November 10, 2026- You hold a scheduled meeting with one of your best lab customers and ask them what they think of some new technology. Maybe it’s an exciting new waived chlamydia/gonorrhea system or a new waived fentanyl test. Would they like more information? Would a demonstration from the lab manufacturer make sense?
Their response: “We have been told to ‘do more with less.’ So, I guess that means new technology is out of the question for us.”
The experienced distribution account manager knows this sort of response should lead to more thoughtful probing to better understand the objection. In selling lab products, “no is the gateway to yes” is often true even when the objection is a softer “no” such as this one. Some probes that make sense here include:
- “Can you help me understand what ‘do more with less’ means in your laboratory?’”
- “How does your lab plan to implement a ‘do more with less’ program?”
- “Can you give me examples of how you are planning to ‘do more with less?’”
- “Who in your practice is the sponsor of this program?”
- “Who should I talk to in order to know more about it?”
The probes following the first, simplest and most open one will follow depending upon what you hear. It is likely that the direction to “do more with less” is direction dictated by the practice owner and/or the financial buyer who may be a member of the practice, or located at the IDN if the practice is owned. “Do more with less “is likely a response to a financial decision maker believing the practice or even just the lab needs to provide more profit to the practice.
This objection is not a threat if you remain confident, engage in thoughtful and non-threatening questioning, and are prepared as their lab consultant to show them how the lab can be more productive and produce more profit with the same level of staffing.
Continue Reading in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.