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Introduction:
InterClean, Inc is a successful low cost leader in the distribution of industrial cleaning chemicals and contract janitorial services business. Their customer base includes health care facilities, manufacturing and service companies. The storage, packaging, labeling, safe usage and handling of their product are covered by the Code of Federal regulations title 40, part 370. A material safety data sheet (MSDS) is required to accompany each shipment. In addition to these regulatory requirements, InterClean Inc. conducted a survey of their customers to find that they desired customized solutions to their cleaning needs. To further dominate the market, InterClean has just completed a vertical integration with EnviroTech, which was one of their competitors.
Situation Analysis:
Issue and Opportunity Identification
The first issue is the low morale among the current sales reps. This attitude has been fueled by informal rumors of the merger with EnviroTech and the new corporate direction of customer intimacy. InterClean management can use the current situation of low morale to openly communicate with their sales reps that they are valued team members for the long term. A second issue is that there exists a skills gap between their current representatives, and what will be needed with the new company direction. This condition was discovered when the HR Consultant conducted a skills inventory. The opportunity to bridge this gap can be accomplished by further training of the current sales force in the requisite skills, or hiring people from outside the organization who already have these skills. The third issue is that the current sales reps have strengths in demonstrating how the product functions, describing the product's attributes, and persuading the customer to purchase their product. The new vision of customer intimacy would require a skill set to include strong listening skills, and an in-depth product knowledge including how regulatory requirements may impact the product's usage. An opportunity would present itself to further educate the incumbent sales reps concerning these issues. It was previously discussed that managers would initially get training and they could proceed to train their new hires which is our fourth issue. Wouldn't it be more fruitful if InterClean brought in a professional sales trainer on a Saturday and conducted "hands on" learning sessions regarding the application of customer intimacy principles? This tactic could be supported by individual e-book learning.
Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas
Three major stakeholders must be considered. They are, the customers, current InterClean, Inc. sales reps, and the HR department. The vales and interests of the customers are very evident. They want their needs respected in the form of customized solutions to their cleaning needs. They also want products that are safe to use for their employees and non-toxic to the environment. The InterClean, Inc. sales reps value honest communications from management concerning their job status. They want to know if they have job security based on their past performance, or if they will be replaced by new hires or sales reps from EnviroTech whose skills are more in alignment with the new business goal. Lastly, we have our Human Resources people who value fairness in providing the company with they type of sales people that will accomplish the company's mission, and to the sales reps who have served the company or many years.
Rights and values conflicts appear to exist among the stakeholders. Most InterClean reps have established track records based on their straight commission sales. Implementing a training program that not only requires a different approach, but set of products would hamper their abilities to achieve the earnings and associated lifestyles that they and their families have grown accustomed to. Initially, they would be satisfying the customer's demand at the possible expense of losing their homes, automobiles and more. Human Resources people desire to achieve fairness to all stakeholders involved. It appears that fairness to the customer's needs in aligning talent and skills to the long term business objective should be the number one priority of human resources. Without customers, profits do not exist and eventually the business folds. Nobody wins.
Problem Statement:
InterClean, Inc. aspires to serve their customers with specialty chemical and janitorial service solutions by developing the tools necessary for a successful program which focuses on customer intimacy.
End-State Vision:
InterClean, Inc. will continue to dominate the cleaning chemicals and services market by having a well trained and justly compensated professional sales team that productively markets and sells cleaning solutions to professionals and middle managers principally in the medical, hospitality and manufacturing industries.
Alternative Solutions
InterClean Inc. had an issue with alignment of their human capital with their new vision of customized products. Similar to InterClean, Inc., Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is a custom solution provider. Just like InterClean is more than chemicals that have a strong disinfectant odor, and cleaning services are more than people who scrub toilets, corrections is more than incarcerating inmates and throwing away the key. Today, our Federal government, and many state and local governments have found that it costs "$23,183.69" (The Third Branch Newsletter, 2007) to incarcerate an inmate for one year. CCA provides value by as they have established a track record of reducing operating costs of by greater than 20% in states where they operate facilities and provide customized incarceration solutions. They also deliver a better product as they are "more accountable for their constitutional violations than are public prisons," (Volokh, Alexander,2002), have more expedient bed capacity, higher quality risk management, innovation, inmate service delivery, procurement, improved efficiency and flexibility. With these specialized innovations and cost savings in corrections administration, municipalities are able to use the money formerly earmarked for prisons to fund better schools and health care in their communities. Similar to CCA, InterClean, Inc. needs reps that are skilled at thinking with the customer in mind and selling a variety of chemicals and services that are bundled together such as floor care chemicals with a technician to apply them bi-monthly, along with bathroom and hand sanitizing products, which meets their facility maintenance needs.
Secondly, where do reps with good listening skills and sensitivity to the customer come from? The scenario offers one alternative by utilizing the EnvioTech reps to sell the service, as this sales force, which has recently merged with InterClean, Inc. are already practitioners of customer intimacy. It was confirmed by the skills inventory recently conducted that the EnviroTech reps already have skills are in sync with the new business agenda. A second alternative are in-service training options. CCA addresses this issue as "all new full-time security personnel receive a minimum of 120 hours of training during their first year of employment ....in areas such as crisis prevention, inflammatory/chemical agents, firearms, CPR/first aid and defensive tactics which are delivered by staff qualified in the appropriate area. At CCA, the Responsibility for the in-service training program rests with the corporate managing director of staff development and training, the warden, the facility training manager, and the facility training advisory board.
Analysis of Alternative Solutions
We have 3 goals, a professional well trained sales force which is very important but not of paramount importance as is providing customers with specialized cleaning solutions. Sales rep pay is important to have people who are motivated to learn the new system and do their jobs well fearless of economic hardships during their learning curve. The best solution would be having the professionals train the professionals such as a psychologist handling workshops with the sales reps on listening skills, and the engineering staff teaches them about regulatory issues and customized product groupings that can be sold as solutions to the customer's problems. During training and the learning curve for the new system, the sales reps would receive an average of the second half of last year's earnings on a salaried basis. Last and probably most important, the customers get specialized answers to their cleaning dilemmas. This alternative is a win-win-win for all parties concerned.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation Techniques
There are risks involved in any strategy. If morale is low, as was the case with the InterClean, reps, that is a situation of high severity. It appears from the water cooler conversations, that they felt that after the merger with EnviroTech, they would be replaced. They lacked trust in management. Employees that lack such trust often fall short of their productivity and job knowledge objectives to develop into the best employees that they can be. Even if we consider letting them continue their employment with InterClean, Inc. as inside sales reps and support this with job enrichment, it is likely that this will not be an adequate long term solution. Inter Clean management may want to counter the lack of motivation in their reps (another issue of extreme severity) by providing staff encouragement in addition to offering them challenges relevant to their job content with the addition of empowerment to solve customer problems in their new roles as inside sales reps. In this environment, in spite of management's best efforts, some reps that can, will find outside sales positions with other companies. This is another issue of extreme importance, but ultimately uncontrollable. (In an employment at will state). HR may want to mine their intimate reasons for leaving the company so future retention strategies can be put in place. Of great concern and severity is the possibility of not having classroom training for existing and new InterClean reps in the new business direction. New interpersonal skills will be needed for which structured learning in a classroom setting would be more effective as input can be received from both their instructors and other students as this is critical to their retention of knowledge. Lastly, and also of severe impact is safety certification for all sales reps. The value to InterClean customers is that reps can assist them with the proper technique to circumvent liability both civil and criminal liability with the safe handling, use and storage of chemicals.
With the above listed "deal breakers" ruled out, what is our best or optimal strategy?
Optimal Solution:
The optimal solution is the high point of this document. These are the tactics which will support InterClean, Inc.'s vision of unique product services to their customers. To execute this vision, InterClean reps will need solid training in listening skills, which is best suited for a classroom setting. This training which can be offered by the Cypress Media Group can transform sales people who excel in show and demonstrate techniques into people who are focused listeners... who can benefit their company by being better able to understand problems, maintain attention, retain information, clarify procedures, and build relationships. The InterClean reps will also need training in the regulatory environment of the cleaning business which is why initially classroom training conducted by InterClean's product engineering group would be essential followed up by independent study of regulatory manuals prepared by the engineering department and e-books.
It must be understood at the onset, that even after formal training of the InterClean reps occurs, a learning curve can be expected until they reach full productivity. During this time, they will be paid on a salaried basis, to offset the pressure to immediately sell the product. This salary will be based on their gross earnings during the second half of 2006.
On the basis of what has been recommended in the preceding two paragraphs, InterClean, Inc . will substantially benefit with a professionally trained sales force that does nothing less than delights their customers for years to come.
Implementation Plan
To implement this plan of training a motivated professional sales force which is skilled in customer intimacy, we have 4 deliverable s:
1.) The Wage Administration Manager will need to determine the training salary for each InterClean Rep. Work on this needs to commence immediately.
2.) Cypress Media Consultants will need to have a classroom seminar with the sales reps within the next 2 weeks.
3.) The day after the Cypress seminar, the InterClean Director of Product Engineering will need to lead a seminar for the sales reps concerning environmental regulations which affect the commercial cleaning chemical business.
4.) Environmental regulations manuals will need to be prepared and available to the sales reps at the seminar.
Evaluation of Results
Results of our business plan for InterClean, Inc. are readily measurable. Training, for example can be measured quantitatively by the number of seminars that our sales people will attend, but quality of training is of equal importance. Who conducts the training, is it classroom or on-line and is there a feedback mechanism for the trainees to comment on what they achieved in the seminar. Brief quizzes at the onset and conclusion of seminars might be an additional method to access if quality learning has occurred. Short mailed or faxed surveys can measure customer satisfaction. Perhaps initially, all customers will not respond or respond positively. What is important is to have a majority of customers respond positively by a pre-selected target date.
Conclusion
The strategy of customer intimacy or partnerships is the direction that most business are moving
towards. Most buyers have heard the "canned pitches" of outside salespeople repeatedly in their effort to control the sales interaction. Focusing on long term relationships, and being partners in solving problems as InterClean, Inc. is attempting to do is beneficial to all parties and non-exploitive. Initially, there were questions if the current group of InterClean reps could be motivated or retrained and how it could be successfully accomplished. I am certain that many people may have "written off" this sales team and simply had the EnviroTech reps that already had the proper skill set in alignment with the new strategy handle outside sales. The ethics of this "quick fix" were not acceptable. Through the 9 step process, it was proven that the InterClean reps can be motivated to change by trust, professional and quality training, and the opportunity for fair compensation for their efforts. This proved to be a win-win-win situation for all involved.
(May 2004). Costs of Incarceration and Supervision. The Third Branch Newsletter, 36 v Number 5, Retrieved April 28, 2007, from
Volohk, Alexander (May2002). A Tale of Two Systems: Cost, Quality and Accountability in Private Prisons". Published in 115 Harvard Law Review 1838, 1868 (2002) as part III of Developments in the Law: The Law of Prisons Retrieved April 28, 2007, from
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