Monday Marketing Must Do #27

Monday 8am: Read this newsletter

Monday 8:15am: Make vacation plans

It's almost upon us. Out west, many schools have their final day of classes this week. The rush of summer vacations is about to be upon us. Now, I hope you get to take a fun vacation this summer to unwind and relax, but today's Must Do is about aligning your vacation plans and those of your key referral sources.

People get sick, people have surgery, and yes, some people pass away regardless of the season or calendar. Your key contacts are likely to be taking time off this summer and now is the time to find out what their plans are. While they are away someone must take care of the referral process and you'd like to know now, rather than at the last minute. Let's assume "Karen" is your contact at a large physician practice. Karen is going on vacation for 10 days in July. You find out now that "Steven" will coordinate referrals while Karen is away. Good for you! You now have 5-6 weeks to get to know Steven, figure out how you can help him, and to make sure that when your contact goes away on vacation, your referrals don't go with her!

Not only is it important that you find out when THEY are going on vacation, but if YOU are going on vacation now is the time to lay the groundwork for whomever is going to take your place. If "Sue" is your backup while you're away on that 2 week backpacking adventure in Yosemite, then NOW is the time to take Sue around to meet your key contacts so they have a comfort level with her when the time comes.

This simple task will save you a lot of anxiety when vacation time comes for you or your referral sources and assures that the referrals will keep flowing when it does. The bonus in this task is that you get to cultivate a new contact in each of these accounts that could prove helpful in the future in a variety of ways. It's never a bad thing to know more people in each of your accounts.

While we're on this subject, I want to share some thoughts about you taking a "working" vacation. I hear this a lot from the reps I work with. They promise their referral sources they will still answer the phone and can assist remotely while they are off enjoying some vacation destination. Listen, everyone deserves a vacation from work and if you're taking one, TAKE IT. Don't bring your work with you. I had a bad experience with one of my reps years ago that had a referral call "slip thru the cracks" while she was flying to her destination. Somehow the message got missed and a home health patient that needed admitting on Friday was still without care on Monday. Not good and a LOT of damage control needed to be done.

Go away, take the vacation you earned. Find someone who can take your place while you're gone and you can enjoy your time off with a clear mind. The more you enjoy your vacation time, the better you'll likely be when you return.

If you're not going to be on vacation on July 19th, then get to Fort Lauderdale, FL to the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek for a full day of Advanced Home Care Sales Training with yours truly. Early registration is just $299 per person with discounts for agencies bringing 3 or more. You'll leave energized, motivated, and ready to enter the busy Fall selling season with the tools you need to succeed. Registration is now open.

Kick back, take a break, enjoy life....

The better you do this work now, the more you enjoy vacation time later.

Good Selling!

Michael Giudicissi