It’s 4:45 am…

DING. DING. DING.

The alarm hits you like a freight train.

After all, it’s Quarter End and you were up late last night entertaining a customer.

You rub your eyes feeling as if you had just 5 seconds ago put your head down to go to sleep, only to stare at your phone and remind yourself, “It’s the last day of the quarter…”.

The last day of the fiscal quarter for Healthcare sales reps is beyond hectic. To put it to you point blank, it’s freaking stressful.

You will be forced to answer calls and reply to several messages from your manager asking,

• “What kind of deal can we get done today?”
• “Can you collect this PO and that one?”
• “Can you get that clinic to finally place an order?”

And on and on and on.

On top of replying to the entendre of messages, you manage your docs, hospitals, ASC’s, etc. After all, your Quarter End doesn’t matter to them nor does it mean that relationships get put on the backburner.

You stare at the Keurig as it makes a rushed cup of coffee, while you look back and forth at the emails that came through overnight on your phone and out the door, you go. To your dismal surprise, it’s raining and a bitter 40 degrees outside.

Awesome.
You are forced to sit in traffic and at the red light you continue to stare at the email your manager sent you yesterday, the same one you’ve looked at twice already this morning. The email shows your QTD sales numbers. You compare the numbers to the scribbled notes you’ve been keeping since the 1st of the month.

There are 3 things you are possibly thinking while looking at your numbers:

Personally, I’ve been in all three of these positions. If you stick around this business long enough, it’s inevitable to spend time in positions #2 and #3. If you are lucky enough, you will experience position #1 over and over.

This is the reality of 100% of salespeople in Healthcare sales today.

It’s a career that means constant pressure such as hearing, “It’s the most important close, of the most important month, of the most important quarter, of the most important year…. EVER”. Constantly.

Your reps dread this time of the quarter/year.

Can you blame them?

• By this point, it’s too late to make a major impact, unless there is a move in the making that has been worked on for weeks or even months prior.
• Their normally calm, cool and collected manager, manages to completely lose their cool.
• Reps’ phones are bombarded and blown up by their manager wanting updates, as they sit through a 7:00 am case.

No one likes to talk about this part of being a healthcare rep.

The part that’s stressful, and can make you lose your hair and gain a few extra pounds.

When your family asks about your work, you tell them about surgeries and the docs, nurses, and admins you love to work with. You tell them about the rush, the money and being part of an important team.  You almost always omit about what the stress is like.

THE BOTTOM LINE: This business can take you to places you never thought imaginable, but you can’t escape the Quarter End/Year end close.

You need to be consistently finding new revenue streams from new, up and coming physicians or accounts.  Better yet, what if you found the patients before they found their specialist and you could direct where they went?  A constant source of new patients to fill your pipeline!

Now THAT ensures constant growth and constant growth ensures stress-free Quarter End closes… all the time.

So, how do you, whether you’re a rep for one of the biggest Healthcare companies in the world, or an independent rep selling an entire smorgasbord of products from different manufacturers manage this part of the job?  But not manage it AT the Quarter End, manage it throughout the Quarter to where you never have to deal with the stress of the Quarter End?

That’s why you need something more than a CRM. You need a tool that tracks revenue, leverages the right data for you and can show trends for the entire quarter on your phone.

A tool that will never leave you in the dark and that will always let you know where you stand. One that can propel you to meet each Quarter End in position #1.  Let’s talk about how ProSellus can help you and your team never stress the Quarter End close again!

Check us out at blog.prosellus.com

The healthcare sales industry is changing as rapidly as the ER moves on a Saturday night.

Pushed forward by the many technological advancements of the past several years, we’re now in what’s called the 4th Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0.

The Old vs. New

With this turning of the tides, medical device salespeople need to redefine themselves and change the way they operate or risk becoming obsolete. (i.e. becoming a victim of the “RepLess” Sales Model. And before you jump all over me for even mentioning the “RepLess” Sales Model, keep reading. Ignoring that possibility, no matter what your opinion is, is no way to continue thriving in this industry.)

In the not so distant past, medical device salespeople were hired in overwhelming part on the ability to sell (which makes sense right? That’s what you’re there for after all). With the new tactics and strategies in place by medical device firms the look and feel of the salesperson is changing… rapidly

No longer are the “Relationship Rep,” or the “Competitive Rep,” considered the top candidate.  Are those qualities important? Of course, but not as important as they once were.

There’s an increased emphasis on metrics, data, and analytics, as well as the ability to pitch to the C-Suite (and if you think everyone has that skill set, just go have a 2-minute conversation with the “case coverage rep”).

These are some of the skills the new medical device salesperson needs to have.

Engaging Healthcare CFOs

Most salespeople are well versed in tackling the OR and working with physicians, but when push comes to shove, almost none of them are comfortable engaging in an in-depth meeting with the CFO. Unlike the typical OR session, a one-on-one with the C-Suite needs to address the financial concerns and priorities of the hospital and how your device will impact the overall revenue and expense forecast. (Not just reimbursement vs cost of device.)

In an article by Health Leaders Media, it says that “CFO’s are feeling the pressure to trade in their spreadsheets for crystal balls, when what they really want is a good way to integrate long-range financial planning with the tactical cost reductions they are implementing every day.”

For salespeople to have a serious and comprehensive discussion with a CFO, they need to address pricing and reimbursement upfront but understand the market dynamic the facility competes in. 

Salespeople with a better understanding of stakeholders and how their product or company can impact the overall strategy of the Hospital are the winners in this battle.

Can the current salesperson look beyond face-value of the price and look further into the long-term relationship with the hospital?  Most can’t, which is why “Rep-Less” or “Rep-Lite” sales models even exist.

Analytics & Data Driven Decision Making

The next key skill set many medical device firms look for in reps is the ability to analyze data, understand the market, and make an informed decision based on numerous factors.  (Not just does Dr. “A” do a lot of a certain procedure, therefore he is target #1)

Less and less Sales VP’s and Market Managers are impressed with the “I ‘know’ the market and I ‘trust my gut’,” approach to the market.

The stakes are simply too high for companies to depend on the “gut or field experience” of the salesperson who’s been in the market for several years.  These firms want their salespeople to truly partner with hospitals and surgery centers at the CFO/CEO level, where the real decisions are made.

Understanding the Market (Not Your Customers)

In many cases when a sales leader is interviewing a candidate the inevitable question about the market comes up.  It’s usually sounds something like this:

“I see you’ve worked in ‘Phoenix’ for several years.  Tell me about the market.”

In the salesperson’s eyes, they think this is their time to shine about all the key customers they know.  And in many cases, it is. 

However, in the new Healthcare Market the customers are important, but what’s more important is where those patients coming from? Is there ample supply of patients for the market to grow? If so, at what rate? And for how long? Can this specific market support multiple reps?

The new sales leaders want to know the salesperson they hire isn’t just plugged into the customer market, but the entire market. 

For example:  Who are the largest Primary Care practices or docs in the market?  Which docs influence the market?  What underlying relationships exist where the company could gain an immediate foothold in the market?

These are the answers the sales leader wants to hear.  They want a salesperson who UNDERSTANDS the entire market.

Are you prepared for that?

Let’s take a look…

Step 1: Get Plugged In

The first step salespeople need to take is truly get plugged into their market. 

Start asking questions about referral sources.  Go meet with these docs. The easiest sales call you’ll ever make is the one where you’re not selling anything.  Go talk to the big hitters in Primary Care.  They’ll tell you exactly where you need to be!

The key here is PAY ATTENTION. These conversations aren’t for lip service. These docs can lay out the market for you. They are the gatekeepers of patients. Every specialist wants a relationship with the big primary care practices… it’s how they survive.

Step 2: Understanding the Finance’s

Talk to your company about financial proforma’s for CFO’s.  Don’t ask for one so you can have it in your bag.  Ask for one so you can UNDERSTAND the financial position in the market and it’s long-term benefits and pitfalls. Be prepared to take the conversation either way.

Go meet with the VP of Finance at one of your hospitals. Don’t do it to sell your product.  Ask their opinion.  Ask them what keeps them up at night.  Ask what direction the hospital wants to go in the next 3-5 years. Try to understand their issues through THEIR eyes. This will only help you position your product or service.

These conversations will help you educate your customers but more importantly, position you in a great place when it comes to meeting with the CEO & CFO of the facility.

Conclusion

This may seem like a tall order, which is why ProSellus is here to help.

ProSellus provides the market analytics for your entire sales team, or individual salespeople, all in a simple-to-use mobile application.  Never be caught on your heels again when talking about your market.

If you would like to learn more about ProSellus check us out at blog.prosellus.com

ProSellus, one of the fastest growing healthcare tech start-ups, recently released a significant upgrade to their Marketing & Sales Acceleration Platform.

The ProSellus system now has the ability to search for the following in any market in the US:

-100% Inpatient & Outpatient Procedure Code Search Capability

-100% Inpatient & Outpatient Diagnosis Code Search Capability

-Physician Referral Patterns

-Reimbursement Data ($’s Charged vs $’s Paid)

-Facility Search Based on Procedures with Descending Physician Data

-Sunshine Data / Open Payments Linked to Each Physician

-and much, much more!!!

The ProSellus platform is currently used by Marketing Executives, Field-Based Sales Teams, Individual Salespeople, Hospitals, Independent & Multi-Disciplinary Physician Groups and many more  The intuitive nature of the ProSellus platform has been a significant differentiation between “Big Box” platforms not specifically created for the niche Healthcare market.

Additionally, by providing much of the data typically purchased in this market, ProSellus becomes one of the only platforms where data is provided, routinely updated, and employs its own integrated CRM platform.

Say goodbye to the costly and time consuming integrations between multiple software systems.  ProSellus is the first platform that truly does it all.

To schedule an online demo of the ProSellus platform whether you are an independent salesperson, company executive or work within a hospital network please click the link below:

https://calendly.com/prosellus/prosellus-demo

Salespeople rarely agree on anything.  The comp plan is good, the comp plan is bad, quota is too high, it’s not enough for me to make enough money, and the list goes on and on.

The one thing they all seem to agree on:  The CRM my company makes us use SUCKS.

And here we go!

Compliance with our CRM tool is “good.”

Most Sales Leadership we speak to agree that,  “we require 1 login per week with our CRM nd compliance is achieved with the ‘stick.’” Meaning salespeople are, more or less, forced to use the CRM.  Believe it or not, this is considered success. (Seriously???)

The reason for this, as many salespeople will attest, is they feel the CRM system is nothing more than Big Brother keeping track of their every move.

It has nothing to do with helping the salespeople grow their business.

And unfortunately, they’re right.

Growing business is the #1 priority of salespeople, right?  Of course it is!  That’s how they earn a living!

So, don’t you think you could get more compliance out of your CRM if it actually HELPED them sell something?!?!

Shocking thought… I know… (You’d think I must be some sort of a genius to come up with that!)

CRM isn’t exactly Mobile Friendly

Salespeople are always on the go. They work on commission and every moment spent in the office can be considered wasted time.

If this is the case, which it is, why are they still being given tools to use that are laptop or tablet based?

I remember very distinctly when I was a salesperson:  If I had to do something on my laptop it more than likely wasn’t going to get done.  Once expense reporting was available on my phone, my laptop became an official paper weight.

The idea that software companies provide a tool that isn’t designed specifically for the on-the-go salesperson is unbelievable.  What’s worse, companies still buy them.

The Software tool decision makers typically sit behind a desk and mainly focus on themselves and not their end-user: salespeople.  After the fact they are completely flabbergasted when salespeople won’t use their shiny new toy.

Imagine that…salespeople not wanting to use a tool that is not built for them.

CRM’s Don’t Help Salespeople Sell

Not only does CRM make little to no difference in the sales process, but it also makes it more complicated and time-consuming.

Let’s call it what it is:  CRM is a data-collection tool that 99% of the time is simply telling a salesperson, manager, etc what has happened in the past.

That my friends, is called a rear-view mirror… Have you ever tried driving forward while keeping your eyes on the rearview mirror?  Impossible.

So, why do Healthcare companies insist that their salespeople use tools that force them to use the rearview mirror?

Answer: Well, we need a CRM, right?  They all do the same thing, right? I guess this is what we’re supposed to do…  We’ll just use “this” one…

And bang, just like that you’ve set your salespeople up with a tool they will fight you on 100% of the way.

Goodbye Rearview Mirror, Hello Windshield

Instead of your salespeople being forced to constantly focus on the rearview mirror, what would it feel like to have them focus on what’s in front of them?

Imagine your salespeople using a tool throughout the day that actually fed them leads and insights about those leads while they worked in their territory?

Now that would actually make sense.  Maybe that’s why companies are so slow to move to a solution like that,,, because it makes sense.

After years of having to suffer (and yes, I do mean suffer) through the same problems as presented here, our team built a solution for both sides of this problem and it’s called ProSellus.

ProSellus was designed with all of these issues in mind, allowing them to manage their territories, without having to do the extra work to appease their superiors.

Come take a look:  blog.prosellus.com

 

Healthcare Data is expensive!

So expensive that the majority of Healthcare sales organizations never buy it.

Once it’s purchased it has an inherit diminishing value.  It’s data in a spreadsheet from a snapshot in time, which unless you’re a Marketing Manager or an Excel Guru, you will never understand, let along use.

Why Did it Become So Expensive?

Buying and selling healthcare-related data is a huge business. It all started back in the 1980s when it became commonplace for the pharma industry to track doctors’ prescribing habits and use that information for their gains.

This data, as one might expect, doesn’t come cheap. Big US pharmacies, labs, and others in the sector are selling their data for tens of millions of dollars. Companies like IMS Health, alongside IBM Watson, and LexisNexis are a few of the better-known companies that buy this information. They then use it to connect physician practices with pharmaceutical and insurance companies, as well as other players that are looking for all sorts of insights into the medical marketplace as a means of better promoting their products.

But like we mentioned before, these companies are worth billions of dollars and have data-purchasing budgets to match. It means that they are the ones who set this high price for the information, in the first place, making it next to impossible for their smaller competitors ever to use it.

It is a monopoly in pretty much everything, except the name.

The Misconception about Data

All of the companies mentioned above would like you to believe that the only way Healthcare Companies can utilize data is to stroke a check for a minimum 5-6 digits.  After all, they’re in the Data-Selling business.  That’s how they make money!

Low and behold, what if we told you a lot of the data you’re looking for is public?  Yes, that’s right, with a lot of time on your hands, some advanced database management experience and lastly some sort of tool to analyze and interpret all of this valuable data you could use it for free?

I guess “free” is a loaded term in this context.  The time necessary to find, identify, decipher, load, re-load, organize, re-organize, unify, re-unify, display and then FINALLY use this data would likely take an experienced team a few years to do.

So, what if there was a turnkey way to utilize all of this data? Already stockpiled, already organized, already ready to go, already ready to go on your phone?

Most importantly, not a snapshot in time.  An ever-changing, ever-growing system where data is continuously updated allowing for changes to happen just like they would in the real world…

The Solution is Here!

In the end, one of the things salespeople crave is data.

What physicians are doing what?

Who’s “In-Bed” with whom?

These are all things we as salespeople talk about during happy hour and text messages, but what if it was real?  Not just gossip? What if it was in the palm of your hand?  All in a tool that is simple enough for your kids to use?

Seems impossible right?

Conclusion

ProSellus is a data provider, analytics tool, and a CRM system all mixed into one. It combines all of these systems, and adds the user’s way of doing things, maximizing your results, in the process. But don’t take our word for granted.

Check us out and request a demo.  The Future of Sales Acceleration is here…

Old is a relative term, but usually when we talk to Sales & Marketing Leaders anything older than 1 quarter is considered “old.” So, back to our original question, ” Why do Healthcare Companies Buy ‘Old Data’?”

Wouldn’t it make more sense to buy data that tells the company which physicians will make the best customers based on your current customer base? The reality is not all customers are good customers. (This is the sort of thing your Marketing & Sales Ops Leaders dream of… no, really, they do.)

Doesn’t that sound nice?  A dynamic, data file (or software) which continually updates and changes pointing out exactly who the best customers are for your business based on too many metrics to keep track of yourself.

It all happens auto-magically.

That determination shouldn’t be placed on some old data that many would argue isn’t accurate to begin with… right?

According to the latest trends, the global medical device market is expected to reach somewhere around $343 billion by 2021. It translates to a 4.6% annual growth rate, pushed in large part by several factors including healthcare expenditure, growing health awareness, more treatment options, more extensive chronic health problems, more informed customers, an aging population, and emerging technologies, among others.

Increasing competition among medical device companies has led to a change in how the sector behaves and operates. Besides introducing new products and services as a means of increasing sales, these companies are also beginning to use data and data analytics to guide its teams.  

In an attempt at improving overall decision-making and most importantly its efficiency and effectiveness in gaining new revenue-producing customers, sales and marketing leaders are looking for the most advanced tools to make these decisions for them, you know… auto-magically.

So. Much. Data.

Public, Private, Self-Accumulated. There truly is no end in sight.. There is so much data to be had and companies are buying it like there’s no tomorrow.

How is it used?

Who’s analyzing it?

Is it analyzed appropriately?

Are the right people seeing it?

Does it actually lead to increased market share? or does it simply check the box next to the line item in the marketing budget?

There are as many questions about what to do with the data as there are about the data itself.

The biggest misconception about Healthcare companies buying data is this: Just because a physician did something a year ago (or longer), doesn’t necessarily mean that a sales rep should contact them today. Does it?

If salespeople had their way they would try to identify the high-potential new customers who are most similar to their current best customers. (The easy conversion, with minimal effort) But, does this “metric” exist today? Nope.

It doesn’t matter how much data a company buys, or how recent. Numerous dimensions of data need to be analyzed about current customers and prospects to identify the BEST opportunities to grow.  This analysis needs to be an autonomous, living, breathing machine of its own. The more its fed the more it produces.

The Solution

But what if this “machine” could provide that highly-coveted information? What if you knew which physicians within the community were most like your best customers? What if that information was based on hundreds of data points and could tell you: “No, don’t call on that doc, call on this doc, instead. He/She is the  one who best matches the full criteria build by your current best customers…”

Now, THAT would be the sort of data and software that would prove to be real game changers in the Healthcare sales world.

Never again rely on data solely based on what a physician did in the past but rely on thousands of data points that tell you the best physician to call on today!

We’re not quite there yet today but every day we’re getting closer and closer. Until then, we rely on tools like ProSellus; the fastest-growing Sales acceleration platform available today.

Conclusion

In this day and age, almost every industry works by making use of data. It’s up to us to determine what tools to use and what makes the most sense to us.

If you would like to learn more about ProSellus, request a demo today, feel free to check out our website at blog.prosellus.com or reach out to me directly: scottwalle@prosellus.com

More and more physicians today are selling-out to hospitals and becoming employees. In fact, in a 2017 report for the nonprofit Physician Advocacy Institute, revealed that 5,000 physician practices and over 14,000 physicians have been ‘scooped up’ by hospitals between July 2015 and July 2016 alone. What’s more, since 2012 and 2016 (the time frame of the report), the number of hospital-owned physician practices had more than doubled.

During that same period, the total number of hospital-employed physicians has also increased by 63%, with every region of the country seeing this shift in a range from 83 to even as much as 205% in some areas.

This trend is indicative of several factors, among them, being the ever-increasing costs of running a business, more liability in a litigious society, and declining reimbursement, all geared towards a broader and more integrated system within the healthcare industry.

What are the Effects?

As a direct consequence this shift in the medical staff, Medicare costs have risen by as much as $3.1 billion from 2012 to 2015. Likewise, beneficiaries were facing $411 million more in expenses than they would have otherwise paid if the services were performed in independent physician offices.

From the doctors’ perspective, they’ve either yielded to the hospitals, as mentioned above or have since turned to other ancillary forms of income like Diagnostics, investments in Surgery Centers, Imaging Centers, etc.

How Can Docs Remain Profitable and Independent?

As reimbursements continue to decline and independent physicians take the brunt of this shift, it comes as no surprise there has been an increase in consolidation within healthcare.

Most physicians can’t afford this continual shift, lacking the necessary financial know-how to find additional sources of revenue and redirect their medical business back to the profitable state it once was.  Some of these physicians are getting smart and turning to experts for help in managing the finances of their practice. In the end though, physicians are like everyone else – they like to receive money, not spend it.

It many spaces in healthcare the salespeople who surround the physician have become the “go-to” person for what new opportunities exist for ancillary income. With the existing environment these salespeople become one of the most important assets a physician can have.  They become the conduit to the outside world and introduce physicians to opportunities they otherwise never would’ve known existed.

In other words, salespeople have an unprecedented opportunity to change how they are viewed by physician customers.

Salespeople: Get with the program!

Changing the Paradigm in Healthcare Sales

To do this, salespeople need to rely on more than intuition and instinct. They need to be plugged into their local market and constantly be networking their physicians and with other salespeople on the lookout for opportunities.

Salespeople can also benefit by making use of what state of the art technology can offer.  ProSellus is a simple-to-use mobile application that utilizes market analytics to deliver critical data to salespeople in the field.

With it, you and your team will build value for physicians, helping expand their business. Without it, you’re just like every other salesperson pushing a product that the doc doesn’t want to hear about…

With ProSellus, you’re no longer only a salesperson, but a trusted business advisor to your physician customer. The highly competitive nature of Healthcare Sales demands it.

Conclusion 

If you want to learn more about how to become a business consultant to your physician customers reach out to me on LinkedIn or check out our website.

We are all fully aware that the sales business is no easy thing to master. By the end of this year, there will be more than 2 million salespeople working in wholesale and manufacturing alone, with retail, insurance, investments, and the healthcare industry employing even more.

When it comes to their total compensation, salespeople often have all kinds of special incentives such as expense accounts, prizes, bonuses, or company cars. Nevertheless, the bulk of their earning, with or without a salary, comes from commission. Period.

Commission Plans in the Medical Device World

From 2016 onward, the inflation rate in the US has risen annually by about 2%, on average. If things continue as predicted, this trend will continue to at least 2020. Salespeople, especially those in the cutthroat world of medical devices and diagnostics seem to be always complaining about the fact that they have to sell more products every year to remain at the same level, income wise.

The reason for this is somewhat self-explanatory. Commission plans in the medical device world rarely, if ever, increase. And for those unfortunate enough to not see a commission increase have to work 10 to 15 more hours a week to remain at the same income. It comes in addition to the already 60+ hours they put in, week in and week out.

How does this seem right?

As a direct consequence, many salespeople have turned to selling ancillary products on the side, somewhat like contractors for other companies. You’ve probably already heard about salespeople selling topical creams, PGx, metabolizers, etc.

By most standards, this is seen as a fire-able offense, but more and more reps are willing to take the risk, to recoup their lost revenue caused in large part by decreased commission plans or higher sales quotas.

Is This the Way to Go as a Salesperson?

It can be, but at a significant cost if it goes sideways. Don’t get me wrong, there are salespeople making MORE money selling on the side than they do at their own company.  For them, it’s worth the risk, but for the majority of salespeople that isn’t the case.

The truth of the matter is the entire business world is changing, due in large part to the many technological innovations of the recent decades. Instead of looking for ‘part-time jobs’ or other such means of generating extra income, salespeople need to get ahead of the curve and make use of the technology that’s disrupting everything.

Why sell something else when you can sell more of what you already have… without getting fired?

Getting Ahead of the Curve

Trusting one’s gut was, and still is, an essential asset for every salesperson but it no longer is enough. In today’s world, salespeople can only remain relevant and competitive if they make use of computer-generated data and analytics, to better understand the market and the subtle changes that happen within it every single moment of every day.

In other words, every salesperson needs to become the “go-to guy/girl”- the person that has all the answers and the one who knows the deepest-most inner workings of the market. For all the knowledge and ‘street smarts’ that even the most talented rep has, this can only be achieved by making use of state of the art technology.

Conclusion

ProSellus is an easy-to-use mobile software app that will provide you and your entire sales team with the market analytics needed to thrive in this new-age world of sales.

If you don’t believe us, check us out for yourself: blog.prosellus.com

If you would like to learn more about ProSellus request your demo today or feel free to reach out to me directly: scottwalle@prosellus.com