What we are about
1 Our WHY
The key driver and vision behind what we do is referred to as our WHY. This is the element that is the very core of what we are as a business and drives our ethos. This WHY is then needs to be delivered throughout the customer lifecycle from Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Support, Implementations, Training, Administration and Finance.
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If any aspects of our business do not line up to our WHY then we need to challenge this. This is what I expect from our team and as a key customer facing element of the business, your feedback is critical.
2 Methodology Purpose
This document describes the Henry Schein One sales methodology that we want to roll out on a consistent basis across our existing and new customer base. The purpose of this document is to set out clear expectations of our Business Development and Account Management team and to outline how Henry Schein One approaches the market.
This methodology on its own is not a magic bullet, but it will complement the work which is currently being conducted within our Marketing, Product, Support & Customer Onboarding teams. If we are living up to our WHY of “Turning good practices in to great businesses”, then we need to start with a sale process which ensures that customer is entering the Henry Schein One family with the intent of engaging with our WHY to become a great business and therefore be an advocate for Henry Schein One.
3 Objective
The objective of this methodology is to facilitate sales to exceed our budgeted targets within any given QTR. Additionally we must ensure our customers are engaged in our WHY and open to further value added product conversions. The specific products we are focusing on below are in order of value/preference:
EXACT New System Sales
Practice Accelerator Packs
Individual VAPs
Online Booking
SMS
EasyPost
ExaminePro
Oravisor
4 Expectations
It is expected that the Business Development team are able to:
Display a detailed understanding of, and ability to successfully apply, the HSO methodology as described in this document.
Display strong knowledge of the dental practice business models as well as the issues which are facing our customers – these are used to generate the appropriate type of discussion, engage the customer and establish credibility.
Understand and focus in on the WHY
Behave in a manner that lines up with our professional services/challenger approach at all times.
Deeply understand the Henry Schein distribution business and leverage that relationship for mutual benefit.
Complete all procedural items (hygiene factors) as required.
5 Target Market
We have 4 distinct market segments which are listed below.
Paper Based
Paper based dentists are local dentists who are still using a paper based system. It is assumed that this segment consists of older dentists who have been practicing for over 15 years. They are unused to dealing with computerised systems as they would have been trained in paper only. Computer technology is new to them and there is a perception that the learning curve to transition to a computer system is too steep to warrant implementing at their practice.
Start Ups
Startups are new local dental practices. It is assumed that this segment is more ‘tech savvy’ and fundamentally understand the benefits of using a computer based system to run their practice.
This segment is reliant on word of mouth alongside what they have been exposed to / have experience with in the past. It is important here to keep leveraging the Henry Schein relationships to ensure Henry Schein One has access to this group as the Henry Schein sales team are an excellent source of market intelligence.
Competitive/Legacy Conversion
Competitive customers are local dental practices using a competitor’s software system. Namely D4W, Practice Works or older unsupported products. It is assumed that this segment is more ‘tech savvy’ and fundamentally understand the benefits of using a computer based system to run their practice.
Corporate
The dental corporates are groups that own multiple dental practices (e.g. Lumino, Dental Corp, etc). They are large entities that typically own 50 or more practices. They are typically focused on acquiring businesses that are innovative, high quality and have shown strength in the market. In turn they offer admin, marketing, HR, IT and financing support allowing smaller practices to leverage off of their brand and business experience.
This group is predicted to grow in the Australasian market. Each corporate decision making process is different and varies from a centralised decision making process to practice choice. While the decision making process is different, the delivery of the key selling messages remain identical to that of a high street practice as a number of the principles are remunerated on commissions as well as earn outs.
5.1 Henry Schein
The Henry Schein sales team has been identified as a key lead generation opportunity. Henry Schein is the largest distributor of consumables and equipment in our markets and their sales team will see/engage with most customers at least monthly. Due to the nature of some of the exclusive lines, it is likely that almost all potential customers in our market are on the HS books. Therefore we have a key relationship to develop and maintain which will be achieved via the following methods:
HS Ride Along
This is a key element in building a relationship with the HS rep. Uninterrupted time in the car is an ideal opportunity to sell the benefits of the HSO to the HS team as well as an educational process as we engage with each practice. The key focus is around imparting knowledge around practice revenue growth as well as ensuring that there are some key qualification tools that the HS rep can use with their customers to generate a live lead.
Joint sales calls/demo’s are also incredibly valuable. If we can do joint presentation, we get credibility from the consumable rep and therefore puts Henry Schein One in a highly credible position in the customers eyes.
HS Sales Meetings
To be part of the HS family is critical for Henry Schein One. Therefore attendance at all of the local HS sales meetings is mandatory. We need to be seen as another member of their team and someone they trust to deal with their customer base. It is highly recommended that the opportunity to speak at these meetings is encouraged along with a general thank you and possible prize for the most leads as well as sharing success stories.
Rebate Model
The rebate model is a closing tool that is used to increase the consumables commitment from a practice which then provides a rebate to the customer. This works as follows:
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This continues for two more years and is only payable if they get above the $15K incremental spend. This model will encourage the HS reps to bring us in to more accounts as this will actively grow their customer consumable spend.
Lead Generation & Sale SPIFF
To encourage lead generation, HSO provides a SPIFF to the HS sales team for qualified leads. These leads must be registered on the HSO lead tracker http://info.softwareofexcellence.com/apacleads. If a lead is given in any given month, then the lead payment will be made in the following months pay cycle.
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All leads and sales will be reported back to the HS team via the fortnightly newsletter. Note that the leads are for new business only and will not be paid if it is for an existing customer OR an unqualified lead.
Four ways to benefit Henry Schein
Note that the HS consumable rep has 4 x opportunities to benefit through working with Henry Schein One:
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§ Increase in practice revenue (larger wallet) - more commission
How do we get their interest?
While the incentives above make sense to us these do not necessarily get traction with the HS team. They are dealing with 10,000 lines with multiple distractions, so how do we cut through and how do we make their life better?
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Note this is a live document in so much as we can continue to add to the role play elements and modify as we move through and learn the process. We will have bumps in the road, but we need to identify them, work through what we could have done better and then execute them as a business.
6 What do we do?
What is your type now…..I think after reading the descriptions below and reading the book, you will be able to place yourself in a category? Where we want you is in the Challenger mode. The good news is that this can be taught and learnt. What we are covering below is what a Challenger will do instinctively, so we need to identify these, understand what it is and then replicate and execute.
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6.1 Teach, Tailor & Take Control | The Challenger Core
§ Teach the customer during the sales interaction. They share new ideas for making money or saving money that customers themselves hadn't even realised existed. This is a very different type of sales conversation than what most of us have previously attempted. Does getting to the customer, quickly opening the laptop and extoling the virtues of our software sound familiar? Well that stops today!
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Are you comfortable that Henry Schein One as a business has these well covered?
7 The Power of Insight | Background Information
§ Our Customer decision making process is much less about what we sell and much more about how we sell it.
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§ We will not be battling to "discovering" what customers already know they need, but be teaching them a new way of thinking altogether.
7.1 Not just teaching – Henry Schein One teaching
A bad place to be is that you have just given our customer exactly what they want, but in that process you've actually given our competitor exactly what they want too! It's one thing to challenge customers with new ideas, and another thing altogether to ensure we get paid for it. In order for this to happen we need to ensure that our teaching efforts meet very specific criteria.
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So let’s have a look at what this really means.
Lead with unique strengths
Our teaching must tie directly back to our capabilities where we outperform our competitors (we will cover this off in the next section). If what we are teaching inevitably leads back to what we do better than anyone else, then we are in a much better position when it comes to winning the business. We have only really succeeded when:
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Yes, our customers want insight on how they could operate more productively, but if we give them insight they can't do anything about it actually makes things worse, not better. Then we really have given them something to keep them up at night, so we always need to circle around and show them a solution to that insight.
Challenge customer assumptions
When you teach your customers something it has to challenge THEIR assumptions and speaks to their world in ways THEY haven't thought of before.
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They're wondering, “What exactly does this mean for my business?" or even better, “What else don't I know?". Remember just because we've helped them see things differently doesn't mean we've necessarily persuaded them to do things differently, that's next and it's just important.
Call to action
If we do this right then the teaching conversation isn't about our solution at all - at least not initially- it's about the customer's business, laying out an alternative means either save money or make money they'd previously overlooked. In a conversation like this, traditional ROI calculations prove useless because they're focused on the wrong things.
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Before our customer buy anything, they will first need to understand what's in it for them to fix their problem….the WHY.
Scale to Customers
We have a small set of well-scripted insights along with two or three easy-to-remember diagnostic questions which we then map to the insight we have delivered to the customer. It is important to note that one size does not always fit all - eg: Fail to attend’s may not really matter in the mind of the practice and it must always relate to THEIR pain point & THEIR Story.
8 The Henry Schein One 6 Step Process
Our conversation involving teaching for differentiation is not about delivering a formal presentation, but about telling a compelling story. Along the way, we need to add in some real drama, perhaps a bit of suspense, and maybe even a surprise or two. Ultimately, the goal is to take customers on a roller coaster ride, leading first to a rather dark place before showing them the light at the end of the tunnel. The light, of course, is the Henry Schein One solution. Below shows the stages and likely customers emotional feeling during the process.
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8.1 Planning & Preparation
Before any sales call the Planning & Preparation element is key to ensure that we are able to drive straight in the discovery and warmer phase. We need to understand what our objectives are for the call and what the positive outcomes that we are looking for.
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| Segment | Paper | Flip | Startup | ||||||||||
Set High Targets/ Objectives | Objective (SMART) | Gain commitment for an order within first contact or set second meeting within 7 days. Key is to ensure that HSO is established as the company to work with | ||||||||||||
Rep Target $: | $TBC by Site | |||||||||||||
Manage Information | Info Needed from the Customer | § Patient demographics § Location demographics § Decision maker § What the practice is aiming to achieve | § Pain points § Timing § Budget | § Existing Hardware/Digital software § Likes of existing set-up § Number of users
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Questions to ask:
| § What are your Patient demographics? § What are the Location demographics? § Who will be involved in the decision making process? § What the practice is aiming to achieve? § What are your Existing Hardware/Digital software | § What areas of the business is having problems in? § What is your recall effectiveness? § What do you like about your current product/setup? § Current relationship with them? The account Rep? Areas to improve? § What are your business objectives? Eg extra surgeries, more patients, bring on associates, exit strategy, expansion plans | § How do you attract new patients? § What recall methods are you using? § Which other PMS reviewing? § What is current PM knowledge § What are your expansion plans, § Number of staff you have or are going to employ § Do you utilise prime or something similar § How is work flow handled? Look for use of sticky notes on location | |||||||||||
Info the customer wants | § Costing's or investment § Ongoing costs § ROI on the investment § Information on company | § How long are they down, what is their lost costs due to not seeing patients § What is the installation process § What comes across in a Conversion | § Referrals § Reputation § Future developments § Hardware requirements | |||||||||||
Info to Protect:
| § Price, discounts to other customers | The How
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Plan for attack | Difficult questions to expect: | § Price § Support structure § Competition rumours § Data protection | § What other flips have you done and what challenges or problems have you had? § Any other instances where your outcomes are not achieved? | § No interest in recalls yet just price § Cost of support too expensive | ||||||||||
Rep Responses:
| Price § I understand price is something we need to address, but before we do, I’d like to take a moment to make sure completely understand your needs – so we can make sure we are doing everything we can to make this deal as valuable as possible for you – Is that alright? § What else apart from price matters? § Repeat the elements the customer already likes about the program & monetise it § Let’s have a look at what the impact is in our calculators Support § We have had challenges in our Support, but we are focused on being best in class for support. § We can give you references for customers and lets see what they have to say about our support | Competition Rumours § EXACT is our premium global product that has many business advantages. OASiS is an Australia only product that competes with other local products who do not require the business growth elements of EXACT. § We invest heavily in to all of our products and in fact are hiring additional developers for OASIS. We can leverage our global range to ensure that we keep all of our products top of class Issues with Flips & Outcomes § We do a trial conversion and you can check this prior to installation § There is always going to be challenges when learning a new program. We ensure we provide good training as well as access to our online portal which has a number of videos and tutorials § If best practice is implemented, then you should achieve the outcomes discussed. We are here to work with you to ensure that you maximise the product as a business tool. | No interest in Recalls § Recalls are the lifeblood of the practice. They key element is ensuring you have a system that systematically collects the contact information from your patients and then when ready will automatically start to recall them ensuring you maximise revenue and patient care. Cost of Support to Expensive § Support and maintenance is a key element. We continually develop the product and ensure that it is keep up to date in the market. There will always be times where staff are unsure about something or a fee or government update comes through. Our support team can help you with that. You have access to our customer Portal which helps you with resources for newer staff and ensure that you are maximising the product. Data Protection § All data is stored with the highest industry security levels. It is important that you ensure that you set up correct user security settings within the practice. | |||||||||||
Exchange Value | Supplier underlying needs: | § Order | § Limited Discounting | § Bundle in value added products | ||||||||||
Possible Negotiable to Ask For: | § Reference | § Referrals | § HS Rebate | |||||||||||
Focus on Needs
| Customer underlying needs: | § Value | § Payment plans | § Peace of mind | ||||||||||
Possible Negotiable to Offer: |
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Prioritize trades | Concessions to Offer the Customer: (Rate Value 1-5, 5 being highest) | Cost to Supplier | Value to Customers | |||||||||||
HS Rebate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Support Holiday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Discount | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
VAP roll in | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Finance Deal | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Payment Plan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Trial of OLB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Concessions to Request from the Customer: (Rate Value 1-5, 5 being highest) | Value to Supplier | Cost to Customer | ||||||||||||
Case Study | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Referral | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Deposit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
Value Add Commitment | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
8.2 The Warmer/Discovery
One of the key elements is to understand what type of decision maker type the customer is. By knowing this we can tailor the warmer and discovery questions to meet their specific needs/hotpoints. Once we have this then we can start the discovery process.
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The diagram to the right is a possible example of how the call could go.
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8.3 Re-Frame
First reframe of the un-recognised problem, need or assumption. We need to follow the theory of shocking the customer with the unknown:
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Refer to the Appendix for examples.
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8.4 Rational & Impact
Rational
Now we move to a gradual intensification of their problem, both in degrees and closeness to the customer
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This is not the monetisation yet, let’s just get the problem on the table.
Impact
Psychological features of the problem, or presence in the individual's workflow, humanizing the problem:
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“Each appointment in today’s world really costs me x$ and really only makes me x$ profit”
8.5 Solution
This is a point-by-point review of the specific capabilities the clients would need to have in order to make good on whatever opportunity to make money, save money or mitigate risk that you've just convinced them they're facing.
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This is a map of what is required in order to deliver all of the points that we have highlighted during the initial parts of the pitch.
8.6 New Way / Proposal
Customer State: Relieved
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The key about trying to close early is to ensure you don’t over sell a product. If the customer sees value then the more you talk, the more you risk talking them out of the order or adding in more complexity. The key thing is to keep your eyes open for non-verbal cues which will give you good insight to what is happening in the customers head. A good sales technique is to work to gain 6 Yes/or Nods Gain Agreement-Engagement. You can use tie down questions to get those and there will be questions they have to agree with ie if you could generate 30% more recalls that would increase your utilization?
The Proposal
§ Explain the process again and walk through the proposal
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§ We need to be able to give a couple of examples (recalls and utilisation manager work best) of how the technology has worked at other practices to meet their needs.
9 Tailoring for resonance
We need to understand what the specific drivers are for different role/stakeholders in the practice. If we can tailor the pitch to better meet their requirements, then we are more likely to get to the outcome we are working towards. In general we need to tailor the message to different stakeholders. Below is a matrix which will assist in understanding the key drivers for each of the roles in the business.
Role | Practice Manager | Principle | Hygienists, Dentists | Reception |
Decision Criteria High level business outcomes for which they are responsible. Shows the metrics we must enhance to get them to a decision | Administration
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| Charting |
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Focus Area of business they care about and time frame for evaluation. Steers us to frame offering in terms of its impacts on these areas | Ensuring that the administration functions of the practice are carried out on a timely accurate basis |
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Concerns What they worry about day-to-day Allows us to build empathy and credibility by appealing to fears & doubts | Recalls, FTA’s, SNC, Staff, new patients | Lack of business, Hourly rate, staff, repeatability of staff actions |
| Answering the phone, patient check out, customer service, taking payment, bookings |
Potential Values Specific levellers that drive business outcomes. Focuses us on our capabilities which can add value | Recall Manager, New patient acquisition | Utilisation of book (SNC, Recalls, UT Mgr), GEPH, New patient acquisition | Accuracy of charting, Getting patients back for treatment and/or recall. Workflow Manager, treatment acceptance, | Online booking, workflow manager, Utilisation manager, Appointment reminders |
10 Taking Control of the Sale
10.1 The Close
Types of Close | |
A/B/C close | Give 3 x options |
Recommendation | If you are asking me |
Direct | I think you need to do x to drive the business |
Risk/Value add | Close by adding value and time pressure |
Assumptive | Would you like a VAP with your EXACT? |
Ownership | What are you going to do | we are doing | Execute investment & Terms, Book training now? |
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Finally we need to ensure that we have summarised the key points of the meeting IE: Restatement and have probed for additional opportunities.
10.2 Objection Handling
Acknowledge & Defer
“I understand price is something we need to address, but before we do, I’d like to take a moment to make sure completely understand your needs – so we can make sure we are doing everything we can to make this deal as valuable as possible for you – Is that alright?”
Deepen and broaden
“What else apart from price matters?” or start to repeating the elements the customer already likes about the program. Idea is to get all of the elements back on the table and then monetise and then compare them and bring focus back. Trying to move away from price being the primary driver.
Explore and compare
Points to think about
Why do people object-because we have not meet their needs! We need to keep dialling up the pain/gain to lift up the wow and reduce the associated cost and perceived pain from dealing with us.
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Types of Objections | |
I don’t have time to change | Indifference |
I don’t believe it does x | Evidence scepticism |
Better price | Trying it on |
I am selling the business | Real |
10.3 Process AASR
Acknowledge & Ask-I hear what you are saying |pause|Ask a question to clarify
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What an HSO customer may say | What this indicates | Objection type |
"That's a big claim to make." | Don't believe you | Skepticism |
"Not interested, I’m staying with your competition." | Not interested enough | Indifference |
”By changing to HSO I am not sure how we benefit ." | Unclear of the positive outcome | Misunderstanding |
”I’m have sold the business so I’m not interested in spending any money on it." | Real | |
"You'll have to offer me more than that." | Testing your willingness to deal | Try on |
10.4 Concede according to plan
§ Get everything on the table so price is not the only focus of the discussion.
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§ Do not give into customer demands to early
10.5 The Figures
Importantly, these move over time. You need to commit these to memory! This is what you can use to monetize calculations on the back of an envelope or utilize in the ROI calculator
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