Doing Things The American Way

We all remember the pending Apollo 13 disaster and the combination of individual creativity, ultimate leadership, indomitable spirit and a willingness to supplant arrogance and let confidence muster all of the God-given talents available to avoid disaster.

So here we are, a shaky economy, even using the “R” word. The war on terrorism appears to be an offensive/defensive initiative that will/must be with us forever. Add a disappointing presidential political nomination process.

Now add the first round of the cluster mess called national competitive bidding and all those well-meaning pinheads in D.C., and you could really be worried about your business.

With respect to this last item, how much of your business relies on the reimbursement schemes of D.C.? In other words, how much of your business have you turned over to others to control?

Sure, you can say, “You’re being the Monday morning quarterback when it comes to our CMS dependency.”

Wrong. I’ve been working in the HME segment of the health care industry for over 10 years now, and for 10 years we’ve all seen the government’s assault on the industry. For 10 years we’ve thought competitive bidding was coming. For 10 years we’ve thought accreditation was coming.

For 10 years we’ve known about the need to diversify payer sources and explore retail and other options. For 10 years we’ve known that wise businesspeople review their products and services to assess profitability.

For 10 years we’ve just been hoping and praying that things would turn out our way. Well, folks, hope and prayer aren’t strategies for building a business. Hope and prayer without a commitment to action are meaningless.

By the way, for 10 years I’ve been urging providers to get educated on strategic planning, succession planning, staff and leadership development, hiring and retention and other business growth fundamentals that are critical regardless of your product or services. And for 10 years I’ve had a number of providers tell me, “What we really need is billing, reimbursement, accreditation and legislative issues.”

The reality, which has become frighteningly clear, is you need it ALL.

So some of you reading this article have been postponing making the investment in time, talent and money for the business. Now, the future you have dreaded for the last 10 years is here. Even though Congress has put off competitive bidding for a bit, we have a firm idea of the massive changes it will bring.

Time to Move Ahead

So what are you going to do about the future of your business? You can strengthen and grow, IF you:

1. Get Back to Basics

   Truly believe and tell your employees how their work contributes to the company’s success.
2. Set high expectations and tell your staff they can achieve them.
3. Match the tasks at hand with the most appropriate talent available in the enterprise.
4. Constantly monitor your own words and actions knowing others are looking for examples to follow.
5. Don’t accept mediocrity or below-average conduct or performance.
6. Ensure your people are being constantly challenged to learn, develop and aspire to more.
7. Minimize meetings in order to honor your employees’ time.
8. Have your managers acting as coaches and buffers with their staff members when necessary.
9. Celebrate successes along the way to keep people motivated and focused on the end game.
10. Allow your employees to make decisions and share in the authority as well as responsibility for achieving the goals.

1. Act consistently and constantly in accordance to the values, policies and procedures of the company.
2. Pay your employees as well as possible and set a standard of recognition and reward for their contributions to the organization’s success.
3. Look for new ideas, old ideas, re-worked ideas — anything that can help to differentiate your HME business from the competition.
4. Loosen the purse strings and look outside of your firm for advisors and professionals, especially those who might bring expertise and insight to your situation.
5. Look at possibilities for collaboration in order to complement or supplement your capabilities, products, services and/or geography, whether you are thinking about competitive bidding or not.
6. Support industry advocacy, education and associations.
7. Bring together the thought leaders in your company to deal with solid business issues. It’s time for a whole new offense strategy.
8. Push your accreditation provider to deliver more in terms of continuing strategies to maximize the money, time and energy you’ve invested in them to become accredited.
9. Stop complaining and think, strategize, sell, speak, act, encourage. Don’t forget family time and rejuvenation time.
10. And laugh out loud when somebody says, “The answer is for the government to take over our entire health care system so everyone has access and coverage.” Haven’t they screwed us (I mean “up”) enough?

Get Back to Basics

I’m not being Pollyannaish or naïve to think times aren’t tough. Heck, 2008 started off slow for me as well, but it has picked up tremendously. Why? How? I got back to some sales fundamentals.

And you know what? Customers want to do business with people who believe in hard work, smart work and a better future. Customers want to associate with people who see promise and purpose and principles in doing business.

Customers want to see you succeed if you can demonstrate a desire and ability to earn their patronage by delivering more than someone else and/or delivering it in a different manner. Remember your customers are not only referral sources and patients but also recommenders and influencers within your market.

Everything you need to be successful, you already have: talent, skills and intelligence.

Remember that illness, that accident, that loss or, if you were in round one, that time when you thought your world was coming to an end? Well, you’re still here. You got through it. It was not easy, but now you must look back and muster the kind of resilience that can only come from being smart and determined.

If it takes a class, a seminar, a coach, a mentor, a book, a CD, prayer, meditation or a vacation to release the energies you have within — they are wise investments.

Look at everything you’ve come through so far and say, “This is doable. This is possible. This is going to happen.”

Hey, this is business. This is entrepreneurship. This is America. And paraphrasing Winston Churchill’s quotation: “America’s the worst system around, except for all the rest.”

Maybe neither of us knows exactly what to do, but as Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz said in the face of impossible odds: “Failure is not an option.”

Nothing in this great country of ours was ever accomplished by a government program. It comes from each American exhibiting the kind of ethical, confident, creative, determined leadership that refuses to take defeat or losing or quitting or no as the final answer.

We’re American businesspeople — we do things on our terms. We make the rules.

We keep going. We keep selling. We keep our people energized. We do whatever needs to be done. Any other attitude just wouldn’t be American.

Vince Crew’s Review:

“Apollo 13” is a really great movie — rent it, buy it, see it again and understand the real lessons from that historical event. Also visit the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Fla., and experience the awesome history, legacy and sheer excellence of America’s response to President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to conquer space. For more information, visit www.kennedyspacecenter.com.

Seven Sales Tips to Reverse a Slump

In keeping with the adage “Nothing ever happens till somebody sells something,” consider this in renewing your referral, in-store and other sales-oriented activities:

1. Listen for people to tell you what they want before you tell them what you have It’s easier to talk benefits that way.
2. Ask, “Is this a good time?” instead of assuming someone is ready for a sales pitch — courtesy counts.
3. Measure your productivity not by the number of calls you make, but by the number of qualified prospects you talk to — a prospect is someone who’s willing, able, and ready to buy, not whoever has time to see you.
4. After getting a sale, don’t stop to celebrate, make another call! Your confidence is at its highest.
5. If you’ve got the wrong price, the timing’s bad, or the product isn’t a good fit, you’re wasting at least two people’s time — yours and the person you’re trying to sell.
6. When you’re done for the day, make one more call. It’s amazing how a little more effort can make the difference.
7. Even if their title isn’t “sales,” every employee represents the company. Have everyone stand tall and talk about the values of your businessr. You never know who’s listening or looking to buy.

Vince Crew is the creator of the HME Power Management Success System. He provides confidential advisory services to owners and executives on strategic growth issues and is the author of several books on leadership, staffing and strategy. His latest, Everyday Ethics, Everlasting Consequences, debuted on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox news channel in January. This article is based on Crew’s monthly newsletter, “The One Sheeter.” Visit www.reachdevelopment.com for more information.