In early 2020, we all started to hunker down in our home offices while healthcare facilities pivoted to take on the tsunami of COVID-19. The routine day of a sales rep was turned upside down when travel stopped and onsite client visits disappeared.
Sales reps often feel like customers are family, but suddenly there was a disconnection when âhomeâ wasnât accessible. Thankfully, six months or so into our brave new world, there are bright spots. Technology combined with sales rep savvy has not only come to the rescue â itâs taken many relationships to the next level.
In a session at HIDAâs virtual Streamlining Healthcare Expo & Business Exchange, four top supply chain sales experts talked about how they have learned to leverage technology to communicate and build relationships amid the pandemic. Here are some of their lessons learned:
Make sure your sales teams are comfortable on their meeting platform such as Zoom, WebEx, or Microsoft Teams. âIf weâre not fully sold on communicating through this platform ourselves, how can we expect our customers to be,â notes Account Executive Tim Morris, McKesson Medical-Surgical. Donât think of a virtual meeting as a sorry second chance, but as an opportunity to make an even stronger connection. âYou can see into peopleâs home offices and their lives â ask questions that put people at ease and get customers into their comfort zone,â advises Claflin VP Alex Caldwell. Morris places a guitar he made with his young daughters in the background as a conversation starter.
Use social distancing to bring together decision makers â virtually. Thereâs an opportunity as a sales rep to bring together top people more easily. âWeâre seeing an opportunity to service customers from a team approach,â says Stephen Milton, Sales & Training Development Director, PDI. âWe can get a group of people together more effectively and easier than before by leveraging technology â and be more productive.
Be prepared. When Morris schedules a video meeting, he puts a couple of âteaser questionsâ in the meeting invite, asking that they be answered before the meeting. For example, âhow are your PPE needs right now?â can be addressed prior to the conversation. âBy ending my meeting invitation with questions, Iâm addressing things that can easily derail a meeting before the meeting actually happens. Itâs extremely important to set expectations,â he advises.
Caldwell agrees that you canât âjust request a meeting,â but need to offer content that will pique curiosity. âItâs really important to prep ahead of time.â
Miltonâs team conducts mock sales calls designed to have connectivity problems. He recommends that a colleague provide backup on every real sales call with the slide deck. That way, if he loses video or audio, his partner can jump in. âIf the clinical science liaison is on the call, I also make sure they have a copy of the slide deck so they can pick up if I drop off. Itâs just providing good customer service,â he says.
Kevin Dixon, Senior Director, Commercial Contracting, Medtronic, noted that his company has made sure his team has the tools they need to reach out to customers digitally during this unprecedented time.
Caldwell says itâs important to explore product topics with your clinical team before pitching a meeting with a customer. âWeâre trying to being in a lot more opportunities to our customers in addition to PPE.â
Be a resource. Customers ask a lot of questions about whatâs going in in other parts of the country, notes Dixon, and âI can give them some insight on that.â Additionally, sales reps are supplied with educational materials that can help customers. For example, with the dramatic reduction in elective surgeries during the spring, offer clients tips and tools for how to help get patients back into a clientâs care settings.
Embrace levity. Embrace the awkward. Even if you canât connect in-person, show your personality by changing up your video settings with a fun background option like a beach scene. It may bring a smile to someoneâs face. And if your dog is barking in the background, ask whoâs a dog lover. âSometimes you just have to embrace the awkward,â Morris says.