One of the hardest parts about becoming a successful Healthcare Sales Rep is maintaining the relationships which power your business. As we discussed in one of our recent blogs about how to enhance your sales process, there is a formula for perfecting your sales business, and one of the requirements is crafting true value for the customer which leads to relationships that last.
Perhaps the most difficult part of any sales rep’s job is creating value for a new or recurring client in a world full of competitors who are all fighting for the one procedure you happen to compete against. Part of the reason so many Healthcare Sales Reps struggle with creating value is because they are viewing value through the wrong lens… their lens and not their customers’ lens.
Creating Value
True story: The overwhelming majority of salespeople who we train and meet with still typically answer the following question the same:
Question to the salesperson: “Do you create value for your customer and, if you do, what value are you creating?”
Salesperson: “Of course I do! I bring value to my customers by always being 3 steps ahead. I’m always prepared. I’m always on time and I always have all of the equipment that we may or may not use in our case. And…. I bring lunch to the customers office at least twice a month!”
I’m not kidding. I worked side by side with them for 15 years and I continue to train them today. These salespeople, who work at both large and small healthcare companies, answer that question EXACTLY the same. In their eyes, that is how you bring value to the customer. Most have never stopped to ask what really is important.
News Flash folks: The above answer (I’m prepared, I’m on time, I’m always 3 steps ahead) is nothing more than the price of admission to the game. Customers in this industry expect those things! Those things are the BARE MINIMUM! If you can’t at least do those things, you’ll never get a single case with a doc.
So, we ask again, how do you bring value? Real value. Value that matters.
The answer: “…crickets….”
They’re lost. Everything they’ve been told is important, suddenly doesn’t matter anymore and they are completely lost.
Ok, ok, ok. I’ll stop beating the dead horse. If you’ve been in this business for any length of time and you’ve done well, you know the answer. Why? Because you’ve asked the right questions.
But, and this is a significant but, what if you could bring value that matters to your customer and your good ole’ competitor was still talking about what really didn’t matter? You think you might sell some more widgets? Just maybe?
Relationships are the Foundation
Sales reps need to be able to get inside the minds of their customers in order to truly understand what it is they care about and desire. There is a significant difference between what you ‘think’ your customer needs and what they ‘actually’ care about. You need to spend the time to understand the difference. If you can do this, you will lay the foundation for building true customer value. I would even go as far to say that if you could not only understand what your customers truly need, but how to deliver that over and over again – that your competitors will become obsolete over time.
Don’t let your sales business suffer because you can’t keep up! ProSellus is your “easy button” to answering the question of value for any client. You can also build references and a network of referrals to create intrinsic value in your services as a sales rep. In short, everything you need to win is in this little mobile tool called Linx. It was built by sales reps FOR sales reps. Email me at scottwalle@prosellus.com and let’s talk about how we can help you create this value and build your customer relationships effectively and efficiently.
