Getting Face Time with the “No See” Physician

In the past decade, a range of factors have combined to radically reduce the amount of time physicians are willing to give to pharmaceutical representatives. Back in the 1990s, with the growth of managed care squeezing physicians’ time, drug companies deployed ever-larger field forces. No longer the exclusive domain of highly knowledgeable and well-trained professionals, pharmaceutical sales came to be seen by many physicians as a profession filled with mere sample droppers and office lunch caterers. Because they were perceived as providing diminishing value, pharmaceutical reps have since discovered that many previously wide-open office doors have been more difficult to crack.

The most extreme example of this phenomenon has been the rise of so-called “no see” physicians, who openly declare their refusal to meet with pharmaceutical representatives. Yet as Jean Male, CEO of the New Jersey-based Emp-Higher Performance Development (www.emphigher.com), points out, depending on the individual physician and office, this seemingly black-and-white policy often contains shades of gray.

“We all make exceptions,” Male says, “especially if someone we know and like asks us to. It’s a matter of patience, persistence, and willingness to do the brain and legwork to be the exception. Every office is different and navigating these differences requires mastery of the three Ps: Policies, Personalities, and Politics.”

To maximize your chances of getting in the door with a no see physician, Male recommends a three-step process. First, she says, make the office the subject of a thorough, comprehensive whole office call. “Finding out what they expect from your company, and from you specifically, is vital to success,” she explains. You can’t hit the target if you don’t know where it is. Conversely, you may inadvertently hit negative hot-buttons and never know it.”

Second, she suggests finding innovative ways to add value to key staff. This sort of attention is typically reserved for the physicians alone, but when trying to crack a “no see” office, the same tactics – like sending news clippings about favorite hobbies – can help build rapport with key internal influencers.

Finally, once you feel you’ve made sufficient inroads, then it’s time to make your move. “Many representatives assume that the person with the title is the gatekeeper or decision maker or that the policy is etched in stone when it rarely, if ever, truly is,” she says. “Once you’ve learned the policies, personalities, and politics and you’ve ‘earned the right,’ it’s okay to ask the true decision maker to make an appeal to the physician to see you.”