I received an email
from an
administrator of a
private duty agency
recently. She had
asked that I pose
the question to SMI
readers of how many
administrators in
private duty
agencies also had
responsibility for
the sales &
marketing function.
Great question...
but in looking at
agencies that I talk
to around the
country, I
wondered... why stop
at private duty?
Although there are
many agencies of
every size that
employ dedicated
salespeople and
managers there are
also as large a
number that have the
sales function run
by someone who also
has supervisory
responsibility to
another department.
I've seen some of
these cases work out
just fine, but the
majority of times
I've seen it, the
sales effort has
been lacking... and
it doesn't have
anything to do with
the talent of the
administrator.
Think about this...
if you're a
professional golfer
and in your "spare
time" you decide to
play pro football,
how good of a
football player do
you think you'll be?
Because of the
beating you'll take
in football practice
and games, don't you
think it will affect
your golf game too?
I know the analogy
is extreme... or is
it?
How much does
running an
administrative or
clinical department
have in common with
running a
professional sales
effort? There are
some similarities of
course. Nurses and
therapists must meet
productivity ratios
just as sales reps
must meet minimum
activity and
admission
requirements.
Teamwork within an
administrative
department is as
vital as the
teamwork required to
execute a
professional sales
plan in the field.
Outside of these
general
similarities,
however, selling and
administration or
selling and clinical
require vastly
different skill
sets... skill sets
that may or may not
reside in the same
person.
What I frequently
see is that the
administrator comes
first... and then an
agency may develop
their sales team (or
have the
administrator become
the sales "team").
Many times in this
case the
administrator
inherits the job of
selling or managing
the salespeople and
may not be equipped
via experience or
time to do the job
properly. Experience
can be acquired...
and a person with
the capacity to run
a homecare office
(or company) can
usually learn enough
about sales &
marketing to do a
good job. Time,
however, is a
commodity that is
already in short
supply and no amount
of wishing or hoping
is going to extend
the selling hours in
each day.
Dual role
(admin/sales)
administrators can
use these tips to
help balance their
responsibilities:
- Set aside
sales or sales
management time
each day - Make
it a set block
of hours or
schedule it in
your calendar
and "switch
hats" to your
sales job during
that time. Let
people in your
office know that
you're now in
sales mode and
will be
available to
work on admin
issues at
whatever time
you have chosen.
- Designate a
Sales Supervisor
- Determine if
someone on your
sales team has
leadership skill
and make them a
selling
supervisor.
Basically this
person will be
your right hand
man (or woman)
in the field and
can help you by
narrowing down
the number of
people you need
to talk to (one
selling
supervisor
versus multiple
sales reps) most
of the time. You
also have the
peace of mind of
knowing that if
a sales
emergency comes
up during the
day, you don't
have to drop
your
administrative
tasks to go put
out a fire...
your selling
supervisor can
handle it in
your place
- Schedule One
on One Sales
Meetings - If
you are going to
manage a team of
reps as well as
be the
administrator,
I'd suggest
forgoing the
weekly group
sales meeting in
favor of a 30 to
60 minute one on
one with each
rep. It may take
more time but
you'll get right
to the important
conversations
with each member
of team with no
time wasted.
- Designate an
Administrative
Point Person -
Just like you'll
promote a
selling
supervisor, also
have a second in
command for your
administrative
duties. This
WILL allow you
to respond to a
sales
opportunity and
still make sure
that all of your
duties are
covered back at
the office too.
If you have some
solid people in
the admin and
sales supervisor
roles, guess
what? You've got
your
replacement(s)
ready to go when
the time comes
for YOUR
promotion!
Running a successful
homecare office is
challenging. Taking
on another major
responsibility by
running the sales
team is just as
important. The
people that can
balance these two
extremes are the
ones that master
time management and
self discipline. One
skill that will help
in both of those
areas is managing by
agreement. Rather
than the pedagogal
system of "I tell,
you listen" or the
micro management
style of the 80's
and early 90's,
managing by
agreement simply
says that the
manager and
subordinate meet and
make agreements
about some group of
actions that will be
taken. Each party
agrees to do certain
things in a certain
time frame. Both
parties agree that
if these things are
done the tasks that
need to be done
should be done.
Simple, right?
The nice thing about
managing by
agreement is that
you never have to
manage a person.
Managing people is
hard... there are so
many different
personalities
involved that think
and act completely
differently. When
you manage by
agreement, all you
have to manage is
the agreement, not
the person making
it. If the agreed
upon tasks are not
completed, you'll
only have to say
"John, we agreed
that this task was
important to get us
to our goal, why did
you decide not to do
it?" At that point
John can explain why
it wasn't done and
whether it will ever
be done. When you
have someone who
consistently does
NOT meet their
agreements, you
simply have to tell
them "Sue, YOU'RE
not a bad person,
but you're unable to
meet your agreements
with me so I'm going
to have to find
someone for this job
that can meet those
agreements. I know,
since you're such a
great person, that
you'll understand."
Pretty simple stuff,
huh? If your time is
limited due to other
job
responsibilities,
each one of these
tips can help you
save time and keep
your agency moving
forward.
Sometimes wearing
one too many hats
can be fun and
challenging. You
need to speak up if
the number of hats
you're wearing is
affecting your
overall performance
in a negative way.
Administrators are
usually great
business people,
just the kind that
we want to run our
sales teams... we
only need to make
sure they have the
time AND support to
do it right.
Now get out and sell
something!
