Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Fear as a Factor in Occupational Health Sales

Avoidance, sometimes even more than appeal, appears to be a very real part of decision making at every level. Given sufficient probing, most sales prospects harbor inner fears that can be successfully addressed. Buyers of occupational health services have two basic motivations: helping their parent company save money, and making their own life easier. Most occupational health sales presentations emphasize the former: reduce injury/illness incidence and associated lost work time, save the employer money, and …

Toward a Happier World: The Art of Patient Service

Customer service is a trendy theme in virtually every business these days. However, the gap between “woulda, shoulda, coulda” and reality is invariably significant. Simply put, the concept of customer service is given universal lip service, but it is rarely incorporated into the fabric of an urgent care clinic. An effective patient service program requires five core elements: planning, training, execution, evaluation, and reward/recognition. Planning Your program should have a well-designed plan that addresses train- …

Buyer Self-interest as a Factor in Occupational Health Sales

Avoiding something negative rather than buying on appeal appears to be a very real part of buyer decision-making. Indeed, with sufficient probing, most prospects harbor inner fears that can be successfully addressed during the sales process. Buyers of urgent care occupational health services generally have two motivations: helping their company save money and making their own life easier. Most occupational health sales emphasize the former: reduce injury/illness incidence and associated lost work time and save …

Perfecting the Clinic Visit as a Closing Technique

Inviting would-be employer clients to visit your urgent care clinic is an increasingly common and effective marketing tool. Yet, most such visits are done with insufficient forethought. The majority of occupational health closes are “soft” commitments—that is, there is no guarantee that the prospect will use your urgent care clinic. Hence, some type of follow-up to most sales calls is advisable. Further, it is best to actually involve the prospect in some manner, as prospect …

Hiring the Best Occupational Health Sales Professionals

Do you hire an experienced salesperson and train him or her in occupational health, or hire an occupational health professional and train that person in sales? The former brings sales experience but needs to learn the “product;” the latter brings product knowledge but needs to learn fundamental sales skills. Given this choice, my answer is the former. It is easier to train an experienced salesperson in product knowledge than vice versa. However, there are numerous …

Learning to be Direct in Sales Negotiations

In 2008, we live in a vastly different world in which we feel information-saturated, overburdened, and pressed for time. It is a world in which long dialogue is generally a nuisance and short, to-the-point interchange is embraced. It is a world that values Headline News, USA Today, and Internet blogs more than traditional news shows or in-depth books. In short, we live in a world in which people want things short, simple, and digestible. That …

Public Speaking Skills Enhance Professional Standing and Proficiency

Whether you are a clinician or a sales professional—or both, as is often the case in the urgent care occupational medicine arena—it is likely that you will find yourself in front of an audience giving a talk at some point. The topic may be a clinical one or something intended to get the audience to employ your professional services; either way, proficiency as a public speaker will greatly improve your chance of making the most …

The Physician’s Role in Occupational Health Sales and Marketing

When it comes to sales and marketing, the involvement of a physician can make or break an occupational health initiative. Physicians project credibility and can easily win the respect of employers and employees. In many cases, a sales effort can go “over the top” simply by bringing a physician into play. I know many physicians who exude charm and would be an asset in virtually any sales scenario. On the other hand, a physician who …

Customer (and Patient) Service is Key in Occupational Health

“Let sales people sell” should be more than a cliché; it should be a way of life. Unfortunately, though, many occupational health sales professionals spend a disproportionate amount of time engaged in client maintenance and customer service at the expense of direct sales. This is not to say that customer service and patient service are unimportant, however; in truth, maintaining good relationships both with customers and patients is crucial to the success of every occupational …

Emphasizing the Positive Gets Results in Occ Med Sales

A successful occupational health sales professional should develop a mechanism to monitor his or her choice of words and commit to using the English language to the mutual advantage of both the provider and the sales prospects. However, sales professionals often make poor word choices at critical moments. Negative words abound in our daily vocabulary. Frequently used negative words include bad, poor, problem, complication, unacceptable, and difficult. When calling on an occupational medicine prospect, these …