With the end of the Greater New York Meeting last week, 2009 is mercifully drawing to a close. This year, more than ever, has had a wide-reaching affect on the dental industry. Never has so much, done so little for so many. But rather than flogging a dead horse, the big question is what will happen in 2010. After speaking with a lot of industry folks, here’s what seems to be on people’s minds.
The Little Dealer-After years of consolidation that eliminated many local family-owned businesses, will the little, full-service dealer make a comeback? Let’s hope so. They are easy to do business with, and are as responsive to their customers’ needs as their larger counterparts. Big manufacturers must stop pulling their lines from perfectly good sources of distribution and let this channel make a comeback.
No More Tribute-Manufacturers have grown weary of supporting large dealer catalogs, sales materials and sales meetings. Print media is dying, so dealers can’t continue holding manufacturers hostage to this genre. And expecting large stipends so sales people can gather at a resort is borderering on extortion. A degree of fundamental fairness needs to be brought to bear here before the the goose that laid the golden egg is gone.
The Trade Show-Can’t someone find a stake to drive through this vampire’s heart? Booths in New York looked about 50% as large as in years past. Did the New York Dental Society get the message? Do we still need a Yankee and a Hinman Meeting to hit sales goals? How about state and local meetings? When the economy tanked, we really saw how cost-prohibitive meetings are. And this doesn’t consider the hassle of travelling. (I don’t have a good answer, I’m just griping)..
The Indendent Rep-With consolidation now occurring on the manufacturing side, many long-time independent sales reps have seen income opportunities evaporate. At one time, a visit to a major trade show yielded three or four new lines. No more. For years, the independent sales rep was the backbone of our business, helping many small and mid-sized manufacturers get their products in front of a customer. The independent rep is still a viable sales option. In the past few years a number of sales management organizations have been formed. These groups hire train and pay independent reps, so a small manufacturer can outsource the sales function, getting and experienced group of sales people at a fixed cost of sales.
The Dentists is a Consumer Too-The dentist needs money to buy stuff from a dealer. When patients stop coming to the practice to get their teeth whitened, and when credit lines are tougher to get, the dentist will delay purchasing, and won’t start buying in earnest again until patients start marching back in the front door.
Make Value an Option, Not an Afterthought-Too often, value-priced has been associated with cheap or low-end, No more. There are plenty of good companies who make quality goods at reasonable prices. As the dentist has learned in his/her personal life, shopping for value has become more the norm than the exception. Why wouldn’t they look for value in their dental life?
Be a Little Conservative-If there is concern about where Quarters 1 and 2 will look like, it is sheer terror predicting Q3 and 4. There are some good ways to protect your interests. Don’t bet the farm early in the year. Spend conservatively, so if some recovery 2010 does not
materialize, you haven’t overspent. If there is better than average recovery later in the year, then you have funds available to take advantage of the upturn.
I have been in this industry for almost 30 years, and it pains me to see so many of my colleagues in distress. It would be easy to say that everything will go back to the way it was but I don’t think that’s the case. The economic collapse at the end of 2008 has permanently altered the financial landscape, so the entrepreneur who can figure where these changes will land his or her company on the curve, will be the one who comes out ahead of the competition. I hope, for everyone’s sake, 2010 is a much better year.
On that note, Nancy and I wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a healthy ans prosperous New Year.