I have a wonderful sales coaching client, from a
wonderful agency in Texas that I've worked with
closely over the past 6 months. One aspect of the
agency's sales effort that disturbed me was their
tendency toward a LOT of sales calls each week.
I was coaching 3 of their reps late last year and in
tracking their activity and results with our exclusive
Rep Ratio form, I found that one of the tenured reps
was making about 250 sales calls each month!
Those "sales calls" were true face to face
interactions...and did not include a "drop by" when she
did not get to see or speak to her contact. If we
counted those we were closer to 400 "stops" each
and every month!!
Another experienced rep, who was initially out on
leave, came back and began to work with me.
Although she was a "high caller" too, she wasn't at the
famed 400 mark....yet.
As we began working
together I asked her to take a leap of faith and "slow
down" each call.
As the weeks went by her results didn't budge.....and
she fought the urge to go back to making so many
calls. "Hang in there" I urged her, "You're getting to
know these people better, understand their needs
better....it will pay off."
One day about a month into the coaching process, I
got an email from her titled "It's like pulling a thread on
a sweater!" What she was saying was that the strategy
we worked on where she would take more time at
each call, ask the proper questions, not rush off to the
next stop...was working! She had one account that
initially give her 10 referrals, then called back later in
the week with 11 more......all because she uncovered
a population of patients that should have been
referred to homecare.....but weren't.
Amazing?
No, not really......there are
accounts like that all over the country.....but are you
taking the time to uncover them?
At our next coaching call she told me of her success
and said, "Michael, I realized that I've been selling like
a microwave all these years......quick, quick,
quick...then on to the next place." She continued "Your
technique is more like a crock pot, slow and
steady...and it works!"
Now I've never been compared to a crock pot before
(although in my heavier days I certainly was told I had
a pot belly) but I took this as a supreme compliment.
Time after time when I coach a new rep I find myself in
the position of either speeding them up or slowing
them down. "Take your time" I tell them, "the more you
know, the more you'll sell."
What sells homecare in our current climate is
relationships.
Period...end of story.
The
stronger and more in depth your relationships are, the
more you're going to sell. If your total goal in every
single sales call is to walk out with a referral (although
that would be nice) you're going to be disappointed
quite a bit. How about having a systematic way of
building the relationship from the first call to the
second and so on? How about "crock potting" your
sales calls so that you're always moving each
relationship toward a more valuable position for your
referral source rather than seeing how quickly you can
drop off a card or a brochure? I don't tell you this
because it's my idea....I tell you this because it works.
So, what of my 400-calls-per-month sales maven?
Well, I spent last week with my clients in their office
and in the field.....
We went out and made
some calls in her "old style", and then had a
challenging account that she had yet to break into. As
she was ready to jump from the car and head in
said "Wait! Let's plan this out before we head in". We
discussed strategy, role played a bit and got to speak
with the office manager for about 10 minutes (about
20 times longer than she had spoken to her ever
before). I wish I could tell you we walked out with a
referral, but we didn't. We did, however, walk out
knowing who our competition was, why there were
being used, and what was important to THAT
relationship. We'll use that knowledge to become one
of the two premier providers for this doc in the near
future....and for an investment of 10 minutes....that ain't
all bad.
Next time you question why your sales results are not
where you want them to be, head to your kitchen and
examine your appliances. Do you want the
overcooked, dried out, quick to be done microwave
fare you've been eating for years.....or would a nice,
warm, slow cooked crock pot meal taste a lot better?
Ask your referral sources what they'd rather
have.....and don't be afraid to slow down.
