By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
The Christmas gift was highly appreciated, especially with my marketing and sales responsibilities and my passion for sports. (How could I not have a passion for sports growing up in a family of all boys; my Mom always counted my Dad in with my three brothers and I.)
The author of the recently released book – “The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How to Dominate Your Market” is Bill Guertin. Bill is the Chief Enthusiasm Officer for a dynamic sales improvement and consulting company whose list of clients includes the sales departments of professional sports teams from the NBA, NFL and NHL.
Not only was the title page signed by Bill with the message “Be Dominant . . . and Have Fun Doing It,” but nearly four pages of copy in Chapter Five was devoted to our company and Blair Minton, our founder.
Chapter 5 is entitled “Because They Look Good in Blue Tights: Why 800-Pound Gorillas are Heroes to Those They Serve.” While I can never recall seeing Blair in tights of any color – let alone blue, he is recognized as someone who performs “heroic feats for their customers.”
Bill describes Blair as “an unassuming, genteel man who runs an incredibly successful company in a niche that very few others want to touch.”
Our niche is to serve older adults with limited financial resources. Most of the senior living communities that we operate are designed to serve all older adults, especially those with low and moderate incomes.
By passionately focusing on this niche, BMA has been able to become the largest provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and possibly the country.
Bill notes in his book that BMA gives people in need a place to live with dignity, treating them with respect and giving them the ability to live the way they choose. And Bill talks about how the “passion to provide for those less fortunate with something better is what drives Minton and his staff.”
Much of what motivates Blair is what he encountered when his mother was in a nursing home. “She was a slave to their schedule. There was no recognition of her as a human being.”
As Bill mentions, we would love to see the model that we have developed for operating affordable assisted living communities that can serve older adults of all incomes be available throughout the country, and we welcome the opportunity to work with other providers and organizations to make this happen.
In“The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales,” Bill uses many case studies and personal examples to reveal the best practices of some of the “most successful beasts in the jungle.” We certainly appreciate being included.
More information about Bill Guertin can be found on his web site at www.The800PoundGorilla.com. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.
We would love to know what you think.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
