Speakers give best business advice

Editor's note: I sent an email to the speakers of this year's HME News Business Summit asking them for their “best business advice.”  I thought it would be a good way to not only promote the Summit, but also put a face on this year's excellent crop of speakers. It turned out to be that—and much more. I've heard back from three speakers so far, and I like to think about what they have to offer as a “Chicken Soup for the Soul”—for the HME provider. Here's what they had to say:

Value your team

“The best business advice I ever received proves itself true time and time again: Never discount the importance of your team; it's really hard to be successful without good people on your side.

That team includes all the people (colleagues, employees, vendors, referral sources, etc.) that make up your industry's community, and when you develop good relationships with them, business becomes easier and more enjoyable/efficient/profitable.”

—Anna McDevitt, president, Laboratory Marketing

Value your time

“The best business advice that I've heard. Boy, what a question. If I had to narrow it down to one thing, I think that it would be a strategy a mentor of mine frequently repeated: To approach your working day every day in the format of billable hours.

If you think about your time as a leader in different segments throughout the day, it allows you to focus your vision in multiple ways.

Often, you'll be focused on a specific project that takes the majority of your focus, but squeezing in the extra 'hour' of a developing plan reaps benefits in the long run.

It's also particularly helpful to stem creativity without spending too much time in the thinking booth.”

—Ryan McDevitt, manager,

Sleep Solutions Home Medical

Make sales a process

“The best business advice I ever heard was actually something hockey great Wayne Gretzky said: 'A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.'

This is so applicable to business. Most owners and sales managers see daily or monthly sales reports and start thinking about changing today's results or turning around sales this month.

But sales is a process. It's measurable and it's predictable, if you do the work. You have to track and manage the calls you're making, the calls that lead to appointments and the appointments that lead to the right patient referrals. You have to set specific goals and work the entire process toward increasing success.

It sounds easy—it's not. It's real work. But if you do it, you can start predicting the future. You can be like Gretzky, and know where your business is going to be.”

—Michael Sperduti, president and CEO, Emerge Sales