All too often, I will ask a practice where their liaison is going and how they are spending their time and the answer is, “Uh, I don’t know?”
Or…
I will ask a liaison what their plan is, and the answer is, “I just drive around and see some offices.”
No plan. No strategy. Just fingers crossed hoping they are spending the right amount of time in the right places.
And as long as a few referrals are coming in, most practices seem pretty pleased with this approach.
But what if I told you that by having a plan, you could increase referrals without increasing your resources?
One or two more referrals per week can easily add up to 100 or more referrals per year.
Imagine what that would mean for your practice.
All without increasing your resources.
So how do you do this?
According to an article in Harvard Business Review, “Optimizing territory design can increase sales by 2 – 7% without any change in total resources or sales strategy.”
Optimizing territory design can increase sales by 2 – 7% without any change in total resources or sales strategy.
Harvard Business Review
What exactly is territory design anyway?
Imagine setting out on a trip without a map. You have no idea how to get there or what direction you’re going. You’re going to be doing a lot of driving in a lot of different directions before you finally reach your destination, if ever.
Territory design is like the road map guiding your outreach team.
It includes such things as:
- Geography of the territory
- Number of accounts per rep or liaison
- How often each of those accounts are seen
In its simplest form, territory design is understanding where to go, who to call on, and when to call on them.
And… Just by improving your territory design, you have the potential to increase your referral volume.
No other change in total resources or sales strategy needed!
We call this territory optimization and it’s the first thing we teach in our Physician Liaison Coaching and Boot Camps.
If you’re looking to perfect your territory design or want to know more about our coaching programs, you can reach out to us here.
We love hearing from you!
