Sales, Revenue, Price trends and more - Keep Reading

TheGlobalInformation Security Training Market 2020by Manufacturers, Regions, Type, and Application, Forecast to 2026Research Report 2020 introduces the basics: definitions, categories, market review, product specifications, arrangements, procedures, development and so forth. Beginning with an exploration of the current state of the Information Security Training market, the report goes continues to discuss the dynamics affecting each segment within it.

The report begins with a brief summary of the global Information Security Training market and then make progress to rate the important trends of this market. The basic patterns changing the dynamics of the market such as current affairs, drivers, restraints, opportunities, limitations, and dangers are examined. The Important sections and sub-sections that represents the current Information Security Training sector are clarified in this report.

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Scope of the Report:

This report focuses on theInformation Security Trainingin the global market, especially in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East, and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types, and applications.Eventually, the report studies the important region market requirements including merchandise price, capacity, distribution, profit, production, market and demand growth speed, and projection.

Global Information Security Training Market 2020 covers following Leading Manufacturers: Offensive Security, SANS Institute, Cybrary, Penetration Testing and Security Service, Udemy, Sense of Security, Rapid7, Shearwater Solutions, Content Security Pty Ltd

Information Security Training Market Segment by Type: Full-time, Part-time, Online

Applications can be classified into: Large Enterprises, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Reviews from Industry pros correlation, regression, and time-series models are part of the secondary and primary research that offers an insightful analysis of the Information Security Training industry trends. The report classifies the market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region.

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Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers :

North America(United States, Canada, and Mexico) Europe(Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy) Asia-Pacific(China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia) South America(Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.) Middle East and Africa(Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa)

The report predicts the future development of the market on the basis of Information Security Training information integration, abilities, and significant breakthroughs. All these key measures will help newcomers as well as existing players to know the market competition more exceedingly. Different techniques including customer analysis, competition and risk analysis, opportunity analysis, marketing mix modeling and more were used while preparing this research document.

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There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the globalInformation Security Trainingmarket.

Chapter 1, to describeInformation Security TrainingIntroduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force; Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers ofInformation Security Training, with sales, revenue, and price ofInformation Security Training; Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue, and market share; Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue, and market share ofInformation Security Training, for each region; Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9,to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application, and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions; Chapter 10and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application; Chapter 12,Information Security Trainingmarket forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales, and revenue; Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describeInformation Security Trainingsales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source

Lastly, with a team of vivacious industry professionals, we offer our clients with high-value market research that, in turn, would aid them to decipher new market avenues together with new strategies to take hold of the market share.

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Acquire Market Research is a market research-based company empowering companies with data-driven insights. We provide Market Research Reports with accurate and well-informed data, Real-Time with Real Application. A good research methodology proves to be powerful and simplified information that applied right from day-to-day lives to complex decisions helps us navigate through with vision, purpose and well-armed strategies. At Acquire Market Research, we constantly strive for innovation in the techniques and the quality of analysis that goes into our reports.

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Global Information Security Training Market 2020 Top Manufacturers Offensive Security, SANS Institute, Cybrary, and more. - Nyse Nasdaq Live

The report provides the past as well as present growth parameters of the global Hydraulic Injection Machines Market. The report features important and unique factors, which are expected to significantly impact the growth of the global Hydraulic Injection Machines market throughout the forecast period 2020-2025.

The report presents a comprehensive scenario of the market so as to calculate the market size, based on the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.

TheMajorPlayers Covered in this Report: Arburg, The Japan Steel Works, Toyo Machinery & Metal, ENGEL Holding, Haitian International Holding, Nissei Plastic Industrial, Chen Hsong Machinery, Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery, Husky Injection Molding Systems& More.

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Segment by Type Horizontal Injection Machines Vertical Injection Machines Other

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North America(United States, Canada, and Mexico) Europe(Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy) Asia-Pacific(China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia) South America(Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.) Middle East and Africa(Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa)

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The leading competitors functioning in the Global Hydraulic Injection Machines Market are focusing on expansions, product launches, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), partnerships, and collaborations as their key business strategy to survive in the competitive market. The report analyzes and studies the industry players and their strategic moves to sustain in this market.

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New study: Hydraulic Injection Machines Market forecast to 2025 | Arburg, The Japan Steel Works, Toyo Machinery & Metal, ENGEL Holding, Husky...

The Challenges Facing the CXO

The sales and marketing world is experimenting with new organizational forms that are intended to transform sales, marketing, and service in ways that accelerate growth and address the needs of digitally enabled customers.

Almost a third of organizations do not have a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) according to Spencer Stuart.Instead, organizations like Coke, J&J, Kimberly Clark, Lyft and Uber are folding the marketing function into new CXO life forms Chief (Growth, Revenue, Commercial, Experience, or Customer) Officers that have a mandate to unify and coordinate sales marketing and service organizations into a high-octane growth machine.

71% of the remaining organizations claim that their CMOs are highly integrated and cooperative with their partners in sales according to the Duke CMO survey.These empowered CMOs realize that growth has become a team sport because even the most powerful CMOs must work much more closely with the leaders of sales, analytics, digital channels, product innovation, and channel partners to effect growth according to Professor Kim Whitler of the Darden School of Business.

The forces behind this reconfiguration of sales, marketing, and services are undeniable and well understood.

The name of the title of the unified executive growth leader does not particularly matter. Fundamentally, all these new CXO roles have the mandate to deliver one unified customer journey to grow revenues, profits and firm value by maximizing Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI), the Customer Experience, and Customer Lifetime Value. Armed with advanced analytics, 7,040 marketing technology solutions, storytelling content, and value selling methodologies they must find ways to get marketing, sales and service silos working as a team against a common purpose.

There is absolutely no doubt this transformation must happen.And a new form of growth leader is needed.

But putting a new box on the organization chart might not be the best place to start.And a new job function and change in span of control alone will not facilitate the change needed to truly transform the go to market system in ways that grow revenues, profits and firm value.

The reason is that these new organizations ignore five painful truths about what it is really going to take to transform the go to market system and enable revenue growth across the enterprise.Without these five ingredients, a functional change alone will not yield scalable and sustainable growth.

1.Leadership Successful sales and marketing transformation will require new skills and leadership approaches. Leaders must be coaches that find ways to get dogs and cats to work together. They must also understand how to use data, information and technology as a force multiplier.

2.Teamwork A new managerial architecture for breaking down organizational silos and fostering teamwork across sales, marketing, and service at scale across the enterprise is needed. Old hierarchical command and control approaches will be too slow, culturally toxic, and introduce too many points of leakage and failures as revenue opportunities move across functions.

3.Common Incentives Teams fail without a common purpose. There can only be one common and agreed upon scorecard for success tied to firm value and financial performance if all these disparate functions and armies of customer facing employees are going to work together in any meaningful way.Hierarchical, functional, funnel, and waterfall metrics based on linear sales funnels and independent functional roles will fail to either foster teamwork or address current customer behavior.

4.Horizontal Information Sharing All customer facing employees need a fully transparent, 360-degree view of the entire buying journey available in real time if they are going to play like a team. Sharing information across the enterprise to inform and support teams from across geographies, business units, and market segments is now the key to growing revenues, profits, competitiveness and share price according to the Forbes Real Time Marketing Accountability report. Organizations must act on buying signals, location-based opportunities, or churn triggers in service within minutes instead of hours or days. For example, getting data and analytics to track results was the number one challenge and biggest skill gap facing organizations trying to implement ABM programs according to ITSMA.

5.Return on Selling Assets These leaders need to use technology as a force multiplier and team enabler if they expect to succeed by dramatically increasing historically low levels of salesperson productivity, technology adoption and return on selling assets - content, technology, data and automation. To do so, they must find ways to use AI-driven sales tools and workflow automation to automatically enforce new sales methodologies into daily practices, input data into CRM profiles, and deploy all the expensive content, thought leadership, and playbooks created by marketing.

Surprisingly, the loudest voices advocating organizational change are technology providers, technology analysts and early adopters of those technologies most of whom are small start-ups with simple organizations. They hail the emergence of the Chief Growth Officer function along with functional manifestations such as sales enablement, revenue operations, marketing operations, etc. as the catalyst for a new era of sales and marketing transformation and enlightenment.

All this heat about Revenue Enablement ignores the long and sorted history of sales and marketing transformation and automation and the fundamental challenges of scaling teamwork in a large enterprise. CXOs need to remember:

Until the fundamental issues of leadership, teamwork, common incentives, and information sharing are addressed head on progress will be slow. Results will be spotty. Experiments will fail. And people will be fired.Already, both Coke and Paypal have backed away from their CXO functional experiments and reestablished the CMO role. At the same time, more CMOs are getting fired and median job tenure remains at just over two years as organizations struggle to align the role and expectations of the job with the reality ofhow the go-to-market model is evolving.

Clearly the transformation of sales, marketing and service is in its early days.Most organizations lack experience mastering the people, process, technology and incentives that make up Revenue Enablement. Most Account Based Marketing (ABM) initiatives are only in their first year and these have proven difficult to scale to more than a few dozen accounts. And while most marketers are prioritizing AI in sales and marketing, few have really mastered it.

But the imperative of Revenue Enablement to transform sales, marketing and service is not going away.

To better understand and address this issue, I am working with growth leaders to lead a Proving the Value of Revenue Enablement research initiative to better understand and address these key points of leverage and success.I invite transformation minded CXOs, CMOS, CSOs and CEOs to participate and share in the learnings.

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Proving The Financial Value Of Revenue Enablement - Forbes

Feb 18, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Electromed Inc earnings conference call or presentation Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 1:30:00pm GMT

Electromed, Inc. - CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Financial Controller

* Kathleen S. Skarvan

Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director

The Equity Group, Inc. - VP

Greetings, and welcome to the Electromed, Inc. Second Quarter Fiscal 2020 Fiscal Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Kalle Ahl of The Equity Group. Please go ahead.

Kalle J. Ahl, The Equity Group, Inc. - VP [2]

Thank you, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. Electromed's second quarter fiscal 2020 financial results were released yesterday after the market closed. A copy of the earnings release can be found on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at http://www.smartvest.com.

As a matter of formality, I need to remind you that some of the statements that management will make on this call are considered forward-looking statements, including statements about the company's future operating and financial results and plans. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or achievements to be materially different from those projected. Any such statements represent management's expectations as of today's date.

You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for further guidance on this matter.

Joining us from Electromed this morning are Ms. Kathleen Skarvan, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Jeremy Brock, Chief Financial Officer. Kathleen will begin with some opening remarks, after which Jeremy will present a summary of the company's second quarter fiscal 2020 financial results, and then we'll open the call for questions.

Now it's my pleasure to turn it over to Kathleen.

Kathleen S. Skarvan, Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [3]

Thank you, Kalle. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Electromed's second quarter financial results.

We delivered another strong bottom line performance in the second quarter, as our net income for the period nearly tripled to $1.2 million compared to $381,000 in the same period last year, driven by 7 -- driven by 6.7% revenue growth and substantial operating margin improvement.

Starting with our home care business, net revenue increased 4.6% year-over-year despite some open sales territories, which we are in the process of filling, and despite having approximately 10 fewer direct sales employees in the field compared to the prior year period, contributing to the flat referral growth. At quarter end, our field sales employees totaled 40, of which 34 were direct sales compared to 52 at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2019, of which 44 were direct sales. Our plan remains to peak at approximately 38 direct sales reps in fiscal 2020.

Our home care revenue growth this quarter was moderated by some pockets of weakness in our Central territory in November, but we were pleased to see referrals in this region and throughout the country steadily rebound in December and January.

In the quarter, we benefited from a higher average selling price per device due to payer mix, and importantly, from improved sales force productivity, driven by strong performance from our longer-tenured sales reps. We produced approximately $938,000 of annualized home care revenue per direct field sales employee, well ahead of the comparable figure of $687,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2019 and above our target range of between $750,000 and $850,000. We remain confident about meeting or exceeding our target productivity levels for the full fiscal year.

Our growth strategies are focused on increasing referrals in adult pulmonology, or specifically, those with bronchiectasis; enhancing patient and provider support to provide best-in-class customer care; expanding and promulgating the body of clinical evidence to increase utilization of SmartVest for patients with bronchiectasis; continuing to develop innovative device features; and growing institutional market share to support home care growth.

Specifically, expanding the body of clinical evidence to increase utilization of SmartVest for bronchiectasis patients to drive home care revenue growth, we expect to launch our new study as further validation of the first of its kind independent study published last year in BMC Pulmonary Medicine, which concluded that early initiation of therapy with SmartVest decreases severe exacerbations, reduces antibiotic use and stabilizes lung function for bronchiectasis patients.

In particular, we have begun enrollment this month on a prospective multisite bronchiectasis outcome study using SmartVest as an algorithm of care. The study will follow patients over a 1-year period, tracking their lung function, hospitalizations and antibiotic use, and compare these same metrics taken prior to employing an algorithm of care, including SmartVest.

This quarter, we plan to launch our enhanced SmartVest Connect patient user experience, the Bluetooth-enabled mobile applications. The SmartVest Connect mobile applications will allow our patients to more seamlessly connect with their SmartVest therapy and offer new capabilities designed for mobile, including setting personal therapy reminders and real-time therapy monitoring.

Our institutional business logged another strong performance, with revenue up approximately 23% compared to last year's second quarter, driven primarily by higher average selling price. Moreover, we believe our institutional reflects -- results reflect our intensified strategic focus on the hospital call point, combined with stronger relationships with the integrated delivery networks, better sales training and our first-rate SmartVest device.

As a reminder, growth in our institutional business should augment our home care revenue as the high-frequency chest wall oscillation, or HFCWO, brand used in the hospital is often the default brand described when discharging a patient.

Lastly, this quarter, we reported home care distributor revenue of approximately $131,000. To reiterate, we intend for our direct sales channel to remain our primary sales channel. We recently hired a regional sales manager who will manage our Western region direct sales reps and lead the development and execution of the home care distributor channel in the Western United States. We believe the home care distributor channel is complementary to our core business, particularly in those areas of the country where our SmartVest brand is under-recognized and we see opportunities for accelerating growth on a supplemental basis.

Shifting to the bottom line. We achieved strong second quarter net income of approximately $1.2 million or $0.14 per diluted share, underscored by significant operating margin improvement to 18.3%. Higher revenue, higher gross margin and lower SG&A expenses all contributed to these results.

For the remainder of the fiscal year, we anticipate higher operating expenses as we bring our total direct sales staff count to our previously disclosed target level of 38, increase our R&D spend to 2% to 4% of revenue for our next-generation product and incur additional costs on clinical studies designed to educate physicians on SmartVest value, in improving quality of life and outcomes for noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis patients.

Notwithstanding these incremental investments, we continue to expect that our revenue growth will outpace expense growth in fiscal 2020, leading to operating improvement for the year. Furthermore, we expect to achieve our target sales productivity levels and low double-digit revenue growth in the long term.

Underpinning our enthusiasm for growth is the large, expanding and underpenetrated bronchiectasis market, where we feel our SmartVest system makes a real difference in improving patient quality of life. We follow up with our patients and providers on a regular basis and feedback -- and the feedback and testimonials we receive speak volumes about our value proposition.

For example, Pamela shared with us, "I cannot speak highly enough of the company and the positive improvements to my health and day-to-day life. Their generosity with me moved me to tears, and I am not a crier. So in a nutshell, call them. My life improved significantly with this machine. The SmartVest has kept me out of the hospital as well."

And Shirley shared, "Lung problems have been with me for about 30 years. It has steadily gotten worse. I've had to miss work as well as been hospitalized. I saw SmartVest and bronchiectasis and immediately went to the website to read about it. Liked what I read. I immediately made an appointment with my doctor to see if I would benefit. I did qualify. After that initial treatment, I was able to go grocery shopping without using oxygen. Wow. Each day I use it, I get better results. When I went to pulmonary rehab, the respiratory therapist said my lungs did not sound like she thought they would, very little noise. I said it was from my SmartVest. I have used it for about 30 days now, and everything I'm coughing up is clear."

We are extremely proud of the number of patients we have helped to breathe easier and live longer, and our team is motivated by the fact that we have the opportunity to help even more patients with SmartVest therapy.

In closing, we wrapped up a strong first half and remain excited about our future. Noncystic fibrosis bronchiectasis represents a significant and growing market opportunity, conservatively estimated at more than 4 million individuals in the United States.

For those of you who may be new to the Electromed story, we believe that approximately 630,000 people with a bronchiectasis diagnosis could benefit from HFCWO therapy, and only an estimated 70,000 patients in the Medicare population have been treated with a device like SmartVest today. The growing body of clinical evidence, combined with the powerful patient testimonials that we routinely hear, support the use of our SmartVest system as a standard of care among individuals with bronchiectasis.

With that, I will now turn it over to Jeremy for a more detailed discussion of our financial results.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy T. Brock, Electromed, Inc. - CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Financial Controller [4]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Kathleen. Good morning, everyone.

As Kathleen shared, our net revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 increased 6.7% to $8.5 million from $8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2019, driven by growth in our home care revenue. Home care revenue increased 4.6% to $7.7 million primarily due to higher average allowable based on payer mix as compared to the prior year and improved productivity of our direct sales force.

Institutional revenue increased 22.8% from -- to $494,000 from $402,000 in the prior year period. And international revenue, which isn't a strategic growth area for Electromed, totaled approximately $253,000 compared to $280,000 in the prior year period. Although quarter-to-quarter sales variability can be expected due to the nature of our business, we anticipate long-term, low double-digit revenue growth as we execute our organic growth strategy.

Gross profit increased 10.1% to $6.7 million or 78.1% of net revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 from $6.1 million or 75.7% of net revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The increase in gross profit resulted primarily from the increase in home care revenue, and the increase in gross profit as a percentage of net revenue was driven by a higher average allowable based on payer mix as compared to the prior year.

The average selling price per device was at the high end of our historical range this quarter and could moderate depending on mix. We expect our long-term gross margins will continue to range in the mid- to high 70s.

Operating expenses, which include SG&A as well as R&D expenses, totaled $5.1 million or 59.8% of revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to $5.4 million or 67.2% of revenue in the same period of the prior year.

SG&A expenses decreased 3.6% to $5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 from $5.1 million in the prior year primarily due to lower payroll and compensation expenses due to a lower number of employees in sales and administrative roles.

R&D expenses decreased to $143,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 from $238,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. We do expect R&D expenses to increase in the second half of the fiscal year with higher investment in new product development.

Operating income increased to $1.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 from $675,000 in the second quarter of 2019. Net income before income tax expense totaled $1.6 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2020 compared to $692,000 in the prior year quarter.

In the quarter, income tax expense totaled $419,000 compared to $311,000 in the same period of the prior year. And our effective tax rate in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 was 26.1% compared to 45% in the prior year period.

Our current year effective tax rate in the quarter benefited by 0.9% related to stock options that were exercised during the period, while the prior year rate was negatively impacted by 16.9% primarily related to unexercised, fully vested stock options that expired in November of 2018.

Our net income totaled $1.2 million or $0.14 per diluted share in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to $381,000 or $0.04 per diluted share in the prior year period.

Now moving to the balance sheet and operating cash flow. Our balance sheet at December 31, 2019, included cash and cash equivalents of $9.2 million, no long-term debt, working capital of $23.3 million and shareholders' equity of $28.5 million. Cash flow from operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 totaled $1.4 million compared to $518,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.

We are pleased to be debt-free and well positioned to continue strengthening our balance sheet to support Electromed's long-term growth strategies. Shortly, we will begin our annual strategic planning cycle and review of our long-term corporate strategy and operations plan. That plan will also lead to an in-depth discussion about leveraging our cash to maximize shareholder value. To the extent there are changes in our strategy, we will keep our shareholders updated.

Finally, for those of you who will be attending BTIG's MedTech, Life Science and Diagnostic Tools Conference in Utah, we will be participating on March 19 and 20, and we -- hopefully, we'll see some of you there.

Overall, we remain focused and confident in the direction of the business. And this concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please start the Q&A portion of the call.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Our first question today is coming from Kyle Bauser from Dougherty & Company.

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Kyle Royal Bauser, Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [2]

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So you mentioned the larger prospective study, which began enrolling, which is great. How big is this trial? And based on the previous UAB study, when do you think you could finish enrolling for this?

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Kathleen S. Skarvan, Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [3]

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Thanks for the question, Kyle. So this is going to be a multisite study. We're expecting upward of 100 patients to enroll. And then once those patients are enrolled, we'll be following them for a 12-month time period. So depending on the length of the enrollment, once we reach that 100 patients, then following them for 12 months. So I think we're thinking long-term here, this could be 2 to 3 years before we may see those results. Although it could be sooner. I just can't predict it precisely due to the time frame that it may take to enroll these patients.

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Kyle Royal Bauser, Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [4]

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Sure. Okay. Got it. And the press release implies investment in multiple studies. So I guess beyond this prospective study, can you outline anything else that's in the works?

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Kathleen S. Skarvan, Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [5]

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Well, I think one of the key studies that we're going to be thinking through and evaluating will be one on economics. And the prospective study that is underway currently would be a great springboard for an economic study on health care utilization. So how do we share with health care organizations, payers. How using SmartVest for people with bronchiectasis can benefit them as well from an economic standpoint, in addition to benefiting patient. There are also other databases that we can access for some of that economic data as well. So that would be, in general, one of the areas we're thinking about.

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Kyle Royal Bauser, Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [6]

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Okay. That's helpful. And you added 2 reps in the quarter and will -- have plans to peak at another 4 after that at 38. I know you want to layer on the reps at a pace that allows you to hit that productivity goal, but when do you expect you can hit that peak number and have a full sales force with all the territories filled? And how are you approaching this addition differently than in the past?

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Kathleen S. Skarvan, Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [7]

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So our plans for reaching the 38 would be in the second half of the year, but I think that, realistically, that should be this quarter. That's our plan. And then we'll, of course, start planning for our next year. As Jeremy mentioned, we're in our -- we'll be kicking off our operations and strategic planning process, and that'll start planning for the next year, in what that expansion might look like. But certainly, the peak should be here in this quarter.

And by the way, just to add a little color, we've been very pleased with the quality of our hires. And I think with Bud's leadership and the experience that our sales recruiter has with understanding our culture, understanding our market, understanding the profile of the sales rep that can be most successful with this product and in this market, that we've been quite pleased.

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Kyle Royal Bauser, Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [8]

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Okay. And it looks like the Medicare bucket was really strong again in the quarter. Can you talk about some of the dynamics here? I mean was this a function of faster reimbursement turnaround or just a bolus of patients coming in from that 65-plus age population?

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Jeremy T. Brock, Electromed, Inc. - CFO, Principal Accounting Officer & Financial Controller [9]

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Yes. So what we're seeing as we continue to grow and focus on bronchiectasis is a larger number are in that 65-plus bucket. So we're seeing a lot of those patients end up with having Medicare and supplements to cover their co-pays and the allowable. So we are seeing a benefit from that. To the extent that continues, we do expect to see the benefit from that from a ASP standpoint as well as that then also helps the gross margin as well. But there is variability quarter-to-quarter and we may see that in future quarters, but we will also benefit from that.

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Kyle Royal Bauser, Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division - Senior Research Analyst [10]

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Okay. And then just 2 quick ones. So your cash position continues to grow here, and I know you've been talking about wanting to allocate that for growth opportunities. But at $9 million or $1 per share, just wondering how you're thinking about cash allocation in the future here.

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Kathleen S. Skarvan, Electromed, Inc. - CEO, President & Director [11]

Continue reading here:
Edited Transcript of ELMD earnings conference call or presentation 12-Feb-20 1:30pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

They wound up with participants who either were or were not obese and, separately, were sedentary or active, completing aerobic exercise, weight training, or both types of exercise on a regular basis.

Then they compared exercise habits and obesity and noted an interesting pattern. The incidence of obesity, especially extreme obesity, was much lower among active people than the sedentary, whether their activity was aerobic or resistance-oriented.

But those men and women who reported completing both types of exercise who jogged and lifted or walked and downward dogged, for instance were about 50 percent less likely to be obese than inactive people and about 20 percent less likely than people who participated in aerobic exercise or weight training alone.

In other words, it appears that doing either aerobic or muscle-strengthening exercise is good for a healthy weight, but doing both is better, says Jason Bennie, a senior research fellow in physical activity epidemiology at the University of Southern Queensland, who led the new study.

This study relied on participants remembrances of exercise, though, which can be unreliable, and asked about them at only one point in peoples lives. So, it cannot show whether exercising now necessarily thwarts obesity in the future. It also cannot establish whether, in some cases, being obese prevented people from being active, meaning that their weight determined their workout routines and not the other way around.

Perhaps most important, it does not tell us how augmenting walks or other aerobic activities with weight training might help us to avoid obesity. Dr. Bennie and his colleagues speculate that aerobic and resistance exercise produce differing effects on our metabolisms, hormones, appetites and even the structures of our brains that, synergistically, remodel our bodies and minds in ways that reduce the likelihood we will gain weight.

More study is needed, of course. But in the meantime, those of us hoping to keep our weight under control might want to consider cycling or walking to the gym, where we might want to pick up some weights.

Read the original:

Combining Aerobics and Weights Tied to Optimal Weight Control - The New York Times

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. While it can be a struggle, most people can agree: eating healthy and staying active is key to a long and vibrant life.

If you question that statement, let Del Crowe be an example.

At 97 years old, Crowe credits his good health to the water aerobics.

Three times a week, he wakes up and heads over to water aerobics class at Clark Retirement Center. Crowe never misses a class.

"I like to do it, thats the number one thing," said Crowe. "I can do it without any great exertion on my legs or any other part of my body. So its good for me to do that."

Crowe says he also returns to "check on the ladies," but also because of the community atmosphere.

"I definitely think that hes an inspiration for other residents who see him coming into the pool every day," said Kensey Maurer, wellness specialist at Clark Retirement. "It shows hes very dedicated and passionate about coming to swimming."

Maurer says there are several fitness classes for residents to take. However for Crowe, water aerobics has been going just swimmingly.

"In Dels case, he was complaining about arthritis in his knees, so we try to do a lot of walking, we try to do a lot of leg strengthening exercise to alleviate some of that pressure off of his knees," said Maurer. "So its nice to be able to cater to each of the individual residents needs during class time."

So, whether you are 97 or 27, or anywhere in between, let Crowe be your dose of inspiration to get up and get moving.

Here is the original post:

Grand Rapids 97-year-old GR man credits health to water aerobics Savannah Fish 6:28 - Fox17

An analysis of all that data revealed the incidence of obesity was much lower among active people than sedentary ones even if their exercise routine included only aerobics or only muscle-strengthening activities.

People who engage regularly in either aerobic or muscle-strengthening exercises are less likely to become obese than people who are sedentary, but doing both types of exercise is more likely to keep excess pounds off than doing one or the other, according to new research.

Interestingly, women appear to benefit even more than men by combining aerobic physical activity with muscle-strengthening exercises.

The study, which was conducted by Australian researchers using U.S. data, appears in the February issue of the journal Obesity.

Until now most population-level evidence on physical activity for reducing the risk of, or preventing obesity is based on aerobic exercise, such as walking, cycling and jogging, but few studies have previously examined the associations between combining aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening activities with obesity, said Jason Bennie, the studys lead author and a senior research fellow at the University of Southern Queensland, in a released statement.

From the data we analyzed, its great news for people who find it hard to get out and exercise, but can potentially do some strength training at home, he added.

In the United States, about 40 percent of adults more than 93 million individuals have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The condition increases the risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, breast and colon cancer, and dementia.

Reducing illness and early death related to obesity has been a major U.S. public health priority for more than a decade.

For the current study, Bennie and his co-authors analyzed data from almost 1.7 million U.S. adults who participated in the CDCs Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) telephone surveys between 2011 and 2017. More than a quarter (27 percent) of the participants were 65 or older and slightly more than half (51.6 percent) were women. Most (65.4 percent) were white, followed by Hispanics (13.5 percent), blacks (11.1 percent), multiracial (5.1 percent) and other (4.9 percent).

As part of the survey, the participants were asked about the types of physical activity they had engaged in during the past month, both aerobic (such as running, calisthenics, golf, gardening or walking) and muscle-strengthening (like yoga, sit-ups or push-ups and those using weight machines, free weights, or elastic bands). They were also asked how often they did those activities.

The researchers grouped the participants into four categories:

Forty percent of the participants met neither guideline, 30.5 percent met only the aerobic activity guidelines, 9.5 percent met only the muscle-strengthening guidelines, and 20.2 percent met both guidelines.

Using height and weight information from the surveys, the researchers calculated the participants body mass index (BMI). Those (35.6 percent of the respondents) who had a BMI of 18.5-24.9 were categorized as having a healthy weight, and those (28.9 percent) with a BMI of 30 or higher were categorized as obese.

An analysis of all that data revealed the incidence of obesity was much lower among active people than sedentary ones even if their exercise routine included only aerobics or only muscle-strengthening activities.

But the incidence of obesity was lowest significantly so among people who regularly combined muscle-strengthening exercises with aerobics. Not only were they 50 percent less likely to have obesity than sedentary people, they were also 20 percent less likely to have obesity than those who did just aerobics or just muscle-strengthening.

These associations were stronger among women than among men. This suggests, write Bennie and his colleagues, that public health physical activity interventions focusing on women could be the most effective for obesity prevention, particularly since other research has shown that women are currently less likely to do both aerobics and muscle-strengthening exercises.

The studys findings are observational, so they cant prove a causal relationship between exercise and the risk of having obesity. Still, as the researchers point out in their paper, there is some clinical evidence suggesting that [muscle-strengthening exercises] combined with [aerobic exercise] may increase lean body mass, more than either activity alone, thus resulting in an increased metabolic rate and/or total energy expenditure among those who engage in both physical activity modes.

Bennie said he hopes the studys findings will encourage people to not only exercise more, but to also broaden their current routine.

Making some changes to your daily routine can make a big difference, like body weight exercises such as squats, sit-ups, or push-ups at home; or join a gym to do weights, he said.

But physical activity doesnt need to be complicated or time-consuming, he added.Doing any physical activity is better than none.

For more information: You can read the study in full on the Obesity website.

Susan Perry writes Second Opinion for MinnPost, covering consumer health. She has written several health-related books, and her articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications.

Read more here:

Study says combining strength training and aerobics more beneficial than doing only one or the other - MinnPost