I was recently
speaking with one of
my sales coaching
clients. We were
discussing strategy
for an agency that
had a "marketing"
effort but not a
true "sales" effort.
This person had been
making in person
"marketing" calls
but NO real sales
calls. My job, as
the coach, is to
assist people in
developing their
performance so I
knew the way to
achieve this was to
begin the process of
selling, versus
waiting for the
phone to ring.
"Ok, starting
tomorrow, I want you
to make 2
professional sales
calls each day" I
told her.
"Just 2, that's it?"
she asked.
"Hey, let's start
small and work our
way up" I replied.
So as we began to
discuss where she
would target her
sales activities I
told her that I
didn't want her to
bring a bunch of
brochures or
trinkets with her, I
only wanted her
focusing on selling
the value of her
agency. "What about
something sweet?"
she asked, "I can
still bring them
candy, right?"
Ummm.....no
As I replied a term
came to mind that I
used to answer her.
"I want you to make
2 No Calorie Sales
calls per day" I
said, "You can do
whatever types of
calls you want for
the rest of the day,
but "my" two can't
have any food or
drink". She was
hesitant that people
wouldn't welcome her
in if she wasn't
bringing some treats
with her, but a deal
is a deal so she
agreed.
At our next weekly
coaching session, I
asked her how the
calls had gone. "You
know" she began,
"they've all been
pretty good. No one
has asked me to
leave or asked why I
didn't have candy
with me....who would
have thought?"
I would have
thought....for one.
I'm going to use
some strong language
here, but I believe
that a large portion
of our industry has
prostituted itself
for the supposed
benefit of getting
more referrals. We
didn't do it alone,
mind you. The
doctor's offices and
case managers and
everyone else have
willingly enabled
our behavior. How
many times have you
made a sales call to
see a doc and been
handed a lunch
calendar in return?
What's the message
here.....feed us and
we'll ignore you for
an hour? If that's
the case, why not
just ignore me for
the 30 seconds I'm
in your office and
it doesn't cost me a
dime?
How many times when
you provide lunch
for an office do you
get to spend time
with the doc? Of
those times, how
often do you get his
or her undivided
attention (like you
were expecting when
you dropped the $250
on lunch)? Of THOSE
times how often do
you see a direct
referral from the
result of your
conversation?
The culture of the
sales part of our
industry is now
based upon bribing
people with food in
order to get them to
talk to us....isn't
it? I can't count
the number of reps
(and even managers!)
who tell me they
can't make a sales
call without a
couple of lattes and
some donuts. That's
not
selling.....whomever
told you it was lied
to you.
We're in the
industry of
improving the health
of our patients yet
our sales culture is
rooted in the
consumption of huge
quantities of
useless
calories...for what?
Are you really
trusting me to
provide safe care
for your patient
because the Moo Shu
pork was killer? Are
my outcomes any
better because I got
the Sicilian pizza
rather than the thin
crust? I went to
Starbucks and my
competitor went to
Seattle Coffee....so
who gets the
referral?
We're better than
that people. I
promise you we are.
Do you know when
there will be
change? When our
consumers
(read...our referral
sources) demand it.
I can't image that
providers across the
nation are going to
throw down their
credit cards in
disgust and say "I'm
fed up
Michael.....my
stomach is as full
as hell and I'm not
going to take it
anymore!"
No, just like
changing the culture
of your agency,
changing the way we
sell homecare is
going to take a
village. A village
of providers and
referral sources and
community
involvement. When
the next physician's
office stands up
with it's head held
high and tells me
they will accept no
more food....that
will be the first
one. When the next
email comes in from
a home health
provider that says
they are on a zero
calorie sales
program....I'll be
thrilled. And when
we can be judged
ONLY based on the
professionalism of
our sales force, the
outcome for our
patients and our
excellent level of
customer service we
provide....my work
here will be done.
Until then....I'm
still
here.....what's your
take?
