Selling Healthcare: 5 Strategies To Create High-Return .
Selling Healthcare:5 Strategies to CreateHigh-Return Relationshipsin Healthcare SalesGARY W. POLSKYWITH ANDREA ROWLAND
Selling Healthcare: 5 Strategies to Create HighReturn Relationships in Healthcare SalesAssociate PublisherGreg WiegandCopyright 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect tothe use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher andauthors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is anyliability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5140-9ISBN-10: 0-7897-5140-2TrademarksAll terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarksor service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishingcannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in thisbook should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademarkor service mark.Warning and DisclaimerEvery effort has been made to make this book as complete and asaccurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The authors and the publishershall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entitywith respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from programs accompanying it.Bulk SalesQue Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when orderedin quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information,please contactU.S. Corporate and Government or sales outside of the U.S., please contactInternational Salesinternational@pearson.comAcquisitions EditorKatherine BullManaging EditorKristy HartSenior Project EditorJovana ShirleyCopy EditorKrista Hansing EditorialService, Inc.Senior IndexerCheryl LenserProofreaderChuck HutchinsonPublishing CoordinatorCindy TeetersCompositorNonie RatcliffQue Biz-Tech EditorialBoardMichael BritoJason FallsRebecca LiebSimon SaltPeter Shankman
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE1234567Introduction: It Is Personal . 1Core Tactics to Connect . 9Strategy No. 1: Project a Magnetic Presence . 19Strategy No. 2: Light the Spark of Rapport . 29Strategy No. 3: Listen to Understand . 47Strategy No. 4: Show Appreciation, Admiration, and Respect . 61Strategy No. 5: Write Relationship Development Plans . 79The Five Strategies at Work . 93Conclusion: No End to the Possibilities . 111Index . 127
TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction: It Is Personal . 1The Right Career at the Right Time . 2New Legislation Equals New Opportunities . 3Skilled Sales Professionals in High Demand . 4Reaping High Returns . 5High-Return Relationships Cultivate CustomerLoyalty . 6The Five-Pronged Approach . 7It Is Who You Know . 7Endnotes . 81Core Tactics to Connect . 9Learn to Laser-Focus . 10Adopt a Sense of Urgency . 11Do Your Research . 12Project an Agendaless Presence. 14Specialize in Nonverbal Communication . 15The Eyes Have It. 15Smiles Are Contagious . 15Just Relax . 16Get in Touch . 16Write—and Write Some More. 17Celebrate Successes . 17Exercises . 18Practice Your Tactics . 18Endnotes . 182Strategy No. 1: Project a Magnetic Presence. 19First Impressions Count. 20Let the Good Vibes Roll . 20Keep Your Glass Full. 21Check Your Ego at the Door . 22Embrace an Enticing Entourage . 24Leverage the Power of Mentors . 25
Table of C ont ent sOut of Sight, Still in Mind. 26It’s All About Anticipation . 27Exercises . 27Hone Your Presence . 27Endnotes . 283Strategy No. 2: Light the Spark of Rapport . 29Become a Compassionate Consultant . 31Look Beneath the Surface . 32Flex Your Style . 34Express Sincere Interest. 35Find Common Ground. 37Be an Active Observer. 38Ask Open-Ended Questions. 38Avoid Highly Personal Topics . 39Infuse Interactions with Playfulness. 40Prioritize Your Playtime . 41Soar with Rapport Galore. 44Exercises . 44Refine Your Rapport-Building Skills . 44Endnotes . 444Strategy No. 3: Listen to Understand . 47Listen for Emotion. 49Loaded Words. 50Responding Instead of Reaching . 51Affirm and Pull . 52Don’t Hijack the Conversation . 53Reacting, Not Responding . 54Patient Listener, Conflict Resolver . 55No Faking It . 56Listening in Perfect Harmony . 58Exercises . 58Sharpen Your Listening Skills . 58Endnotes . 59v
vi5Se l l i n g Heal th careStrategy No. 4: Show Appreciation, Admiration,and Respect . 61Speak with Care . 63Choose Positive Words. . 64.That Evoke Positive Feelings . 65Talk to the Heart. 65Paint a Shared Vision . 66Address Conflict with Respect. 67Reinforce Your Message. 68Gravitate Toward Gratitude . 70Make Expressing Gratitude a Habit . 70Gifts Worth Giving . 71Pay Tribute with Touch . 73Get Balanced to Stay Positive . 74Don’t Stand in Your Own Way . 75Exercises . 76Practice Positive Expression. 76Endnotes . 776Strategy No. 5: Write Relationship Development Plans . 79Profiles with Purpose . 80Schedules for Growth . 81Tap into Your Entourage . 83Establish Shared Objectives . 84Set Goals for Personal Connection . 85Establish Subgoals. 85Create Dream-Weeks . 86Expand Your Circle of Influence . 87Get to Know the Gatekeeper. 88Evolutionary Process . 89Exercises . 90Endnotes . 917The Five Strategies at Work . 93Identify New Referral Sources . 94Start Written Plans . 95
Table of C ont ent sStep 1 . 95Make an Impression That Matters. 95Gather Important Information . 97Make the Ask . 97Overcoming Step 1 Objections. 98Step 2 . 99Show Sincere Interest and Respect . 99Emphasize the Shared Vision. 100Ask Open-Ended Questions. 100Appeal to Emotion . 101Plant the Seed of Need . 102Overcoming Step 2 Objections. 103Step 3 . 104Strive to Connect. 104Leverage Your Entourage . 104Build a Sense of Urgency . 105Overcoming Step 3 Objections. 106Step 4 . 107Exceed Expectations . 107Foster Rapport . 107Overcoming Step 4 Objections. 108Maintaining New High-Return Relationships . 108Conclusion: No End to the Possibilities . 111Health Smorgasbord for Seniors. 112Connecting to Reform Healthcare. 112Build High-Return Relationships inHigh-Potential Markets . 113Opportunities in Wellness and Prevention . 114Opportunities in Pharmaceuticals. 116Opportunities in Medical Equipment and Supplies. 117Opportunities in Health IT. 117Opportunities in Home Health . 118Opportunities in Hospice . 119Take It to the Next Level . 122Envision Your Future . 123Widen Your World. 124Endnotes . 124Index . 127vii
About the AuthorsGary W. Polsky’s nearly 30 years’ experience in the healthcare industry—frommanaging home infusion sales to running hospitals to founding hospice companiesin four states—has afforded him firsthand knowledge of the importance of strategically building and leveraging High-Return Relationships to achieve success in business and beyond. Moreover, his work with terminally ill patients and their lovedones has convinced Gary that, at the end of the day, nothing is more importantthan the people around you and the experiences you create together. His desire toimprove quality of life serves as his motivation for his entrepreneurial endeavors,philanthropic work, and multimedia outreach efforts under the umbrella of ApexLifestyle Design. Gary holds a master’s degree in hospital and healthcare administration from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.An award-winning former daily newspaper journalist and regional magazine executive editor on the East Coast, Andrea Rowland strives to engage readers with anentertaining narrative style that blends scholarly research with enlightening anecdotes. Since relocating to the beautiful American Southwest, Andrea now focusesher time and talents on exciting writing and editing projects and healthcare communications. She holds a master’s degree in the humanities from Hood College inFrederick, MD.DedicationTo aspiring leaders in the dynamic world of healthcare salesAcknowledgmentsDuring the past two decades, I have documented on an almost daily basis all myobservations and epiphanies gained during my entrepreneurial adventures inhealthcare. This book is a synergistic product of that knowledge, gleaned fromcountless weekly sales team meetings, lots of trial and error, and, ultimately, salesstrategies that deliver.In my sales leadership role, I coached teams of both rookie and veteran healthcaresales professionals and demonstrated new and smarter ways to create rewardingpersonal referral relationships with doctors and their office staffs, hospital andnursing home case managers, social workers, and many others. The content thatI used to direct these crucial, business-building Monday meeting presentationsoriginated from hours spent in libraries and bookstores devouring everything Icould find; from incorporating lessons learned from experts and colleagues in thefields of sales, team building/motivation, and leadership; and from my own varied
Acknowledgmentsixhealthcare sales experience in hospitals and hospice. Most important, the information I’m sharing in this book has been tested time and time again by numeroushealthcare sales professionals in actual fieldwork with consistent growth results.Along my path, I have been inspired by many amazing business leaders, but nonemore so than author Stephen R. Covey, who passed away in 2012 from a tragicbicycle accident and who gave me The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Puttinghis words into action instantaneously changed my life. I learned to be more proactive, expand my vision, and forge a strong personal–professional balance. Fromthat point forward, my life became more exciting, my focus became clearer, and Ibegan putting together written objectives of what I wanted to achieve.I could never have attempted to express my voice to the world without the tremendous dedication of my coauthor, Andrea Rowland, an Associated Press awardwinning writer and editor. Her relentless commitment to organizing my manynotes and thoughts, and turning them into a published work for the world to read,has been the true catalyst that helped me both complete this book and design acomprehensive platform for sharing my sales and leadership ideas.For the development and production of the book itself, I feel a deep sense ofappreciation to many special people. First and foremost, I owe a debt of gratitudeto marketer extraordinaire Gini Dietrich of Arment Dietrich in Chicago for introducing me to Pearson Acquisitions Editor Katherine Bull. I am deeply appreciative of Katherine’s expertise, support, and kindness. The entire production teamat Pearson—including Senior Project Editor Jovana Shirley, Copy Editor KristaHansing, and Designer Alan Clements—has been incredibly helpful andsupportive.I also want to thank Nancy Prenzno for assisting with research and eagle-eyeproofreading, Carrie Whitten Simmons for her extraordinarily creative focus in thedevelopment of our marketing platform, and Jeremy Simmons for his professionaldirection and creation of our innovative video products.I want to give a warm thank you to all who have shared my message and providedtheir insights about sales, publishing, and the healthcare industry, and who haveinvited me to blog and be a guest speaker on their own exciting platforms. A fewstand-outs include Steve Gielda, Ignite Selling, Inc.; Alli Polin, Break the Frame,LLC; Greg Richardson, leadership coach; Robert Terson, veteran salesman andauthor; Mark C. Crowley, leadership expert and author; and Jon Mertz, marketingspecialist in the healthcare software industry.I owe a very special debt of gratitude to my longtime friend and mentor, ScottGoldberg, entrepreneur extraordinaire, for his unwavering belief in my vision andfor acting as financier for many of my business plans, going back to my first business venture in 1993.
xSe l l i n g Heal th careSeveral colleagues made invaluable contributions to the content of this work bysharing stories of their own success in selling to the healthcare world, includingSteven Glucksman, medical insurance sales; Shelly Denson, hospice sales; MichaelPorpora, pharmaceutical sales; and Samantha Stonebrook, medical equipmentsales. I also extend heartfelt appreciation to Ralph Fern, home health sales, a verydear friend of mine and a guru in the art of sales team motivational techniques,who served as a valuable peer reviewer for this book.For modeling a strong work ethic and giving me the foundation for entrepreneurship—and for always believing that I could achieve my wildest dreams—I want tothank my mother, Helen Summerfield; my grandfather, Max Toys; and my manywise and wonderful uncles.Finally, I want to thank my beautiful wife, Joyce, for her devotion and encouragement, and my two talented daughters, Jenna and Ellie, for their hugs and enthusiasm and for the privilege of allowing me to pass on what I have learned to thenext generation. They are more a part of this book than they will ever know. Inmany ways, my desire to be a positive role model for my family motivated me towork smarter, not harder, and to help others do the same. My family’s consistentlystrong love and support will always be the source of my daily inspiration and mybright outlook for the future.
Reader ServicesxiWe Want to Hear from You!As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator.We value your opinion and want to know what we’re doing right, what we coulddo better, what areas you’d like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you’re willing to pass our way.As an associate publisher for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You canemail or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn’t like about thisbook—as well as what we can do to make our books better.Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of thisbook. We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.When you write, please be sure to include this book’s title and authors, as well asyour name, email address, and phone number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the authors and editors who worked on the book.Email:feedback@quepublishing.comMail:Greg WiegandAssociate PublisherQue Publishing800 East 96th StreetIndianapolis, IN 46240 USAReader ServicesVisit our website and register this book at quepublishing.com/register for convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for thisbook.
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Introduction: It IsPersonalI’ve been fascinated by the healthcare industry since I wasa kid waiting in the backseat of my physician father’s carwhile he made house calls in Houston. I loved the excitement of the emergency room and admired the talents ofdoctors like my dad to make a meaningful difference inpatients’ lives. My appreciation for this dynamic industrytook on a new dimension when I studied the businessside of healthcare in college and forged my own careerin hospital administration, home infusion sales, and,eventually, hospice. Throughout my three decades inhealthcare, I’ve witnessed sweeping changes aimed atstrengthening the system and protecting its integrity, suchas the evolution of the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG)system and the implementation of the Stark Law (http://starklaw.org). And I’ve watched the industry explodewith new opportunities in fields ranging from assistedliving to telehealth.Along the way, I’ve forged invaluable relationships withothers in both healthcare and the greater business community. These individuals have mentored me, befriendedme, worked alongside me, and ultimately helped propelme to tremendous personal and professional success.Grooming and growing what I like to term High-ReturnRelationships—and teaching my colleagues and subordinates how to sell and excel with passion—has been anamazing journey and an experience I’m excited to sharewith you.
S el l i n g H e a l t h c a r e2The Right Career at the Right TimeWhy now? There’s never been a better time to build a career in healthcare sales. Asthe U.S. population’s aging boom races toward its peak—the number of Americansover the age of 65 is expected to skyrocket, from 40 million in 2010 to more than72 million in 2030, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging1 (www.aoa.gov/) (see Figure I.1)—the number of both healthcare workers and workers inrelated industries who are needed to support this graying population will continue to soar. A study prepared by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at theUniversity of Albany found these characteristics of older adults: They consume far more prescription medications than any other agegroup. They are much more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses. They require the lion’s share of hospital, nursing home, and homehealth services.2Projected Growth of Aging Population,Age 65 and Older, ntage of U.S. PopulationPercent, Total 65 Percent, Age 74–84Percent, Age 85 Percent, Age 65–74Source: U.S. Census BureauFigure I.1 The number of Americans who are older than 65 is projected to reach20 percent of the total U.S. population by 2030.
In trod uc t ion: I t I s P er sonal3In fact, healthcare-related jobs comprise one-third of the fastest-growing occupations in America, as projected by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of LaborStatistics (BLS) (www.bls.gov/).3 The BLS predicts that employment in the healthcare industry will rise 27 percent through 2014, compared to a 14 percent averageincrease for all industries combined. By 2020, the agency forecasts 5.7 million newjobs in the healthcare and social assistance industry, as shown in Figure I.2. Thatemployment surge is fueled by the ballooning elderly population and technologicaladvancements in healthcare.4Numeric Change in Wage and SalaryEmployment in Top 10 Service Industries, 2010–2020(Projected in thousands of jobs)744505822Health and Social Assistance8535,704Professional, Scientific and Technical ServicesEducational Services1,002Retail TradeAdministrative and Support and WasteManagement and Remediation ServicesAccommodation and Food Services1,579Transportation and WarehousingOther Services (except public administration)Wholesale TradeFinance and Insurance1,7692,1281,845Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFigure I.2 The healthcare and social assistance sector is expected to grow by morethan 5.7 million jobs by 2020.New Legislation Equals New OpportunitiesThe new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as“Obamacare,” compounds the growing demand for healthcare sales professionals because the far-reaching reform law requires most Americans to carry healthinsurance by 2014 (or pay a fine). This means the market for prescription drugsand other medical services and supplies will increase by an estimated 34 million
4S el l i n g H e a l t h c a r econsumers, according to information from the Obama Administration (www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform).5 In addition to the dramatic market expansion,the Affordable Care Act opens the door to new o
countless weekly sales team meetings, lots of trial and error, and, ultimately, sales strategies that deliver. In my sales leadership role, I coached teams of both rookie and veteran healthcare sales professionals
Grant Cardone Training SELLING-selling is for me-selling impacts everyone-determines survivability-you have to be able to convince others of your opinion-selling is used everyday by everyone-selling is a way of life -you need to know how to negotiate in life-getting other people to like you is selling-you want to get to other people to please you
The Selling Process Relationship selling is a multi-stage process. Unfortunately, most treatments of relationship selling focus on the duration, rather than the creation. Instead of paring relationship selling as a polar opposite to traditional selling, it should be a transformation of the traditional selling process.
covering three key areas of selling skills. It also provides an assessment of a salesperson's selling style against three well-established behavioral concepts in the sales literature--adaptive selling, relationship selling and customer-oriented selling (Figure 1). Figure 1. SCQ concept model of sales process CUSTOMER-ORIENTED SELLING
personal selling is the only organisational function that still espouses contact (direct or indirect) with customers, where concluding that sale is the desired outcome. Personal selling Personal selling. 1 1 .6 .1 Personal selling and the customer. personal selling and , , , the .
The Healthcare Marketing and Physician Strategies Summit combines the strategies and tactics from the Healthcare Marketing Strategies Summit and the Physician Strategies Summit into one cutting-edge agenda. The result a one-of-a-kind opportunity for executives from these two essential functions to come together to share "best practices .
makers in healthcare management. 2 / 2022 Media Kit / ache.org The American College of Healthcare Executives is an international professional society of more than 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. Healthcare Executive e-TOC Published bimonthly, e-TOC is a
Selling policies are the general rules that a business's managers set to guide the personal-selling effort. They establish uniform operating procedures for all salespeople to follow and are very useful in routine selling situations. They outline how the selling process should go and ensure that all customers are treated fairly and consistently.
capable of making by selling cars. There are many sales people selling cars today, but most of them rarely make more than 40,000 a year. The purpose of this book is to give you, the reader the methods and techniques I used to earn a Six Figure Income selling cars. This book is not meant to replace the selling system that any car
