A dentist and current sales expert answers your questions
By Anthony Stefanou D.M.D., Founder, Dental Sales Academy
Editor’s Note: Anthony Stefanou, D.M.D, has partnered with First Impressions to offer its readers his unique dental sales workshops and customized company training programs. The following is a new First Impressions department where Stefanou will answer reps’ questions regarding dental customers. E-mail him your questions at tonydmd@gmail.com.
Finding the time of day
Q: What is the best time to meet with, or do a demo for, the docs? I have always been told to target lunch time, but that doesn’t seem to work well in many cases.
A: While there isn’t any one time range that is best for all dentists, there are several options other than lunchtime that seem to be more effective for those in dental sales. When I practiced, I wanted lunch time to be “my time,” and felt it was a much needed break. Now that I have been in sales for many years, both in the trenches and as a sales leader and trainer, I have found that there are several reasons why lunch time isn’t always best. One is that dentists very often run behind schedule, so that one-hour break is now 25 minutes. When this happens, either there is a cancellation or you are now in a rushed situation which usually leads to a less than ideal conversation and end result. However, the biggest reason lunch time isn’t the best time is a psychological one. Dentists don’t, in my opinion, “transition” well from “clinical” to “business” back to “clinical.” Once they start treating patients, it isn’t easy for them to shift into thinking about what you are selling, because they know that in a few minutes, another patient or tough procedure is on the books. When you leave, they shift back to patient care, and so you are almost “lost” in their day. Therefore, I suggest to sales teams I work with to either go with a ‘first thing in the morning’ option (many dentists start later one or two days a week and/or routinely come in an hour or two before their first patient), a day off (if you establish value, this is the most ideal option), or even “an end of the day BEFORE a day off.” Many dentists take Wednesday or Friday off, so a Tuesday or Thursday late afternoon can work. Yes, they are tired from a full day’s work, but also tend to become very relaxed knowing tomorrow is a day off, and are able to focus on what you are presenting. Having said all this, you still need to get the demo appointment! What are you doing in your initial conversation to establish enough rapport to make sure that they will keep that meeting in the first place?
Valuable savings
Q: Are dentists more interested in saving money or saving time?
A: Unless you are talking about a significant amount of savings (thousands of dollars or decrease in overhead), saving a few bucks isn’t on my “Top 12 things that are most important to dentists” list. I have the statistics from many surveys I’ve done over the years to back this. If two sales reps offering similar products are 10 percent apart in price, the dentist will usually go with the person who is friendlier, offers greater support, and offers a couple of other important intangibles. I very rarely recommend to companies and/or reps to “lead with price.” Now, what are the intangibles and what’s on that “Top 12 list”? Well, I don’t have room here to tell all that, but they are important topic components in my “How to Sell to Dentists” workshops. Saving time, however, is very important to dentists and on that “Top 12” list. Time is a dentist’s most precious commodity. Generally speaking, showing a dentist how to spend less time chairside but make the same – or more – income is a great formula for sales success.
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