Oberservation Deck

‘Tis the Season for Effective Marketing

Plan your holiday sales and marketing for 2011.

• By Ty Bello
• Jan 01, 2011

As providers incorporate more retails sales into their revenue streams and more aggressively pursue referral sources, marketing is critical, and there is no more crucial retail marketing season than the winter holidays and New Year’s. That said, seasonal marketing is something you should take advantage of throughout the year. How did you fare in your holiday sales and marketing efforts? Perhaps now’s a good time to see what you did right, what you didwrong, and what sorts of things you can add to your efforts for the New Year.

A key to successful holiday marketing is to ensure it offers something of worth to your customers. This means you want to provide them with information. You want to provide them value. You want them to remember your name and that you are a trusted advisor who can help them with future decisions. You want your marketing messages to have strategic usefulness.

Similarly, you want to take a strategic approach with the content and quality of your marketing messages, and carefully consider the types of message media you want to use. Here are some approaches you can take:

• Your marketing pieces should refl ect the tenor and tone of the holiday season, but keep it tasteful and respectful. The goal is to share in the mood, not appear as though you are capitalizing on it.
• Employ a drip campaign. Don’t just send out the same message; create a campaign that promotes the variety of your services over time.
• Mix your media. Employ all the marketing venues (television ads, radio ads, print ads, mail, e-mail, web, etc.) that work for your patients.
• Get involved in seasonal events. Connect with your patients and referrals by attending seasonal events to network and promote your holiday offers. Contact local media to see if you can get some coverage, and ensure your other seasonal marketing pieces publicize the event.
• Don’t forget social media. Not only are online tools such as Facebook and Twitter a great way to keep in touch with clients, but you can include them in your special holiday marketing efforts.
• Remember, any season is a good time to market. Outline each year’s seasonal marketing calendar. Cater to all of your marketplace’s holidays and seasons and deploy campaigns for each.

Seasonal Sales

But marketing is only one piece of the pie. Let’s talk about the spirit of the holidays and sales call and how we need to approach the weeks leading up to this joyous season and also end out sales year.

First we cannot hide the fact that the majority of those that we call on as referrals sources are equally excited and dreading these next few weeks just like you are. They too have to work and also get ready for the holidays. So right off the bat we all have something in common and being realistic, we will have conversations during this season that will take us away from our typical sales conversation. Be okay with that; it is only during this time of the year that we can talk about things like having all of your shopping done and where you celebrate the holidays.

Let’s talk about your sales call schedule, sales call script, and prospecting during the holiday season.

Sales Call Schedule. As we approach the week of the actual Holiday, we need to focus our attention on the major discharge machines. These may vary for each sales representative and also sales territory. You might have some offices that are big referral sources throughout the year and that may hold true during this time of year as well.

Typically the major discharge machines are hospitals and more specifically discharge planners, case managers, social workers, respiratory and physical therapy departments. Also remember that during this time of year sleep labs will be getting very busy as they many of the patients will try to get their study done to reach the end of year deductible. Your schedule needs to focus on these major discharge machines as census is typically higher and they are all trying to get the patient home for the holidays.

Don’t forget the long-term care and assisted living facilities in your area. They will all be sending patients home for the holiday and we should develop a rental program specific to their respiratory and durable medical equipment needs. This will not be billed to their insurance but to the facility of to the family directly.

Sales Call Script. When calling on the major discharge machines you need to be sensitive to the season you are in. Be social and ensure that your holiday sales theme focuses on the ease of discharge and the full complement of services and products you offer.

The referral source is always looking for an easy discharge process, but even more so during the holidays. Consider providing the referral source your cell number with the explanation that this is available during the holidays. However, should this open the fl ood gates of referrals after the holiday season, then we will need to work on how to balance this with your other sales calls. This is a good problem to have.

Holiday Prospecting. If you’re not Prospecting you’re dying. If I have said this once, I have said it a million times. I still believe this is true and want you to prospect, but not as a shotgun approach. Be more focused, instead.

If you have been prospecting throughout the year (great job!), now is the time for you to focus on the prospects that have the greatest potential and that you have invested at least 30 to 60 days of sales calls to. Use the same theme that you would use for all of your referral sources; ease of referral and a full complement of services and products.

Consider this same approach for other seasonal sales calls that you will make throughout the year, specifically around Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and even Spring Break.

Sales are just different during these times of the year and we need to be in tune with both the referral community and our duty to achieve our goals. Planning is everything and you should plan for these holidays five to eight weeks in advance. And remember, you should enjoy these holidays, too!

This article originally appeared in the January 2011 issue of HME Business.