Welcome to 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.

We're putting the finishing touches on the Sales Manager Interactive website right now. Soon subscribers will get access to all of the features listed below and anyone will be able to visit the main page and learn more about our revolutionary sales management training/networking program.

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!

I've got so many tips, techniques and ideas for you in this SMI weekly newsletter that I sometimes want to put out five every week! Don't worry though, we'll get to all of that material in good time. It's in the queue and ready to go. The one thing that sometimes gets lost in all of the sales planning and training is motivation. Motivation for our sales force, our clinical staff and of course, ourselves. I want to take this week to tell you how special you are.

If you are a homecare sales manager (whether that's your title or not) you are special. Pursuing a career as a salesperson is commendable. Salespeople are always in the spotlight (good or bad) as they sink or swim based on their sales performance. Think, if you will, about the sales manager...

Not only are you judged by the results of your sales force, but you have much less input into the whole thing than if you were out in the field selling. In effect, you've said, "I'm willing to be judged based on my sales performance... even though I'm not the one selling." Pretty risky, huh? I talk to sales managers all the time that (although they love their job and its challenges) ask the question... "Do I really want to do this?"

Recently legendary football commentator John Madden used the term "no, no-go, go" on a Sunday Night Football game. He used it to describe a coach's reaction when a player runs a ball out of the end zone instead of taking a knee. First it's "no! no!" as the player heads out into certain disaster. Then it becomes "GO! GO!" as the player runs past the opponent's entire team to score the winning touchdown.

Sales managers live in the world of no,no-go,go all the time, don't we? When the numbers are not where they need to be, we hear "no, no, that's not working... we MUST do something different." Magically, when things begin to click and the admissions are flowing like rain, the song changes to "Go! GO!, we're doing great!!!" Another constant is that most sales reps succeed on their own, but fail because of their manager. I've rarely met a sales rep who talked about how much their manager contributed to their success... it's almost always them and their relationships. When things are not going well the picture gets a little murkier as the sales manager, clinical team, administrator and everyone else shares in the blame.

Hey... you volunteered for this job!

I'd like all the sales managers reading this to take extra special care of themselves this week. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to keep you moving toward your goals.

• Buy yourself a new pair of shoes for work (it really helps... for men or women!).
• Start your day 20 minutes early at your favorite coffee shop.
• Take a struggling sales rep to lunch and don't discuss business.
• Go out and make a few sales calls on your own... don't tell anyone.
• Go visit a patient or their family with their caregiver.
• Send me an email and I'll keep you going!

Sales managers really do ride the razors edge... our performance either needs to improve or it's great... and there seems to be no neutral ground. Maybe that's the reason why intelligent, motivated people like you chose the job... it is never, NEVER, boring.

What you do is vital. Do you realize that? Without you and your sales team people would have less access to services. Less people would know about what homecare is... less people would get care. I'll say that again.

Less people would get the homecare they need and deserve if it were not for you... you're a hero... and I mean that.

Celebrate the wins like crazy, put your nose to the grindstone when things get tough... and realize that there isn't much in between... that's what you signed up for. You're a homecare sales manager... a maverick... committed to quality... driven to performance.

You're my hero...

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