Building healthy businesses one relationship at a time

Henry Schein Inc. may be the world's largest provider of healthcare products & services to office-based health practitioners, but its true success lies in 800,000 unparalleled customer relationships worldwide. Meeting those needs requires partners like DLL who share that commitment.

Customer commitment
Natalie Westfall, who leads Henry Schein’s financial services sales team in North America, gives a simple example of how that shared commitment works in reality.

A few years back, a Henry Schein customer in the Midwest lost his entire office in a fire. Every day that his practice remained closed was impacting his revenue and cash flow and putting his patient base at risk. Confronted by red tape from his insurance company and bank, he turned to Henry Schein for help, who looked to their trusted contact at DLL. He pulled out all the stops to get fast internal approval for financing and meet the doctor’s timelines for ordering new equipment. “Basically DLL acted lightning fast, because like us, they appreciated the seriousness of the situation for our customer.” 

Special relationship
Given experiences like these, it’s no surprise to hear that Natalie sees the relationship between Henry Schein and DLL as something rather special. Westfall: "Some of the professional connections between Henry Schein and DLL employees go back over 15 years. We know we’re dealing with sharp, high-quality people. But more importantly, just like our own customers, we want to do business with people who’ll take care of us.”

"Certainly, we respect the financial know-how that DLL brings to the table, but we also recognize their ability to connect on a personal level that can’t be replicated."

Real-life decision making
To deliver the best service consistently, it requires a solid infrastructure. The right processes combined with flexibility can make all the difference. Westfall: "Of course you need policies and guidelines. But you also need people who understand the sector in which businesses operate. DLL people have that."

Entrepreneurial spirit
It’s not enough, Natalie argues, just to follow models when evaluating healthcare finance applications. Westfall: "You see companies getting approved when maybe they shouldn’t. More importantly, there are people who don’t hit all the markers but who really should be getting approved - perhaps their specific market is subtly different than the norm. That entrepreneurial spirit, with decision-making that genuinely considers customers’ individual circumstances, really sets DLL apart."

Healthcare finance outside the box
"One client came to us at the height of the global financial crisis. They had a complex organizational structure with multiple partners, none of which made financing any easier. DLL really peeled back the onion to find a way to get the deal done. Working very closely with us at all management levels, they succeeded in helping us find the right solution for our customer. That deal resulted in significant positive growth for us and was a great example of how a funder can step outside the box for their partner."

Making the difference
"At the end of the day, there is a human element that we all employ in managing this partnership," says DLL’s program manager Jennifer Fanz. “This empathetic style spans all touch points with our customer - Sales, Sales Support, Credit, Collections - and we are grateful that it is acknowledged by both our contacts at Henry Schein, as well as our end-user customers."