Labor Force
Well-educated, concerned sales reps give their companies - and their customers - an edge in the market.
May the force be with you. In fact, the force is already with distributor reps. That "force" is the sum of the rep’s training, knowledge, history and rapport with customers, as well as support from his company and manufacturers. In other words, it is all those things that give the rep an edge when selling against direct-selling competitors, and that draws manufacturers such as Midmark Corp. and Hu-Friedy into distribution’s corner.
Distributors understand that while the corporate office can stoke the flames of customer loyalty, it’s up to the rep to keep the fire going. "We have a marketing department that is second to none," says Sullivan-Schein Director of Training Jim Philhower. The department heightens dentists’ awareness of the company, and educates them on the distributor’s products and services. Then the rep must take over.
Product knowledge first
It’s a given that top-performing reps must know their products, according to Philhower and Sullivan-Schein Vice President and General Manager Dave Steck. In addition to traditional, face-to-face training from manufacturers, Sullivan-Schein reps access product education online through Sullivan-Schein University. More than 60 percent of the distributor’s reps visit the site regularly.
Mastering products is a demanding task today. "The biggest challenge as a salesperson - regardless of whether they’re an equipment salesperson, a field salesperson or a technology salesperson - is representing a much broader spectrum of products than was available in the past," says Steck. "It used to be a matter of knowing the difference between different types of cements, chairs and lights. Now, product lines are expanding at a dramatic rate, and staying current with technology is an expensive proposition. This is definitely causing a great opportunity for those who can learn."
Consultative selling
But product knowledge alone doesn’t spell success in today’s market. "The problem in our industry has been that too many salespeople go into a spiel and talk about features and benefits of products," says Steck. "That’s important, but that’s not what the dentist is concerned about. By learning what we can do to help them, we get better customer loyalty."
"We are training our reps to be less transactional and more consultative with doctors," says Philhower, adding that dentists have plenty of concerns that go beyond which products to use. "They’re saying, ‘I’m not seeing enough new patients.’ ‘I’d like to be doing more implants or more laser dentistry.’ ‘I’m having staff turnover issues.’ [Dentists are] asking, ‘Am I too tied up in managed care?’ and ‘Is it time to move my office?’ We train our reps to help them in these areas."
Reps learn how to address their customers’ business concerns in Sullivan-Schein’s Career Development Class. In addition, the company’s Dental Resource Center - launched in November 2005 - is an online library of business resources for reps and dentists alike. For a subscription fee, dentists can view videos, read articles
and earn continuing education units on a variety of topics, such as OSHA compliance, infection control, practice management and clinical techniques.
3,000 territory managers
Versailles, Ohio-based Midmark Corp. has nurtured strong relationships with med/surg distributors for years, and has done the same thing with dental distributors since entering that market 10 years ago. "We look for full-service distributors, with sales expertise in merchandise, equipment, service and office design and layout," says Eric Shirley, vice president and general manager of Midmark’s dental division.
Midmark is drawn to distribution for two reasons: First, the strong relationship between the dentist and the distributor sales rep; and second, the sheer ubiquity of distributor reps. Simply put, distributor sales reps are in front of the dentist and his staff more frequently than most manufacturers could ever hope to be. "The upside of working with distributors is that we get a lot more bodies on the street talking about our product," says Shirley. "Midmark has 24 territory managers. By working with distribution, we get 3,000 of them."
Ideally, each of those 3,000 reps is providing the full service and care that dentists expect and need. "The dentist gets someone who watches their practice, helps them grow it, and helps them manage their supplies and equipment," says Shirley. Few dentists have the luxury of hiring someone on staff to monitor their supply and equipment expenses, he says. "They don’t have someone who watches these things day in and day out for them, which is why that link with the distributor is so critical for them."
The distributor rep provides another valuable service for dentists, says Shirley - product knowledge. "The amount of innovation in dentistry over the last 20 years has been abundant," he says. "New materials are coming out all the time, and new techniques are being introduced. The distributor acts as a conduit between those new products and techniques, and the dentist. Many times, the first time the dentist sees a new product is when the distributor rep brings it in."
Manufacturers who are in the market for the long term know that they have to support distributor reps with plenty of education. Midmark, for example, offers 12 service-tech training classes a year at corporate headquarters in Versailles. During these week-long classes, service techs learn how to install and service equipment, and how to diagnose problems that crop up. The company supplements the classes with online product training, troubleshooting guides, manuals and templates for new equipment.
The company also offers a dental-office-design service, whose staff supports distributor equipment sales specialists who are helping dentists lay out a new office or accommodate new equipment.
"Product knowledge is the first thing we look for in our distributors," concludes Shirley. "We want to know, ‘Are they committed to understanding our products and presenting them fairly to customers?’ Second, we want to know, ‘Do they have a commitment to understand how to install, set up and service our products correctly?’ And third, ‘Is there a commitment to grow their customers’ business? Are they committed to working with their customers to improve office efficiencies, present better equipment, make their patients more comfortable, and improve clinical outcomes?’" If so, then there’s a match.
99 years
Hugo Friedman recognized the value of distribution from the moment he founded Hu-Friedy 99 years ago, says Senior Vice President of Sales John O’Connor. "We distribute all of our products to dentists through distributors," he says.
There’s no question that manufacturers with broad product lines are better served by selling through distribution than going direct, says O’Connor. "Our dealers can include our products with a customer’s order from the local branch, delivering all products for significantly less money and much faster than we could. The customer receives a fast delivery at typically no cost for the combined delivery, and is likely benefiting from various discounts and incentives that accumulate with purchases."
Hu-Friedy recognizes its responsibility to promote its products - especially new ones - to dentists. "It is our job to get our products specified by end-user dentists," says O’Connor. The company does so by exhibiting at trade shows, supporting its distributor salespeople, advertising in trade journals and dealer publications, maintaining its Web site, and sponsoring continuing education and product training.
But the company recognizes it also must promote its products to the distributor sales reps themselves. Field reps carry plenty of products in their bags, says O’Connor. How can the manufacturer ensure that its products are at the top of that field rep’s mind? "We know that to succeed
at earning their selling time, we have to make certain
that our quality offerings are trouble-free to promote and sell, and are backed up by a company that is very easy to do business with."
Introducing new products brings its own set of challenges, says O’Connor. "We must recognize that it’s often not possible to get a fast uptake on new products. Getting the messages out to several thousand dealer salespeople can be slow. Often, the sales message that we wish to have delivered to our customer gets muddled in the communication process, if it ever gets received whatsoever. We have learned that product introductions and the initial sale of our products falls primarily on our shoulders."
Still, distributors must carry the ball from there, making sure that they take orders efficiently and deliver products promptly and cost-effectively. "We also need to remind our dealers that they too should sell our products rather than another brand when given the opportunity," says O’Connor. The company tries to incent its dealers to do so by offering quality products at attractive dealer profit margins, he adds.
Hu-Friedy understands the importance of maintaining an ongoing relationship with distributor sales reps, and regularly offers promotions (with their companies’ consent) on selected products.
Training is a huge part of that relationship. "It is Hu-Friedy’s job to educate our dealer reps on our products at any and every opportunity," says O’Connor. "We continue to invest, as our dealers have requested, in abundant marketing and sales tools together with product literature, which makes it easier for all of our retail reps to promote and sell our products," says O’Connor.
The company offers co-travel opportunities as well as national and branch training. Outstanding reps are invited to attend a three-and-a-half day training program in Chicago called the Masters Training Program. "All Master Grad dealer reps are very important to us, and have proven they are much more successful at promoting and selling our products and bringing a higher overall value to end-user dentists as a result of attending our Masters program," says O’Connor.
"We do everything possible to keep all of our valued distributors profitably healthy, so that they can continue to invest in their businesses and support our quality products," he says. "In addition, we will continue to motivate and incent our distributors and their sales teams to focus more on our high-quality, profitable product line vs. what is provided by competition. We hope that as our distributors become more operationally efficient, they will focus more on our products because of the overall value they provide both to the distributor and the end-user customer."
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