How to Create an Effective Occupational Medicine Phone Script (Part II)

June 18, 2012dave
Marketing Strategy

Please see part I here

A powerful telephone script should achieve three major goals:

a) Find out who the real decision maker is at the prospective company.

Don’t waste your time talking with someone who doesn’t have the power to hire you. Learn about their company’s decision-making process, the financial chain of command. Utilize a series of gently probing questions: How are decisions made about occupational medicine? How often is the issue revisited? Should we include another person on this call?

Keep in mind that this process can take multiple calls, but once you get to the top of the totem pole–to the person who makes the final decision–you can take full control of the message they are hearing, and your ultimate job will become a lot easier.

b) Establish dissatisfaction with their current provider.

Once again, a clever list of questions can subtly introduce an element of doubt in your prospect’s mind about their current occupational medicine provider. What kind of medical services do you require? Are onsite injuries a major concern? Do you have a drug-testing program in place? How important are pre-employment physicals? Once you get them thinking hard about their current quality of service, you can hit them with the big ones: Tell me what is most important to you in your company’s relationship with your medical provider?

A delicate balance of open-ended and closed questions will help create a well-rounded portrait of the client’s priorities. Closed questions require a simple response and revolve around basic facts that will help you learn more about their company without seeming too forward. Add to that a few open-ended questions to elicit more thought-provoking answers–get them talking more candidly and try to draw out their opinions. What is the most important factor in choosing an occupational medicine provider? Be sure to take thorough notes during the call, so that you can then form the most potent and relevant pitch.

c) Make sure there are “next steps” to follow.

Once you establish an interest in your services, however minor it may be, you can start to explain the benefits of a switch. But don’t let them off the hook. Schedule a facility tour or a follow-up meeting. Leave the call with a specific action item in place that requires them to respond directly within a defined period of time–anything from signing a contract to filling out a questionnaire.

WebForDoctors also provides outsourced services for occupational medicine sales, so feel free to contact us if you need additional assistance.