Year in review 2007

Edition: December 2007 - Vol 0 Number 12
Article#: 2831
Author: Repertoire

“I like teaching, following up, supporting people, and having a phenomenal company with phenomenal products to go out and sell.”

— Paul Wilson, Welch Allyn, runner-up for 2007 Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award for a manufacturer rep.

“Mercedes Medical has always sought out good, reliable supply partners, as well as the best possible associates to service our loyal customer base. You can never elevate the product above the person. Quality relationships are critical for the supplier, associate and customer.”

— Andy Wright, COO, Mercedes Medical, Sarasota, Fla.



“Today, doctors have turned to a lot of cash procedures, such as cosmetic and anti-aging procedures and even vitamin supplements [in order to] provide patients with value-added service …. Our pharmaceutical background also enables us to offer our customers a holistic approach.”

— Joel Braunstein, director of operations, Green Valley Drugs, Las Vegas, Nev.



“This is still a ‘people business.’ Doctors and their staff buy from those they trust. We have to get away from order taking and [become] part of the physician’s team.”

— Gene Alley, president, STAT Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, Calif.



“We have had great reaction from customers. Some actually broke into tears at the news [of the fire], as they have dealt with us for the entire 35 years …. Customers have called in and written to tell us not to worry that they are going anywhere else.”

— Rob Dial, owner, Suncoast Surgical Supply, Tampa, Fla., following the destruction of his facility by fire.



“My philosophy has always been to hire good employees who like what they do, and [ensure] they always put the customer first. If you take care of your customers and employees, they’ll take care of you.”

— Dick Larson, president, Midland Hospital Supply,Fargo, N.D.



“Helping our customers run the business component of their business — so they can manage the clinical component — is a big part of what we do.”

— Brian Tyler, president, McKesson Medical-Surgical, Richmond, Va.



“We believe a company like ours [depends on]personalized sales ....There isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for our customers.”

— Don Bonica, owner, Medical Supply Corp., Toms River, N.J.



“We work as a team. It’s not my account or yours. Once a customer sees we are working as a team, [he or she] can trust us more.”

— Tom Halliday, co-owner, Halliday Medical, Walpole,Mass.



“Distributors should never sell solely on the basis of price. That won’t hold up when another distributor comes along and out-services me.”

— Paul Telker, owner, T-Plex Industries, Fenton, Mo.



“To steal from the old Burger King slogan, ‘Special orders don’t upset us.’ In fact, that is what makes us unique. Our reps always are available and our prompt, professional, courteous delivery is second to none. Our customers enjoy our quick response time.”

— John Garrard, Masterfit Medical Supply, Jackson, Tenn.



“This business is about relationships …. We have customers who call us and identify themselves by [their first name], and we always know who they are.”

— Brian Rummelhart, president and co-owner, Heartland Medical Supply, Iowa City, Iowa.



“We know 100 percent of our customers by [their] first name. I believe in customer service. Everyone has the same product, but what makes us unique is our customer service.”

— Eric Liew, owner AOSS Medical Supply, Monroe, La.



“Distributors need to understand that what worked 10 years ago, won’t necessarily work today. And, what works today may not work in 10 years. The secret to succeeding in any business is being able to change it on a dime.”

— Chris Etts, owner, Vantage Medical Supplies Inc., Holtsville, N.Y.



“We don’t try to standardize the services we provide out of the different branches. Each has different requirements, which we try to address location by location. Yet we still have the power of a national distributor and clout with manufacturers.”

— Tom Harris, executive vice president, MMS — A Medical Supply Company, Earth City, Mo.



“Relationships are important to me, because they make the job fun; you feel you’re seeing friends when you call on customers. But I feel that relationships give me an opportunity to keep the business. If someone needs a box of band-aids and I can’t get it for them, I’m not much good to them.”

— Dick Daley, account manager, Affiliated Healthcare Systems, Bangor, Maine, and winner of the 2007 Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award for a distributor sales rep.



“The last time I talked to one of his customers, he said, ‘Bob doesn’t sell to you, he sells for you.’ He is truly an extension of his customers’ businesses … a part of their business families.”

— Brad McCarville, vice president of sales, TIDI Products, speaking about Bob Chaldu, recipient of the 2007 Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award for a manufacturer sales rep.



“I’ve been very successful in telling my customers that there is an enormous number of resources to help them practice better and achieve better outcomes, and ultimately, to be more successful financially and to have a sound practice in their communities. The biggest trick is to be involved in those meetings where they see this. It’s cool to see that ‘aha,’ when they feel the need to improve their practice, and realize they can do it without spending a lot more time.”

— Mike Ludwig, field sales consultant, Henry Schein Medical, runner-up

for the 2007 Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award for a distributor sales rep.



Top stories of 2007

Reviewing the stories of 2007 gives credence to the expression that the flip side of challenge is opportunity. Indeed, while some segments of the market (e.g., retail clinics and cosmetic plastic surgery) are on fire, others are not (e.g., internal medicine). Regardless of which market the distributor rep calls on, he or she can be the bearer not only of cost-effective products and equipment, but also of solutions to pressing business problems. Here are some examples from this year’s Repertoire.

Ambulatory surgery centers

Getting to Know You: As ASC numbers grow, so do sales opportunities for reps” (February)

Docs like surgery centers. Patients like surgery centers. Reps should get to know and like them too. Once limited to providing ophthalmic and cosmetic services, surgery centers have opened their doors to many specialties and procedures, including orthopedics, urology and bariatrics. But physician reps need to take note of a couple of things, says Scott Jackson, vice president, surgery center division, McKesson Medical-Surgical. First, surgery centers order many of the same products as hospitals, and their orders are larger than those of most physician practices. “Spikes in the number of procedures that an ASC performs are not uncommon, making inventory management … challenging,” he says. And backorders are deadly for a surgery center. “Backorders are never a good thing for any customer, but [they can force] a surgery center to cancel procedures.” Lesson: Work with customer service and the entire team to avoid backorders.

Gray market

Buy low, sell high: Pricing tiers, supply and demand, fuel gray market (February)

Manufacturers that bother to look may find telltale signs of gray market activity: distributors they never heard of selling their products, or suppliers filing for rebates for more products than they bought in the first place. It’s not illegal, but it cuts into manufacturers’ profits and greases the wheels for counterfeit products to enter the system.

Diagnostics trim cancer rates

Diagnostics Trim Cancer Rates: Prostate, colorectal and breast screening have favorable impact on the nation’s healthcare. (March)

Tell your customers the news! Certain types of cancer — prostate, colorectal and breast — are holding steady and even waning, thanks, in part, to usage of rapid diagnostics. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 91 percent of new cases of prostate cancer are expected to be diagnosed at the local or regional stages, for which five-year relative survival approaches 100 percent. Colorectal cancer incidence rates have decreased as well.

Long-term-care challenges

Reality Sets In: Long-term-care providers are resigned to a tough reimbursement environment. So are their distributors. (April)

Long-term-care customers face a tough reimbursement environment. Rather than responding with lower prices, distributors can offer products and services that can help their customers remain clinically and financially strong, such as inventory management systems and formularies to treat persistent wounds. Nursing homes are looking to vendors to help them manage a more acutely ill population, says Gary Keeler, president, alternate site, McKesson Medical-Surgical. “It has become more important for our sales force to deliver [them] a quality business review.”

Flu season blues

Distributors Left Holding the Bag: Production glitches and a mild flu season leave distributors with an oversupply of flu vaccine. (April)

You can’t win for trying. After a tight supply of flu vaccine for the 2005-6 season, distributors were left with an overabundance of inventory in 2006-7. “This is a difficult and costly [situation] for distributors,” says Patrick Schmidt, CEO, FFF Enterprises, Temecula, Calif. “We’re already taking orders for vaccine for next year, but still have vaccine left over [from this past season.]”

Electronic medical records

Pushing Paper Aside: EMRs help doctors stay focused on patients. (May)

Patient-centered models of family medicine, in which patients play a greater role in their care, are quickly catching on. More and more, electronic medical records (EMRs) are proving to be a means to that end. If distributor reps aren’t asking questions and discussing with their customers the EMR-connectivity of the equipment they sell, they may be missing the boat.



Healthcare reform

Is Healthcare Reform for Real This Time? Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon believes the stars are in alignment for comprehensive, meaningful and bipartisan healthcare reform October)

Repertoire readers — like everyone else in the country — have been hearing a lot of talk about healthcare reform lately. But will anything actually happen? Ron Wyden believes so. And he believes most of the key players — employers, union leaders, patient advocates and healthcare providers — will rally around his plan, which would deconstruct employer-based healthcare coverage and allow individuals to buy their own insurance. “The inability to find consensus has been driven by the fact that in the past, there’s been a great deal of scapegoating,” says Wyden. “Democrats say it’s the insurance companies’ fault; Republicans say it’s the trial lawyers’ fault; someone else says it’s the pharmaceutical companies’ fault, or that of greedy providers.” The time for scapegoating is past, he says.



Retail clinics

Convenience In Store: In-store clinics are growing, but the supply chain implications are fuzzy (July)

Retail clinics are cropping up like crabgrass, but it’s too early to tell whether they are a logical call point for field reps. Given the narrow list of services that they provide, it follows that the bulk of their purchases are just as narrow — simple diagnostic instruments and tests, vaccinations, some furniture and cabinetry, and some basic med/surg supplies. But the sheer number of these clinics — and their expected growth rate — suggest that the supply chain implications could be huge.



Competitive bidding

Competitive Bidding Raises Questions: Program for Medicare Part B billing to start soon, but some kinks remain to be ironed out (July)

Long-term-care distributors could lose up to 20 percent of their revenues from Medicare Part B due to competitive bidding. While that may not be enough to drive any of them out of business, it could wreak havoc among home medical equipment suppliers, according to Dennis Clock, Clock Medical Supply, Winfield, Kan.