Don't Disconnect

Six patient set-ups, a meeting to discuss an upcoming accreditor survey, one of your drivers called in sick, you're interviewing two candidates for an open sales position. Do you really have time to meet with one of your vendors?

Ideally, the answer should be yes. Meeting with manufacturers and suppliers is an important part of running your business. In addition to medical products, vendors can provide useful information about patient care and reimbursement changes. Why, then, do sales professionals complain that they can't get HME owners' time? Where is the disconnect?

When I was responsible for purchasing for a national home care company, salespeople who called on me complained about the fact that they couldn't get some of our location managers to meet with them. When I asked those managers why they ignored vendor requests for meetings or made appointments and then didn't keep them, they all said pretty much the same thing: “My local sales rep never has anything new to tell me. He shows up unprepared most of the time.”

In some cases, those managers may have had a point, but I also know there are many hardworking sales representatives who are doing a good job. I believe that getting good representation is partly the provider's responsibility.

I know what you're thinking: “I don't have enough to do already? Now I have to worry about your sales reps, too?”

I wouldn't go that far, but there are some simple things you can do to make meetings with the sales reps who call on you more productive.

Set Expectations

When you're really busy, it might seem easier just to put up with a sales rep no matter how bad the call is. He will be gone soon and you can return to more important tasks. That is one way to deal with the problem — but not only have you wasted time, you probably have been cheated out of valuable information that could help improve patient care, earn more referrals and add to your bottom line.

If you are dealing with a sales representative who isn't satisfying your needs, take a few minutes to express your concerns. Let this rep know that you will be glad to meet if he or she will promise:

• To come to the meeting prepared with a specific agenda and thorough product knowledge. Sales representatives should be familiar with competitors' products, too.