E-mail campaign supports reps in field
Vital/Med uses e-mails to make face-to-face time more productive 

  Calling on hospitals in northern Wyoming can lead to some serious windshield time. �This part of the world is extremely isolated,� says Randy McSwain, product specialist for Vital/Med Systems Inc., Centennial, CO.
  Given that, it�s no surprise that McSwain has perfected the art of using e-mails to pave the way for productive face-to-face sales calls.
  Now, backed by a new companywide e-mail marketing campaign, McSwain and other Vital/Med product specialists will advance the art even further.

  Power of the pen
  For sales reps such as McSwain, the whole concept of a sales call differs from those of reps who exclusively service hospitals in busy metropolitan areas.
  Some of his accounts in northern Wyoming, for example, are eight hours away, with only the city of Cheyenne and a couple of 30-bed hospitals along the way. For that reason, he can ill afford to drop by unannounced for face-to-face, belly-to-belly selling. Instead, he considers a sales call to be any encounter in which he �makes an account move forward,� regardless of whether he is physically present or not.
  With a doctor of arts degree in biological science, McSwain taught anatomy and physiology at the college level before getting into sales 25 years ago. As a teacher and later, as a salesperson, he wrote classroom syllabi and scientific articles. �I consider myself an excellent writer,� he says. �So for me, the pen [or keyboard] is sometimes more powerful than getting in front of the customer.�
  And that suits most rural customers just fine. �Customers in rural areas know that they only see their reps from time to time, so they�re very Internet-savvy,� says McSwain. �In the old days, they were isolated and remote, but they have found a tool that makes them as connected as the Pentagon is to just about any place in the world.�

  Laying the groundwork
  McSwain begins preparing for a trip up north months in advance. �I tell them what I�m trying to do, and we get a real-time conversation going,� he says. Quite often, he mails trial products to the account, so that when he arrives, he can immediately begin in-servicing.
  Because of the groundwork, �things that can take me weeks to accomplish at an account one hour from my home, I can accomplish in a day,� he says.
  To demonstrate, he tells the story of introducing a new product to two accounts in northern Wyoming. Prior to his arrival, he presented the product�s features and benefits as well as a cost analysis via e-mail. �All their questions were answered before I arrived, so when I got there, it was a matter of showing the product,� he says. Forty-eight hours later, the trials were completed and both hospitals had made the conversion. �I walked out with all the old product in the trunk of my car,� recalls McSwain.

  Companywide support
  Vital/Med Systems has initiated an e-mail campaign designed to reinforce the efforts of its reps in the field, such as McSwain.
  �E-mail marketing is becoming an integral part of Vital/Med System�s overall marketing effort,� says Vanessa Shields, vice president of marketing. �As a distributor that carries the product lines of several different -- yet complementary -- manufacturers, it is imperative that our customers realize the breadth and width of what we offer. Our e-mail campaigns are designed to inform customers of the products we offer, and to help us build brand recognition as a distributor that can solve many of their needs.�
  For close to a year, Shields and the company�s sales reps have been collecting the e-mail addresses of its clinical customers and key product influencers. Approximately once a quarter, the company e-mails them with a variety of messages, including:

• Reminders of the different products Vital/Med offers.
• New-product or new-company introductions.
• Manufacturers� promotions.
• Clinical or technical information on particular products.

  In addition, Shields is hoping to roll out quarterly e-mail newsletters from each of the reps. �It�s a great way to keep their face � via a picture on the e-mail � in front of customers they might otherwise not see,� she says.
  Using the services of a third-party e-mail service provider, Shields and Vital/Med�s management can segment its database of contacts (e.g., cardiologists, surgeons, etc.), and track who received the e-mails, when they opened them up, who clicked through to a link or web page, and which addresses �bounced,� that is, were undeliverable.
  �The software does the technological side, so I can concentrate on marketing,� says Shields.

  No instant results
  �The product specialists would love it if each e-mail campaign resulted in a multitude of instant sales, or even a multitude of instant leads,� she says. �But in our market, we are finding it does not usually work that quickly. Sometimes, information on a new product results in an instant response for additional information, but usually, we do not see an instant sale, or even an instant lead or response.
  �What we do see is increased recognition of our extensive product line, and improved name recognition. This type of response is mostly anecdotal, however, and very difficult to measure. But as customers learn more and more about our products, and see us as a resource for technical knowledge and product information, sales will grow and customer loyalty will grow.�
  Just as important, it will help the field reps be more productive than ever.
  �The hope is, it would make their time with the customer more efficient, because we�re not having to pre-sell them,� says Shields. �They�ve already expressed interest [in the product], read about it, seen pictures of it, and have had questions answered back and forth. Now they�re mentally ready to learn about the product.
  �If it�s used, it�s a valuable tool. And it doesn�t replace anything; it only augments it.�
  Adds McSwain, e-mail conversations can sometimes be better than face-to-face ones.
  �I generally start my e-mails with a department head, to make sure the actual user has an interest in the product. Then I suggest that next time, I copy the purchasing director or contract administrator, and I ask if they would like me to get the physician involved too. If so, I ask for his or her e-mail address.� Benefits? �Everybody hears every conversation, every question and every answer at the same time,� he says.
  McSwain also copies the manufacturer�s representative, so that he or she knows that a sale is pending and is ready to answer any questions to help things move along.
  �And here�s what I like,� says McSwain. �I�m sitting at my desk with my files, resource books and telephone, so I can get my customers� questions answered immediately, instead of going out to my car and hoping I have the right documents in my trunk.�
  �E-mail is the best way I know of to reach people in what could be called �the hinterlands,�� says Shields. �It�s technologically advanced, yet most people view it as a part of their everyday life.�

Copyright � 2004 IMDA