Welcome to the second issue of Sales Manager Interactive! If you’re a homecare sales manager, administrator, agency owner, leading sales rep or anyone with sales responsibility for your agency, you’ve come to the right place. This weekly newsletter will focus on important sales management topics like compensation, territory planning, recruiting and hiring, sales team motivation and much more. If you have an idea for a story please email me.

This newsletter comes to you courtesy of Leading Home Care and serves as the gateway to the full Sales Manager Interactive program that launches in beta test in November and in full on January 1st. What is the full version of SMI? Great question. Imagine a place where sales professionals can work collaboratively on the topics we mentioned above (and more!). Imagine a monthly “managers only” training teleseminar on similar topics where we leave lots of time to answer questions. Imagine a repository of knowledge and sales tools to manage your team to their next, best level of sales performance. Imagine input from a variety of industry experts. Imagine an interactive forum to submit questions 24/7. It’s like having your own consultant on call all the time! That, my friends, is Sales Manager Interactive. For more information, or to register and get the first two months free, visit the Sales Manager Interactive page.

Here are teleseminar/conference call topics for the first quarter of 2007.

January - New Year, New Goals

February - Effective Recruiting and Hiring

March - ABC Account Management

We are going to revolutionize homecare sales. That’s a pretty bold statement, isn’t it? But it’s true. As we build a team of the nation's leaders in homecare sales, we will share best practices, we’ll raise the level of sales professionalism in our industry and we will define the way that people look at home care salespeople. I won’t do it alone, I need you! For a full list of benefits of the new Sales Manager Interactive program, visit the SMI page on the Leading Home Care website.

Welcome to Sales Manager Interactive. You’ve taken another step toward becoming one of the elite in our industry. I congratulate you and look forward to working with you in the future. As always, I want to hear from you, so please send me an email.

Now go sell something!

Today’s article comes in response to a question from a reader. The question was how to deal with buyer “apathy”, in effect, the buyer of homecare stalling from making a decision on the spot. This is a common occurrence in private duty/private pay home health but the techniques used are just as valuable in any area of our industry. Even if a referrer isn’t paying the bill for the care, they can still decide whether or not to make a referral on the spot.

So, what do we do when sitting with someone who obviously needs care or is referring someone who does, and declines to make the decision “on the spot”?

In sales, we have something we call “yes momentum”. Yes momentum means that all during the sales conversation you are asking questions of your prospect that are likely to get “yes” answers. Some examples:

1. Is your Mom going to need someone to prepare light meals for her?
2. Will we need someone here before you leave for work in the morning?
3. Since your patient is being discharged tomorrow, does he/she need to be seen by the PT on Saturday?

Get the idea? You’re asking questions that you probably already know the answer to, but you want affirmation that you are discussing the proper services. The other advantage to this is simple. Closing a sale (private duty, skilled home health, hospice... whatever) in healthcare is not like selling a car. There are no “tricks” to be used to dazzle your prospect at the end of the sales presentation to get them to sign on the dotted line. Closing a healthcare sale is more subtle. If you have built “yes momentum” throughout your sales conversation it’s much harder for your prospect to say no to starting services or making a referral if all they’ve been saying is “yes” for the past 15 minutes.

See it?

There is no reason to say “no” if everything else has been agreed upon. When presenting my Sales Training Boot Camp, I spend very little time on closing the sale, since all of the work is done during the sales process... not in some desperate attempt to get the business before you walk out the door.

A stall is merely an objection. If you have properly qualified your prospect and can meet their needs for homecare then you should get the referral. Simple as that. Why wouldn’t you?

Someone who agrees with everything you’ve discussed yet does not refer or agree to start services isn’t stalling... they have an objection... and it’s one you have not yet uncovered. Here are some common objections to “buying” homecare.

1. I think this costs too much.
2. I don’t know if I/my parent/my patient really need this.
3. I think this will be intrusive.
4. I’m not comfortable with you or your company yet.

There are lots more, but you get the idea.

So if you reach the end of your sales conversation and you don’t have a referral here is a magic sentence for you to use (please use your own words and don’t let it sound scripted).

“(prospect), we’ve talked a lot about your (mom, patient, etc.) and it seems that we can meet all of your needs. I understand you’re not ready to make the decision right now. So I can understand better, can you tell me what area that you’re still thinking about?”

Now... wait.

When your prospect tells you the area of concern, they’ve given you their final objection. They’ve told you the reason that they’re not ready to refer to you today. Sometimes you can answer these and sometimes you cannot. If it is an area that you can answer, use the 3 R’s to move forward.

1. Restate the objection (to make sure you’ve heard it clearly).
2. Reinforce your capability in this area.
3. Resume the sale.

Whether you've been selling home care for ten years or ten days, Michael Giudicissi will help you become better at your job. If you're the director of a sales department, he'll help you train your current sales reps as well as new hires.

A message from Michael - "This is a great book for anyone involved in homecare sales. Of course you'd expect me to say that since I wrote it! Here's the thing, this book contains more training and information about homecare sales than many salespeople in our industry will get in their entire career. Buy it, read it and use it. Once you do, let me know how it works for you.

This e-Book is more than just bedtime reading! It's truly a sales training manual and workbook with exercises and examples for individuals as well as teams of sales people. You'll find ten exercises, worksheets, and resources including:

• Five role playing exercises
• "A Day in the Life of Physicians"
• "A Day in the Life of Case Managers"
• "Elevator Speech" creation guide
• Additional reading and resources list
• Dozens of real life illustrations and examples
• A blend of theory and practical tips
• Writing that is clear, concise, and conversational.

This manual is ideal for both certified home health agencies, as well as non-medical or private duty home care companies. Here is one of the early reviews of "Making The Approach":

"Got it - love it! Honestly, I never thought anyone would be able to accurately put into words all of the emotional issues, let alone key phrases and skills to get the job done in one piece. And, on top of that, it was actually an enjoyable read. Congratulations. We will be using this as our sales training foundation for new and current staff. Thank you Michael!!"

Joan Hatley
Senior Independence

Click on the link below. In a matter of seconds you'll be able to download this e-Book to your own computer. Literally, in the next five minutes, your ability to sell homecare services will improve. Inside of an hour, you'll feel like a veteran. And by the end of the week, you'll see results!

Check back here often to see where Michael will be speaking next. If you'd like Michael to speak at your organization or present a Sales Boot Camp in your area, email us or contact your state homecare association.

Home Health Line's Power Referrals Conference
February 21-23
Rio All Suites Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Event Website

Sales Training Boot Camp
February 26 & 28
Northern and Southern California
Locations to be announced
Presented by CAHSAH

Here's what's new on the members only Sales Manager Interactive website. These tools are available to download for free to all subscribers.

• Sample Sales Rep Compensation Plan
• Sample Sales Manager Compensation Plan
• Sales & Marketing Scorecard
• Sales Rep Sales Activity Tracking Form
• Sales Manager Sales Activity Tracking Form

Want to know what we'll be working on next year?
Here are the subscriber's only conference call topics for the first quarter!

• January 2007 - New Year, New Goals
• February 2007 - Effective Recruiting & Hiring
• March 2007 - ABC Account Management

Visit a Preview of the Members Only Site.

If you missed the first session in the "Making The Approach" teleseminar series, no worries! You can still register to listen to this week's session "The Second Call" and December's session "The Third Call and Beyond" and get the CD of the first session free. Go now to the teleseminar home page to register for this powerful session and get ready to sell!