Sales and Marketing

We market to and service our customers through our direct sales force, customer service and patient service representatives and couriers.

We focus our sales efforts on obtaining and retaining profitable accounts. We have an active account management process to evaluate the profitability of all of our accounts. Where appropriate, we change the service levels, terminate accounts that are not profitable or adjust pricing.

Our sales force is organized by customer type with the majority of representatives focused on marketing laboratory services to physicians, including specialty physicians such as oncologists, cardiologists and gastroenterologists. Additionally, we have a managed care sales organization that maintains relationships with regional and national insurance and managed care organizations. We also have a hospital sales organization that focuses on meeting the unique needs of hospitals and leverages the specialized capabilities of our Nichols Institute esoteric testing laboratories. Supporting our hospital and physician sales teams are genomics and esoteric testing specialists, who are specially trained and focused on marketing and selling more complex tests to our customers. A smaller portion of our sales force focuses on selling substance-of-abuse testing to employers.

Customer service representatives perform a number of services for patients and customers. They monitor services, answer questions and help resolve problems. Our couriers pick up specimens from most clients daily.

Our corporate marketing function is organized by customer and is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies, new product launches, and promotional and advertising support. The marketing function is also responsible for customer satisfaction surveys, market research, tradeshow administration, database marketing tools, and marketplace trending and analysis.