How to get in touch with doctors?

cheesewhiz

cheesewhiz

New member
May 1, 2010
337
4
0
I've got some solid leads for a few different plastic surgery procedures (boob jobs, nose jobs, lipo, etc) that I'm trying to find a surgeon in my area to buy. I know the procedures are expensive ($5,000+) so these leads have to be worth something, but I am having a hell of a time trying to get in touch with a doctor.

I've called about 40 doctors in my area that do these procedures, but I can't get through the receptionists to the doctor or an office manager, even if I'm offering free leads to them. Most tell me that they get lots of calls like this and its policy not to bother the doctor with them.

I'm running out of doctors to call in my area, so thought I'd see if anyone had other suggestions. I could try to book an appointment like a normal patient, but since they all offer free consultations I doubt they'd be very happy when I'm pitching them (since they're not making money off my visit). Any suggestions are really appreciated.
 


Try dropping a series of good old fashion sales letters in the mail and email. If its worth it, you might try to network your way in.
 
There are whole books written on this subject. Some salespeople pay an hours wage to the professional to talk.
 
thelorax said:
There are whole books written on this subject. Some salespeople pay an hours wage to the professional to talk.
Click to expand...

Pay them? Shouldn't they wish somebody like OP delivered them valuable leads for their businesses? Sometimes I wonder that all goes the wrong way around
 
UGH fucking bitches at the front desk used to be my arch enemy back in merchant service sales. I got smart though and found a few solid techniques that really work.

First don't ever walk in wanting to make a sale right away (and yes try a few walk in's if ya haven't dress professional but not to over the top) I know your thinking no way am I walking in but I have a strategy that even those lacking people/sales skills can use.

since my product was more administrative/billings it was a little easier because i got to do what they love and make them feel important. I walked in and said i wanted to speak to THEM not the doctor. (typically for anything front end related if they like it the DR will just agree and cut the check most of them don't know or care much about front end aspects of the biz especially at a large office with multiple DR's.

In your case the doctors might be more interested in your product than the admin's so a trick I learned that you could use was instead of trying to walk in and close I would make flyers (usually a full size piece of paper and in color)

Don't make it your goal to walk in and speak to the DR he/she is def going to be busy or at least that's what the secretary will say. Make it your goal to drop the flyer.

walk in "hi I just wanted to leave this for YOU and the DR. if you have any questions my info is at the bottom have a nice day" smile and walk away.

I made it a goal to be in and out quick I guarantee they will try to stop you and ask questions about the flyer some won't but a lot will. They are used to the hard sell in the middle of the work day so when you try to leave they want to know more. This technique worked great for me with some pretty basic flyers and as an outside salesman it helped me overcome the constant rejection and make more calls during the day because it took the pressure off of making the sale and all I had to do was drop a flyer.

Be sure to take a biz card on your way out and follow up via email or phone call. If they ask you for more info or questions and seem to open to conversation try to shoot for a direct email contact of the DR and not much else. Odds are you are prolly going to need to make a real appointment/lunch to have a serious chat with a DR they don't wan't to talk about spending money when there are patients in the lobby waiting to pay them.

Hiring people to do this for you is a great and cheap option as well. (hot girls preferably) have them do the flyer drop and collect the biz card to validate they actually walked in. Take the info they give you as leads to follow up and maybe offer an incentive on closed sales. This might be easier said than done as finding a college kid who's going to do it right isn't always easy but its a way you could outsource this whole process.

hope this rambling helps or at least gives ya some ideas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fm1234
How much is the business worth to you?

$1000 a month? $10,000 a month? $100,000 a month?

If you said it's worth any of the above be willing to spend at least a hundred to get the biz. These are offline businesses so you have to work them like they are used to being worked. Calls and emails roll off these people like raindrops on waxed canvas.

Here's a simple way to get in the door. Call asking a setup question like "I have a lot of people interested in your Dr's services. How can I refer them to you?" If she tells you then great, if she says they don't want to be bothered then say, well I'd like to send some info, look it over. If you like it pass it on." Then send a gift basket for the receptionist, preferably something big enough for the entire staff to munch on, for her help. Usually gets you in the door. That's the cheap way.

If you need more than one or two you need to find a consultant in the industry. Check linkedin for a pharma rep that works plastic surgeons. Look in the plastic surgery trades to find out what pharma companies are hot in that field. Then find the reps that work for them. They know doctors in a way you never could. It's their job to spend money on them and win their "trust". $1,000 should get you the introductions you need. More than you need actually. If you are in a small town the pharma guys you need may live in the nearest major city so keep that in mind.

Good luck
 
I would think looking on google would lead you to the people that know the value of the leads.

I would be interested to find out if you find a buyer easily. Because I own breastsurgeon.com and have thought of developing it but also maybe just selling it to a doctor.
 
Couple of more ideas:

Get as many doctors as you can into a database that you can work. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet or as complicated as a CRM.

Start calling (you already have...). It's a numbers game. Someone will say yes as you perfect your intro. Don't pitch the sale. Ask for permission to fax them something. Document this permission as unsolicited faxing is illegal.

Write a great fax cover page and highlight your program on the 2nd page. Keep it short, simple, large font, easy to read, with a call to action. Make sure they can contact you via phone and give them something to research. A customer example doesn't hurt if you have one.

Follow-up... Did you get my fax?

Update your contact list... Focus on interested parties.

Just some ideas, good luck.
 
@bigb3433: Great post, but I'd offer one amendment:

Hiring people to do this for you is a great and cheap option as well. (hot girls preferably)
Click to expand...

Guys. Hot guys. Half of my wife's family are women in the medical profession, and the way these girls go on about the male pharma reps that come through their offices suggests that the hot guy sales rep is right up there with the UPS guy in office female attention hierarchy. And, no sexism intended, how often do you see a guy working an office job at a doctor's office, especially relative to women in these positions?


Frank
 
bigb3433 said:
UGH fucking bitches at the front desk used to be my arch enemy back in merchant service sales. I got smart though and found a few solid techniques that really work.

First don't ever walk in wanting to make a sale right away (and yes try a few walk in's if ya haven't dress professional but not to over the top) I know your thinking no way am I walking in but I have a strategy that even those lacking people/sales skills can use.

since my product was more administrative/billings it was a little easier because i got to do what they love and make them feel important. I walked in and said i wanted to speak to THEM not the doctor. (typically for anything front end related if they like it the DR will just agree and cut the check most of them don't know or care much about front end aspects of the biz especially at a large office with multiple DR's.

In your case the doctors might be more interested in your product than the admin's so a trick I learned that you could use was instead of trying to walk in and close I would make flyers (usually a full size piece of paper and in color)

Don't make it your goal to walk in and speak to the DR he/she is def going to be busy or at least that's what the secretary will say. Make it your goal to drop the flyer.

walk in "hi I just wanted to leave this for YOU and the DR. if you have any questions my info is at the bottom have a nice day" smile and walk away.

I made it a goal to be in and out quick I guarantee they will try to stop you and ask questions about the flyer some won't but a lot will. They are used to the hard sell in the middle of the work day so when you try to leave they want to know more. This technique worked great for me with some pretty basic flyers and as an outside salesman it helped me overcome the constant rejection and make more calls during the day because it took the pressure off of making the sale and all I had to do was drop a flyer.

Be sure to take a biz card on your way out and follow up via email or phone call. If they ask you for more info or questions and seem to open to conversation try to shoot for a direct email contact of the DR and not much else. Odds are you are prolly going to need to make a real appointment/lunch to have a serious chat with a DR they don't wan't to talk about spending money when there are patients in the lobby waiting to pay them.

Hiring people to do this for you is a great and cheap option as well. (hot girls preferably) have them do the flyer drop and collect the biz card to validate they actually walked in. Take the info they give you as leads to follow up and maybe offer an incentive on closed sales. This might be easier said than done as finding a college kid who's going to do it right isn't always easy but its a way you could outsource this whole process.

hope this rambling helps or at least gives ya some ideas.
Click to expand...

Good stuff. What do you pay the people you hire to drop the flyers for you? And if they closed the sale right there in the office, what incentive do you offer?
 
@bigb, MrBradshaw, everyone else who gave suggestions

Thanks for the ideas guys, great stuff here. I haven't tried walking in yet but this is definitely something I will do now.

What I tried first was sending these phone leads and having a "whisper" feature tell the receptionist that she was receiving a free phone lead from my company, and they could contact us to get more. Set up a legit website and phone number and all that, sent some phone leads, and they took the calls but never contacted me.

Then I tried the cold calling which obviously didn't work. The response I almost always got was that the doctor was in surgery all week/month and they were booked through the end of the year since its the busy season for plastic surgery.

One problem I'm still trying to figure out is what these leads are worth, since I don't even know if I have a viable business model yet. I know what my cost is, but I don't know what the conversion rate on their end will be or what their margin is (60-70% gross margin from what I've found but don't know how accurate that is). Really for now I'm just trying to get a doc to test this out with me and see if he'll share his results in exchange for free leads.

Anyways thanks again for the ideas guys, I'm still a sales noob so this helps a ton.
 
Another approach that works with lawyers, and might also work for doctors, is to approach them through their Association meetings. With Lawyers for example, there are lots of associations that meet on a regular basis for continuing education, seminars, Board meetings, etc.... These include national organizations like the AAJ (American Association for Justice) and the ABA (American Bar Association). There are also shitloads of state organizations such as the FJA (Florida Justice Association). You can go to these meetings and set up a booth and hand out fliers -- or hire a hottie to have her hand out fliers. You can get a schedule of these events from their websites and contact them to set up a booth. Usually costs a few hundred bucks for the booth. I've been to lots of these meetings and there are ALWAYS IM companies there schlepping leads or services. You will definately get leads that way but it's work. You can also buy labels for mailing lists from these orgs to send letters or brochures; they usually won't sell you their email lists.

I'm pretty sure you can do the same thing to reach out to doctors -- through both their national and state organizations like the AMA (American Medical Association) and the FMA (Florida Medical Association). You might also consider placing ads in their magazines, which can be reasonably priced.

I own bestplasticsurgeons.com and have considered building it out to generate leads like your'e doing; seems like a good idea. Hope it works. Best of luck.
 
fm1234 said:
@bigb3433: Great post, but I'd offer one amendment:



Guys. Hot guys. Half of my wife's family are women in the medical profession, and the way these girls go on about the male pharma reps that come through their offices suggests that the hot guy sales rep is right up there with the UPS guy in office female attention hierarchy. And, no sexism intended, how often do you see a guy working an office job at a doctor's office, especially relative to women in these positions?


Frank
Click to expand...

totally agree actually.. I tried girls for my biz but i wasn't just doing DR's i was doing all kinds of businesses. Me walk into mechanics shop = uphill battle.. hot girl walks into mechanic shop you can hear the tools drop.

I'd suggest the OP take your advice as well.

@ what to pay them totally depends on the volume and how much a sale is worth to you. remember they are just dropping the flyer and getting info. Finding somebody that can close the whole deal for you is going to be rare and you'll have to pay accordingly but. Giving a college kid say $1 per flyer and have them do 30-50 drops in a day or 2 wouldn't be asking too much and they could cover a lot of ground for you.

Adding that incentive like $100 for any sale I can close to the right person might motivate them to be more proactive and not "give ya wood".

I will say i kind of got out of the biz i was in (and started AM) so i didn't rack up a ton of experience outsourcing this but i did have quite a few people flake on me as far as getting the work done. It's a matter of finding the right person. Big word of advice is don't try to teach them everything about your product just some basic stuff and if the potential client has questions they should be forwarded to you and that gives you a hot lead to come in and close.

Def go out and do it yourself first though that will help you coach another person on what to do, help you split test your flyer, and increase your chances of a quick close.
 
BTW forgot to add if you guys want some good reading material pick up a book called "never cold call again" by frank rumbaskas. I'd highly recommend it to any outside sales newb or newbie sales manager. The main focus is to find creative and smart ways to avoid just pounding the phones with cold leads and a lot of the ideas are based around finding ways to avoid the things most sales people hate like (rejection, cold calling, etc.)

the flyer technique is actually in there and he elaborates a bit on the psychology behind it. good stuff.

I will warn you though while that book was great the author has since turned into a "make money on da internetzzz" type guru so can't really recommend his other stuff.
 
Doesn't matter how much you try or what method you use - some biz owners (and secretary's) won't even bother. You can offer them the moon totally free no obligations, a free website & hosting, free leads with nothing in return for your time or expenses...... and they will still turn you down and not be interested. It's the most amazing thing ever.
 
identity_00 said:
Doesn't matter how much you try or what method you use - some biz owners (and secretary's) won't even bother. You can offer them the moon totally free no obligations, a free website & hosting, free leads with nothing in return for your time or expenses...... and they will still turn you down and not be interested. It's the most amazing thing ever.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was trying to say. They should be lining up to the OP because he is bringing new business to them. How can you run a business like that (refusing opportunities to earn more). Exactly - amazing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom