Part-Time Vs. Full-Time

Have you caught yourself making any of these comments?

“I have a respiratory therapist. She does setups, and when she is free, she needs to make some sales calls.”

“I have a part-time salesperson who works for me and another company that does only infusion and wonder if that is a problem.”

“I have a lady who works for me part-time, and on Mondays and Fridays she takes off to do her own thing — just the days I need her the most.”

“I know I should hire a salesperson but maybe I should start with someone who works part-time since I could save some money.”

“I have a full-time sales staff but I’m thinking I might hire one more person to work part-time.”

Are you wondering what the best answer should be to all of these interesting options? From my perspective, the answer is NO, NO, NO, NO and NO again. Can any of the above scenarios work? Of course they can, but do they usually? No, they usually don’t.

What do you miss when hiring a part-time salesperson?

• Someone who is available at any time throughout the week to meet with clients, call customers and deal with difficult customer issues.
• Someone who is truly a part of the organization and available to help out in various roles.
• Someone who is available to attend community meetings, professional association gatherings, etc.
• Someone who is totally focused on sales and building revenues.

Plus, you do not want to be in a position where you must tell clients over and over again that your salesperson does not work today.

I understand the financial commitment in hiring a salesperson — salary, commission, car allowance and sometimes a whole list of other benefits. But when salespeople are managed well, monitored and supervised, you will get your investment back many times over. Hundreds of companies have told me that a good salesperson can increase revenues up to or even beyond 20 percent.

Salespeople, however, probably cannot make a significant contribution to your revenues if they are not working full-time. When salespeople are both in charge of setting up oxygen and making sales calls, their priorities are often confused. They come to realize that doing the setup takes priority and find themselves making fewer and fewer calls.

Full-time sales representatives can be a tremendous help to you in many ways, including:

• Understanding key health care issues in your community. They will become aware of new clinics that are opening, treatment centers and long-term care facilities. They may be the first to hear about a new rehabilitation center or even a nursing center that is developing a rehab unit.
• They hear interesting information about your competitors, including comments about their service, products and programs that you might not normally hear. Much of your business each year comes from the errors of others, and salespeople are great sources of information if you want to know what competitors do or refuse to do.

• They often hear about service problems before they are repeated to other customers or even to your competitors.
• They can be the first to hear about new employees who may be candidates to become the next customer in your business. When someone is hired as a new social worker, discharge planner or office manager, a salesperson who is in the marketplace on a daily basis might be the first one to know a position has been filled. Then they can be the first one to set up an appointment with the potential referral source to tell them about your company.

What I have not addressed are the legal issues regarding paying commissions and benefits to part-time salespeople. You may want to consult an attorney to make sure you have all the correct information. There are often different rules for part-time salespeople, and you need to make sure you understand all the legal guidelines.

Are you ready to make the decision about whether you need a full-time or part-time salesperson? I hope, for the growth and development of your business, your crystal ball shows a full-time salesperson in your future.

Read more Sales Notebook columns.

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.