Running on Empty?

The economy has forced us to refocus, rethink and redesign our sales efforts. We need to become more aware of our time, our schedule and our productivity.

Sales calls are expensive. There have been a number of research studies attempting to determine the cost of a sales call in the health care industry, and all of the research results have a call listed at almost $150 per appointment. Including the cost of a salary, taxes, cell phones, benefits, insurance, car allowance, etc., that price tag may be right.

What the high cost of a sales call tells us is that we need to concentrate on the bottom line — not what products sell for, but what it costs to get those products to the customer. Part of that effort means increasing productivity for salespeople. The following suggestions can help:

• Verify all appointments Consider calling all scheduled appointments the day before to make sure you are on the calendar. Verify that the referral source has not had to cancel your meeting or inadvertently scheduled your meeting when they had already planned a vacation. Do not expect the referral source to call you. You need to be assertive and call for yourself. You need the customer, but the customer may not have checked his or her calendar for tomorrow before leaving for the day.
• Verify the location of the meeting or conference Too frequently I have been with salespeople who are looking for the right office, searching for the hospital conference room or even deciding if the meeting is in the main hospital or an ancillary facility up the street.
• Show up on time Being late to an appointment can be a costly mistake and a serious detriment to your image. If you arrive late, the customer may think you had forgotten them or failed to show respect for their time.
• Maintain the car Car trouble will certainly stop the sales process. Salespeople are notorious for operating a car in poor condition. Make sure you periodically check the tires, change the oil and keep the gas tank three-fourths full. A flat tire on the way to an appointment can be a costly stop you cannot afford. You and your car are a team, and like the customer with a walk aid; without it you may be immobile. You never know when you might need to make that long drive to a client on the other side of town or be asked to go to a meeting you had not planned on attending. When your car is out of service, so are you.
• Understand the real profit line Your company may offer a full line of products, but only a few are the key to its financial success. Make sure when meeting with referral sources that you inform them about the products that have become the central focus of your business. People will not purchase or even consider products they are unaware that you sell. Too often, we hear referral sources say, “I didn’t know you sell that.” Make sure you know what makes money in your company and what you need to talk about during the next sales call.
• Take care of personal matters While it is not appropriate to discuss personal issues when we interview anyone for a sales position, we do know that personal life can, and often does, affect work life. I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you do all you can to get your home life in order before you can expect to have a productive work day. While it would be great if we could leave our personal issues and problems at home before we embark on the morning drive to work, we know that is not always possible.

I suggest that the less you have to worry about while at work, the easier it will be to accomplish and pursue a successful work day. When you are sure your children are taken care of in a safe and secure atmosphere or your parents are receiving the attention they need, you can leave those worries and others like them behind.

When most aspects of your personal life are in order, you will be ready to handle more effectively the challenges you face at work. When the basics for a productive work day are in place, you will have expanded the limits for your success.

Start now by checking your bottom line, and while you’re at it, take a moment to see about the gas in the car.

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Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc. and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. You can reach him through www.DynamicSeminars.com or at 954/435-8182.