Monday Marketing Must Do #19
8am - Read this newsletter
8:15am - Seek The "No"
During a sales coaching conversation last week, the discussion drifted toward the average tenure of home care sales reps. What's your guess to how long the average rep lasts in their current role with their current agency?
Answer: 6 months....
No, I'm not kidding.
So, why is the length of stay so short? Simple, too may reps fear walking through the valley of the shadow of Rejection. When you start a new sales job, there is a long hard slog through accounts and contacts that are programmed to say "no" to you. You will probably go days, maybe even weeks without a "yes". It's no fun, and it's easy to get discouraged.....
So, what to do? As Winston Churchill famously said "If you're going through hell, keep going".
Most reps get overwhelmed by the rejection and either quit their jobs, or let it affect them so much that they avoid the "no" accounts and being to exclusively spend their time at "soft yes" accounts. Soft Yes accounts are those that say yes (to make you feel good) but actually mean no. In the end.....Soft Yes and Hard No bear exactly the same result....nothing.
What lies at the end of the Valley of Rejection? The much more fun and productive Land of Acceptance....and yes, it's going to take more than 6 months to get there. I have half jokingly said a number of times....if nothing else, just stay in your job for 6 months and 1 day and you'll be competing against a brand new crop of sales reps because everyone else just quit or got fired.
So....this week I want you to seek out the "no" accounts you have been avoiding. I want you to get back in front of them and ask what, if anything needs to happen in order for them to give you a chance. I want you to dive into the Valley of Rejection full force because the quicker you get in it, the quicker you get THROUGH it. I WANT YOU IN YOUR JOB ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE 7TH MONTH OF YOUR EMPLOYMENT! I want this because the longer you are on the job, the better you are at it. The better you are at it, the more value you provide to your referral sources. The more value you provide to them, the better the perception of home care sales reps. THAT...is my goal.
If you don't know what conversations to have with these people, join our Home Care Marketing Accelerator LIVE Webinar program that begins THIS Wednesday, March 28th. Get expert week by week instruction so you know exactly what to do in order to generate more admissions. Don't miss the start of this 10 week series, register today.
STOP letting NO stop you. You're better than that....your agency is better than that....our industry is better than that.
I'll see you in six months......
And one day :-)
Good Selling!
Michael Giudicissi
