Approaching Healthcare Providers

Effective Strategies to make them CITIZEN promoters

Island Gate © 2016CITIZEN Online Training

Island Gate © 2016Getting their attention

Effective Sales Approach to get an appointment and their attention

An effective sales approach to get time with a doctor, or any other health provider, and to make him willing to listen to what you have to say requires a sales strategy.

Doctors seek for VALUE

Doctors take care of their valuable time and they only share some of it with sales people who approach them with a promise of VALUE. All you need to know to succeed is which way to approach them in order to convey that value.

You represent CHANGE and RISK

Your first challenge is to get the appointment

Present CITIZEN as a RISK reducer

Make the healthcare provider CITIZEN promoters

Island Gate © 2016Be a CITIZEN expert

Be an expert in CITIZEN products

The first thing you need to do before facing any sale is to be sure about having all the needed knowledge of your product.

Healthcare providers are experts in their field

Don’t get intimidated when talking to doctors or healthcare providers because they are experts in medical field, they don’t expect you to know as much as they do, they want you to see them as the experts.

Be an expert in your product

You need to be an expert too, an expert on CITIZEN products. You have to know each and every aspect of the product so when the questions come you will have the right answer. Study deeply all aspects of the items before starting a

sales meeting.

Be an expert in the competitors

At the same time, you need to be an expert in your competition. You have to know Omron, Microlife and Beurer products features and position in the market, so you can make any comparison between the similar models when

asked.

Know how the product improves the patient outcome

You need to be an expert specifically on how CITIZEN products help to solve a problem or improve patience’s outcome. You have to explain clearly to the healthcare providers which are the benefits in using CITIZEN products

in their daily routine, and why they need to recommend them to their patients.

Doctors will see you as a solution provider

In this way the doctors will start to see the opportunities that CITIZEN products give to provide better outcomes for their patients, or to save time, or to reduce risk.

Island Gate © 2016Dealing with the Price Issue

Dealing with the Price Issue in Medical Sales

Price is always an issue which will come up in the sales meetings. It is needed to be prepared in order to avoid rejections and have the right strategies to present CITIZEN products as a whole, and not only related to their

price.

There are 3 basic ideas to approach the pricing issue:

1. Price is not what is most important to your customers

None of the healthcare professionals enter into their field with the goal of “providing the cheapest healthcare possible”. Surely price is a consideration but is not the most important one. A professional primary objective is to deliver the best

possible patient outcome while minimizing the risks. The seller should dig deep to find out what the customer true needs are.

When you comply with the customer needs better than the competition, and you sell a product that fulfills the customer’s expectations, the price is secondary. The customers always look to cover their needs more than the

cost. In this way, price becomes secondary relative to the patient’s outcome.

2. The only differentiator for a commoditized product is price

When you allow your customer to commoditize product then price becomes the only differentiator. CITIZEN & competitors have similar products with similar features between each other. When 2 brands are presenting their products in the same way then the

only difference becomes the price. When you just recite features and benefits, you are not selling, you’re just a walking brochure.

Only when CITIZEN is positioned for a specific challenge, need or objective, it can be differentiated. It needs to be presented as how is going to make a difference for the doctor and the patients in a tangible way. They need to see how it is going to grow the practice, how can the doctor promote it, and how can increase the ability to see more patients and use the time more

efficiently.

3. Support from the right people in your accounts minimizes the price issues

If the customers are willing to pay more for your product than what they get from the competitor, you must continuously differentiate the value they are getting in return. Asking them for reference in the new sales is a

good way to show the new customers how your other customers don’t see the price as an issue.

Speak about the price PROACTIVELY

Speaking about the price proactively, not necessarily how much the product cost but how does the product is able to reduce the cost of the procedure or the operation of the business entity of that healthcare provider.

They are already thinking about the price issue so when you bring it up into the conversation it means that you are not afraid to talk about it. You should be able to demonstrate the value efficiently so that the price is not

going to be a potential threat to the sales.

Island Gate © 2016Improving sales

4 Habits that will improve your CITIZEN medical devices sales

There are many ways to increase the sales but these 4 points are basic not only to make more sales, but also to make them more consistent in time, to keep the customer buying from you.

Be RELEVANT

You need to maintain the buyer’s relevance.

Customer Service

You have to provide customer care & service that is transparent.

Constant RESEARCH

You need to be a student of the medical devices industry.

Planning and Preparation

Consistently maintain a plan and a process

Island Gate © 2016Being RELEVANT

Be RELEVANT

The first key to increase the sales is that the buyer should consider your products as important. Being Relevant is being able to provide to your customers what they want.

Build RELEVANT relationships

The key to medical sales is relationships. But this relationships should be based on relevance, is not just trying to be friends, is how relevant is the sales representative to the medical provider practice and patients.

Provide VALUE

The way to become relevant is to provide value to the healthcare provider, offer CITIZEN showing how it will help the provider, help the practice and help the patient.

Become a problem SOLVER

The product needs to be presented as to improve the outcome, improve the patient’s health and practice, to reduce the cost of the facility. You are not just a product pusher, you become a problem solver.

Fast Interaction

The technology allows us to be fast and doctors want the information quickly, that is a value because you can get results immediately and treat the patients more effectively. Technology allows speed in communication and in

treatment analysis, so the responses to any customer request should be immediate

Island Gate © 2016Customer Service

Transparent customer service

Being Transparent means to be clear with your customers, it means being open and honest about what CITIZEN is and what it does. Transparency creates the grounds for trust.

Quality in the customer service

We are in the age of quality. In CITIZEN products quality is expected, and the same is with customer service. Saying that you provide good customer service is not a differentiator from other companies.

Provide it before the customer needs it

Customers expect a customer service where they don’t have to ask for it. The medical representative should be constantly looking for opportunities to provide customer service, especially before the customer ask for it.

Don’t take customer’s time

You should be always ready to solve any type of problem but without interfering with the usual practice of the medical provider. This means having all information available and an idea of the procedures to follow in case a

service is needed.

Be proactive

Being proactive and trying to keep the customer service needs to the minimum is the best way to provide it. The ability to focus on the customer and their needs is what will really differentiate you from everyone that is out

there.

Island Gate © 2016Research your field

Be a student of the medical devices industry

The CITIZEN medical representatives need to have a deep understanding of what the requirements are in the sector. Need to know what challenges their customers and prospect are facing.

Be proactive in research

For being proactive you need to have a good understanding of the customer’s world, so it would be easier to find the opportunities for the product in that sector.

Know your CITIZEN products

Is not needed or expected to be an expert as the healthcare provider, but you have to know your product inside and out, also you have to know your competitor products, especially the ones that your customer is using or planning

to use.

No more excuses

Nowadays there are no excuses for not having the information we are talking about because is easy to reach for everyone, as Google Alerts, CRM, research tools of internet, all free and at the reach of the fingertips with our

mobile phones.

Be updated

Information is power and you have to be constantly updated with the sector you’re selling because is always changing, and is always relevant.

Island Gate © 2016Planning and Preparation

Consistently maintain a plan and a process

Focusing on the customer and the patients requires a plan and a process to execute the plan, it means how you are going to go out to do business in your territory. Is very important to know what to do and to execute it following

a plan while trying to sell CITIZEN medical devices.

Make a plan to reach the healthcare providers

Access to doctors is becoming every time more difficult. It is needed to plan how to overpass the receptionist and reach to the health provider, to know their schedule and when to approach the receptionist in order to gain access

to the doctor’s office.

Research on Internet

You should use the internet tools to research the practitioner. In their website, for example, there should be the mission statements, which is the most important points for the doctor, and you can use that information to talk

effectively with the health provider.

For example you can start saying “I know the patient is very important to you, so I would like to have a conversation about how I can help you to help your patients, and differentiate your practice from your colleagues

and the community”.

Follow up

Another area that needs to be covered insensibly in planning is the follow up. For example, first presentation goes very well but then the sales representative can’t get back to see him because it gets rejected by the

receptionist or his emails are not answered. This is because follow up is usually an AFTERTHOUGHT.

Dealing with very busy people (like doctors) and dealing with very critical issues, makes it very difficult to follow up because a healthcare provider usually will not change what he is doing in the first call.

It takes many visits to convince a new customer

A healthcare provider will not change to a different medical device in the first call, he might consider it, he might take a few samples and try with some patients…

But a lot of times the healthcare provider will fall back into whatever habits had been used and is going to take multiple conversations to get that provider to start thinking differently.

Follow up is critically important

After the 1st meeting is very important to create a path for the 2nd call and the 3rd call. At the same time is important to know who the stockholders are, who are the ones which make the final decision to incorporate the

product and you should reach to every one of them in order to succeed in the sale.

You need to know who the stockholders are, you need to have the plan how to approach them already prepared at the 1st sales call so that everything that happens after flows naturally. All this happens only with previous planning

and following the process.

Document every step you make

Everything should be documented and monitored so the process can be followed without forgetting any step, and at the same time you will be able to measure the success of every technique used.