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 home care 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!

The question comes up frequently. “I have a rep who is not producing... should I fire them”?

The short answer is... maybe.

There are many reasons why salespeople under perform in the home health environment. There are also many excuses for salespeople under-performing in home health and the key is to differentiate between the two. A salesperson who is out selling your agency’s services when clinical staffing is short to non existent might not be reaching their goals... but is reaching those goals possible under that scenario? Similarly, many times market shifts do take place. A once great referrer could relocate, close down their practice, or perhaps open their own home health agency. Under these circumstances, I would still expect my professional salesperson to generate new business to take the place of the old, but I would also realize that new relationships take time and I might not get the results I want in the next 30-60 days.

On the other hand, if your sales rep’s performance (or lack of it) is due to reasons within their control, it's time to make the rules crystal clear. I’ve run into times in my own management career where a sales rep did something (usually something that wasn’t very productive) and I didn’t say anything about it. My silence was taken as consent for the non productive activity to take place again... and again. In a case like that, I am responsible for not being consistent in my approach, but I’ll certainly let the salesperson know that their activities are not “high priority” and an adjustment needs to be made immediately. There is no need to give time frames to fix unacceptable behavior in sales. The time frame is NOW! If someone spends their afternoon at the coffee shop making phone calls and writing brochures, once I let them know that isn’t part of their job description, I expect the behavior to change immediately.

The art of sales management is to carefully (and quickly) evaluate the reasons for an under-performing sales rep or territory. If it is something in YOUR control, fix it. If it is something in your sales rep's control, explain and expect them to fix it. When you have that meeting to explain what changes you expect to see, ask questions to be sure the sales rep has the skills to do what you’re asking. You need to find out if this is a training issue (provide more training) or a motivation issue (provide proper motivation or move them out). I like to ask a rep three questions to see how/if I might help them succeed.

1. What can I do more of?
2. What should I do less of?
3. What can I do that I’m not doing now?

You’ll have to evaluate the feedback you get from these questions, but realize as the sales manager, you bear some of the responsibility for this under performance. If there is something quick and easy you can change to improve the results... by all means... do it!

If you’ve done this evaluation and a positive change has not occurred, it is time to move toward termination. As in anything related to legal exposure, get the counsel of your HR department prior to any termination.

The cost of recruiting, hiring and training a new sales rep can be daunting. Make careful choices about letting someone go if there is the possibility of working with them to succeed. That said, when the decision is made to terminate someone, get right to it... you’re doing your agency and the sales rep a big favor.

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
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!

Do you use Skype internet phone, video conference and chat software? If so, feel free to Skype Me at Michaelg31 if you have a question or feedback about this newsletter.

If you don't use Skype, try it out... it's free. Visit the Skype website and drop me a line.