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MEDICAL SALES PERFORMANCE
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Are You Committing Sales Malpractice Because of Your Customer Relationships?

by Mace Horoff

Forging relationships with customers is an important part of effective selling. People are more likely to buy from you when they know you, like you and trust you. Relationships are important in sales, but sometimes salespeople allow relationships to interfere with the sales process.

What is your main job as a sales professional? This is a simple question, yet when I ask it to participants in my medical sales seminars I often hear complicated answers including, "My job is to educate customers about my products to help them take care of their patients, show them how to use the products, handle any problems, and build good customer relationships." No question, these duties are all part of the job, but again, what is a salesperson's main job function? The answer is to sell!

Salespeople often confuse sales support activities such as those described in the preceding paragraph as selling. Addressing the customer's needs is important, but selling means bringing in additional business. Some salespeople are uncomfortable asking customers with whom they have close relationships for a commitment to buy, so instead, they behave as customer service reps and wait for the customers to buy on their own. These salespeople are unnecessarily leaving a lot of money on the table and stunting their sales growth because they don't think they need to ask for the business with their close customers or are afraid to do so.

Too often, I observe the following scenario when I ride along on sales calls. A sales representative delivers a good presentation only to have it fizzle with a dialog that sounds something like this:

Prospect: That looks like a nice product. Thank you for showing it to me.

Sales Rep: No problem. Thank you for your time. Give me a call if you want to try it.

I think it's pretty obvious what is missing here - the sales person let the prospect off the hook by not asking for a commitment. Often, they don't even ask the prospect for an opinion about the product or service to determine if it is even being considered. Salespeople know that they are supposed to ask for the business, but all too often, they don't. Why?

When I debrief sales calls like the one above and ask the salespeople involved why they did not ask for the sale, I commonly hear the following two excuses:

Excuse number 1: The sales person believes that his job is to show the product or service to the prospect. If the prospect wants the product, he will say so, either now or later. Hence, there is no need to ask for the business - it will come in due time when the customer is ready.

Excuse number 2: The sales person doesn't want to seem "pushy" and thereby harm the relationship or compromise any future opportunities to sell to that prospect.

1. Let's discuss the first excuse. Sales calls often proceed without challenge, i.e. the prospect never raises an objection or says that he won't buy. It feels like a successful sales call when the salesperson assumes that the order will come in time and many don't want to compromise that good feeling by testing the assumption.

What if a prospect has thoughts, beliefs, and misunderstandings about your product that is preventing him from buying? Wouldn't you like to know about it? How does the prospect feel about your product or service as compared to what he is currently using? Under what circumstances would he consider using your product or service? If the prospect doesn't volunteer this important information, it's the salesperson's job to ask!

Salespeople often leave a sales call with a feeling of accomplishment because they heard "I'll think about it" or "Thank you for showing me your product." Spending time with a prospect without closing the sale, or getting a commitment to move the sale forward is not a good sales call - it's just a visit, and from a sales perspective, it is little more than blind hope and often just a waste of the prospect's and the salesperson's time. Try hitting quota with "I'll think about it."

2. Now let's discuss the second excuse, when salespeople don't want to be pushy. Sales people are labeled as pushy when all they do is ask the prospect to buy without establishing any real reason for the prospect to do so. Pushy sales people don't demonstrate any concern for the prospect's real needs or feelings. Pushy sales people don't handle objections constructively, they just challenge the prospect's point of view (essentially telling the prospect that he is wrong!) and again ask them to buy. When you behave like that, you are being pushy! However, when you ask for the sale because you have established that your product or service will enable the prospect to do what he or she does or wants to do better, more easily, with less risk, or for less money, is that being pushy? Of course not - it's being professional, because you are acting in the customer's best interest, not just your own.

When someone says that they don't want to be perceived as a pushy salesperson, I believe that they just don't want to be perceived as a salesperson, period. Many even go to great lengths to avoid being called a salesperson. Instead, they or their companies call them territory mangers, technical consultants, agents, or any other phrase that sounds more customer-oriented and less sales-oriented. The truth is that your customers, especially the ones that you are close to, know what you get paid to do. Therefore, if you ask them to evaluate or buy a product that you have demonstrated is right for them, they won't be shocked or dismayed; in fact, they expect you to ask because it's your job.

Let's turn the tables for a moment. Imagine you go to a doctor who happens to be a friend of yours. Suppose the doctor diagnoses a problem that you have and says, "There is a pill that can solve your health problem. Call me if you want to try it. Thanks for coming to see me." How would you feel knowing that your doctor/friend had something that could improve your condition, but didn't offer to prescribe it because he didn't want you to think that he was a pill-pusher? Do you think that you might be a little upset if you suffered unnecessarily because your "friend" was more concerned about what you thought about him than he was about solving your health problem?

It is considered malpractice in the medical world when a doctor fails to do what is expected of him professionally, for example, failing to offer or recommend an appropriate treatment option to a patient. In the sales world, salespeople commit sales malpractice when they don't specifically offer their customers the opportunity to improve their condition or situation.

Yes, building relationships is important, but don't let those relationships keep you from doing your job. Your job is to help your prospects and customers assess whether or not your product or service is a good fit for them, and if so, help them to get it. When you fail to do everything that is ethically possible to achieve this, you are committing sales malpractice. Relationships are strengthened by looking out for your customer's best interest, not by avoiding your own discomfort in being perceived as a salesperson or fearing the customer will be insulted if you ask them to move forward. Always invite the customer to buy when it's appropriate, and when they say no, find out why and make sure their reason for not buying is valid and unsolvable before you walk away. Relationship selling is still selling, and that means getting the order, or attempting to move the sale forward on every call.

© Copyright Mace Horoff 2011.  All rights reserved.