Senior Marketing Must Do #8

Michael Giudicissi

Mar 25, 2019

Monday 8am: Read this newsletter

Monday 8:30am: Ask (and answer) Why Not?

How many accounts do you have that have never referred to you? How many of them do you call on, on a regular basis? How much time do you spend weekly visiting accounts that have never referred to you? How long will you keep at it before you either get referrals, or move on?

In sales, we're trained to focus on the customer's needs and wants. We ask ourselves (and them) what they want, what they need, what they don't like about their current vendor, etc.

Here's a question you can ask yourself this week.....about every single account that you are calling on, that has never referred to you.

"Why are they NOT referring to me?"

Simple, right?

Now, I realize that you can (and should) ask your referral sources this key question.....but many reps are intimidated to ask it. To grow your level of success, you'll need to gain a comfort level with having uncomfortable conversations......but for this week....don't ask your referral sources.

Ask yourself.

WHY are the accounts that I'm spending time and energy on not referring to me? And then....answer yourself. Account by account, reason by reason. Let's see how in tune you are with these referral sources, and let's see if you can turn some around.

You see, while there are times we know these very obvious answers, often reps just plow ahead selling to these accounts just like we sell to someone else. Our efforts don't generate any results, because we're not answering the central question....why is THIS referral source not referring to me?

Imagine you were a car salesperson. Your favorite car to sell was the 2 seat Mazda Miata. You sell lots of them....you're the BEST Miata salesperson in the land. One day, a family with 8 kids comes to your dealership. You attempt to sell them a Miata but you are unsuccessful. They stop in 3-4 more times, and each time you try to make the same sale but fail.

Why?

Because you are selling them on what YOU want them to have, versus what they want to buy. You didn't stop and ask yourself "Why won't they buy this car?" so you are blindly trying to sell them in the way you sell everyone else. It doesn't work in car sales, nor does it in senior care.

This week, make a list of every one of your non referring accounts and simply come up with the reason YOU believe they are not referring to you. After that do one of two things...

1. If you can "fix" the reason they are not referring, do it on the next sales call and ask for the opportunity to care for a patient

2. If you cannot "fix" the reason they are not referring, on the next sales call ask them directly if THAT is the reason they are not referring. At least you'll know, and stop wasting time.

This simple check will get you back in action on accounts that are worth your time, and will get you to stop wasting time on accounts that aren't.

Answer the question, make the change, make the sales call.

We're 5 weeks out from our Senior Care Marketing Workout! Workshop at The Linq Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The hotel block is filling up, the content is tremendous, and the only thing missing is YOU! Join me for 2 days of fun, learning, and making more sales and more money on May 2-3. Register Today!