Parts 1 and 2 of a questionnaire I wrote in previous blogs were designed to help evaluate how much an owner, or employee, knows about his/her office and the interaction, or lack thereof between management and employees. Even if you did not go to the trouble of writing down answers to all of those questions, just reading them might have started you thinking differently about how your office is operating. I hope so!
Always be aware of the possibility of a changing landscape
We all need input from outside our own small sphere of experience to help us grow. A new seed planted in fertile soil and diligently watered and properly fertilized can become a mighty force.
That was my deep philosophical statement for the day – now its time to get back to the business of business. The following questions are designed to be answered by the owner of a dispensing business/practice, however; non-owners (employees) may also find the answers to some of these questions useful as well. These questions are directly related to sales even though they may not lead to specific answers but simply get you thinking about where your business is and where you want it to go.
The ground you are standing on may not be as secure as you think
As with the other blogs, make a copy and then take your time formulating your answers. Please let me know if these were in any way useful to you or prompted you to take a new or different look at how you operate your office. Every ego needs to be stroked once in awhile.
Sales Related Methods and Frequency
1. How frequent are staff training sessions?
(a) Are they useful and effective?
(b) How can they be improved?
(c) Do you hold front office staff training sessions?
(d) Do you include staff training expenses in your budget?
2. Does the staff always provide a client with written material when he leaves?
3. Does the Front Office get involved in selling retail items?
(a) If no, why not?
(b) Do you provide an incentive for the front office to make sales?
4. What additional sales materials are needed? (Get input from your staff.)
5. Does the business have/use the proper selection of products?
6. By which criteria are client contacts/sales results tracked? (Note: the word specialist means both Audiologists and Dispensers) Instrument type___, Supplier___, Monaural/Binaural___, Specialist ___, Sale/No sale ___, Profit margin___, Returns ___, Other criteria you track ______________________, Criteria that would be useful but not currently tracked?____________________________
Client testing vs. sales results
1. How many new clients were tested in the past 12 months?
2. How many of the above had an aidable hearing loss?
3. How many of the above purchased hearing instruments?
4. What were the primary reasons given by non-purchasers?
5. What was the closing rate of the entire office?
6. What was the closing rate for each specialist?
7. How many clients are scheduled for retesting each week?
8. What is the criteria for recommending the replacement of older aids?
9. How many client sales were made by each specialist in the past 12 months?
10. What is the average sale price of instruments for each specialist?
11. If specialists are allowed to discount instrument prices:
(a) What is the office criteria?
(b) How many sales were discounted in the last 12 months by each specialist?
13. How many sales were cancelled in the past 12 months for each specialist?
14. How many clients came in with a specific idea of what they wanted and were converted into a product that was better suited to their needs by each specialist?
15. List all the different types of client visits and the amount of time allotted for each.
Did you get any answers that were different from what you expected? If any of these questions pointed to a weak area in your operations, were you already aware of the situation? Did I miss any areas that you think should have been included? If so, please send me your list. Just like Columbo (Peter Falk), there is always one more question that needs to be asked.
