Decision-making for healthcare payors is undeniably complex – which is why your in-real-life moments with customers need to make a healthy difference in the overall mix of sales channels and selling interactions.
Power of face-to-face
According to research organisation Gartner, of the overall time spent researching a (medical) technology purchase, only 17% is spent face-to-face with the potential supplier. If multiple solutions are in the market this drops to 5% or 6%.
With so little time and so many channels to reach customers, each channel needs its unique purpose to nudge a customer along a decision-making process. So what about healthcare events?
The typical purchase for a complex medical technology or pharmaceutical intervention may involve more than 10 decision makers and healthcare payors‚ each with a differing set of objections and clinical needs. It can be a huge piece of work to unravel and may never even reach a clear conclusion and sale. It’s just too hard to buy, so it’s just too hard to sell.
The value in live events
Events and live interactions in medical devices, medical technology and medicine offer a particular advantage over other channels in the sales funnel, accelerating conversion and improving differentiation.
They can be creative, collaborative and full of collective problem-solving moments. Many customers, in whatever clinical setting, will have shared experiences and issues. Instead of selling, might it be better to facilitate collaboration and watch the peer-to-peer connections grow and contribute to the sharing of benefits and experiences of outcomes?
Influencing the healthcare payors
When the medical technology and pharmaceutical industry has so little face-to face time with customers and clinicians, using that time to maximum effect is an imperative. Have a clear outcome in mind. Validation and consensus creation should be top of the list.
In the world of consumer goods they call it ‘live commerce’. An experience where benefits are shared amongst the audience.
