By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com

Some of us live for a new idea… others, not so much. With the pressure on relationship building for referral growth, it’s a great time to consider your habits and behaviors with the goal of elevating your impact. Start with recognizing the need, then a plan, followed by an evaluation of your success and a measurement. I’ve considered three audiences that really matter and some ideas to enhance your influence with them.

Gatekeepers: They need a special category these days. For new reps or reps in new markets, gatekeepers control access to the doctors. Henry Ford said, “If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got.” This is never truer than with gatekeepers. They are trained with a vendor sniffer! Oh, I get it, you say you are not a vendor, but do you look, act and speak like one? If it’s not working, try a new approach.

• Call first. Let them know you’ll be there and when. Try it in a statement instead of a question of permission.
• Visit to gather research and insights. This can be about changes to a clinical offering or area. What you learn helps the internal stakeholders with the customer’s perceptions too.
• Name drop with the name of a leader or a key physician (with their permission of course).

Make sure that once past them you add the right level of value for the physician or office manager. Think about how you stage the next visit as you are ending this one.

Doctors: Do you find yourself asking for time with the doctor to tell them about your services or new specialists? This might work for loyal doctors, but you need more to change referral patterns. You’re like a preacher and the doctor a congregant on a Sunday morning. They may hear a line or two… maybe. Engaging in their needs has never been more important. This starts with asking better, tighter questions. Next time you are with a physician:

• Get specific in your questions and your offerings. We often ask generic questions or lay out broad offerings because if feels inclusive. Actually, it makes the customer work too hard, and our doctors just won’t.
• Ask questions about their patients and their process, again specifics matter.
• Start with them, you may need to say, “While I often come with information about our services, as we wrap up the year, I want today to be all about you…”
• Be strategic about the mix of group vs individual meetings. Group discussions often move us back to that preacher role. Short, focused personal conversations can be amazingly effective.

Habits are always the challenge. We’ve trained the offices and doctors to expect to be talked “at.” Changing your habit will also mean that you need to change their expectations. Be patient, but persistent to get them more engaged in the conversation and talk “with.”

Internal Leaders: Talk about an audience that feels performance pressure! Internal stakeholders, whether C-Suite or Service Line Leaders, are all-in on operational performance and financial obligations. Where do we fit in that?

Many field staff yearn for the days when the organization had a strong strategic focus on growth, where leaders had more investment and interest in the team. Assess where you are with your internal relationships and think about ways to better connect with leaders on THEIR needs.

• Stack report topics and written communications to align with the strategic priorities.
• Be proactive in creating your plan then ask for feedback instead of waiting for them to give you directions.
• Have a story, data and when asked for, a proposed next step or solution.
• Create a personal style for working with leaders – just like you have in the practices. It’s about listening and then letting them see their brand in action with a nice professional approach.

So, there it is, not earth shattering and most of the ideas involve some personal assessment and small changes to our approach and behavior. I’d say, “Just try it!” Enhancing relationships with each of these groups will make a powerful difference in our effectiveness in the field, and guess what? You’ll feel better in the role.

Feel like it’s time to refocus on those skills for your field effectiveness? Let’s chat about your current environment, reach out at info@barlowmccarthy.com.