Closing Arguments

You know those great sales calls, the ones where the close is almost effortless, and the logical conclusion to a productive discussion that leads to a mutually agreed-upon next step between you and the physician? Unfortunately, these great calls seem to occur less and less frequently. One reason for their scarcity, says Rick Bandy, president and founder of Critical Thinking Corporation (www.ctcitraining.com), a North Carolina-based pharmaceutical industry training organization, is that reps often focus too much of their attention on the close itself, rather than on what should be their true objective: solving problems.

“You can close on a call, but you may not get what you want,” Bandy says. “You can say the closing words, you can be the best at it there is, but closing is not what you want. What you want is the business. But when closing becomes the target then reps feel that as long as they’ve delivered their message and ‘closed,’ they’re done. What the physician does after that point, they don’t know. So they don’t worry about it. But this also leads to disillusionment among reps who have no idea whether they’re having an impact.”

Physicians are well aware of this dynamic, Bandy says. They understand that the reps are expected to close at the end of a call, and as a result will often participate in this dance just to end the conversation. “If doctors don’t like what the rep is saying, they’re not going to follow through,” Bandy says, “regardless of what they’ve agreed to. They’ll say and do whatever you’re asking for just to get you out of their office.”

By contrast, when a detailing call consists of a valuable discussion, Bandy says, incremental problems are solved along the way by the rep and the physician, and the close should be natural. He offers the following example of such a call:

“Let’s say you’re trying to discover a need about asthma,” he says. “You start the call by getting into a quick dialogue about the product and the data, and then ask questions relating to the patients who are in the waiting room (not them specifically, but using them to represent the patients the doctor sees). “Next you say, ‘Of those patients out there, how many of them would you see in a day or a week who have asthma?’ He’ll probably say maybe five or 10. Then you say, ‘How many of those patients would you have to see this work on to be convinced that this data is relevant?’ What’s he going to say, ‘None?’ Of course not. He’ll probably say four, five, or six.

“Then your response should be, ‘If I leave you six samples (always pick the high end number), you can give them to six patients, or however many you think is appropriate, and then I’ll come back in two weeks and talk to you about those six patients. Does that sound fair?’ What’s he going to say, ‘No’?”

The point, Bandy says, is that even in this short discussion, you’ve identified what’s important, you’ve identified the need, and you’ve put your product in the right light to position it as a benefit to the physician. If he or she agrees with you on the benefits, you should be in a position to agree on the next course of action as well.

“What you’re really saying is, ‘Doctor, you want to know whether this works. I’m not here to sell you on it. I’m here to help you find out.’ It’s all about understanding what you want, why you’re there, and then how you’re going to position it.”