The Right Prescription
NOT TO SPEAK for the whole human race, but it’s probably safe to say most are glad to be done with school. Sure, there are fond memories: people have fun, people make friends, people learn things. That doesn’t negate the fact, however, that everyone is glad to be spared three-hour chemistry lectures and forced electives like “It’s Surprising How Boring Art Can Be: An Introduction to Art History.”
Back in the day though—the Socratic days, that is— the education process was inspiring. People would line up and beg guys like Plato to drop some wisdom on them. Philosophy and instruction used to be treasured things, valuable enough to attract whole crowds with nothing but the promise of self-betterment.
That’s not to say some aren’t still carrying the torch for wizened verbal lecturing. Dale Limes, MAS, senior vice president of sales, along with Jim Stutz, executive vice president of sales and business development for HALO/Lee Wayne, Sterling, Illinois, are frequent lecturers on the trade-show circuit. Limes was kind enough to explain the details of a recent class he taught about niche marketing to the health-care industry.
Promo Marketing: Could you briefly describe your lecture’s talking points?
Dale Limes: We were asked to do a class on selling to the health-care industry. We thought it was very appropriate, especially with these economic times, because the health-care industry is one of the markets that will be stable … because it’s virtually recession-proof. So we went into a lot of statistics on the health-care market. Included in that were statistics and facts relating to the job market in the health-care arena, the shortage of nurses and quality doctors, and how recruiting is such a big opportunity—just a lot of stats on health care, the baby-boomer age, and how that industry is going to continue to thrive and grow.
Then we went into how you sell to the health-care industry, and that was kind of the meat and potatoes of the learning session. We described the hospital market in detail, and the different departments, who buys what in each of the different departments. We gave all of the class participants a handout on top items sold to the health-care industry.
And then after we talked about the hospital market primarily, and the opportunities there, we went on to other parts of the health-care industry, everything from blood banks to nursing homes to ambulance services, and right on down the line.
PM: How did you get started as a sales trainer?
DL: I’ve always been a sales trainer with our company, and [I] finally decided about five years ago, it was time to take a lot of the same knowledge and information and share it with the industry to give back … I’ve added a lot of knowledge after working with so many great salespeople over the years, on what really makes them tick, what gets them to take their business to the next level, what are the top success habits, and I’ve kind of put those same ideas into training sessions, and that’s really what people need at these shows.
PM: Why should distributors sell into niche markets?
DL: Niche marketing is going to be very important in 2009. If you do the same things, you’re not going to have the same results you’ve always had. You need to focus on some of the niche markets that are going to be imperative to put into your business plan for 2009. Certainly health care fits handsomely into
that plan.
PM: Why health care?
DL: The health-care industry is something that all distributors should have in their business plan for 2009, but not to take that business for granted. It’s something that you’ve really got to research and know what you’re talking about before you go in, because your best competitors are going to know the same thing, and be in there as well. We talked about who buys what, how to sell to them, what the opportunities are, and probably more importantly, how to approach that market so you can position yourself as the expert, as opposed to just another person [who] sells promotional products. We talked a lot about re-branding yourself as a health-care specialist, as opposed to going in as a promotional consultant.
PM: How would distributors go about re-branding?
DL: We ask them to go to the American Hospital Association Web site, go to each of the hospitals or health-care center Web sites and learn as much as they can about them before they go in, and become really educated. Then go in, and tell them they’re the experts, and we even recommend that if they believe this is a hot niche market to go after, make separate business cards up and put right under [their] name something like “medical marketing specialist.” There’s instant credibility just by the sheer nature of what’s on your card and your marketing materials. That’s all part of the re-branding for a niche market like that.
PM: Are there any specific research tips you would give?
DL: As far as from a prospecting standpoint, [distributors should] go to the library and get the book of lists of the metro markets to look up the key health-care entities in town. Certainly everybody knows somebody who works at a hospital or health-care network, and if [they] can get them to give you a favorable introduction as a referral into one of the departments, [that’s] great too. Finally, again, [check] the hospital association site for prospects. It’s really just, do your research and do your legwork before you make the call. Don’t just go make a cold call on a major hospital chain or network, or even an individual hospital, because you know you’ll get eaten up because you’re just another person coming in, unless you really have a strategic advantage.
PM: Does teaching this class give you any insights into your own sales methods?
DL: I think when you research any particular market you always pick up a few nuggets along the way. I hadn’t really thought about the shortage of nursing and key doctors and how competitive that is until we started doing some of the research for the class. [Then I realized] the impact of aging seniors with longer life spans, baby boomers coming to age with more health problems and how the health-care industry is going to need to continue to expand. You kind of know it, but until you really focus on teaching a class on it, you don’t put as much thought directly to it.
PM: Is there any extra advice you wanted to put into the lecture that you didn’t get a chance to?
DL: I probably would have done a bit more general training for 2009. I think we hit all the high points for the health-care industry, but my main focus, with our 600-plus salespeople is, in 2009, what’s going to make it different, what do you need to do to survive in these tougher economic times? Niche marketing is a big part of it, but I think in the last 10 minutes I went more into, “Here is what you need to do in 2009.” Things like, if you haven’t been goal-oriented before, you sure better be come the end of this year. You have to plan and focus, take think time in your office to really plan out your strategies each week, and build a sound business plan for 2009, even if it’s something you haven’t done before.