Most of us when considering a sales career in Medical we have a tendency to think Pharmaceuticals, Devices, Equipment, DME, Homecare, ie BUT the future is opening new possiblities in the Computer and Information Technology fields. It may not be calling on doctors, nurses and clinicians but it’s still very much healthcare.
The hospitals across the USA will spend over $4.5 billion on information technology this year and grow upwards of $7.5 billion by 2015, according to the experts.
This healthy growth will be fueled by such things as incentive payments for electronic health records under the federal economic stimulus. In addition to increases in spending on clinical automation by varies healthcare facilities, other factors contributing to I.T. spending growth will be the new ICD-10-CM codes for claims as well as the new 5010 standards for electronic claims formats, according to many leading authorities in the marketplace.
So you might want to think out of the box when searching for either that new job in medical sales OR broadening your options for veteran of the marketplace.
By Peter Stankovich and Sarah Taylor
Dr. Richards was one of the busiest internists in the area and he was writing prescriptions with both hands. But his office was impenetrable. Every pharmaceutical rep in the territory tried to get in and secure just five percent of his business. If one could succeed at this endeavor, he would be king and make his numbers for the year!
The first challenge was to build rapport with the staff and the second challenge was to get invited into Dr. Richard’s office. Only one representative from our company had ever made it that far, but his sales call proved unproductive.
To this day I don’t know if it was the alignment of the universe, the planets or just good clean living, but not only did I make it into Dr. Richard’s office, I also had a real heart-to-heart talk with him. In fact, I was invited to go boating with him later that afternoon!
My colleagues often asked what I did when I finally got face to face with Dr. Richards that got me an invitation to go boating – and later to secure a very large percentage of his business. The answer is this: I used a technique I call “Hot Buttons” to quickly and effortlessly build instant rapport. Using this incredible technique, I sold so much of my product to Dr. Richards and other physicians in my territory, that I became the #1 sales rep in the country for eleven months that year.
What, exactly, are hot buttons? Most people think of hot buttons as topics that quickly incense a person, and get their blood boiling with anger. Those are negative hot buttons, and we all know to avoid people’s negative hot buttons. However, there are also positive hot buttons. Positive hot buttons are topics that really fire a person up with excitement. These topics could be their children, their travels, their career, their hobbies, or other topics. Everyone has topics that they simply love to talk about – even the most introverted doctors – it’s just a matter of uncovering those topics.
Those of us who can quickly uncover other people’s positive hot buttons will promptly build rapport, trust, likeability and credibility with them. Access becomes easier in key offices, and sales numbers will climb. Salespeople who don’t know the art of uncovering and expanding on people’s positive hot buttons will struggle in their sales careers, and have a very difficult time building rapport with their customers.
So now that you know what positive hot buttons are, how do you go about uncovering them and using them to your advantage? Here are the five keys to hot buttons…
Key #1
Let Others Talk
Many people go into sales because they enjoy being around people, and love to talk. Interestingly, most six-figure salespeople are either introverts, or they have seriously learned to listen and let others do the talking. They have found that the more they let the other person talk, the more they themselves learn, and then the more they sell.
When you let other people do most of the talking, they will thoroughly (and unconsciously) enjoy being with you because you are showing an interest in them. So, the more you let the other person talk in a conversation, the more you will be liked! This will build your rapport with that person, and help you gain access into the office on future visits.
Furthermore, when you listen, you will learn incredible amounts of information about that person; you can uncover facts about his or her life, beliefs, and of course, prescribing habits. You can then use this information when you sell. Your goal should be to let others speak at least seventy percent of the time.
Key #2
Fish for Positive Hot Buttons
Everyone has a hot button that is itching to be pressed. It could be a core button, or a superficial hot button. Core hot buttons are topics that the person always loves to talk about, like cars, golf or cutting-edge medicine. Superficial hot buttons are more temporary, and are usually whatever is on the top of the person’s mind that day, such as a breaking news article, a new product indication, or hospital politics.
One way to find hot buttons is to look for clues in the office – a photo of a boat or a golfing trophy are signs of positive hot buttons. Asking more personal questions if time permits can also lead you to hot buttons. For example, by asking the physician if she has any plans for the holiday weekend, you might uncover her penchant for adventure travel or her love of volunteering.
You can also find out valuable information about the physician’s views on medical topics by fishing for hot buttons. Asking questions like, “What do you think about the hospital’s new policy on drug samples?” can give you important information about what that doctor thinks about the hospital, policies, the hospital’s decision makers, drug samples and even drug reps! But be careful: If you hit a negative hot button, mentally store the information and move on quickly. Staying with a negative hot button too long could hurt your rapport.
Key #3
Look for the Light
You can detect when you hit people’s positive hot buttons by watching them during your conversation. Pay attention to the conversation and pay attention to how they react to what is being said. They might talk faster, use more gestures, talk louder, or simply laugh or smile more often.
While you are talking to people, look into their eyes. If you hit a hot button, you will see a change in energy, as if a light were switched on in their head. If it is a positive hot button, their eyes will widen and their pupils will dilate. When you see this happen, stay with the topic and expand upon it, for they are genuinely interested and excited about the topic. Pupil dilation is an involuntary response and cannot be faked.
Key #4
Watch Their Body Language
While you are talking with the other person, watch their body language and notice the distance between you and the other person. Striking a positive hot button may draw the person closer to you, while a negative hot button may “repel” the person, and they will back off.
This approach to watching body language can be an excellent way to uncover a physician’s positive and negative hot buttons about your product during a detail: you can often notice the physician move slightly toward you and away from you as you talk about the various features and benefits of your product. The physician may not be verbally saying he doesn’t like your product’s safety profile, but his body language may tell you everything you need to hear. This information lets you know exactly where to focus your details to make the biggest impact.
Key #5
Fan the Fire
When you find a positive hot button, fan it with follow-up questions to keep it hot. Simple questions and comments like, “Wow, you’re adventurous! Tell me where else you’ve been!” or “How did you become interested in researching autism?” can keep the person talking.
Try to ask at least three follow-up questions for each hot button. Ask open-ended questions to get the physician to expand on what she is talking about. Ask close-ended questions to guide a discussion.
For example, if a physician seems to be concerned about your product’s safety profile, you might want to try open-ended questions like, “Can you tell me about a few patients that have had that reaction?” or “What have your patients been telling you about how they feel on product X?”
Close-ended questions that let you guide the conversation might include, “You have been talking about your concern for Product X’s safety (hot button) … would product X’s new, once daily dosing help to reduce your concerns about systemic side effects?” or “Would you be willing to try a lower dose in a handful of patients this month and see if you can get adequate results with less drug?
Make sure that, over time, you continually uncover new hot buttons, so your conversations don’t get stale and repetitive from discussing the same topics over and over. After a couple of calls using the same hot buttons, uncover some new hot buttons, and talk about those too. If you see an interesting article in the newspaper or a magazine about someone’s hot button, you may want to clip it out and bring it to them – it will show them that you listen, and that you think about them outside of your office visits.
Finally, make sure that you take great notes after each call so that you remember each person’s positive hot buttons in the office. Even those of us with the best memories will forget key points from last month’s calls.
Conclusion
The most effective salespeople are simply the best at zeroing in on what the customer wants, and what interests him or her. The better you are at finding these “positive hot buttons,” the easier your details will be, the more interesting you will become and the hotter your sales will be!
