By: Susan Boydell | sboydell@barlowmccarthy.com

In talking with liaisons and leaders about how they are doing during COVID-19, one frequent comment is how unproductive people feel. I get it. How we do our work today is different. And, we’re not quite sure we’re as effective as we were before.

To get our groove back, perhaps we start with adapting our sales plan. That doesn’t mean throw out what you have. Instead, think about new strategies or tactics that embrace where you are today and what you will focus on for the next 30-45 days. During this time, I believe leaders welcome new thinking. I might even say they expect it. There’s no better time to experiment, especially if there is good payoff potential.

Here are a few tips and process steps to get you started. None of these are new. Think of this as a short-term prospecting plan. Your learnings and results will help determine how to evolve long-term to achieve greater results.

  • What’s important to leaders now. I think it goes without saying, growth is a priority. Getting to specific procedures will focus your plan. If volumes currently aren’t meeting expectations, try to get some internal data that tells who’s up or down and by how much. Gather as much intelligence and data as you can.
  • Dig into the data to uncover opportunities. Data always drives our targeting process. For your short-term sales plan, the goal is to identify a handful of targets that are potentially good prospects. Do you have an opportunity to get some splitter surgeons to use you more, and what will it take to make that happen? Are there some referral sources that use you for one service line but have limited referrals in another?
  • Expand your reach. When we’re busy visiting offices, making those trips to outlying markets is often difficult. They take a considerable amount of time, and the return on time investment is hard to quantify. It’s also tough to gain momentum because we don’t have the time to make timely follow-up visits. This is where virtual visits can be beneficial. Select a handful of physicians in an outlying market to prospect virtually. Do your research on the practices as a starting point and then create your virtual introductory call. Get specific with the reason for the call and what you want to learn about the practice. Do this well and it will inform when you need to get in your car.
  • Package your plan, actions, and results. This is your action plan for the next 30-45 days. Share it with your leaders so they understand your contribution to growing business. As you work your prospecting targets, what you learn, including forecasting new referrals, is invaluable to achieving your volume goals. I want your leaders to see how you work a plan. Package your “story” by including the following:
    • The volume goals
    • The strategy and methodology for selecting physician targets
    • The activity (conversations) you had with the targets
    • What you learned, what it will take to earn referrals, and what you expect from the targets
    • The referral results to date

It seems simple, but we know it takes commitment and diligence to create and work the plan. Add speed to that. You can’t take 30 days to put the plan together. At most, you might have three days. If it’s a 45-day plan, be ready to share outcomes at the end of 45-days. You will earn credibility and trust from your leaders if you do what you said you were going to do. Who knows, maybe this is how we do sales planning from now on?

Is this a topic you would like to dig into more deeply? If so I would love to help, just send me an email and we can set up a time to talk through your specific scenario free of charge. Reach out at sboydell@barlowmccarthy.com.