Every Medical Sales Call is a Fact-finding, Intelligence-gathering Mission

Besides making a sale, what are your other goals for each sales call? 

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know. Most of the medical sales reps I ask this question to look at me like a dog who just heard a high-pitched whistle…you know, that tilted-head, wide-eyed look.

Many medical reps define a good sales call as one where they talked and the customer listened, or at least seemed to listen. In other words, the customer doesn’t throw them out of the office or say she’s not interested. They might not have a “yes,” but they also don’t have a “no.” Hence, they feel good about it.

In reality, they have a maybe. Maybe’s don’t make for good sales calls. What a maybe does is deliver false hope and the frustrations salespeople experience when they try to follow-up with customers who aren’t really interested.

Most would agree that getting the order makes for a good sales call. It’s also when the call advances the sale in some way, such as getting commitment from a customer to take the next logical step. 

What if you didn’t get the sale or a customer commitment…could it still be considered a good sales call? It could indeed if you leave with information that helps you to formulate the next step of your sales strategy.

Sales calls are expensive. The cost is time, money and effort. So, it makes little sense to jump in your car and drive to an account without having a clear call objective and a minimally acceptable call outcome. Yes, it’s nice to feel like you’re working, but unless you’re achieving some ROI for your efforts, you’re just burning gas and going through the motions.

“A minimum outcome for any sales visit should be knowing more about the customer when you walk out then when you walked in—every time!”

Intelligence Required

No, I’m not talking about your intelligence (but since you have it, you might as well use it!). I’m talking about gathering customer information that will help you to initiate, close or advance a sale. Yes, you can find information online about almost anyone, and by all means, do your research before making the call. But there’s information that can only be obtained by talking to people and since you’re going to be talking to people anyway, why not gather some intelligence?

What information might be useful? 

Look for anything that helps you to understand your customers better. Why do they buy what they buy? How do they choose products? 

Also, why not learn more about your competitors while you’re at it? How are your competitors perceived by customers? Ask the right questions to the right people and you’ll learn much about your competition. 

And by the way… if you’re one of those sales reps who’s complacent enough to believe you have no competition, guess again! One of your biggest competitors is, and always will be apathy, i.e. the customer just doesn’t care about the solution or outcome you provide. If this is the case and you’re still talking about product, you may as well be talking to a lamp. But I digress…

How do you gain information? Ask questions! Naturally, it’s important to ask appropriate questions, not out of the blue, but in context and as part of a conversation. For example, Let’s say you are talking to Doris, one of the medical assistants in a practice. 

“Doris, who performs the retina mapping in the office? Does the doctor do it or is it her assistant?”

“Becky does the scans.” 

“I might be able to save you some time and free up Becky’s time a bit…which model scanner are you currently using?”

You can continue to probe for more information with questions such as: How long have you had that? How does the doctor feel about the results? How does she feel about the time and personnel required? What’s more important to Dr. Smith, saving time or reducing risk?” When asked the right way and in the right context, you’ll uncover valuable information.

What other information might help you sell more strategically?

• Goals for the practice: Is the practice trying to scale-up or scale-down? Will the practice be adding more physicians or other healthcare professionals? Is it a goal to add staff? Are they planning to remain at the current location? Upsizing or downsizing the physical space?

• Positioning in community: What does the practice want to be known for? What does each doctor in the practice want to be known for? How do they differentiate themselves from other practices or institutions? What are they most proud of?

• Compliance with institutional, governmental, or insurance mandates: Are they concerned about any healthcare compliance issues? Which ones? How would the practice benefit from getter aligning with these mandates?

• Outcomes they value and seek to improve:  These could include safety, reduced risk, reduced time, increased profit margins, patient satisfaction, reduction of complications, better functional result, better cosmetic results, etc.

• Recent problems: Have they had any complaints or issues with products or services that are similar to yours? Are they aware of any reported issues in the literature or in the community? What are their concerns regarding these issues?

Most reps leave the office or department when the gatekeeper tells them the person they hoped to see is unavailable. Why waste precious time with someone who sees what’s going on in the practice or department every day? As the old Crosby, Stills, & Nash song goes, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” 

There is always something to talk about. Sure, the person you’re talking to won’t always have time or even useful knowledge, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a try. If he or she can’t answer your questions, ask who can. Frame your request in terms of value to the practice and personnel and you’ll have a better chance of being directed to the right person. If you’re polite, pleasant and professional, no one will mind that you asked. 

A side benefit of asking questions like these is that you’re talking about the customer and not just about your product or service. That shows a level of concern far above that of the typical medical sales representative.

Hopefully, you already know the value of carefully planning your sales calls. Make sure your planning identifies what you need to know and who might be able to provide it.

Get in the habit of gathering intelligence any time you visit a medical practice, institution or customer. It makes the trip worthwhile, regardless of the sales outcome at that moment. And walking out with good information beats the heck out of leaving with just a maybe.

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