Documentation, reporting, tracking — all items on the salesperson's “I don't want to do list.” Just getting a salesperson to complete a weekly call report is a challenge for most managers. They just don't want to do the paperwork!
But the need for completing a comprehensive account assessment is vital to understanding your accounts and tracking the progress of these relationships.
As you develop each account assessment, include these 10 basic items:
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An organizational chart. Ask your customer for an organizational chart of their office, agency or department. This will tell you where they fit into the overall structure of the business, who they report to and the names of others in the organization who may have the same job responsibilities.
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Key contacts. Obtain all contact information including your customer's office phones, e-mail address and pagers. Ask how they prefer to be contacted. Ask if there is another person to talk to if you are unable to reach them. If information about their birthday ever comes up, include this in your assessment as well. (You never know when a birthday card might help your business.)
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Products presently ordered. Ask about the products your customer most frequently orders and possibly from whom. You want to understand not only what they order but also how frequently.
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Previous problems. If you are going to be the customer's provider of choice, you want to know about any problems they have experienced in obtaining products and locating what they needed for their patients. Many referral sources are eager to offer a list of problems they have encountered to make sure these issues do not happen again.
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The referral source's most important requirements when working with a home care provider. Learn about your customer's service requirements and what they expect from your company. Are they looking for a company that opens early in the morning or has Saturday hours? Do they want an order-intake form to speed the ordering process?
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Special requirements, such as follow-up or utilization reports. Does the account expect a follow-up report regarding each delivery? Can you play a role in helping them meet accreditation requirements or in their efforts to determine what happened to a patient after being discharged from service?
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Staff meetings. List all the staff meetings customers attend. This will give you some indication of the best time to locate the entire staff in one place. Conversely, you also will learn when it is best not to call since the staff is unlikely to be accessible.
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Alliances. Identify any alliances or partnerships the customer may have with other providers. Are they giving most of their business to a hospital-owned company or a competitor? Are they in a network with other companies?
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Revenue assessment. Can you make some projections about the number of orders or the revenue you can possibly expect from this account?
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A list of product needs. Keep a list not only of the products this customer is presently buying from you but also the items they could be purchasing. Are they talking to their clients about your full range of products? On the account assessment, identify all of the products of interest to this customer, since some of these items may need to be the main subject of your next sales call.
Account assessments must be a work in progress, and these items are only the beginning. You should also include other information, such as tracking the payment sources for the services your client provides. These may be the same financial sources you will need to use for payment for your products. Note any new clinical programs or treatment centers the customer may be developing. This information will help you determine if the products you provide will meet the needs of their potential new customer base.
You should continue to add to your comprehensive account assessment. For business planning, increasing sales and evaluating the growth potential in your market, the account assessment is going to be one of your very best educational tools.
Louis Feuer is president of Dynamic Seminars & Consulting Inc. and the founder and director of the DSC Teleconference Series, a teleconference training program. He can be reached at www.DynamicSeminars.com or by phone at 954/435-8182.
