For Henry Schein’s Gary Dennis, a transition in his sales role means thinking outside the box to keep his accounts intrigued.
By Laura Thill
Making the transition from field sales consultant to strategic account manager, Gary Dennis has one goal in mind: “As a strategic account manager, I believe it’s up to me to ensure we remain relevant and continue to grow our non-acute care accounts,” he says. It’s not that the old customers aren’t doing all they can to continue to work with him, he says. For many, consolidation is inevitable. “I can think of four doctors who have called me to say they have done all they can and must now move forward with hospitals,” he says. “It’s a tough call to get.”
For Dennis, however, this in no way signifies the end of his longstanding relationships with these customers. “I tell these doctors, ‘We’ll be back in four years.’” He looks forward to the challenge, he adds.
Learning the business
Learning the medical products industry doesn’t happen overnight, says Dennis. Still, once he made the transition from his first job with a sports management brokerage firm to Henry Schein, in spite of the learning curve, it’s evident he had found his niche. “After graduating from college, I got into sports management,” he says. “For five years, I worked in Charlotte, N.C. for a man who had sold a minor league baseball team to start this business.” But, after 9/11, the industry struggled, he recalls.
A friend who worked for Kendall Healthcare at the time recommended that Dennis reach out to Henry Schein, so he met with Paul Whitaker in Greenville, S.C. (who, at the time was with the Caligor division of Henry Schein). A native of South Carolina, Dennis saw this as a perfect opportunity to “get back home to family and friends.” As excited as he was to begin a new phase of his career, he admits to being more than surprised at the span of products he needed to take in. “What a transition!” he says. “We had 90,000 products and 900 supplier partners! My first years were about understanding what we did – the types of products we offered, the customers we serviced, the partners we worked with, and how our company worked.
“Today, when I attend our annual sales meeting, I tell my new hires, ‘This doesn’t happen overnight,’” he continues. New sales reps should expect the learning curve to take as long as three years, he says. “That gives you time to really learn our products and understand our company. From my standpoint, this is key.” The slow-and-steady approach works, he adds. “My first year, I increased my territory from $250,000 to $1 million in gross profit.”
Reaching the customers
As he became better versed in medical products sales, Dennis realized the networking opportunities for sales reps to reach out to customers are limited at best. “In 2009, I sat down with a good friend and decided to develop a medical networking group in Columbia, S.C.,” he says. They considered various companies that shared a similar customer base, targeting 14 that covered different segments of healthcare. Among them, he included a relocation company, a billing company, a bank, builders, architecture firms and more. “This group was formed to share leads among one another,” he says. “It has enabled us to hone in on a much larger scale of customers, as well as helped us understand one another’s businesses.
“We now cover multiple aspects of the healthcare industry,” Dennis continues. “When we are talking to an administrator at a medical office, we need to know something about that company.” Recently, he brought in healthcare attorneys as well, and today representatives from the 14 companies meet monthly to share leads from their top 10 accounts. “This has really helped open doors for everyone,” he says.
His networking group has become so successful, that it has become a central part of Henry Schein’s training program and his work with newly hired sales consultants. “At Henry Schein, we have been fortunate in that we have been able to benefit from these leads very quickly,” says Dennis. “We have done a good job of reciprocating, but we definitely have benefited as well.” This has been especially important in the face of the consolidation taking place, he says. “For sales reps, building relationships can be very challenging today.”
Nor does there come a point in sales reps’ career when they can sit back and enjoy the benefits of years of hard work. Success in the medical products industry calls for a constant stream of creativity and strategizing, says Dennis. “I think the better sales people always look for ways to reinvent themselves,” he says. “They must always go after new opportunities. At Henry Schein, we must always ask ourselves, ‘What programs does the company put together – from a solutions standpoint – that we can offer our customers to help them stay excited about their work?’ For instance, recently, Henry Schein partnered with a medical waste company. This is something new we can bring to our customers.”
The sign of a great customer relationship is having your customers’ cell phone numbers on hand, Dennis says. “If you have your physician customers’ cell phone numbers, you know they are your friends – people you can reach at home or on weekends. When I look at the solvency of my business, I always ask, ‘Do I have all of my customers’ cell phone numbers?’”
Moving forward into his new role as strategic account manager will be yet another opportunity to grow and push his limits. On the downside, it means stepping back from some of his close, longstanding relationships with customers. “As a field rep, every day there is an opportunity to meet with your customers,” he says. “My new challenge will be to target new customers, who today are more condensed and more focused on contracts and supply chain. I think my goal will be patience. This position involves a longer sales cycle – something I’ll have to get used to. And, working with IDNs will require much strategizing.”
Scary? Perhaps. But, Dennis’s attitude is, “Don’t shy away from working with hospitals and larger accounts. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish.”
His new position will require some adjustment on the part of his family as well, he says. “As a field rep, it’s easier to work during the day, come home and spend time with your family, and then work some more at night.” Now, however, his schedule might be more prone to last-minute changes. And, whereas he has been calling on customers in Columbia, moving forward he will be meeting with accounts across South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. “Now that I’m not just driving 30 minutes up the road, I’ll have to be strategic with regard to where I travel.
“But, Henry Schein always says it’s about family first and foremost,” he continues. That said, “How you balance work and family is up to you.”