Medical Sales Reps Access to Hospitals is Denied
U.S. hospitals are making it even tougher for medical sales reps to sell their products. Medical product selling to clinicians in hospitals is one of the most lucrative and complex forms of selling known to mankind. Though I have personally enjoyed over 20 years of significant success in this market, I have never before observed the vast amount of obstacles that now exist in the hospital selling environment.
The latest set of obstacles involves the need for hospital vendors (sellers) to be fully “credentialed.” The credentialing requirements vary by hospital yet mostly include proof that the vendor (sales rep) has current written proof of vaccinations or proven immunities for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, hepatitis and tuberculosis. Hospital sales reps must also complete training in disciplines including hospital protocol, HIPPA, blood borne pathogens, Advamed, operating room safety, and others depending on the levels of hospital access that are required for the rep to sell.
I understand and support the need for hospital sales reps to be immunized, educated and to a degree documented. In fact many of these requirements were instituted due to several reasons. One reason was due primarily to a legal change in that sales reps are now viewed as independent contractors providing services to the hospital. An additional reason for the changes was due to the fact that over the past decade, medical sales has become widely recognized to the masses as a potentially lucrative career field for those who posses the advanced sales and personality skill sets required to be successful in this challenging niche. Accordingly, there has been a steady influx of new hospital sales reps, many of whom were less than skilled and savvy in their selling and relationship building efforts. Numerous new reps proceeded to run around hospitals like untrained time share sales people trying to corner MD’s and clinicians so as to demo and hopefully sell their wares. There were also some companies that would use lavish gifts, entertainment and “honorariums” aimed towards MD’s and clinicians in an effort to buy their business and support. So a word of advice to any new medical sales reps from an older experienced and admittedly crusty rep; don’t bother trying the high pressure, fast talking, B.S. slinging, price low balling, promise making, bridge burning, drive by, hospital raiding “sales” calls, because those sales “techniques” are jamming up the rest of us that are in this market for the long haul!
I recognize and appreciate how difficult it has become to break into hospital selling. It is really challenging to gain access to and build relationships with the key clinical decision makers. The good news is that the clinical decision makers are still interested in learning about superior performing products and services with aggressive pricing but the methodology, process and procedure needed to access theses clinical decision makers has been permanently changed . When a seller is fortunate enough to gain a few moments of precious face to face time with a clinician user, influencer or decision maker, they need to make sure that their presentation is need specific, tactful and concise. Most sales in this niche begin as a sequence of events commencing with an agreement to evaluate a product and ideally ending with a commitment to purchase the product.
Hospitals and specifically the hospital supply chain (purchasing) departments are now using and on occasion exploiting the new credentialing programs in order to control and restrict the sales reps access to the clinician. So unless you have been blessed with a one of a kind product, and unless you have long standing clinical relationships, you will be spending more and more effort just trying to get in front of the key decision makers. Despite the increasingly restricted hospital access, the main determinants of consistent sales success remain the same; communication skills, product and procedural knowledge, competitor knowledge, hospital operational knowledge, creativity and perseverance, honesty and personal character.
Feel free to visit my web site or give me a call to discuss some proven sales and closing techniques for increasingly effective medical sales.
Great selling,
Paul Tasca
Author of:
Drumming Up Your Career
Email: paul@paultasca.com Web: http://www.paultasca.com
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