Respiratory Solutions

The 'How To' of Marketing New Technology to Physician Referrals

• By Jacquelyn McClure
• Jan 01, 2009

Since the respiratory HME business relies on a physician prescription to do business, it's imperative that providers learn the physician's perspective about the goods and services that they sell. Building loyalty, not just customer satisfaction, is your end result for physician referral sources. The WIFM (What's In It For Me?) question needs to answer how the physician can:

• make money
• save time
• create efficiencies and remove daily stress
• credit and recognize the physician and/or practice.

Whether you are introducing a new technology into the marketplace or providing continual follow-up service, relationship building is the most effective technique to support revenue over time.

Let's look at positioning a new technology within a relationship-building model:

Prospecting — Who are the potential referral sources for this new technology?

Establish Effective Communication — Create the "elevator speech." Physicians are most enthused about patient-care issues, so try to outline your query in that context and couch it around the WIFM questions.

Find the Chemistry — Help the referral source get the services and benefits they need, not the services and benefits you want.

Probing Strategy — Ask probing questions and listen. It is all about the potential referral source. There are four main reasons physicians refer to other physicians and ancillary care:

1. Need opinions and/or procedures for their patient that they are incapable or unwilling to provide.
2. Need a second opinion for their own or patient/family satisfaction.
3. Want to satisfy the demand from another person they are unwilling or unable to satisfy.
4. Want to get rid of the patient.

Of these four, respiratory HMEs can especially help with 1, 3 and 4. Probes can be well-utilized with regard to these reasons: Doctor, what can we provide to your COPD patients that would assist with their care and help reduce their visits to you and the hospital?

The Offering — What do you actually offer the referral source? Is it better outcomes for less money? Presenting your offering requires rapport, which comes with a solid probing strategy. When framing your solution/the new technology, use their words to demonstrate that the solution is the perfect fit for their problem or need. Do not be afraid to offer different solutions than suggested by the physicians, but be sure to offer a follow-up option: How about we do X, and I will let you know how it works out? If your new technology is not the perfect fit, be honest and discuss that factor. The right match for placing new technology is crucial, and this potential client will be a great client down the road when the perfect match does occur.

Ask for the Business — Ask for exactly what you want: Would you refer five of your patients to us so that we can demonstrate what X technology can do? Many physicians are weary of some of their "frequent flyers." Your new technology could be the solution to this type of patient.

Service, Service and More Service — Service is critical for ongoing success. Once you have a referral source, make it your charge to provide any and all ongoing service. Keep the lines of communication open with your team to better serve the referral source.

Building relationships for new technology placement or any marketing promotion will require moving from step to step at the customer's pace. Timing can be quick, over a meeting or over a period of months. Set the structure for the end result that both parties want in moving the relationship and sales process forward.

Everyone in business today understands growing the top line and hitting bottom line goals. Keep your vision on what it is you are selling and why the referral sources want it. Remember to position the value of your company and the new technology to WIFM (such as to potentially free physicians to address other patients rather than continually dealing with repeat COPD patients). This will increase the billable hours for new patients while decreasing physicians' hours.

Ask the simple question: What if together we could…?

This article originally appeared in the Respiratory Management Jan/Feb 2009 issue of HME Business.