Lessons From A Salesman

Everyone is selling something or the other all the time, and even a doctor sells the idea of a healthy life to his or her patients. Therefore, it is imperative to learn what effective salesmanship is, says Vivek Shukla

Sales is no longer considered a dirty word. Gone are the days when salesmanship was associated with conning, manipulation, lies. If you look at the word's origin, to sell means 'to serve'. I can extend the quote from Shakespeare and say, 'The world is a big market and we are all salesmen'. Come to look at it, a father sells the idea of education when he asks his son to study hard. A lover sells the idea of a happy future when he proposes marriage to his beloved. An employee sells the idea of a salary raise to his boss. Every doctor sells the idea of a healthy life to his or her patient.

My point is, in a broader context, everyone is selling something or the other all the time. Therefore, it is imperative to learn what effective salesmanship is. A good salesman can go places irrespective of what his profession is.

Having led and coached salespersons in various industries, here is what I think every doctor should know about selling:

• Listen With All Heart And Soul: Listening is more important than speaking, as it tells us what to speak. Yet, people are always speaking their minds without caring for what others have to say. As salesmen, people are always trained to listen actively. If a salesman is harping about the new credit card that his company has come out with, he better listen as to where that card can be useful to the client in his day-to-day life.

  Doctors should be no different. They must learn to listen to the patients with 'all ears'. On the contrary, a recent study revealed that the doctor interrupts his patient's opening statement 72 per cent of the times. Doctors should give them the greatest gift that mankind has to offer - an experience of being heard. A good doctor, in my opinion, is the one who gives the patient an experience of being heard and understood. It is an art to listen. Just because we have two ears sticking out at the sides of our heads, doesn't mean we are listening with full attention.

  This is how we generally listen when someone is sharing their pain and agony with us - we pretend that we are listening but in our mind we are saying - finish fast so that I can talk. Doctors usually think - I already know what your disease is and what I have to prescribe. I listen to these symptoms umpteen times every day and its nothing new to me. The day a doctor ceases to talk with himself in his head while the patient is speaking, his practice will be open to huge possibilities. He will then put aside all the 'in-head' conversations and will start listening. The patients will be extremely happy with him and he will be delighted to recommend him to others.

  By far, the most liked characteristic of a good doctor is that he is a good listener. He leans forward, has a smile, maintains eye contact and listens to his patients as if that is the only thing to be done at that time. He also frequently repeats back to the patient to find out whether he has heard him correctly. He does not fiddle with his pen nor does he glance at the papers on his table. He seldom interrupts the patient to give his advice. He just gives his entire attention to the speaker. Sometimes when the patient is drifting away in his conversation, he brings him back to the point tactfully by asking a smart question or by making an interesting observation based on what he just heard. This way, he is able to listen and yet keep the speaker on track.

  If you don't read this article further and just take 'listening' actively as a practice, it will be sufficient for your growth as a doctor.

• Be Genuinely Interested In Them: As a doctor you are dealing with human beings. I am sometimes appalled to see doctors treating patients as objects rather than human beings. Where is the human touch that is so sacred to the noble profession? Successful insurance agents know the entire family of the client as if they were a part of the same family. Similarly, a good physician is the one who knows his patient as a person. He knows what he does in life. He knows what his son is doing these days. He may even know the name of his dog.

  Yes, his skill as a doctor is important. A competent doctor is the one who will diagnose and treat a disease with accuracy and at the same time will have a great personal bond with each of his patients. If your previous patients do not enter your chamber with a smile on their faces and if they do not establish an instant eye contact with a warm smile, I think it is time for introspection for you as a doctor!

• Approach Your Work With Full Enthusiasm: Remember, enthusiasm is contagious. If you are going about your day with full vigour and enthusiasm, chances are that the people around you will go about their work in the same manner. It will even rub on to your patients. They will seem eager to follow your instructions and will be committed to handling their own disease more proactively.

  Try to remember the last time when you bought something just because the person selling it seemed too excited and happy about the product. Your local vegetable vendor can be a good example. It is amazing how they are so enthusiastic about selling vegetables. You mostly end up buying more than you require.

• Never Criticise: Whining and complaining about the system or co-workers or circumstances will rob you of your energy. A good salesman will never criticise the competitor or the circumstances. He knows that his credibility will suffer if he talks negative about others. He is fully excited about his product and he fully believes that his product is the best. As a doctor your attitude has to be positive. Say positive things, praise people where necessary and avoid condemning other doctors or the system.
• Smile With Your Heart: Seldom does a smile go waste. If you smile with your heart, you are bound to get a smile. There is a famous saying- 'He did not have a smile on his face, so I gave him one'. A genuine smile is not given with lips and teeth or by saying cheese. Your entire face and body should smile. Remember the group photo when all of you went on that picnic and it was so much fun? Take a look at that picture again, all of you are not just smiling with your lips, but your entire bodies reflect how much fun you were having!

  If you are happy about seeing someone, inform your face and body about it. Like the Americans say- 'Let it rip'. If my doctor greeted me with a warm smile, half of my agony will be gone in an instant. Salespeople attribute their success to how often they smile during work. My mentor once told me that if I went to an important interview and if I could make the panel smile back to me, I would most likely get the job.

• Tell Them What Is In It For Them: What will they get as opposed to how will you do it to them. Let's face it- we all are self centred. Even your patients are self centred. They want to know what they will get. So tell them what they will get instead of how they will get it. As a consultant, I tell my prospects that they will get 30-40 per cent increase in profits in a year. How I will do it is never the opening discussion.

  Let us take an instance of a person with multiple fractures of tibia. What will he get if a surgery is done? What will he get if the surgery is not done and only plaster is done? What will he gain or lose if Illizarov technique is applied to the broken bone? The focus is on what will he get. It will be a mistake to tell him how you will carry out each technique. He is interested in himself. How long will he be hospitalised under each treatment option? Will it be painful to go for surgery? How much will he pay for each option? Will you be able to do a good job? Are these the only options or there are other ways too? These are some of the things he wants to know. Talk about the whole experience that he will have to undergo with each option. Also talk about the end results and probabilities of complications for each treatment option. Be in his world. Answer his concerns. Get out of your own head and thoughts.

• Appeal More To The Emotional Mind Rather Than The Logical Mind: Give them an emotional reason to buy your advice. We have two minds - emotional and logical. The emotional mind is stronger. A jeans salesman tells me how I look and how well the pair fits me rather than telling me what fabrics are used in creating that pair. A car salesman tells me what a premium car will do to my prestige in the society. A good doctor also tells a pregnant mother that folic acid helps in growth of the baby and calcium and iron are also important for the mother and child. He gets them to see how a healthy baby will bring smiles and laughter in the family. Then the same doctor tells the same things to the father of the baby to ensure that the advice is followed. Let them visualise happiness, health and prosperity before giving them scientific reasons.

  Here is a guaranteed result-producing sales technique - get them to experience the discomfort with the present scenario. Then get them to visualise how their future will be after they follow your advice. Getting them to visualise is a strong sales tool. Use it more often.

• Always Follow Up: Excellent salesmen always keep in touch with their existing and previous clients. They ensure that they are getting repeat business and referrals from the existing data list. So, send them birthday cards, send them new year wishes, remind them of their appointments with you, call them over for a cup tea and give them information. The idea is to keep them in touch with you.

Selling the idea of a healthy life is the essence of the job of a doctor. Your success depends upon how many patients get well after 'buying' your advice. So it never harms learning 'selling' skills. After all, we are all salesmen!

The writer is a Healthcare Marketing Consultant based at Dharamshala.
E-mail: vivekshukla2002@hotmail.com