How many years of sales experience did you have prior to working for SHC?
Prior to working for Senior Healthcare I had no in-home sales experience. I had some customer service when I was very young and then some retail store experience after that.

What was the most difficult part of your learning curve with SHC?
I encountered two main things that were the most difficult for me to overcome. The first obstacle was that I am a perfectionist. The toughest part of being a perfectionist is the tendency to quit when you feel that you are not doing it absolutely perfectly. There is a saying that, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going" but, with a perfectionist the saying is more, "when you don't think you can do something perfectly, quit... you will find something else that you can conquer". My wife tells me that with this challenge (SHC) there was something in my eyes that was a little different. The overall numbers and the success of so many of the guys on staff that were like me kept me going. I was more determined to make this work.

The second challenge was the transition from retail sales to in-home sales. I like to compare the two with saying it is the difference between cutting with a butcher knife versus a scalpel. With retail sales, the client comes to you and is actively pursuing what you have to offer. It does not really matter as much what you say or how you say it, they simply want the product without much "real" selling needed on the end of the "salesperson" except the price as the primary determining sales factor. This is not the case with our in-home sales process at all. With our level of in-home sales you must literally know 100% of the material given to you as supplies. You need to also learn through your continual training everything there is to know about your product, market, to effectively sell our products to our senior market. You can't rely on "you" to sell it. Rather, it is your level of EXPERT knowledge is get's you the credibility to sell yourself. The credibility you set by always giving a FULL presentation to each and every client you get in front of regardless of what you may perceive as the circumstance is extremely important to gaining their business with one or all of our products. What you say, how you say it, and have you prove it is the key to sales success on the SHC preset appointments.

In-home sales require finesse and skill to show the client why they need what you have to offer. You MUST get them to truly trust you as a senior healthcare expert, otherwise, they just perceive you as a lowly, "dime a dozen", insurance agent. Sadly, in our industry there are a lot of dirty, commission-greedy, insurance agents. We are always striving to distinguish ourselves from these individuals.

How to "say it" was my greatest initial obstacle. However, by following my training exactly and constantly practicing on every single senior I got in front of during my learning period (first 8-12+ weeks), I not only learned precisely what to say and how to say it, but I learned how to PROVE it by knowing where and when to show my 3rd party material. With senior sales with SHC, they don't know you, you are not from around there, you are a stranger. Therefore, you can't rely on them just taking your word, this is their healthcare cost protection! For our seniors, that is their #1 concern to protect themselves, their fixed income, and their much-loved family.