A successful sale is far from the end of your job.
In fact, once you've closed a sale, you need to work even harder to ensure that hospital administrators, surgeons, nurses and all the other stakeholders remain satisfied between purchases - especially when there's a long sales cycle between purchases.
This is a distinct challenge for medical device reps who work in a long sales cycle. Between sales, you should make routine visits to your customers, make yourself available to answer questions, and schedule appointments for any technical support buyers need. You should also collect feedback from medical device stakeholders about their current and future needs. Here are three savvy strategies for you to position yourself for success in the medical sales industry.
The worst thing you can do after a purchase is go off the grid. If you don't continue to nurture a relationship with stakeholders, administrators might begin to forget about you. Not communicating can also send a message to buyers that you are no longer interested in selling to them, and they might start to look to others to fill their medical device needs. You shouldn't consider consistent communication part of the business cycle - you should consider it customer service, and work to provide the best assistance to their customers as you can.
Plan to make regular visits to the hospital or clinics where you've sold your products to check in on your customers. Because it might take several weeks or even a few months before you make another big sale, the focus of these visits should be to ensure that hospital administrators aren't having any trouble with previous purchases. Also address any concerns surgeons, nurses, or other stakeholders might have, and reassure stakeholders that your first priority is to make the buyers' life easier and help the hospital's patients.
During this pivotal time between sales, remind buyers of your expertise in the field. This means continuing to provide assistance in the operating room, conduct routine checks on equipment, and possibly even training new staff on using the machine. These gestures are a sign of good will toward buyers, and also help to cement the idea that you are offering more to a customer than simply selling them a product.
By offering this type of assistance, you'll transcend the role of salesperson and become a much more valuable asset to stakeholders. If you convey not only the value of your product, but the value you bring as a team member to a hospital or clinic, you will have a big leg up on those who don't go above and beyond to accommodate buyers' needs.
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The downtime between big sales is also the right time to start probing for new information from clients. During your visits, ask hospital administrators if they have any problems with the equipment they currently use or whether they wish a process could be done more easily or efficiently. This will give you an idea of a client's immediate concerns. From there, you can strategize to sell a new product that will fulfill one of these concerns.
An easy way for you to gain insight into a medical device buyer's need is to volunteer to assist in surgical case planning where doctors will discuss the various methods and technologies that might use for an upcoming procedure. This will give you an idea of what devices are particularly useful to surgeons.
Beyond case planning, it's a great idea to insert yourself into as many hospital processes as possible. You can help in the OR, provide maintenance on machinery, or any number of other things - just ask! Getting more involved will give you a chance to learn stakeholders' priorities and concerns and map which of your products can help solve those problems.
If you implement these strategies into your workflow, you have a greater chance of developing strong bonds with hospital administrators and other medical device buyers, and will therefore be well-positioned to enjoy success navigating the long business cycle.
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