With 10 stores throughout Canberra and NSW, Benchmark Sleep Services’ owner Christian Rabatsch says success has come from a focus on the patient, not sales.

BENCHMARK Sleep Services’ owner Christian Rabatsch has more than 30 years’ experience in dealing with sleep apnea and related conditions.

“I used to run a sleep lab and have worked for all the major companies – Philips, Fisher & Paykel, ResMed,” he says.

“I set up this business about 12 years ago, because I used to go around and see the retailers and what they did, and I actually felt they didn’t do a good job.

“So, I called mine Benchmark Sleep Services because we want to be the best at what we do.”

Now there are 10 stores throughout Canberra and NSW, and Christian says their success has come from a focus on the patient, not sales.

“We’ve only had our new shop in Phillip running for three months,” he says.

“The reason I set up the shop here is because we are nearby Respiratory Sleep and Comprehensive Internal Medicine, who offer home sleep studies and overnight sleep studies.

“There are a growing number of sleep apnea cases, and currently about 3000 people are waiting for sleep studies at Canberra Hospital alone.

“One of our benefits as a business is that we stock all the brands, we have ResMed, Fisher & Paykel, Philips, Transcend and we have Lowenstein, they’re the five major brands out there.”

Christian says, in fact, Transcend have just released a new micro CPAP machine, the smallest and lightest on the market, and Benchmark Sleep Services is the first business to have it.

“We have the exclusives, and that’s because people respect what we do,” he says.

“That’s critical because if you come in, we don’t really know what you need initially, or what works for you, so we’ll start you on the nose mask.

“Then you go home and you open your mouth, and we move you to a mask that goes over the nose and mouth.

“Or if you feel claustrophobic, and there’s too much on your face, we’ll find you a smaller mask, because we’ve got the whole range.

“We had a guy in here recently, and we put him in a ResMed mask, but they’ve got magnets in them and he had a pacemaker so he couldn’t use it.

“But we tried a Fisher & Paykel, and a Philips, until we found success.

“So, we’ve got the ability to go to other things, whereas if you’re locked into one brand, then you pretty much don’t have a choice.”

Christian says he and his staff are not only clinical people, but are also like motivational counsellors.

“People really want to know that there’s someone on their side, they’re not out there on their own,” he says.

“There’s a lot of data analysis that we do, because every machine now has the capability of sending the data to the cloud.

“When we have someone new starting on CPAP, they go home and tomorrow morning our CPAP consultant Laura Couper Logan will be able to have a look at their data without actually seeing them.

“It gives us leak data, apnea data, how many hours they used it, how many times they turned the machine on and off, and that sort of information gives us a picture of what’s going on with the patient.

“If it was a disaster after the first night, we call them and ask how they went, and that’s where the motivational counselling comes in.

“If it’s a disaster, we say look, let’s not wait until your booking next week, come in tomorrow and let’s get this fixed up straight away.

Christian says he tells his staff it’s all about the client.

“If they’re doing well on the machine, they are going to want to buy it right? If they’re not doing well they’re not gonna buy it, it doesn’t matter how good a salesperson you are,” he says.

“It’s all about trying to create a nice image for the public, not that they feel they’re coming in and have to buy something, they’re coming in because they’re getting help.”

And, to continue expanding their range, Benchmark Sleep Services is taking pre-orders for the newest ResMed machine – AirSense 11.

“Just like your smartphone, AirSense 11 uses built-in cellular technology to receive over-the-air updates,” says Christian.

“It brings together ResMed’s best comfort features, including a heated humidifier, sleep onset detection and expiratory pressure relief, helping you achieve comfortable therapy all night long.

“It’s going to be available, physically arriving on September 1.

“This ResMed machine’s been out in America for two years now, but COVID-19 has meant they haven’t had enough supply to release it here in their own country until now.

“We’re receiving 100 machines in September, and 100 more in October, and it’s going to be super.”

Benchmark Sleep Services, level 1, 8/48 Corinna Street, Phillip. Call 6105 9000 or visit benchmarksleepservices.com.au