What I Told Intuit Health About Marketing to Medical Practices
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with 50 employees of Intuit Health (live in Cary, NC and virtually in Menlo Park, CA) on the workflow of the medical practice and what makes medical practices unique from a marketing prospective.
Why is healthcare so very different from other markets and so often frustrating for medical salespeople?
- Confusion over who has the “D” – who is the decision maker? Is it the practice administrator, the formal physician leader or the informal physician leader? Is it a consultant or adviser?
- Lack of business training by the business owners (the physicians.)
- Lack of strategic planning and budgeting for capital expenditures. Practices are well known for being penny wise and pound foolish.
- Heavily referral-based system which means no practice wants to be first to use any product and every practice wants at least one solid reference from a similarly-sized practice in the same specialty.
- A dearth of current, helpful information about who practice administrators are.
- Difficulty in getting through the switchboard operator or front desk to the practice administrator.
- Physicians rarely take calls from patients, much less salespersons.
- Most practice administrators are completely averse to cold calls and you might get on their blacklist just for calling.
- Doctors and administrators are suspicious that everyone has their hand in the doctor’s pocket.
Thanks to Yvette and Jim and the amazing folks at Intuit Health for a great afternoon!
If you are interested in a presentation to your sales or customer service team about marketing to medical practices, or understanding medical practice operations and workflow, please email me here, or call me at 919.370.0504.
Great list. All very common issues for sure. What would be more interesting is how you overcome these challenges. Thoughts on that?
Hi John,
I do have a lot of thoughts about it, and some strategies which I plan to put into a white paper or possibly an ebook. Do you think there is a need for information on the subject?
Thank you,
Mary Pat
Mary Pat,
Thanks for a great list. I do believe there is a market for solutions to these issues. There are many of us out there who truly want to (and are able to) help the practice succeed and not just suck the life out of them. It would be fabulous to know how to get to the right people to show them how we can either save them money, or help them make more money.
Please, bring an ebook out.
Thanks!
Hi Juliana,
As I transition over the next 3 months from managing practices to consulting, speaking and writing full-time, I plan to publish several new titles. I’m pretty sure something about marketing to medical practices will be on the short list!
Thanks for commenting.
Best wishes,
Mary Pat
I agree with John Lynn, some insights on your mentions would’ve been appreciated. I definetly think there would be a need for more information regarding this subject. Looking forward to seeing more on that.
Thanks
Hi Marita,
Your wish is my command – keep watching the blog!
Best wishes,
Mary Pat
Wow. Now all I need is the solution to reaching the right people!
Hi Andy,
I help companies reach the right people.
Best wishes,
Mary Pat