Marketing Billing Services Through Sales Reps
Author: Patrick Phillips, Founder
If going out and marketing billing services to physicians makes you break out in a cold sweat (or if you just don’t have the time or inclination to market), you are not thinking “outside the box.”
You may find this hard to believe, but there are hundreds (make that thousands) of people all over the country that love to sell and that would be thrilled to market your services for you.
These are independent sales reps who are currently calling on medical practices, selling them everything from cotton balls to million-dollar pieces of equipment. They already have relationships with the physicians and the office managers in many cases. Their “warm market” could be what you need to build your business fast.
It is true that people who get into sales love the challenge-but, more importantly, they love the money that can be made selling products and services to doctors. This is what motivates anyone in sales, as many of them already make a six-figure income marketing to medical practices.
As founder of the nation’s largest network of independent medical billing companies, I can assure you that this is a very valid way to market your services to doctors. Many of our Certified Medical Revenue Managers who have followed our training on this have hired sales reps (many of them outside of their local communities). These reps have brought them thousands of dollars in business on an on-going basis.
How Do You Find Sales Reps?
So how do you find good, reliable sales reps? Simple. Find and advertise for them on websites such as www.clearfit.com, www.timetohire.com, www.freelancer.com, www.globalrepresentation.com and www.rephunter.net.
Here is a generic ad you could use to locate reps and get all the résumés you can sort through:
We are a dynamic, assertive, reputable company that is on the leading edge of technology for electronic medical claims processing and comprehensive billing services. We are seeking representatives, full and part time, that possess strong, dynamic personalities, organization skills, creative abilities and self starting capabilities to sell and market our services to doctors. No medical background necessary, however, excellent opportunity for existing medical sales reps and medical personnel, including office managers, to utilize current contacts for liberal supplemental incomes. Email resume to Info@BillingCompany.com
If you are a member of the Chamber of Commerce or a business networking group in your area, when it comes time for you to introduce yourself, you could say something like:
“I solve cash-flow problems for medical practices and I’m currently looking for professional sales consultants who are looking to build a business within my business. It’s possible to build a six-figure residual income, even working part-time. So, if you know of anyone who might be interested in something like this, I will be at the back of the room and will be glad to give you my business card to pass along to them.”
Then, review their résumés and set up a conference call with those who interest you. You need to speak to them to see how they come across on the phone and to see if they seem to be the type of person you could work with. If you don’t get a good feeling over the phone, then don’t hire them.
If you have a webcam, you could set up a free account with www.zoom.us or www.gotomeeting.com and do a video chat with them. Be sure to check any references they give you.
Email them your website and have them review your services before you speak with them.
Here are some things you should cover with them when you speak to them:
– Have them give an example of a successful sale that they are proud of.
– What are their income / career goals?
– How many hours per week can they devote to marketing your services?
Be ready to answer their questions, which could include:
– How much money can they make?
– Is there a chance for “unlimited income”?
– What is their “Territory”?
– What does the “Marketing Material” look like?
You can do a background check on anyone you think might be a fit at sites like: www.peoplesmart.com, www.beenverified.com, www.instantcheckmate.com, www.idtrue.com and www.radaris.com.
Once you have made a decision, find and download an “independent sales rep agreement” here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/form/1012 and make edits to it as needed to fit your needs. Be sure to have them sign and get a copy back to you for your files.
Compensation
Here is an example as how to compensate sales reps when they bring you a signed agreement:
Give them a percentage of the “setup fee.” For example, assuming you have a setup fee of $1,000, give the sales rep $500 of this. This will cover your costs for setting up the practice on your billing system and give the sales rep a large enough commission to make it interesting.
Give them an ongoing percentage of the revenue collected for the providers. Everyone likes a residual income, so build this into your pricing. If you are collecting thousands of dollars each month for the provider, give the sales rep a small percentage of this each and every month.
So, for example, if you collect $80,000 for the provider, you could give the sales rep .5% of this or $400. Remember, this is why they will want to sell for you, as they can build up a monthly residual for themselves of hundreds of dollars. If this seems high, then make it whatever seems fair. Don’t be greedy. This is revenue for you that you would not have had they not brought the business to you.
Training
Once you have hired them, you will need to set aside time to train them.
Confidence and selling ability go hand in hand. Building confidence can be tricky, but having a good understanding of your product, your competition, and the answers to the most common questions can help build that confidence and make an average sales rep into a star performer.
A good training program for your sales reps can help them in numerous ways. You need to conduct training not only about your own products, services, company history, and existing clients, but also your technology, and software if you are proud of it.
Training should begin with giving sales reps a deep immersion into the company’s product lines. This training should include much more than price points and product attributes, but also their competitive benefits in the marketplace. The better a rep understands your company’s services, the better they can meet customers’ needs.
If they are local, meet and go over your services, marketing materials, and agreements. If you don’t have commercial office space, you can meet them in a local hotel lobby. Hotels do not mind if you use their lobby as long as you don’t disturb others or make a mess. They like lots of “business activity” going on in their lobby.
If the rep is not local, use Zoom or GoToMeeting to hold a virtual meeting and show documents to them on the screen. Don’t rush this. Let them ask as many questions as they need to fully grasp what you are offering. Set up a series of training sessions, each about 30-45 minutes in length and encourage them to email any questions to you as they think of them.
Decide whether you are going to supply them with business cards (recommended) or whether you are going to allow them to use their current business card and just let their clients know that they have a billing service that they can recommend to them.
You should also supply them with marketing materials with a space for their name and contact info.
Before they start marketing, and depending on whether they are full-time or part-time, set some expectations for them as to how many clients you expect from them per month / quarter / year. Perhaps offer them a bonus if they sign up more than 3 per quarter (or whatever you think is reasonable).
Tracking Leads
Come up with a way for them to track their contacts for you. Perhaps you open a free account with www.ZOHO.com or www.freeCRM.com and give them their own login. If they decide to move on, you can change their login and these contacts are yours to follow up on or to give to a new rep. These contacts are GOLD, so treat them as such.
If you are serious about marketing billing services, growing your business and adding new clients, you should look into hiring a sales rep-just one to begin with. And if one doesn’t work out, don’t give up. I have seen many business owners go through several reps before finding one that can bring them the contracts. I just learned of one of the members of our organization that had a sales rep who was four states away from them that brought them a group of 36 physicians who wanted to outsource their billing.
Hiring and training sales reps is just one of a dozen marketing methods that are taught in our week-long live workshop in Dallas.
Contact us today to find out more!