Know-How Exchange : Strategy

a couple of suggestions...
1) instead of saying how come we havent heard from you... instead say.. we are making sure that our records are correct..

2) If they say they havent sent anyone.. ask why .. if the reason is nebulous, that means somebody else is incenting them and they dont want to say so.. regardless of what people say, doctors are being rewarded with tickets to events, charitable galas, etc on a regular basis..

I believe that you need to come up with an incentive plan for the doctor to refer to you, such as so many referrals equals a gift certificate, trip, etc... Additionally, I would have them make a commitment to be a part of your program in writing (to get a personal investment into you).
Either way, it is a sales issue. You should examine the pharmaceutical sales process which give CME credits for attending their pitches, additionally you need to build relationships with the head nurses and or office managers since they run the majority of the practice.

One additional tool that is successful is to incorporate a tracking tool into your leave behind that allows them to track referrals and give to the sales rep on their return.

Good Luck!

Alyson

Hi Nheye,

hope you're having a great day!

After 12 years and nearly an 85% closing average I can see a few things that are obvious based on what you're trying to get to happen.

FIRST...BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT YOUR FOLLOW-UP...
consultants must flesh out how serious clients are by scheduling a follow-up phone call. If your clients are not giving you follow-ups what are your staff doing to turn these areas of difficulties into victories for your company.

Often sales people run from trying to nail these kind of things down because it's easier to walk away with loose ends than it is to "DEAL WITH IT". Dealing with it brings powerful results and confidence. Not dealing with it is a sign of fear. It's not always the "fear of failure" that motivates us but often times the "fear of success".

SECOND...DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR REFERRALS...
the second leading cause of our failures is the fear of asking people for referrals. If you want to increase your success ratios, number of clients sold, number of deals in your pipeline you must get your staff to ask for referrals. When clients give you that follow-up date this means they feel good about the product or service you offer.

THIRD...REFFERALS ARE THE BEST WAY TO EMPLOYEE YOUR CUSTOMERS TO WORK FOR YOU...
If you aren't asking for referrals you're avoiding a powerful opportunity to fill your pipeline. You have to be visiting prospects all the time and what better way to solidify that opportunity than to get your customers to work for you.

If you're doing an amazing job for them they should want to refer you to others. So serve your customers with Passion because the Customer is KING.

FOURTH...REMEMBER THIS ABOUT REFERRALS...
referral customers buy more often and purchase higher amounts of products and services than any other customer. So you need plenty of these types of customers to make your business grow faster.

FIFTH...AVOID MAKING YOUR PRESENTATIONS SEEM LIKE SALES PITCHES...
Your consultative meetings should be bringing rich rewarding fresh ideas to your prospects. It should be an opportunity of identifying what their needs for your product will be. Now if they're referred to you this should be so much easier to do since the person who referred them to you should know a great deal about their potential needs. Take advantage of the opportunity you bring to your client as a resource. I know the above will help if used. Now is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

Thank you all for your time and attention to my question. I expecially like Randall's idea of providing lunches to create an "emotional response". I will incorporate this idea immediately. Thank you all for your help!