If knowledge is power, then William Nelson wields a mighty hand.
Not only does Nelson, president and CEO of Solon-based Accutest Clinical Lab, know what his customers want from a testing laboratory, he also knows what his competitors’ customers want.
“We go out to prospects and talk to them,” Nelson says. “We have to understand their needs in order to build a program that suits them. It’s an aggressive sales approach, but one that turns our weaknesses into strengths.”
Those strengths have helped Nelson take Accutest from a start-up in 1993 to a full-service medical testing laboratory with 30 employees and a client base that blankets Northeast Ohio. Accutest serves physicians in private practice by providing testing facilities that complement a physician’s work.
“The greatest thing we really do is talk to our clients all the time and communicate,” Nelson says. “We find out their thoughts and needs. It’s all about customer satisfaction.”
One way Nelson gathers information, beyond utilizing his external sales force, is to quiz clients through surveys. The feedback proves useful because it allows him to incorporate that information into his planning and determine which services are most beneficial to his clients. With a 70 percent reply rate, Nelson is certain he’s got his finger on the pulse of his customers’ businesses.
“One thing our clients know is that when we get feedback, we act on it,” he says. “It’s not just lip service.”
All this has happened despite major changes in the health care industry that have shaken out physicians and service providers through reduced Medicare reimbursements. But Nelson has remained standing. In fact, he says, the changes have paved the way for even greater growth for Accutest.
“It’s helped the lab business,” he says. “There have been decreasing reimbursements from managed care, which is who primarily pays the bill for health care. But because managed care has taken physicians out of the loop with billing, it’s helped us. We used to bill the physicians, they used to mark it up and bill the managed care company.
“But now, the managed care companies have two separate fee schedules and direct the billing directly to us. So it’s helped us a great deal by generating additional revenues and growing our client base.” How to reach: Accutest Clinical Lab, (440) 519-0888
Dustin Klein ([email protected]) is editor of SBN Cleveland.
