What should medical representatives do in the first month?

How to Make Sales —— Talking about the actual sales experience of medical representatives

Sales often gives people the feeling of being flexible and improvising, so many people don't realize that sales, as a science, actually has its very strict core process.

Have you ever had such an experience:

Most customers visit directly and rarely make an appointment because "I know them well and don't need to make an appointment" or "I don't know them well, how can I make an appointment";

After the visit, it is often counterproductive, and it is difficult to recall the complete plot of the visit at that time; Between visits, I often feel that I can do only a little. Even if I can do something, it doesn't seem to mean much to sales. There are always many "objections" from customers, but the skills learned in the training class to deal with objections are rarely effective; Usually, when you ask medical representatives why their performance is not satisfactory, you will hear many "reasons"; When you ask people with good performance why they are doing so well, you will hear "nothing", but you can't give many reasons and you are not completely modest.

It takes a process to achieve any result, and so does sales. As the saying goes, "An expert looks at the doorway and a layman looks at the excitement". Is there really no difference between those excellent medical representatives and ordinary medical representatives in the sales process? This is the question I asked myself many years ago. Through long-term patient observation and repeated practice, I found that those medical representatives who do well consciously or unconsciously strictly follow the "five-step sales method", that is, find the right person, ask (suggest) and draw conclusions.

"Short circuit" = open circuit

When I first switched from sales to marketing as a junior product manager, I followed up with a medical representative in Chengdu. This is my first close observation of the representative's medical treatment process, although this process is "carefully" designed: my colleague took out the product information, simply said hello and told the doctor from beginning to end. The doctor obviously got the message and listened attentively. Then my colleague said goodbye to the doctor and told me to leave. It sounds like a joke, but even today, it is easy to find that "speaking" still accounts for a large part in the sales process. This is the biggest misunderstanding of sales: skip the first three steps of the "five-step sales method" and directly "say".

In a training class, a new representative with sales experience stood up and said, "Why is sales so troublesome? I am very straightforward in sales: I tell my customer how much sales I want and ask him what he wants. " Although there is no chance of success in such sales, it will never be great. How does your customer know if your product will bring trouble to his clinic? This is to skip the first four steps of the "five-step sales method" and try to "draw conclusions" directly.

I once attended their weekly meeting in Guangzhou office and found that they were discussing a case enthusiastically: why didn't a director of neurology accept our products? The director is a "very good" person. He will listen to you "talk" about your product, and he can also tell some features of your product. There are also many patients, and he promised to "have the opportunity to prescribe medicine", but he never prescribed it for long. Everyone has put forward various methods, but they are not convincing. I interjected, "Did you ask the director why he didn't write the prescription?" Silence. This is the dilemma caused by skipping the third step of the "five-step sales method"

We launched a new product, which was used very well in a hospital in Huzhou. Sales are stable and representatives are practical. Once, she asked me how to promote sales. "Do you know why customers use your products?" I asked her. She said, of course, because of the characteristics of the product. "Are you guessing or have you been confirmed by them?" She paused, and then I said, "Why don't you ask one by one?" A week later, she told me what surprised her: the reason why the customer used the product was far from what she thought. So, she is ready for a new sprint. This is because "asking" found the opportunity to "say" and brought the delegates room for growth.

A frustrated representative once told me that he was kicked out by the doctor. I asked, "Is it important for your business to kick customers out?" He became confused: "I think so." Seeing that I was silent, he said, "Actually, I'm not sure, because I know very little about him." I said, "When did you know whether he was important or not?" What are the ways to help you understand the necessary information? Is visiting him the only choice to get this information? "

Then I told him: "if he is not important to your business, you don't need to be depressed;" If it is important, you must find out what he refused you. " He looked at me: "If he is an important customer, what do you think he refused?" I asked, "Do you think he refused?" "I think he rejected me and my products, because as soon as I mentioned my name, company and products, he said,' Go, go, there is no time'." I told him, "Maybe you refused your intention to meet him (to prescribe a new product), maybe you refused the time and place to meet him (someone else was present), or maybe it was your behavior and appearance. Most importantly, you didn't inspire him to see you. " Seeing his hesitation, I went on to say, "If you are sure to meet an important customer, the next most important thing is to' invite', not' say' or ask him to use your product. "One of the most common misunderstandings in sales is to skip the step of' invitation' to the step of' talk' or even' summary'.

It can be seen from the above sales misunderstanding that the "five-step sales method" is an organic system, a hidden rule of sales, and a combination of marketing and sales; The "five-step sales method" will guide every step of the sales visit of medical representatives and know exactly what the next step is; The "five-step sales method" can also make sales techniques easier to use and more functional. Come to think of it carefully, all successful sales are the result of this law; And those misjudged cases are all because they violated this law.

Now, don't you agree?

The first step is to find the right person.

At this step, there are three questions that need to be answered clearly: Who should be our customer? Who are our important customers? What are our customers, particularly important customers?

Once, I talked to a representative in Shanghai about her "very good" visit:

Representative: "Professor Shi recognizes our products very much, but rarely writes prescriptions, because he is very famous, and most of his patients are patients at public expense."

Me: "First of all, is the person you visited the right customer?"

It stands for "Of course it's right. He is very famous and academically affordable, and the hospital is also very optimistic about him. "

Me: "But you totally accept that he can't prescribe your medicine, right?"

Representative: "I can show you his patient files, almost all of which are at public expense. Our products are all at our own expense."

Me: "So, on the one hand, you proved the rationality that he can't use our products, on the other hand, you insisted that you visited the right customer. Is that so? "

If all the representatives are right, it is a waste of time: the doctor's and ours. If I also believe that Dr. Shi is a correct client and an important client, it is not only a waste of time to let him participate in important clinical projects. There is nothing worse than choosing the wrong customer. Choosing the wrong customer is a great waste of resources.

What is the right customer? What is an important customer? Different products, different life cycle stages and different strategies have different answers. A well-described customer portrait is an important beginning of sales and marketing work, which involves geographical factors and demographic factors (age, gender, income, occupation, etc. ), psychological factors (lifestyle, personality) and behavioral factors (product use, price, use opportunities, etc. ) customers. If every representative can realize this problem, it is a gratifying phenomenon.

The following four factors are indispensable. The combination of these four aspects is an important basis for determining the focus of your work and the direction of resource investment. You should not take it lightly:

1. potential, that is, the number of our products that may be used. This is the first criterion. The size of the prescription that he or she may influence determines how much you care about him. You can judge directly according to the prescription quantity of his similar products, indirectly according to his monthly related patient quantity and competitors' attention to him, or directly visit him and let him tell you.

2. Sensitivity to new things. This is a relative standard, judging the difficulty of a person's change from his behavior habits. For new products, of course, they tend to find doctors who like new things; For old products, it may be just the opposite. We may have a special preference for doctors who love the elderly.

3. Accept us. If two doctors have the same potential, one already knows something about your product and the other is at a loss, which one is easier to approach? In fact, there is no need to emphasize this standard. If you know which doctor is interested in our product, no representative will be eager to get it.

4. The size of the competition, that is, the degree to which competitors attach importance to him. Getting close to customers with relatively low competition first seems contradictory, but it is a factor that cannot be ignored, which requires you to have a clear understanding of the customer's environment. The customer's environment is not monolithic, and there are quite subtle relationships between them and between them and their competitors.

In these four aspects, potential is an absolutely necessary condition, and it is the first prerequisite to constitute an "important customer". The other three considerations are important conditions for effective customer management.

One year, at the sales meeting held in Chengdu in the third quarter, I just gave a representative feedback on his role training skills. Her unconvincing personality made her raise another "difficult problem".

Representative: "There is a famous gastroenterologist who only uses the older generation of tricyclic antidepressants. How can I explain that the advantages of our products are not accepted? "

Me: "First of all, is it right to visit this person? If you are not an' old expert', you must be our customer? "

Another representative said, "I know this doctor better. He is really important. First of all, he uses a lot of antidepressants and has a lot of outpatient visits ... "

I said, "This only shows that he meets the first criterion. What else is there? Is there any other information to prove the correctness of your visit? Maybe he may be the right customer in a few years, because by that time, your product has become his' three-ring' category. "

On behalf of an epiphany.

Knowing the factors of choosing the right customers, the next step is to know who the customers are and what they are doing throughout the sales process. What is success for them? What hindered their success? What are their personal, family, educational and professional backgrounds? What are the channels for obtaining this information? You can't influence anyone or anything you don't know. Knowing these customers is also a necessary way to avoid rashness, delay customers' time or affect the hospital's work order.

There are four sources of this information:

1. Within the company: (1) customer records, such as doctor cards and important customer information forms; (2) Colleagues, including supervisors, other representatives or their contacts; (3) Relevant publications and media.

2. Inside the hospital: (1) Other doctors you know should be approachable, not busy and talkative; (2) Nurses, especially those who work with your clients; (3) people who register semicolons can give you some information and sometimes help you; (4) Those who study as doctors are often sensitive to interpersonal relationships within the hospital; (5) Although interns have no prescription right, they may disclose some information; (6) Medical clerks and section chiefs can contact when they are ready, which is informative; (7) Dean, although many people have nothing to say when they see him, it is the most important source of information; (8) The director of pharmacy department and the buyer have their own unique concerns; (9) The outpatient director may know the trend of potential doctors in advance and make preparations (such as rotation); (10) Assuming the right doctor, your work is often not from scratch, and you always know some doctors with high potential.

3. People from other units: (1) Direct competitors, observe them, study them and talk to them, and you will find that you have something in common, and their companies are not monolithic; (2) Indirect competitors have no direct interests and are easier to communicate with; (3) customers' partners, such as health administrative departments, medical supply units and other hospitals.

4. Various media: including professional magazines, various websites, radio stations, television stations, newspapers and periodicals, etc.

Now, you should know how to start your work: first, learn who are important customers and their related information through various channels.

Entering the next step is the immediate goal of the "five-step sales method". If you have found a suitable customer, don't rush to persuade him to accept you or your product, and don't ask questions immediately. Instead, make an appointment at a specific time and place to talk-invitation, which should be your only purpose at this time.

Step 2: Invite-create an atmosphere suitable for communication.

After confirming the correctness of the customer, there is a great temptation to answer the customer's questions, and the result of the answer is easily sent away by the customer. After the first customer introduced himself, the customer asked, "Is your product free of charge?" Or "What's the price of your product?" At this time, any answer you give may be the reason for the customer to let you leave, because your product is "not at public expense", or "the product is too expensive and the patient is too poor" and so on. This is because the second and third steps of the "five-step sales method" were skipped. Many "customer objections" occur at this stage, which is also the reason why "customer objection handling skills" are difficult to work.

At this time, your "next step" goal is "invitation", and any answer you give must obey this goal. For example, you can say, "I can hear that you are very concerned about whether patients accept our products easily." That's why I came to see you today ... how about 3 pm tomorrow in your office? " The doctor may say "no", but he refuses the place and time, not you or your product, so you throw another time and place. In short, booking a place to talk is your whole goal in this step. If you don't achieve this goal, you will never go to the next step.

If finding the right customer is half the battle, then create a neon circle suitable for sales promotion, and you have completed 90% of the sales process. The importance of "invitation" is emphasized because it is the most easily overlooked step in the sales process. Because of this "unintentional" neglect, I don't know how many "customer objections" have been created for sales, and most "rejection" signals occur before "invitation".

Do you believe it takes three months to make an appointment with a doctor? After a business trip to Beijing and a cooperation visit with a representative, I asked on my way back to the office, "Who else should I see, but I didn't?" The representative told me that it was director Yu.

"Why do you need to see him? How much does he have to do with our goal of developing this hospital? "

"Has a lot to do. As long as he supports us, we will succeed ... "

"Then why not?"

"It's too difficult to see him. He is the one who can't see the end of the dragon. "

"When can you see him?"

"Because ..."

I interrupted him: "Not because. When can we see him? "

"Well, because ..."

I interrupted him again: "When can we see him?"

"It's hard to say, because ..."

I asked the third time in a low voice but firmly, "When can we see him?"

"……"

"Can you see him in three months?"

"Three months? This should be no problem. " burritos

I can think that there should be no problem for such a long time.

In fact, it was about four months before he met the "big" director.

It is by no means difficult for the director to see, nor is it that he deliberately delayed, but that he failed to master the skill of "invitation" earlier, or it may be because he did not take the first step of "five-step sales method".

Many people think that they don't have the above problems, and they can see the customers they want every week or even every day. Why do they make an appointment? Only when something important or special happens will you make trouble with badger: why are you engraved on the technical process? But the result is not satisfactory, but I have never checked: is that a real appointment? Is the timing right? Is the atmosphere right?

Why did the doctor break his word? Why do doctors sometimes turn their backs on people? Before you complain, you can review the meeting: Is there anyone else present? Is it in a special place? Is it the wrong time? Is he in the mood to see you?

Looking at the whole pharmaceutical industry, large foreign companies use various market activities to create conditions for representatives to meet customers; Domestic companies have also built a bridge between representatives and doctors in a "flexible" way. Their "success" has a lot to do with the increase in the number of appointments. This kind of activity or "flexibility" actually makes up for the lack of invitation skills of delegates.

Look at those "successful" medical representatives, there are roughly two categories:

One is by "grinding". Once I attended a meeting in Guangzhou, the manager of Guangzhou at that time asked the national sales champion of orthopedic products to talk about successful experiences. The female champion brought a case to life. What she told you was how to finally convince an orthopedic director to accept hormone replacement therapy for osteoporosis: "It was not good at first, and the director ignored it. I insist. First of all, I seize every opportunity to talk about products. I didn't think it was very effective, so I began to invite him to lunch. He refused. I invited him again and again, but he refused again and again. After more than two months, he finally accepted the box lunch I sent him. When he had lunch with me at the clinic for the third time, the director said,' Tell me more about your products.' Then I really had a chance to ask,' Which part do you want to hear first? Let's talk about why osteoporosis is related to hormones. A week later, the sales of this product increased greatly. "The meeting broke into warm applause. Looking at this slightly weak girl, you will think, how many people can survive so many rejections without giving up? Does success have to go through so many rejections, so many hardships and persist for so long?

The other representative relies on "ceremony". Before giving pre-job training to medical representatives, the representatives were encouraged by the advantages of the products and were full of confidence, especially knowing the products quickly. However, after they started working for a month or two, their enthusiasm for sales gradually faded, professional sales were left out in the cold, and "Hedong" in training became "Hexi" in practical work. They began to follow the example of "success"-using money. This seems to be a miracle. With money and courtesy, doctors begin to approach you gradually, and sales are also rising ... So, when representatives meet, they stop asking about new products and ask about new gifts. Their so-called "success" is also closely related to the increase in the number of appointments, and "courtesy" and "grinding" actually play a role in making up for the lack of invitation skills of delegates.

These situations show that if a suitable communication environment cannot be created, there is almost no chance of success, which is the bottleneck of the efficiency of many medical representatives' visits at present.

The meaning of invitation

The first is to improve efficiency. I remember in a training class, I asked a representative, "How often do you visit your most important 10 doctor?" His answer surprised me: "twice a day." So I asked, "What do you say every time?" He said, "There is nothing to say. Please be polite. " I then asked, "Do you think they are satisfied with you?" He replied, "Sometimes it looks annoying, but I think medical representatives always do." Without adequate preparation, it is not only a waste of customers' time, but also a waste of your time, with no minimum respect for customers. The more fully you do the first step (find the right customer), the easier it will be to invite.

The second is to reduce rejection. Why did the doctor refuse you? What did they refuse? The survey results of some doctors show that doctors will not use drugs if they don't understand; Usually, new drugs are rarely tried; Hate the freedom of medical representatives; I like medical representatives with clear attitudes; Worried about being rejected by patients who are not familiar with drugs; Rarely admit that the current medication is improper.

Will the doctor refuse to see anyone who might support him? Will you refuse to know a long-awaited good news? No. He will only make a fuss about the time and place to meet you. Isn't it easy for you to reach an agreement?

Doctors usually don't refuse: learn more information; Know one more person; One more chance for cooperation/success; Your decent words and deeds ... maybe you will say that even this may not be successful. Yes, it may not be 100% successful, but will the chances of success increase?

Invitation method

The first is the reason for being well prepared. Many times, you find that there are not many or even no reasons for seeing a doctor, so you think the "patient" column on the doctor's card is always the most difficult to fill in. The point here is that you already have a "goal" in mind, that is, you want doctors to prescribe more drugs. With this "goal", it is difficult for you to think about other goals. But "prescription" is not the goal but the result, and the goal must be the reason, that is, the reason for achieving the result. If you can't give a suitable reason, the only explanation is that you don't know them. The solution is: always adhere to the goal rather than the result-oriented.

The second is to rehearse the mind. Just like playing chess, when you say a word or ask a question, you must always think about how others will respond. This kind of deduction will be vivid every time you meet and form a habit, and you will become more and more experienced and smoother.

The key to invitation

One is conciseness. If you don't communicate in a suitable environment, you won't achieve the effect of communication, and if you talk too much, there will be no room for imagination and there will be no need for invitation.

The second is to be specific. The more specific the place and time, the better. Don't use "substitution" technology.

The third is to redefine any of his questions ("Do you mean ……") and turn them into reasons for invitation.

Fourth, the offer must be made within two weeks. It's easy to forget after about two weeks, and things after two weeks are also the easiest to be changed psychologically.

Fifth, let all rejections become the reason for customers to see you.

Invitation method

Don't call at the thought of an invitation. You can make an appointment by phone, email, others, leave a message or in person; It can be in the next two weeks or now; Whether in the workplace or on other occasions; You can chat with two people or invite other suitable people. In short, the wider the choice, the greater the possibility of success.

Don't do anything when inviting.

Forget that your purpose is to meet at a suitable time and place, and you can't resist the temptation to answer customers' questions, such as price, safety, tolerance and mechanism of action. No matter how confident you are in answering these questions, don't "honestly" answer them before the invitation. Be sure to turn these questions into reasons for customers to see you.

What should you do when you invite?

Remember your purpose: meet at the right time and place. Try to be curious (of course, don't hide it). I believe that all the questions of the customer may be superficial, and all the questions can become the reason for you to meet him. In the face of a question, you just need to keep this secret: redefine his question, simply answer and state that this is why we have to meet.

Entering the next step is the immediate goal of the "five-step sales method". If you have an appointment with a doctor, congratulations! But don't worry, don't be busy "talking" because it's wrong to say it. At this point, your only goal is to move on to the next step-asking questions.

Step 3: Ask

Finally, I can sit down quietly with the customers.

Communication is the result of your efforts. The customer looks at you and hints that you can start: "Tell me about your product". Don't be busy asking questions before "say" and don't skip it.

The purpose of asking questions is to confirm the gap, find out the gap between what customers know about your products at present and what they should know, and create conditions for you to "say" (put forward) further. Specifically, there are two questions that need to be asked most: Why not use our products? Why use our products?

Of course, this question is too direct. You can change your wording or tone. For example, "I have seen you several times, but you never open our products." What are your concerns? " Or "I know you have been opening our products, but I'm just curious. What is your reason for using this product? In other words, what features do you see in our products? "

You should also have the skill of asking questions. You should also know when to ask what questions and why to ask them. Any sales skill is finally reflected in the question and answer. We will elaborate on this part in the next issue.

Step 4: Say-propose.

Only in this way can your "speaking" come in handy, your introduction and answer be effective and targeted. At this time, you need to take out tools and evidence and introduce them in an orderly manner. This is familiar to many medical representatives, so I won't say much here, but I have some suggestions for reference: (1) Proceed from the conclusion, from the general to the specific; (2) From the benefits (results) to the characteristics (reasons), especially the targeted benefits should be said first; (3) Pay attention to the application of pause; (4) Focus on one point at a time; (5) short; (6) We must solve his problem.

If you confirm that the result has solved his concerns or met his needs, you can go to the next step-conclusion.

Step 5: Summarize-get the commitment.

You can simply ask, "It is very important for us to let more patients use our products in clinic. What do you think? " Then shut up and wait quietly.

Many sales training courses have a lot of introductions about conclusion skills, so we don't make many statements.

Finally, let's summarize the implementation points of the "five-step sales method":

1. Don't jump, don't stand on your head, walk step by step.

Your only goal is to move on to the next step, as soon as possible, and don't continue to fight. You have a wealth of information sources to identify and understand customers.

3. "Invitation" is the weak link in this industry, and consciously increasing the probability of invitation will be the breakthrough to enhance your position in the industry.

4. All the customers are invited, and the "invitation" step is indispensable in all sales processes.

Although "questioning" is one of the steps, it actually runs through every step and is an indispensable tool for medical representatives.

6. "Q" is to confirm the existing gaps, such as your relationship and customers' understanding of the particularity of your products.

7. "Say" is to fill the blank of confirmation.

8. Speak boldly and ask for time and prescription. Don't feel guilty, because it is a matter of course.

9. The sales process is a repeated cycle of the "five-step sales method", and each cycle is a spiraling process.