Doctors speak out about why they hate sales representatives
I have spent the last 30 plus years working closely with physicians.
I will never forget my first real job because I started it on my 16th birthday.
I was hired as the weekend EKG technician at Northeastern Hospital. I had 5 different cardiologists as my bosses.
I learned at a young age what each one expected of me. Because I made sure I got to know them, I was able to not only do my job well, I was able to provide them each with a personalized experience.
I knew what physician wanted Tea when he was reading EKG’s and who wanted coffee. I knew which physicians ate peanut butter crackers, and who preferred danish. I also knew what they wanted for lunch and kept the mini refrigerator in the office filled with vitamin water, seltzer, and diet coke so I didn’t have to run out and get something. I didn’t want to waste precious time away from doing EKG’s or typing up the reports.
Because the doctors all liked my work, I was promoted to weekend supervisor at the age of 17, even though the other EKG technicians had many more years of experience and they had 20 plus years of life experience as well.
None of my co-workers seemed to care that I got the promotion before them. They all said that I had outworked them and that I had earned the right to the job. The doctors all felt that they were the happiest when working the weekends because they loved the way I ran the department.
In fact, on all the days that I was off from high school, they had me come to work during the weekdays too.
Now, that was 35 years ago. I have made many physician friends over those years and when it came time for me to reach out and ask them why they hate sales representatives they were incredibly open to sharing with me their insights.
One common statement was repeated to me over and over again:
“I hate sales reps that waste my time”
I dug deeper and I asked them to explain to me what exactly was the sales rep doing or saying that made the physicians feel like it was a waste of their time.
These are the statements that I heard:
Reps that just say I stopped by to say hi and talk about the game
Reps that just ask the doctor do you have any referrals for me
Reps that do not speak to me at all and just flirt with my staff to try to win referrals
Reps that just leave a business card or flyer
My next question was:
What does your favorite sales representative do that you like?
Here is what they said over and over again.
I love a sales representative that makes my job easier
I like salespeople that educate me on how they can help specific patient types
I enjoy working with sales representatives that bring me information that I can share with my patients (These reps help my practice look good).
I like sales associates that provide me with feedback about patients that I have referred
I like salespeople who ask me questions about my patients
The next thing I did was pull out a month’s worth of sales calls following our 52-week sales plan – The Roadmap of Referrals. I showed the physicians what I was providing to the sales representatives and asked them for feedback.
Here is what the physicians had to say:
I had no clue that you could help patients with setting up and using their new glucometer (this was on the flyer for the week we cover diabetes care)
I would love to have educational information in my exam rooms for patients to read while they are waiting for me to see them. (I showed him the Lung Cancer monthly observance form)
The trigger questions really help me identify patients that I just saw that day and at the time of the visit I was so busy thinking about what test a patient needed or what lab work I needed to order, that I sometimes forget that I could also include an introduction for private duty services.
I love that my entire staff would be brought a small treat and me an update about the patients I referred (fun week activity)
I was so proud of this product. The physicians felt that they didn’t really know what home health, hospice, or private-duty does to help patients.
The doctors felt that they would be able to refer more patients if they could learn more about what a patient experiences at home and the benefits the patient would receive that they would have many more patients to refer.
I know that it works because I used this product to save my agency!
I know that sales representatives want to be liked, and the way to win over the physicians is to bring them value.
Get them talking about what is happening in their practice, and you will be the sales representative to win their referrals. If you need help, do not worry. We have done the work for you and have gotten our product physician-approved.
The 52-Week Road Map to Referrals includes group role play so you know exactly what to say to make high-value sales calls!
Evolve into the sales representative that the doctors what to see! To learn more you can click here:
https://homecaresales.com/52-week-roadmap-to-referrals/#home-health-home-care or watch this video:
Would you like to see this in a demo? Reach out to [email protected] or set up a time directly on his calendar here:
