8 Proven Strategies To Increase Healthcare Services Sales

Healthcare service sales have completely unique challenges. Reps contend with long sales cycles, unreachable decision-makers and complex products that take a long time to understand. Not to mention constantly dealing with a massive increase in competition. If you’re one of those overwhelmed reps, read on to discover 8 proven strategies to boost your sales in the healthcare sector.

Also read:

• How to Work with Channel Partners to Maximise Sales Volume
• Why Relationship Selling Is Essential For Increasing Sales
• The Ultimate Guide To Selling To The C-Suite

8 Strategies To Increase Healthcare Services Sales

1. Use an Omnichannel Approach

An omnichannel prospecting approach is reaching out to leads through multiple channels. This way, you can stay top of mind with healthcare service customers with abundant choices available to them. For example, the different ways you can connect with prospects using an omnichannel approach include using a combination of the following channels:

Overall, prospects can’t easily ignore an omnichannel approach. Suppose a prospect receives an email, phone call, LinkedIn message and social media marketing from the same company in 2 weeks. In that case, they’ll likely respond to your marketing efforts and remember your brand.

Also read: How To Generate More Leads In Uncertain Times

3. Put the Slide Deck away!

One of the keys to increasing healthcare service sales is adapting to the customer’s needs. Your clients’ requirements in the healthcare industry can vary, hence why a ‘one size fits all approach will not help when presenting your solution. 

Unfortunately, most salespeople in virtual meetings decide the best course of action to throw on their sales deck and read through slide after slide. 

Yet, this is a flawed approach for several reasons. First, a virtual sales meeting is not a sales presentation or pitch; it’s a conversation so ensure you’re engaging prospects by asking them questions or getting feedback. 

For example, you need to be asking healthcare clients:

• “What do you think?”
• “How does that sound?”
• “Is this what you had in mind?”

So resist the urge to share your screen right away, and at least spend some time having a conversation. Doing so will ensure the conversation is a two-way flow instead of a one-way data dump.

Also read: 9 Virtual Selling Best Practices To Host Effective Virtual Sales Meetings

4. Identify Gatekeepers & Organisational Structure Early

Unlike working with a single decision-maker, healthcare service sales require reps to deal with a large purchasing department or buying group. To get past the gatekeepers early, you must find out how the company and its process are structured.

To do so, you may have to map out your client’s purchasing hierarchy and identify everyone involved in the process. You can obtain this information from your known contacts and network.

Overall, knowing the organizational chart of your prospects will help you get ahead of gatekeepers early on and expand your influence to boost your healthcare sales.

5. Develop a Partnering Strategy

Partnering is a long-term strategic relationship that focuses on solving the customers’ buying problems. As a result, partnering is the highest quality selling relationship. More so, there are three keys to creating a successful partnering relationship and strategy: 

1. The relationship has been born on shared values.
2. Everyone in the partnership clearly understands the purpose and is committed to achieving the vision.
3. The role of the salesperson moves from selling to supporting. 

By demonstrating how you can help your customers solve their problems, you will never sell another day in your life.

6. Streamline the Sales Process

Most B2B companies’ sales cycles tend to be long. The main issue with long sales cycles is that they don’t retain customers’ attention. As a result, the quickest improvement usually provides the customer with the relevant information up-front, wasting no time grabbing their attention.

However, the most straightforward method of optimizing your process is looking for bottlenecks in your sales pipeline. Take these and consider undertaking mini-experiments in these areas by trying out different solutions until you find the correct one.

7. Upsell and Cross-Sell

Cross-Selling is the process of offering customers a relevant product or service that complements their purchase. Upselling increases a customer’s value by encouraging them to purchase extra services or products – particularly of a higher price range. Effectively ensure you’re increasing healthcare service sales with these techniques:

1. Ask Cross Sale Related Questions During Quotes

When you’re attaining relevant information to produce a client quote, this is your opportunity to find out other needs or wants they may have.

2. Fulfil Clients’ Most Pressing Needs First

It’s more convenient to cross-sell to clients when you’ve created a foundation of trust and respect beforehand. So never be tempted to jump straight to the next product or service you’re trying to cross or upsell. Instead, your client needs to feel valued, listened to and respected. If not, you’ll come across as disingenuous, and they’ll likely take their business elsewhere. For this reason, you should focus on identifying customers’ most pressing needs or challenges first, satisfy them and then try to delight them with an additional extra.

8. Ask for Referrals

Referrals are crucial in healthcare service sales because they don’t cost anything and come with a high level of trust built-in. For this reason alone, referrals also carry a high degree of credibility. To get more referrals, simply ask your current and former clients by asking them something like:

“Now that you are using our services, you’ll probably start noticing a lot of other businesses that could benefit from this sort of service. In the same way that you came to my business through a referral from a good friend of yours, I would like to ask you from time to time if you know anyone who could benefit from my service. Would that be all right with you?”

9. Be a Product Expert

Buyers have more choices available to them now than ever before. Hence, becoming a product expert will simplify and shorten the buying process for your customers.

Overall, customers want to know how you test, modify and retest your product, alongside accurate price and delivery information about your products (and those of your competitors).