Territory Management

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Permalink Reply by Dental Sales Rep on May 28, 2008 at 6:12am

Here goes with this one--

I would visit distributor branches appx. once a qtr to make the inside staff aware of company specials and if you do it on a Friday you may also catch a rep or two that has come in to do returns. Fridays may not be good in the summer, everyone is golfing.

Try and present at sales meetings as often as possible. Typically the branch manager wants you to talk about something new or unique to that dealer. The reality is that there are more manufacturer reps than there are time slots at the sales meetings.

In a large territory, like the one you have Zach, detailing is critical. I would try and schedule another co-travel with the retail rep as your co-travel day is about to end. Hopefully it ends on a good note and they will be willing to set something up in another part their territory right then. Some reps only co-travel with a manufacturer once or twice a year. They'll guide you. So I guess the schedule for detailing with retail reps is get as much as you can because it seems like it is getting harder and harder to get time with reps.

Settle for breakfast or lunch if that is all they'll give you and then wow them with your product knowledge and schedule a co-travel at the end of the meal.

In a large territory you probably find yourself chasing business vs. uncovering new opportunities. Take advantage of the days when you have some follow up calls or a lunch and fill in those gaps with cold calls or leads from your retail reps. Sometimes just dropping information at the front desk results in a sale the next time the retail rep walks and the retail reps realize you are out working for them when you are apart.

What do you do when a retail rep cancels co-travel on you at the last minute? (This should probably be a forum discussion on its own.) Many manufacturer reps tell us that they will try and call on the same offices that they would have if they would have worked with that retail rep. Again, make the most of the day and uncover new opportunities by cold calls, follow ups etc.

I am sure I forgot something here, so other DSPers have at it.

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Permalink Reply by Zack Branch on May 28, 2008 at 6:40pm

That was an awesome post....thanks for taking the time to compose such a well thought-out response!

As a result of reading this I got some validation of things that I am already doing and I also had a "Doh!" moment about making sure all of the dealers get our quaterly promotions; I have been remiss in that area. Bad Zack! Bad! No, no!

You pose a good question regarding how to handle the time that is created when an appointment is cancelled at the last minute. So far, I've been really lucky to work with very professional reps that haven't left me hanging last minute (outside of three or four incidents, and I believe those were completely justified). Nonetheless, I end up doing a lot of in-office demos as our endo system requires a fairly complex presentation - we do actual root canals on extracted teeth - and those fall through fall more often....

In the past I have used this time to:

1. Make contact with reps I haven't met / worked with yet.
2. Tie up various and miscellaneous loose ends
3. Get organized (after every foray into my territory my car ends up a hot mess)

When I was training with EDS, my manager also suggested that I visit the offices on the route of the rep who cancelled last minute, but that has not been a rewarding experience for me. The first time I only made it to about half the offices as I was unfamiliar with the area, and actually got in front of only one doctor. The second time, the rep explained that she preferred to introduce me personally and did not provide me with the addresses. (Is that weird or not?) There was no third time, so admittedly I may not have given the idea a fair shake. I am open to going back to that strategy if someone can offer compelling evidence to do so, though.

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Permalink Reply by tom on June 15, 2008 at 11:06pm

"Fridays may not be good in the summer, everyone is golfing."

I would challenge you to find those distributor reps in your territory that do work on Fridays. It's a sad statement that the majority of our profession doesn't work Fridays. By teaming up with a rep that does you can be sure that you are riding with a high-octane rep that is serious about serving his/her customers, and that they are not just using you for a free lunch and samples. A rep that works Fridays works 20% more than a rep that doesn't.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Maturen on June 16, 2008 at 7:31pm

From a distributor rep's perspective (and I can only speak for myself), I never travel with a rep "for a free lunch and samples".

Here are the criteria I use to decide whether I will travel with a rep or not:

1. Is it a company that I trust?

2. Does the rep bring something new to the table for me?

3. Will I have to apologize to my clients the next time through my route?

4. Is the rep new?

Let me explain a bit.

I ALWAYS give new reps a chance to get in the car with me. I spent three years with DENTSPLY/Caulk, so I am well aware of how difficult it is to get co-travel time. If they do a decent job and don't tick any clients off, they will get a second time in my car, and probably many more.

I have actually had seasoned reps that were so unbelievably rude that I had to call all of the clients we visited and apologize. Needless to say, that jerk has never seen the inside of my car again.

I truly value the manufacturer reps and independent reps. They are an important part of my success. Just keep in comntact with us, let us know if you are in our accounts, do what you say you are going to do, and we will succeed together.

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Permalink Reply by tom on June 16, 2008 at 11:13pm

Hey Mike, let me guess... you work Fridays don't you? Zach, Mike is the type of rep you need to get in the car with, and he is absolutely right when he says that if you are professional and do what you say you are going to do you will be invited back to co-travel many more times.

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Permalink Reply by Zack Branch on June 17, 2008 at 3:34am

I must be doing something right when it comes to co-travel, because I've been lucky enough to get out with some of the top producers for Henry Schein, and so far they've all been open to working with me again. (name dropping and kind words from these reps at sales meetings have helped me get in the car with many newer Schein reps as well.) I'm a workhorse for the independent dealers as well, and that's also been very good for me. Patterson is really the only nut I haven't cracked so far; seems like every detail day I've had with a Patterson rep has turned out lackluster sales and/or feedback from the doctors. Only two dealer/distributor rep relationships formed and flourishing there...and that's in three states?!?!

But overall, once I've earned or lucked my way into a rep's car for the day we've had a mutually beneficial experience.
BTW, on this topic...gotta give props to Dental Sales Rep for suggesting setting up the next detail day towards the end of the current detail day. Maybe an obvious move, but one I wasn't utilizing until the suggestion from DSR. Adopted the technique right away and have experienced great results. Thank you!

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