subject: How A Small Business Can Expand In Selling To Hospitals [print this page] Once a small business has completed a launch into the hospital market, solid decisions need to be made to be able to continue the companies growth. In a disciplined launch, all the hospital contacts have been made in the home territory with a timed and measured sequence and then were placed into the correct follow up funnel. Some have become customers and entered the sales pipeline while others are not in play and a few may have gone with a competitor. Mathematically something needs to be added to feed the front end numbers in order to have enough people to contact. These decisions are usually focused on four areas that the company can expand to and maintain increasing their client base.
The first area is the offering of continuation products or services. These take the form of service agreements, preventative maintenance programs and automated fulfillment of products so clients do not run out of something. This step is vital in establishing a post launch foundation of growth for a small company as now future revenue begins to bring on a level of predictability.
Next is the delivering of premium solutions. A small business can construct a product or service package that provides the next level up to current hospital clients. These often contain additional communication with the current customer and most important must have a higher perceived value in the customers mind as well. The cost of adding this area is far out weighed by the profit margin increase.
After that is the presenting of additional products or services that are related to the core business offering. A critical item of note is that these cannot deter to far from the main product or services, but rather a natural addition, so currently unavailable resources do not have to be found to support this activity. These could be an on-line training program or any related item.
The first three above deal with expanding revenue opportunities within the current customer base, but the fourth introduces new hospital contacts into the small businesses prospect list. These fresh contacts come from a geographical expansion into the region immediately surrounding the home base. An example of this is a New England company adding the hospitals from the northeast region including New York and New Jersey. It is vital that not only the processes of handling lead flow and the sales pipeline are under control, but also the operating processes as well, before the step is taken. This is serious because any operational issues that occur in the home territory will be magnified when branching out further from the company.
Expanding a small business within the existing hospital client list and geographically into a close by region, is a healthy next step in creating a business vehicle that provides an income level where a business owner can take a step away to see the company run on its own.
by: Gary Salter
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