Surprises, Myths,
& Opportunities

Written By: Robb Stevens

Med One’s team of leasing sales professionals now numbers 12. Of that number, six are based in our Sandy, Utah headquarters and mainly manage relationships with our vendor partners who sell to hospitals. The other six are field-based – managing and building relationships directly with hospitals and other healthcare-related customers acquiring equipment. Currently we have field coverage in the following areas: California (CA, HI), Pacific Northwest (AL, WA, OR, MT, ID), Rocky Mountain (UT, CO, NV, AZ), Upper Midwest (IL, WI, MI, IA, IN, MN), Southeast (FL, GA, AL, TN, NC, SC), and Northeast (NY, NJ, PA, MA, NH, CT, VT, ME).

With strategic field coverage now in over half of the United States, our leasing sales force is positioned and equipped to serve our customers and influence our marketplace much more effectively and expansively than ever before. Med One has a great story to tell its current and potential customers. The telling of the story and the impact it can have is sometimes the easy part. The oft-times more difficult part though is in securing consistent opportunities to actually tell it. Our customers are understandably busy, and we certainly respect their time, but we also feel strongly that our services can have a tremendous impact on their equipment acquisition strategies, and in some cases, might even save them time in the long run. For this issue of Med One To One, I decided to give my associates an opportunity to share their thoughts relating to a couple of simple questions that I asked of them. Their answers here may be insightful to readers that may be interested in hearing more about what Med One can do for them. Here are the questions:

1. As a leasing professional, what has surprised you most about working at Med One?

2. If you had all your customers and potential customers in one room ready to listen to you, what would you share with them, or what misconceptions would you dispel?

1. I think the biggest surprise so far has been that a lot of vendor reps I've talked to don't quite understand how financing works and how easy it is to add it to their sales pitch.

2. I would share just how easy it is to offer a finance option. I would dispel the notion that financing is confusing and hard to pitch. I would also want to make them aware that not every leasing company is the same. I've worked with and for other leasing companies, and we are definitely not the same.

1. I would say the amount of education I do for my customers on ‘who Med One is' and all the products/services we offer, not only for leasing but for rentals and sales as well. What surprised me most is the lack of customer awareness of our company offerings. Specifically, from a leasing standpoint, I educate our customers to help them better understand all the types of finance offerings we have, equity rental, step-up, and payment deferral.

2. The fact that Med One is completely different than any other leasing organization. I would want to express how we are different, creative, flexible, have zero to minimal fees, and are truly fair and ethical in the way we administer operating leases. Earlier in my sales career, I worked for one of Med One's vendor partners and got to experience first-hand the way they take care of customers and their straightforward way of doing business. We did several deals together.

In terms of misconceptions, what I hear the most is questions around FMV. Many of my customers have shared with me their bad experiences around this with other lessors. The one thing I try to get across is that Med One is not in the business of losing customers from lack of transparency in our agreements. We work hard to keep our customers by providing the right solution to the customer and educate them about our end of term options.

1. Best surprise: How many hospitals we’ve worked with across the country.

Worst surprise: We need to do more to increase our number of repeat customers – keep building relationships and consistency in all of our leasing sales efforts.

2. You may not need us very often, but there's a good chance that, at some point, we can be of value to you. Maybe your organization has a policy where you don't use leasing at the moment, but those things can change. And maybe one day you change jobs and go somewhere that uses equipment finance. Maybe you got all of your capital equipment needs covered in this year’s budget, but maybe something unexpected arises. Things change. The one thing you should remember is that no one is better equipped to help you when you have capital financing or rental needs, so let's develop a good relationship, and when something does come up, make me your first call.

1. What has surprised me about being a representative with Med One Group are a couple of things:

The “we don’t lease” comment from healthcare facilities surprises me. A majority of healthcare facilities do indeed lease, depending on their situation, maybe some more than others.

When I do get time with customers, and they realize I'm not a specific financial arm for any one company, they are a bit more open with their projects. As a former device rep, this information has always been held close to the vest.

2. What I would love to tell all my customers at once:

Convey the pillars of Med One Group – creativity, simplicity, and responsiveness – as they speak to our value.

Submitting a quote to explore options doesn’t cost them anything, but only provides further opportunity to continue with projects, especially if they are urgent.

Med One wants to help the customer and align with their priorities. We are not in it to take advantage of anyone.

Technology is always changing; competition is ongoing; let us help you keep up.

Healthcare facilities work to improve lives; Med One’s services complement that effort while also striving to improve lives by making medical care equipment available.

Hospitals lose money when using old equipment – always fixing, costs associated with an adverse event; hospitals lose money when they start evaluating new products – in-servicing, costs of evaluating equipment, and time. Let Med One Group help you buy equipment sooner than later and recognize revenue for procedures, avoid fixing equipment, etc. Let Med One Group help you close on your new equipment purchases from an evaluation, no delays, so that the costs associated are recognized as opportunity costs. Don't put decisions on the back burner.

1. An issue that has surprised me is the lack of knowledge that many of our call points have when it comes to finance and the different types of solutions that we provide. One would think that a Director of Purchasing/Materials Management would know just as much, if not more (when it comes to finance), and this simply has not been the case. Many times, it creates an opportunity to educate the customer (if they allow it) and show them value as an expert in the field of equipment acquisition. My goal is always to help them turn their limited information or experience with financing into an opportunity to shine and become a trusted advisor. By so doing, a great partnership can be built.

2. I would tastefully and simply instruct them to read the fine print and not let rate drive their decisions. The misconception that I work hard to dispel is that the rate the competition initially offers is typically offered prior to full approval. I would work hard to educate them to not “take the bait.”

1. I assumed coming into this role that most, if not all, of our target customers, would know much more than they do about financing solutions given how empowering they truly can be for those acquiring equipment. Much of my time is spent educating decision-makers at many hospitals on the simplicity of our process, the simple options we have available, and ways that Med One truly does stand out in an industry that is too often viewed as a “commodity." Additionally, it feels too often like egos and preconceived biases can get in the way of understanding and slows the process down. We stand ready to inform, educate, and assist and never want to come across as threatening or intrusive.

2. At any level of the decision-making process, I am always glad to offer a free, no-obligation "crash course" on how leasing works, how it can benefit them, what options are available, and how very easy it truly is. I would also love for customers to better understand how much smoother things can go when they have a high-level understanding of which budget they intend to tap into with their lease payment, exactly which equipment and supplier they are interested in, and the type of solution they are interested in. It's good also for people to realize that in order to review and approve them for credit approval, we need financial statements or other items in the initial review phase; it is not something to feel threatened about. All of this is intended to help us help them rather than penalize or frustrate them. I want customers to realize that with Med One, the whole process can be painless, smooth, efficient, less time consuming, and they will feel confident with the process.

1. I think what surprises me the most about this business is how far and wide the opportunities are for us to truly have an impact. Here in our 28 years in business, we have worked with some of the most renowned hospitals in the country while at the same time some of the most obscure. That has always been fun to me that we can serve such a wide variety of medical providers. With that, though, it's interesting just how varied each hospital is in the way they do business, the ways they acquire equipment and the things that affect their decision making.

2. If I had every hospital decision-maker in one place, open-minded and willing to listen to us, even for a few minutes, I would tell them that leasing is a powerful tool rather than a “necessary evil.” There are so many ways to utilize financing solutions and benefit from them. Understandably, customers at times may get burned by a bad experience, but I would also emphatically tell them that not all lessors are the same. It's easy when you have a bad experience with something/someone to simply turn away from it, but there is so much to be gained from being open-minded about the solutions Med One has to offer. Hear us out, give us an opportunity to assist you. It costs you absolutely nothing for us to provide a financing quote on any given equipment item, and that quote may just become the difference for your facility in the long run.