What Does Your Medical Sales Team Know about Your Clients’ Customers?

24 Jun, 2018

Your medical sales reps — even your novice junior team members — recognize the importance of profiling their target audience. They know their customers inside and out, and if they don’t, then they’re making an ongoing and continual effort to amend that situation and learn all they can about their customers’ needs, fears, pain points, and long-term plans. This understanding is fundamental to any successful sales strategy, and you try to drive this message home as an integral part of your training process.

But there’s another layer to this understanding; one which managers and training sessions often neglect: reps also need to understand the customers’ customer. Since your clients’ businesses depend on making customers happy, you should know who these entities are and what they require and demand from your clients. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you encourage your medical sales reps to complete this chain.

Clients don’t always offer this information.

Since this topic doesn’t always come up during interactions without prompting, your reps may need to investigate the issue on their own. A little research can help provide answers to a few key questions: Does the client contribute to a health system, or does the client interact with patients directly? Does the client address the same pain points, needs, and fears repeatedly? If so, what are these pain points, needs, and fears? And if not, why does each client relationship vary?

Incorporate data into presentations.

Gaining an understanding can be a great first step, but it won’t get your reps all the way to the finish line. If, for example, they recognize that a client’s primary relationships are built on a general dissatisfaction with its competitors, your reps should compile this information into clear statistics and graphs that can help the primary client understand how your product can allay this dissatisfaction.

As always, develop and encourage listening skills.

Your reps should learn to prompt clients to discuss their customer base and remember every detail when they do. Listening skills are a critical aspect of success in sales, and if your reps can learn to listen more than they speak during interactions, they find the road to a close.

The industry is wider than your own company.

Sales reps should demonstrate that they understand how the larger industry works, and which entities stand to gain and lose through various interactions with each other. Reps will gain greater trust and respect if they understand the industry beyond the boundaries of their own employers.

Are you looking for the right medical sales candidates to bring to your team? If so, turn to the medical sales recruiters at Buckman Enochs Coss and Associates.