When do we say Doctor and the medical rep is an incompatible duo? When the mindset of medical rep is not aligned to his customer’s needs, when the HCP doesn’t see the benefits of the rep`s visit. Most of the times there is a submissive monologue of the rep with the HCP. How can a connect happen between two people, when the one who is a decision maker doesn’t feel genuinely stimulated and respected by the behavior or communication of the needy, the sales rep.
When a rep behaves in a manner in which he doesn’t value himself, how will the HCP find value in his visits. It happens between any two individuals who are interacting or meeting regularly for mutual benefits, the one who is visiting is the needier one and definitely needs to work hard to understand the needs of the customer, the decision maker.
The HCP who is choosing the brand that suits his patients, he is also choosing the man behind the brand. When the rep talks about the benefits of the brand that fulfils the need of his patient, the HCP is assessing whether the rep is fulfilling his ego needs. What is in it for me ? What’s the purpose of giving time to this rep? How useful is he to me? Are the questions in the HCPs mind.
So, would a HCP give more than 30 secs to one min for a brand reminder call when there are so many reps struggling for the same thing? So, brand reminding today has become such a habit that if a HCP by chance tells the rep I give you 5 mins come on tell me why I should prescribe for you, the rep may fall short of words.
The top reason why the relationship gap between the two is widening is because of the reps having either low confidence (low self-esteem) or very high confidence bordering to grandiosity are not really being able to connect to the customers core beliefs. One such core belief is a generalization which may Drs have, that all reps are selfish, manipulative people conditioned to do whatever it takes to complete their targets, while they exaggerate the benefits of the brand and downplay the side effects.
The job at hand for today’s business owners is to change this perception of Drs by investing in training the reps on how to connect to these deep-rooted beliefs of Drs that have created negative perception and thinking through a self-awareness and transactional analysis which is social psychology of interactions.