COVID-19 forces sales reps to meet their customers exactly where they are
Selling is never easy. And selling during a pandemic – or, as one expert describes it, a “time of overwhelm” – is tougher still. Healthcare providers have a lot of things on their mind, not the least of which is the survival of their practices. Nevertheless, distributor reps can embrace the opportunity to demonstrate their relevance to their customers – during the pandemic, and after.
Physician practices are concerned about PPE, but they almost always face deeper issues as well – problems they may not even be aware of, says Mace Horoff, Sales Pilot Medical Sales Performance, Boynton Beach, Florida. For sales reps, that’s where opportunities exist.
“Reps are almost spring-loaded to approach customers with products,” he says. “That’s what they do and that’s how they get paid.” But taking that approach during a pandemic is a mistake.
“Reps have to look at the products and services they sell in a different lens now,” he says. “They need to ask, ‘How can [my product or service] address some area of value that is being impacted by the prospect’s current situation?’ In a time of ‘overwhelm,’ is there something my products can do to make practices more efficient, to make it easier for them to care for their patients?
“An obvious thing we’re seeing today is telemedicine. If you have a product with a telemedicine component or one that can be monitored virtually, that is relevant to them, especially if it can be automated and reduce the workload for the practice.”
Horoff uses selling analogies to make his point. For example, an automobile dealer may try to interest a customer in an extended warranty, unaware that the customer has recently lost her job. The car is important to the customer, but at the moment, she has more pressing things on her mind.
Another example: A rep in the restaurant industry may try to sell a customer on a new piece of equipment even as that customer’s clientele has shrunk due to the pandemic. “Rather than sell the product, the rep can share how other restaurant owners have been successful with takeout or catering,” says Horoff. “If you’re a restaurant owner facing these kinds of issues, that rep will get your attention.
“Healthcare providers don’t automatically know what’s relevant in their business,” he adds. “That’s the value of the medical rep who can connect the dots for them.”
Even after the pandemic has passed, successful reps will continue to identify and deal with whatever is relevant to their customers in the moment, says Horoff. “Everybody is talking about the ‘new normal.’ But what is normal today won’t be normal a month from now. It’ll be something different. Reps need to analyze what’s happening in the marketplace and look at their products differently – through a lens that allows them to position product relevance.”
Laser-focused
Adam Kohut, senior manager, regional accounts, Healthcare Services, Henry Schein, believes that in order to have successful and meaningful discussions about customer needs amidst COVID-19, sales reps should address two main areas: the future of patient encounters, and revenue optimization.
“Ask providers or networks if they have discussed their plans for what an average patient visit will look like pre- and post-pandemic,” he says. Offer solutions such as patient self-scheduling, virtual check-in, touchless payments, telehealth, remote monitoring for chronic care patients, digitally integrated diagnostic devices, and UV disinfection options.
Reps should also ask their customers how they plan to navigate changes in the financial landscape while still providing the best patient care, Kohut adds. Tools to help them do so include point-of-care testing for disease state management, molecular testing at the point of care, diagnostic equipment that keeps the patient and reimbursement in-house, digital imaging and clinical trial matching.
“By staying laser-focused on taking care of the immediate needs that today’s challenges present, and the foresight to take a consultative approach, success can still be achieved.”
Clean and safe
“Many offices don’t want to see salespeople, except for urgent needs, so prospecting for new business is very challenging right now,” says Albert Sands, vice president, non-acute care, MedPro Healthcare Sales Solutions. PPE has been dominating conversations, making it difficult for reps to introduce new products, he says. “We’ve been trying to reintroduce ‘normal’ products into the system, but it’s challenging. We want to be respectful of customers’ needs, not our ‘wants.’”
That said, the demand for monitoring equipment has remained fairly steady throughout the pandemic, not to mention diagnostics for COVID-19 and flu, he says. In addition, more and more products seem to be surfacing that are designed to limit patient contact.
Distributor reps can help physician practices signal to their patients that they are open and offering their services in a safe and sterile environment, says Michael Einhorn, president, Dealmed, Brooklyn, New York. They can do so by introducing products – everything from sanitizers to signage – that convey that message. “It’s about going back to basics, making sure patients know that the office is clean and secure, that their [primary care] doctor can take care of them, that they can be tested for COVID in the office, and they can receive all of their traditional testing once they are there.”
Victor Amat III, president, American Medical Supplies & Equipment in Miami, reminds his sales reps to broaden discussions about PPE to the more-encompassing issue of safety. “Ask the clinician, ‘What are you doing to maintain a clean environment in your facility?’” he says. “We can then offer UV light disinfection equipment, air filtration equipment, smoke evacuators, etc. By shifting the conversation away from PPE items, we get back to selling and not just order-taking.”
Sales reps can help customers make the connection between COVID-19 and equipment they may need, he says. “A post-COVID patient may have cardiopulmonary issues. Spirometry, Holters, stress systems and ECG machines are vital for those with post-COVID side effects – not to mention they have a good reimbursement rate.”