Gotta be there! Time is most definitely running out
for making plans to attend the 2007 IMDA Annual
Conference and Manufacturers Forum, June 3-5 in Oh baby! Used to be when Kate Beevers and her
husband, Tim, traveled to clinical shows to exhibit
A story worth re-telling. Nothing breeds success like
success. That’s why IMDA has published on its When Tragedy Strikes. Tri-anim regional manager reflects on the meaning of Virginia Tech for IMDA members. Legislative boost for technology for the aging. It’s in the numbers. More people are getting older, and they’ll need more healthcare. That means more technology will be developed to help care for them. Legislation introduced into the U.S. Senate in March attempts to foster the development of such technology.
Time is most definitely running out for making plans to attend the 2007 IMDA Annual Conference and Manufacturers Forum, June 3-5 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Keynote speaker Gerry Layo has been primed on the nuances of medical specialty sales and marketing, and has promised a presentation that will touch on the key aspects of “building a world-class organization.” Layo, a respected author and sales coach, will stay Monday afternoon to lead a breakout sessionon “Selling Through Smarter Coaching.” Following are some other highlights of the Conference. Sunday June 3 Monday June 4
Tuesday June 5
Visit the IMDA website (www.imda.org) for a full agenda. Remember: If you’re not there, you won’t know what you missed. But if you’re there, you won’t regret it.
Used to be when Kate Beevers and her husband, Tim, traveled to a clinical show to exhibit their products for the NICU, the office back home was empty. A neighbor would check the answering machine once a day, pack up and ship out orders,and let the Beevers know who had called.
It doesn’t work that way today. In the past four years, Beevers Manufacturing in McMinnville, Ore. – IMDA’s newest allied member – has grown in annual sales from $40,000 to about half a million dollars. Now, when Kate and Tim travel, there are three people back in the office to take care of business – an office manager, a marketing professional and a manufacturing production person. Given the company’s growth, Beevers has found that in-office help isn’t the only thing she needs. She also needs feet on the street, and she’s hoping that specialty distributors can provide them. Beevers began her respiratory career in 1971. Spending time in the ER, ICU and NICU, she discovered that the babies for whom she cared were sometimes in need of help that only new technology could provide. One incident, in which a pediatric trach patient almost died due to occlusion, led her to develop such a technology. The result was the Tilson Trach Guard, a tracheostomy tube protector, which helps prevent blocking of the tube opening by chubby chins, bedding, gauze dressings, clothing, etc. In 1987, she and her husband founded Beevers Manufacturing (www.beevers.net) to produce the product. Since then, Beevers Manufacturing has added the following to its stable of products:
Some time ago, Beevers discovered that she and her husband couldn’t market their products throughout the United States on their own. They had shows to attend, orders to send out, inservices to deliver. That’s why Beevers Manufacturing turned to specialty distributors. The road hasn’t been without some bumps. At times, some distributors have been lax in producing sales reports and projections, and follow-up information on the leads that Beever sends their way. And she’s not confident that her distributors are aggressively showing the Beevers products at trade shows. “My products are very, very focused on the NICU,” she says. “That’s why I need to find distributors who are likewise focused on the NICU. I have some IMDA representation who are [focused on the NICU], and they’re doing fine.” Beevers Manufacturing exhibited at last year’s Manufacturers Forum in Asheville, N.C., and will return to the 2007 Conference in Coeur d’Alene. “We got invaluable face-to-face time with distributors we already had,” she says of last year’s meeting. “The late-night bar talks were invaluable.” In the midst of growing a business, Kate Beevers still manages to work about one day a week in the Special Care Nursery of Salem Hospital in Salem, Ore. “In order to find more things to develop for the NICU, I have to be in the NICU,” she says. And she’s not about to leave anytime soon. “The reason I’m in this business is because I’m in the business of helping babies. If I were only interested in the bottom line, I’d be selling street drugs.” Welcome Kate Beevers to IMDA by e-mailing her at kate@beevers.net or by calling (800) 818-4025. Visit the company’s website at www.beevers.net.
Nothing breeds success like success. That’s why IMDA has published on its website the story of a manufacturer of an innovative drug-delivery system that has successfully used specialty distributors to penetrate the market. The company is San Antonio, Texas-based Vidacare, which makes the EZ-IO® system. It provides for the rapid, secure and safe delivery of intraosseous drugs and fluids. “Intraosseous” means “inside the bone,” and it is employed when existing methods of vascular access (intravenous, or “inside the vein” delivery) are challenging or even impossible -- which is often the case with trauma patients, whose veins may have collapsed. Executive Vice President and co-founder Jim Thomsen selected specialty distributors because “[t]hey can create markets where there are none, through pure sales efforts.” He knew all about specialty distribution, having founded two specialty distributor organizations in the past. So he called them up, and exhibited EZ-IO at the IMDA Manufacturers Forum in 2003. Vidacare’s sales in Year 1 exceeded $1.25 million -- outstanding for a startup company. In its second year, 2006, sales jumped to almost $6 million. And the company forecasts 2007 sales of $15 million. “Specialty sales companies are my sales organization,” says Thomsen. “They have a major impact on our company.” Share the story of Vidacare’s success with your manufacturers. You can find it on the IMDA website. Go to www.imda.org, then click on the fourth item under “What’s New” on the home page.
I think it’s safe to say that everyone has been touched in some way by the horrific tragedy that occurred this week at Virginia Tech. It certainly has impacted this entire region where I live. And let me say thank you to all of you who have called or e-mailed to see if my family or any of our friends were personally affected. Thank God, as of this time, we are not aware of anyone. When tragedy strikes, as it did this week, we learn the real meaning of the saying, “adversity introduces a man to himself.” We’ve seen it happen in countless disasters, both manmade and natural. In the face of trouble and in its aftermath, we discover strength and courage previously unknown. We join our will with others and we resolve to mourn, to remember, to adjust and to survive. Many times, when these situations occur, we don’t know what to say or do. We feel helpless. But, as I watched this horrible scene unfolding, I was amazed at the people who did know what to do. I am talking about the police, rescue personnel and the hospital professionals, who did their jobs expertly under the most stressful of conditions. As I watched the situation unfold, and saw the images of ambulances lined up to carry away the injured, I recognized our customers. I saw the names of Rescue Squads that would treat and transport the patients to hospitals. I saw the names of hospitals that would provide medical and surgical services to those patients. I saw doctors, nurses and clinicians, some of whom I recognized, that would be putting their best efforts toward healing the wounded. And in the midst of all of this, I saw Tri-anim. I saw Tri-anim because I knew that the first responders had products on their rigs that Dan Blom, our EMS salesperson, had convinced them would be the right product for situations such as this. I saw Tri-anim because I knew when they arrived at the hospital, if they required surgery, that they would be using some of the products that Barry Fredrickson, our surgical salesperson, had introduced them to. I saw Tri-anim because I knew that they would use products that Harry Surratt, our acute-care salesperson, had convinced them would improve patient outcomes. I saw Tri-anim because I knew those products came from manufacturers whose mission was to create the best tools for healing and who confidently put their trust in us to deliver them into the skilled hands of the caregivers. And as I realized the role that we as Tri-anim play in the healthcare system, I was extremely proud. Some days you may wonder if what you do actually makes a difference. You may feel that when situations like this happen, you are relegated to being an observer on the sidelines. Listen to what I am about to say. No matter what you do at Tri-anim, from accounts receivable to information systems, from picking and shipping orders to working the switchboard, from contracts to human resources, from customer service to accounts payable, from purchasing to administration to the sales and marketing team, whatever your job title and job description may be, you are Tri-anim. Because of your efforts, and the products and services you provide to the communities our customers serve, wherever you may be, whatever you may do, each and every day, you make a difference! You are Tri-anim! You are there when you are needed most and I am proud to be on the same team with you.
It’s in the numbers. More people are getting older, and they’ll need more healthcare. That means more technology will be developed to help care for them. Legislation introduced into the U.S. Senate in March attempts to foster the development of such technology. Introduced by Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, The Consortium on the Impact of Technology in Aging Health Services bill (S. 908) attempts to advance the development of technologies that increase the quality of healthcare services, while holding down costs. “Technology is a win-win solution,” said Coleman. “It promotes health and independence for individuals while increasing efficiency to keep costs low for society. By establishing this consortium, we will get a jump on meeting the needs of our aging population by exploring these technologies that will help keep our healthcare system viable.” The Consortium will be comprised of 17 members including researchers, business and government executives and consumers. Its chairperson will be appointed by the President, and all other members will be appointed by Congress. Twenty-four months after enactment, the Consortium will be required to submit a report to the President and appropriate Congressional committees detailing its recommendations. To view the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110TMlxbL.
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