The medtech sector is hotter than ever. From diagnostic sensors and wearables to life-saving devices and smart technologies, there’s a vast array of innovative solutions coming to market. For the sales and marketing team, the primary challenge is getting your product or service in front of the right healthcare buyer.
It’s notoriously difficult to establish relationships with hospitals and healthcare systems. Even working with smaller healthcare clinics, long-term care facilities, pharmacies and labs can be challenging. Simply finding the right department and contact person often means hours of navigating through websites, phone trees and gatekeepers.
Add to this complicated sales environment the new hurdles of COVID-19, when face-to-face interactions are out of bounds, and many medtech companies are hungry for a new approach.
Hospitals, clinics and medical facilities always answer the phone
At Volkart May, we work daily with leading medtech companies. We understand the nuances of the medical field and our talented callers speak healthcare fluently. It adds up to a proven solution that pairs exceptionally well with medtech companies small and large.
Outbound calling plays an integral role in the sales and marketing efforts of medtech companies. It complements other activities, such as a robust website, updated social media profiles and an email marketing program.
It’s also worthwhile in healthcare because hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities usually answer the phone. There’s so much you can accomplish through a live conversation
5 ways to apply outbound calling in medtech
Here are five ways medtech companies can leverage outbound calling to streamline your sales process.
1. Research your target market
Efficient sales and marketing campaigns occur when medtech companies understand exactly who your target audience is and their needs. Asking questions uncovers far more information than digital campaigns. With a medtech call campaign, you can collect this data while simultaneously building rapport with the organization.
Here are a few of the medtech-specific questions we’ve asked recently on behalf of our valued clients:
- How many medical records do you process every week?
- What is your biggest challenge with engaging patients?
- How do you handle your medical receivables?
- How old is your current equipment?
- What is your timeframe and budget for purchase?
- How many licensed beds in the hospital?
- Do you currently have a patient-focused mobile communication strategy?
- What disease states can be studied using your systems?
- What type of oncology testing do you offer?
- How are you tracking downstream ROI from your patient engagement efforts?
2. Create awareness
With the long sales cycles typical of medtech, there are many fruitful call objectives that will support your ultimate sale. Early calls to healthcare facilities are a great way to generate awareness of your company and introduce your product and service.
These calls are smart complements to email and digital advertising campaigns because they break through in-box clutter. Even if your call results in a voicemail, you’ve created one more touchpoint that keeps your company top of mind.
3.Keep your database current
Nothing wastes time and money for your high-powered medtech sales team like an inaccurate database. B2B data decays quickly, making list updates for names, titles, phone numbers and email addresses a top priority. Outbound calling can quickly gather or confirm this information—often without speaking to a decision-maker. These updates can occur during a lead generation or awareness-building call for further efficiency.
4. Generate leads
With few opportunities right now for business travel, conferences or face-to-face meetings, the power of virtual selling and outbound calling is stronger than ever. Live, two-way conversations
establish a human connection and a rapport that can’t be matched by other alternatives. Regular outbound calling keeps your sales pipeline filled and sales quotas on track. You can even book sales-ready appointments directly on your reps’ calendars.
5. Scale quickly
Medtech’s rapid growth can often outpace company infrastructure—especially at startups. Using an outsourced calling partner gives you more options to accelerate your lead generation and sales efforts, without the time and energy of hiring, training and managing an in-house team. Even established medtech organizations benefit from this approach, particularly when testing out a new value proposition, expanding to a new market segment or launching a new product.
30 years of healthcare lead generation experience
Never tried outbound calling before? Skeptical about working with an outsourced provider like Volkart May? Take a look at our proven process and these recent results connecting with hospitals, clinics and medical buyers:
- Medtech appointment-setting. We helped a pharmacy services provider connect with Pharmacy Directors and Chief Nursing Officers at hospitals. We booked an average of 100 appointments per year for five years running and reached 40 percent of the decision-makers on the company’s target list. The campaign generated 10:1 ROI.
- Hospital market intelligence. We armed a medtech manufacturer with robust background information for a new market segment. We contacted Biomedical Engineering Managers, Clinical Engineering Directors and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to understand their equipment preferences, purchasing timeframes, budgets and decision-making criteria. In a matter of weeks, we profiled 600 hospitals and generated a pipeline of qualified leads that served the medtech company for two years.
- Healthcare lead generation. We supported a global laboratory in a multi-year campaign to hospitals and specialty physician offices in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe. Our professional callers educated lab directors about a variety of new testing options. As a result, the company achieved $11.1 million in new business in a single fiscal year. Our team generated 30,000 sales opportunities and 9:1 ROI on the campaign.
We’d love to introduce you to our medtech calling team! We operate as trusted brand ambassadors to represent your valued solution in the healthcare market. Contact us to discuss your opportunity.
