Medical technology is one of the hottest sectors for investment, innovation and sales. Every day, imaginative startups and established medtech companies launch new solutions to help patients, physicians and medical professionals.
One of the biggest challenges for medtech companies, however, is getting their product or service noticed by busy healthcare decision-makers.
Even before COVID-19, getting just 15 minutes on the calendar of a hospital administrator, clinician or pharmacy manager was challenging. Now, with continued staffing shortages and new protocols around face-to-face appointments, it’s even more difficult to advance your medtech company’s sales process. Decision-makers in healthcare are notorious for skipping digital ads, sending sales and marketing emails to “spam” and guarding their calendars from well-meaning sales reps.
Use outbound calling to reach healthcare and medtech buyers
Outbound calling can make a positive impact with healthcare buyers, especially when you employ professional business development callers who are fluent in medtech lead generation best practices.
At Volkart May, we believe there’s nothing more powerful than one-to-one conversation for engaging decision-makers. We bring more than 30 years’ experience in B2B and healthcare lead generation to every engagement. Our medtech practice highlights the types of services and the value we provide for our trusted customers.
Our long history making outbound calls to clinics, hospitals, labs, pharmacies and other medical facilities gives us powerful insight into what works—and what doesn’t—with healthcare lead generation.
Vital sales prospecting tips for medtech and healthcare calls
Whether you’re making outbound sales calls with your own team, or outsourcing to experienced healthcare lead generation specialists, try these five sales prospecting best practices to improve results in your next medtech lead generation calling campaign.
Target the right individual
Ever try to get a physician to take a sales call? It can be next to impossible. One of the easiest ways to generate more qualified leads in your medtech calling campaign is by targeting the right individual.
That doesn’t always mean calling the highest-level role or starting with the ultimate decision-maker.
Especially when you’re cold calling or refining a new prospect list, there’s much to be learned from speaking with healthcare contacts more easy to reach, then working your way forward to other potential buyers.
This case study tells the story. We helped a medical device manufacturer profile 600 hospitals to learn their current equipment, challenges and buying cycles, helping create a two-year pipeline of qualified leads and actionable information.
Test your value proposition
The value proposition of your healthcare product or service is critical to success. It needs to address a common problem in the market, show why yours is the best solution, and capture attention—all in just a few seconds. That’s a tall order.
First, make sure you’re using conversational language to tell your story; the version printed in your brochure or on your website seldom works on a sales call without some refinement.
Next, use the power of outbound calling to test your value proposition in real-world situations. Within just a few days, you’ll know what resonates with your target market, and where you can improve your relevancy.
Make enough call attempts
Studies show it can take as many as six attempts to reach a healthcare or B2B decision-maker through outbound calling. However, most sales reps routinely give up after just two or three calls. It’s not unusual. Cold calling is both an art and a skill, and not all sales professionals thrive at it.
Outsourcing your healthcare business development and lead generation calling to professionals like Volkart May can ensure you’re applying the best possible resources and contacting your target audience regularly. Using a dedicated team keeps your efforts focused for maximum results.
Combine sales calls with other activity
Outbound calling for lead generation or healthcare appointment-setting is effective on its own, but adding one or more other methods to your campaign—simultaneously—can boost results across all channels.
Give your next lead generation calling campaign a lift by pairing it with online content, trade advertising, paid AdWords, email or other marketing activities. A great way to measure results is with side-by-side tests in different markets: one with just outbound calling, another with multiple marketing activities in play.
Use a compelling offer
Offers are a final sales prospecting best practice for medtech and healthcare. Using a compelling offer can create urgency or exclusivity that makes it faster and easier to move healthcare prospects forward in your sales process.
Your offer doesn’t need to be a pricing incentive or a discount. In fact, early-funnel cold calls benefit most from an offer that’s informational and educational. Consider developing a whitepaper or case study that shows real-world application of your solution, hosting a webinar or inviting prospects to a virtual demonstration.
Download our guide to medtech lead generation
Ready for even more tips on reaching medtech and healthcare decision-makers? Download our free guide, 3 Keys to boost medtech sales leads.
