Healthcare’s Digital Renaissance: Pain or Prospect?

You don’t work as a Medical Device Sales Rep for more than decade without learning that attitude is everything. As we move into 2017 with new medical advancements everyday, you’ve got a choice to make. Are you going to view all of this change as obstacles getting in the way of your success? Or will you view them as opportunities to rise to the occasion? If you fall in the former camp, you might want to consider switching teams. Experts say that healthcare’s digital renaissance shows no signs of ending soon. (Buckle up, this train shows no signs of slowing or stopping!)

Get With the Times Grandpa

In today’s world of Facebook, LinkedIn, and CRM’s, you have to constantly tweak your approaches to….well, everything. Gone are the days where you could just check in with a handful of clients. Competition is fiercer than ever, so you’ve got to use every tool in your arsenal and that means adapting to the digital age. (I know what you’re thinking.  I was there too: “Digital Age? What is that?  I’ve done this job successfully for 15 years and NOW you want to change the way we work?”  Haven’t you ever heard, ”You don’t fix what ain’t broke!”  I see all these young kids, who are new to the industry, showing fancy apps to my customers on phones and I-Pad’s and they’re interested in them!  This new electronic stuff is driving me crazy! I’ve fought this as long as I can.)  Transfer from that roll-o-dex to your phone contacts. Use that $800 computer you speak into everyday as more than “just” a phone. It also means taking heed of what top medical industry techies are predicting when it comes to medical technology.

High Tech Humans

You would think that a transition to a more tech focused economy would include the exclusion of humans (like we sales reps). No need to fear: your job is more important than ever.

As we move into Web 3.0, Cohen adds that “the world of connective and predictive intelligence — patients will no longer seek out all the information on their condition; they will look for just the right information, personalized to their situation. Patients need to be able to trust the information is credible and accurate. And while a part of the next wave will be highly technical, the complementary part will be highly human. They will want to engage with healthcare professionals in more frequent, yet shorter interactions, balancing the technical with the personable.”

What does this mean for your business? It means that, whether you like it or not, you’ve got to stay technically relevant AND charismatic AND knowledgeable AND compassionate AND proactive AND….well, you get the picture. Folks, this is one of those times where you sit back and think, “Do I want to learn all this new stuff or fight my manager, my team and my whole company really? OR, I can embrace the idea of mastering all of this digital technology.  What would those young kids in the industry do if I had all of my experience AND their new gadgets? They don’t stand a chance.”  Yes, it’s a demanding job, but that’s what keeps you hungry for more.

Adapting to the changing world of medical sales repping doesn’t have to be rocket science. You can take one huge leap into the future with one quick step: using the ProSellus app. Not only can you more easily keep track of clients, you can utilize their networks of connections to grow your business and pursue opportunities efficiently and effectively. Want more info? Of course you do – email me at Scottwalle@prosellus.com.

 

Task-Streamlining-in-One-Step-for-Medical-Sales-Reps-1

All-in-One Advancements for Medical Sales Reps

Trending: All-in-One Advancements

Quick! Think of your all time favorite accessory. Was it a pocket knife? A smartphone? Maybe it was just your favorite travel mug that keeps hot coffee blazing and iced coffee chilled. What’s the one thing all of those products have in common: multi-tasking. They also happen to be entirely portable (ignoring the fact that smartphones require charging cables). This isn’t just a trend in accessories or movies (apparently). It’s happening in healthcare, too.

A Field Medic’s Plug ‘n’ Play Solution

We live in an age where you can instantly connect with someone halfway across the world. You can also create 3D printed limbs and potentially heal wounds using synthetic polymers. One of the latest incredible innovations is the DOT Telemedicine backpack by swyMed. This all-in-one tool combines everything a physician might need with the power of connectivity. This means you can connect with someone quickly to render a diagnosis or to provide medical help. With 15 hours of battery life and secure connections, this backpack instantly links doctors to any patient. Hmm…having power at your fingertips…that sounds familiar.

The Multitasking “Must Have” for Medical Sales Reps

Similarly to the swyMed DOT Telemedicine backpack, the ProSellus Software System seeks to streamline the process of forming connections and other duties of Healthcare Sales Reps. After all, data means nothing if you can’t organize and implement it.  How many times as an Executive at a Healthcare Firm or a Salesperson at one of these firms were you sent a 450,000 row Excel document with the directions to “filter” appropriately to find the best targets?  This may be a big secret to the marketing folks who sent this information but the reality is, most reps never open the document.  As soon as they see an Excel attachment they immediately begin to feel the anxiety or embarrassment of not know what to do with this huge (in their minds) file.  You see, that’s not what we salespeople do.  We don’t slice and dice Excel or CSV files.  We talk to people.  We detail customers. We use maps and “Waze” on our phones and tablets to get us where we need to go.  Excel and CSV is NOT what we do.  So, unfortunately, all that data that you think is just unbelievably  great and there’s NO WAY we can’t make our number because of all this great “data” you sent us; yeah, it never gets opened, much less filtered.

With ProSellus you can put all that “unbelievable” data to work for you in the form of actionable intelligence and sales acceleration. What a novel idea… Let’s put data in a format that is intuitive and makes sense to salespeople.  I mean, they are after all the people who is actually going to put it to use right?

A day in the life of a medical sales rep is never the same, but it’s always an adventure. Learn how to take control of the social networks of your current clients to grow your business. If the brainchild of Salesforce and LinkedIn sounds like a party to you, you need ProSellus in your life. Email me at Scottwalle@prosellus.com and let’s explore your growth possibilities.

MedicalSalesTech1

Technology in Medical Sales: Is it worth the Sales Rep’s Time?

We talk a great deal about things like actionable intelligence, big data, and using the best tools available to you, but cutting edge technology has its drawbacks…right? Some advancements can completely revolutionize how an aspect of healthcare is practiced. However, it takes time for any industry to fully integrate even the smallest of innovations. The early adopters are ALWAYS the ones to see the biggest benefits. So, what makes a tool positively disruptive in today’s medical world?

Integration, Mobility, and Accessibility

Those three words right there are pure magic in the medical world in 2017. Just think about it: everything is interconnected. You have Google Drive on your phone. You can send iMessages from your Macbook. You can print anything via WiFi. While some are working on devices straight out of Star Trek, others are hard at work on advancing prosthetics. Of course, for something to be truly innovative, it MUST hit all three of those magic check marks.

Patient monitoring programs and apps have been booming in healthcare currently. These programs allow doctors to collect patient data and patient vitals remotely and ultimately cut healthcare costs while increasing access to care.

– ePharma Summit Blog

Technology is no doubt helping advance medicine, however – what about the healthcare sales industry? How many times have you sat there and said, wow, this would be great if this new tool or widget did “X”, which more than likely isn’t anything a software engineer would’ve thought of when they were making your current “sales acceleration” product.  Right?  How many of these products, which were designed “for you,” were actually created by people “like you”?  Newsflash: none of them.  The overwhelming majority of “sales” tools were created by people who aren’t “salespeople”.   I see a gap… it’s shocking… I know!

So, What’s the Deal With 2017?

That ePharma article we linked above had this to say about non-physical tools: “Medical apps and technologies are helping save hospital costs and make healthcare more accessible.” But that focus lies on consumers and healthcare facilities. If the Star Trek inspired XPrize is geared toward consumers, ProSellus is a similar tool for sales reps. Combining the most pragmatic aspects of integration, mobility, and accessibility, this tool is a heavy lifter.  Utilizing this three-pronged approach to all of your data and client relationships, you can easily organize, monitor, access, and implement information. There’s those three check marks again: integration, mobility, and accessibility. (Oh yeah… and created “for you”, by people “like you.”  We’re salespeople too. Sssssshhhhhh, don’t tell anyone! It’s a big secret! But, what a novel idea: Let’s create a sales tool for salespeople made by, wait, you guessed it, salespeople.  A novel idea if I do say so myself!)

If you aren’t using ProSellus, you’re about 10,000 steps behind your competitors. Take control of all the data at your fingertips and use it to grow your business. Email me at scott@prosellus.com to begin learning about sales acceleration techniques that can exponentially increase efficiency in your business. You don’t get anywhere in the medical sales rep industry by just working hard. Work smarter with ProSellus and, we promise, this technology will be well worth your time – and in fact, take very little of it to help you succeed.

 

ImproveYourBottomLinein3EasySteps

Improve Your Bottom Line in 3 Easy Steps

Let me say this – For almost 15 years labored in the “old ways” of healthcare sales. I spent long hours crunching numbers anywhere I could find them, performing my own manual research the best way I knew how and knocked on doors to expand my market. And believe me, IT WORKED, but at one point I thought to myself, “Why isn’t there an easier or faster way to do this? Is this why there are the “1%’ers” in this and every other industry?  Is this the hard work that separates them from the rest of the pack?”

Finally I realized: “It’s the 21st century. Isn’t it time I started using all the tools available to me (and some I didn’t know existed) to enhance my business? If there really is an ‘easy’ button, shouldn’t I go ahead and push it?”  Seriously folks, why work hard when you can work smart… right? In 3 easy steps, I put “big data” to work for me to rapidly boost my revenue’s, visibility, and build my physician network. Many industries have incorporated the critical analysis of data into its business plans. But just how can all these metrics work for an individual or sales company?

Start With The Basics

Before we get too far down the yellow brick road, let’s talk about what “data” actually means. (And let’s face it, if you’re anything like me you’ve heard your company’s marketing team refer to “the data” and what all it “says” and “does”. However, personally, I’ve never had one of these marketing folks actually talk about “the data” in a way that actually made sense to me and in a way I could actually use it to help drive business. So usually, my eyes just glazed over and I watched them talk, no words ever sinking in…  But nevertheless, back to what data actually is…)

Data refers to any collected statistics, metrics, or insights into a particular industry, service, or platform (generally). It can range from how diabetics monitor the glucose levels in their blood to how predictive analytics can help battle a brewing opioid crisis. You might think “data” only refers to how many hits a day your LinkedIn or Facebook page gets, but it is so much more than that. Data can also uncover underlying value within a certain business with regards to performance, patterns and relationships.  Data can potentially make or break your business, but more importantly, understanding your data make or break your business. If you don’t pay attention to the data, you will fall short. Data is everything these days and it’s only going to become more powerful to a business’s competitive arsenal.

Now, let’s start down the road. The first step to improving your bottom line is to analyze your current list of clients. You can do this with just a few easy metrics: quantity, quality, and connections. Performing this analysis allows you to determine how each client is most valuable to you and how to maximize the returns on your investment in them as clients. (We’ve all heard our managers at one time or another refer to the “ROI” of your activities with your customers.  Most of us would roll our eyes and think, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, just watch how much he/she does next month…” However by performing this quick analysis you can see ROI starting to take shape.)  

If one practitioner doesn’t buy the most product from you, but has an extensive network of connections and potential customers, they might be worth the effort after all. In fact, on that last point, if they do have this network of connections – maybe you can tap into it FOR your client. Now here is a thought – take one extra step and deepen the connection for your customer with members of their network and further solidify your own customer relationship.

Do you Really Need 3 Steps?

Secondly, you want to look at the products you represent and how each is performing. Which ones are in demand and which ones are stagnating? Better yet, do the research to find out about innovations in the fields of your best clients. Staying on top of the adaptation of new tools like the app for brain injuries known as “Constant Therapy” is the only way you won’t fall behind.

Thirdly, you want  to communicate all of this in an effective and persuasive manner. That means studying which techniques work best for certain physicians or even clients in certain specialties of the medical industry. Just thinking about cataloging all of that is stressful. I took hours upon hours to gathering intel on, not only my customer’s specialty but also their referring networks’ specialties. Talk about exhausting! But, I was hungry. And while I mention being hungry, I would imagine every person who answers the phone when a recruiter calls and says, “I have an opening you may be interested in” is hungry too. Hungry for YOUR JOB.

I went through all of it: the long hours, the hard work, the nodding off in the middle of typing a sentence. I knew there had to be a better way, which is where ProSellus came from. The first of its kind, ProSellus is a revolutionary app that puts big data to work for you in the palm of your hand. Utilize the latest in sales, sales acceleration, sales enablement and networking strategies to boost your profits and efficiency with the click of a button. Translating numbers into actionable intelligence is easy with ProSellus. Want more info on how to transform your healthcare sales business? Email scottwalle@prosellus.com and be sure to read more of our blogs for constant updates on new tools and technologies.