Tell your medical sales competition that selling in the summer is a waste of time…
…and then work your tail off to sell as much as you can while your competition coasts for a few months!
There is some accepted wisdom that healthcare customers, especially physicians, are difficult to call on and sell to during the summer months. I’ve heard the excuses and so have you:
“The doctor is more interested in his golf game right now…”
“He says come back next month…”
“Her kids are out of school…”
“Everyone is in a vacation mindset…”
Are you talking about the customers that you sell to, or you? Everyone welcomes a quiet break when you have been working the territory hard all year, but when you’re not officially on vacation, don’t pass up the opportunity that comes with selling when many of your competitors are kicking back.
Your job as a healthcare sales professional is to help your customers by solving specific problems or helping them to hit their goals. These things don’t go on vacation in the summer months, regardless of whether your customers want to think about them or not. And don’t forget, there is something that awaits both you and your customers after the summer–a desire and need for maximum output and income! This is when salespeople start to focus on how they are going to hit their numbers to finish Q4 strong. The problem is, if you wait until September to perform in the home stretch, it is often too late.
If you’ve been following my blog for any period of time, you know that healthcare customers WILL talk to you when it is clear that you can answer their needs or eliminate their pain. How about having some discussions with them about how you can help them to attain their practice or institutional goals this year by addressing key issues now. They’ll be able to enjoy vacation time more and so will you. And best of all, come September when your competition is just ramping up to finish up the year, you and your customers will already be far ahead.
Yes, you want your competition to think you are lazy, unmotivated, and doing as little as possible this summer while in reality, you’ll be working your tail off to crush them and steal as much business as possible. Or…you can just coast and try to convince yourself how great you’ll perform once summer is over.