Doctors
90% of physicians said they wanted somewhat less or significantly less interactions with sales representatives in their practices. 2008 Sermo Physician Survey How to Increase Face Time with Doctors Who Don't Want to See You.
Problem: Limited or no access to physicians It is no secret to any pharmaceutical representative that the time we get with doctors is decreasing every year. According the 2008 Access Report the average call with a primary care doctor only lasts 80 seconds. Today 39% of doctors require and appointment and 24% won't see reps at all. A recent article in Pharmaceutical Representative Magazine by Susan Vargas stated that the growing scarcity of access to physicians and other decision makers can be attributed to several factors, most notably time pressures and a perception that representatives don't contribute enough to the practice of medicine. During a focus group one physician said, "What we get from reps is marketing, and it's not impacting patient care."
Solution: Become more focused on impacting patient care Just as you read in the above quote, doctors have been telling us for years they want us to focus more on improving patient care. In 2005 I worked with a company who conducted "Real-Life" Role-Plays with physicians. After a long day of role-playing with sales representatives we ask the doctors what they would like to see when a sales rep is giving their sales message. The overwhelming response was, "Tell them to solve a clinical problem for us." In January of 2008 I conducted a survey of over 350 doctors in which we asked them about the qualities they wanted to see in an industry representative.
Proof: Selling solutions increases FACE time and sales results Well as they say, "The proof is in the pudding." Meaning that if the recipe is followed and the cook knows what he/she is doing, then the pudding will taste good. The same is true of sales. If solution selling is what the doctors really want then they will give us more time resulting in increased sales. I wanted to g oto the field and ask people who sell to doctors every day if solution selling really works. Below you will find testimonies of a sales representative, sales manager and training manager.
Shannon Ferrar; TLC Sales Representative; Garden City, NY Doctors give me more time when I begin by talking about a problem they are experiencing. If I start by mentioning a product message they can always say they aren't interested or they don't need that product. It is hard for them to say they don't experience a problem that research shows most of their peers are having.
Pharma District Manager; Pediatric Division Do you feel the problem focused approach to selling increases face time with physicians? Absolutely! As soon as you start selling, a doctor closes up. When you identify a problem it captures their attention and they want to hear the solution. My reps tell me they are having more fun because now doctors give them time and want to talk to them.
Jenn Hollinger, Manager of Sales Operations and Training; Novartis, Canada "Setting up the call with a problem that you know is specific to that physicians practice or patient base allows you to engage them right from the start of the call. You gain their attention and give yourself the opportunity to get acceptance to proceed with solving that problem throughout the call. They aren't going to cut you off if they feel they are going to gain some valuable information."
Finally, we need to ask, if this type of approach gives us more time, does that result in increased sales. The answer is yes!! A Best Practices Study revealed Top Performers (those in the top 10% of sales attainment) are better problem solvers than average performers by a margin of 5 to 1.
Summary Want to get more time with your doctors and start increasing prescriptions? Stop marketing your product and start impacting patient care by discussing patient problems your product can solve. Oh! one more added benefit to discussing patient problems with your doctors; it makes you more PhRMA compliant. That's always a plus!!