Having the door closed in your face is one of the many character-building experiences you have to experience in sales. While salespeople go into every meeting assuming the customer will decide to give your product a try, the reality is that winning over the competitive physician is the exception rather than the norm.  It’s never as easy as it sounds…

We’ve all been there when a major physician’s office turns their back on you. They’re not interested in another meeting and are progressively shutting you and your company out of communication with them.

If the first harsh truth is that closing competitive customers is the exception, the second harsh truth is that you need sales to survive. It’s a sink or swim situation. Your business depends on growth to stay afloat, and without it, you are bound to be replaced by a smarter, more agile competitor.

So how do you grow your business when the biggest fish, or quite frankly any significant physician, won’t use your product?

Step 1: Understand the Physician you are targeting doesn’t have all the control

In healthcare today, specialty physicians depend and even rely on referring physicians to send them new patients (i.e. customers). It’s the only way they have patients to implant a particular product, write a certain prescription or request a certain diagnostic test or therapy.

The first step is tracking the circular flow of patients from one doctor to another. Where do they come from? Where do they go to? Realizing that the physician is in consultation with many other physicians about patient treatment will open up many doors for you.

In short… everyone answers to someone…

Step 2: Find the “Gate-Keepers” of Healthcare

In the general sales process, when we refer to the “gate-keeper,” we are typically referring to a person or entity that allows or blocks access to the target customer.  You know… the nice person at the front desk who doesn’t ever just “let” you in…

In healthcare, the “gate-keeper” of the healthcare industry isn’t the nice person behind the front desk at your specialists office… it’s the Primary Care physician who controls the circular flow of patients.

These physicians are not so much blocking access to the target customer as they are looking out for the interests of the physicians they refer patients to. If you are selling a specialty medical device, prescription drug, or even a diagnostic, chances are you have never been to a Primary Care docs office! (This is where ALL of the patients come from…)

The fact is that you have missed a tremendous sales opportunity. Primary care offices are usually where decisions are made regarding treatment options for their patients, who wind up being referred to the specialty doc you are targeting. It’s a full circle!

It’s vital that you isolate Primary Care offices and approach them for a product demo as soon as possible. Most of the time, the PCP may have heard of your product but have no idea who it can help or which specialty physician to send their patient to who utilize these new devices or therapies.

But rather than track down and meet all 3,412 primary care docs in your territory, shouldn’t you just talk to the few that are feeding that doc who won’t sit down with you? The answer is Yes, and the solutions is right at your fingertips.

Step 3: Growing your business from the inside out

Once Step 1 and 2 have been properly undertaken, it should only be a matter of time before you start seeing some positive changes. What if a major PCP starts sending their best patients to your loyal physician customer instead of the physician who won’t meet with you? They would have made the change after realizing, thanks to you, that there are other, and sometimes better, options for their patients.

Suddenly, the tide begins to turn.

There’s always more than one way to skin the cat!

Step 4: How do you find those big referring physicians?

Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… how in the world do I find out who these PCP’s are who control all the patients I’m looking for?

Well, first, you can always ask the competitive physician who won’t see you… (yep, you’re right… that’s a non-starter.  I mean really… what physician is going to print out a list of their biggest referring physicians?  You guessed it… non of them.) There aren’t many places salespeople can find some of the referring physician data.  It’s typically reserved for the company who has a budget in the tens of millions.  It’s certainly not an option for the small distributorship or individual rep… or is it?  One of the significant draws to ProSellus is that it provides a lot of this data, all in the palm of your hand.

ProSellus will also show you who the busy primary care physicians are who have relationships with the specialty docs you can’t get in front of. Often, you’ll find it’s a local Ortho, Neurosurgeon, or Neurologist sending patients. The perfect candidate to set up a meeting with.

Conclusion

The world of Healthcare is changing folks.

If you can’t get in front of the “whale” in your market or can’t fight the consulting dollars your competitor is paying, you can just give up right?  Your job depends on you finding a way to grow your market.

ProSellus is the tool more and more companies are turning to in order to shift the tide of competitive advantage.

Don’t get left out.

To learn more about ProSellus and our proprietary software platform go to www.prosellus.com