A Roster Full of Playmakers
Over the last few months, I have had the wonderful opportunity to speak in front of several distribution companies. As I stood on stage and looked out at the sales teams, it hit me how important each individual is to the success of Repertoire, and more importantly, the success of our industry. The realization also hit me that while many of those sales professionals have been in our industry 10, 20, even 30 years, their jobs have never been more complex.
The distribution salespeople in our industry are loaded with talent, experience, and skills. These are all keys to being successful, but in today’s environment, it’s not enough. Today’s complexities facing the providers will take more than individual selling as we move forward. There are simply too many moving parts to try and manage it all yourself. Considering the following changes that have impacted your customers:
- ACA
- PCMH
- Consolidation
- Reimbursement changes
- Physician acquisition
- Population health
- New regulations
- Bundled payment
- ICD-10
These are just to name a few of the changes we have already seen, with many more to come. Which is why today’s sales rep has to be the quarterback. He or she has to still be in the play and cultivate the relationships, and also has to know which teammates need to be in the play to ensure the business is maintained and grown.
This month’s cover story, written by Mark Thill, investigates the keys to this approach to selling. You have so many resources today in the form of lab specialists, equipment specialists, strategic account managers, GPO specialists. Even if you work for a smaller distributor without these defined positions within the company, most of the manufacturers you partner with have them available in some form.
My challenge to you this month is become a quarterback and use the full roster of teammates at your disposal to grow your business in 2016.
Happy Holidays!
Dedicated To Distribution
Scott Adams
Publisher
PS: We will be launching Repertoire Post-Acute in 2016
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan