Dear Friend,

One month left in 2009 to finish with a big kick and finalize preparations for an enormously successful 2010. We're here to help! Just let us know how we can help you to plan for the New Year. This is what we do best.

The most successful sales people in our industry understand that they can't spread their energy and intelligence too thin. They know that they must devote time and attention to a limited number of things. These top performers are very good at focusing on the most important activities and have a solid plan that will blow out their numbers. In the real world, there are too many opportunities out there not to be highly focused on the best.

Studies from all industries show that the happiest and most successful people live in the here and now. They pay close attention to the plan and the next steps to success. They deal with any problems that confront them directly rather than worrying about those that may or may not affect them in the future. Don't worry about the what if's; focus on the known and the important.

Successful people, as we've seen from countless examples, achieve the things they achieve by solving specific real problems and building strong relationships based on trust and real situations. I was training a group of sales people yesterday and found that they (like many others) are worried about the odd situation or circumstance rather than the key activities developing the best (and more common) account relationships.
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Is Your Agency Remarkable?
Being Remarkable Could be the Answer to Your Recruiting and Marketina Challenges
by Mike Ferris

Is your agency remarkable? Probably . . . but I'll bet you don't get credit for it.

Remarkable agencies will lead the way in the next decade. They will be the most successful marketers and the most successful recruiters.

You and your staff do remarkable things every day, but don't get the credit. It's time to find ways to get credit for what you're doing great, and work on everything else to make sure it's remarkable too.
Click here to read more...

Asking the Big One: "How did you hear about us?"
by Polly Rehnwall

Why is it that this most crucial question in assessing your community marketing efforts is not asked nor discerned in 87% of consumer calls that aren't referred by a physician? It's because your staff is so busy talking to the caller (as opposed to listening to them) that they forget. In addition, they're reluctant to ask because "it sounds like a sales person."

If only they'd listen: If your call staff would focus on engaging the caller in a "tell me what's happening" conversation, they wouldn't have to ask most of the time because the "how they heard about us" part would be revealed within the story.
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RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW FOR
FEBRUARY 2010 SQUARE ONE BOOT CAMP!

CLICK HERE to lock in your seat with a $500 deposit
(balance due January 8, 2010)

The last few Square One Boot Camps have sold out weeks ahead of the event and from advanced registrations, we expect this one will sell out early, too.

We have a strict limit of 18 students per class to ensure the low student to instructor ratio and hands-on training.

Here's what some of our most recent graduates have to say about their Square One experience:

"I wish my company would have arranged for me to come to Boot Camp sooner. I’ve learned an enormous amount of information that I can use in my professional sales career and qualities that I can use in my personal life as well. It has opened a door for me as a Hospice rep that I did not think was possible!"
~ Sarah Schutz, Louisiana Hospice & Palliative Care

"Very productive -- excellent information!! All the sessions were useful, practical and helpful. I didn't feel like we were ever "wasting" time. I leave knowing that I can apply what I've learned in the field and get results!"
~ Lisa Bailey, Angels of the Valley Hospice

CLICK HERE for more details (including the agenda) and to secure your seat!

Congratulations to the November Square One graduates (right). What a phenomenal class! You all worked very hard, and did an amazing job. We look forward to hearing of your success in 2010.

The Sales Manager as a Manager:
Part 3 of a 4-Part Series
by Mike Ferris

As we went over in Part 1 of this series, a sales manager wears four hats: teacher, coach, mentor, and manager. As you may remember, there are four types of reps:

~ the New Rep
~ the Rep That's Meeting Expectations
~ the Superstar
~ the Underperformer

In our last issue, we discussed your "Teacher" hat. This week we look at the "Manager" hat.

As Sales Manager, you never get to completely remove your "Manager" hat. There are, however, some types of reps that require more managing than others: the New Rep and the Underperformer.
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Do You Have a Plan?

In all of our sales training (and at the core of all great sales training) we focus on how to find out what is important to the referral partner and how to position ourselves as having the best solution. We refer to this process as Needs Assessment Selling, but it is also known as Needs Based Selling, Solution Selling, Consultative Selling, Stop Selling and Start Partnering, etc. It is an easy process to describe but many times is elusive to the home care or hospice sales representative. In our advanced sales training, we work through the process in detail to develop the sales campaigns that will deliver the results. In using this approach we teach the sales person how to be good at Needs Assessment Selling by using it to develop the program to sell their specific program or solution.
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In each Legendary Sales Leadership Letter we answer your questions. Send them to us or call (800) 653-4043 and we'll make sure that yours are answered in a future issue.

Here is this week's question answered:

Question:
What is the best "ask for the referral" question?

Answer:
The best "ask for the referral" question really depends on the situation. While something like "who can you think of that could benefit from our services today" is almost always appropriate, I wouldn't classify it as the best question. The better way to ask for the referral is to tie the question specifically to the types of patients you have been discussing with your referral partner, and include a benefit to the referral partner. If your probing questions have led you to talking about a specific patient type, than I would ask for one of those patients. Click here to read more...