Tips for Selling to Healthcare Administrators

Sales is a tough job, no matter what the industry. But while some sales best practices will apply across the board, each industry does have its own quirks. In the healthcare industry, and particularly when it comes to hospital administrators, selling anything can be a monumental challenge. If you think it is enough to have a cutting edge product or service that will make their lives easier, you’re wrong. If you want to succeed in selling to hospital administrators, you better come with the right attitude, and the right information.

Keep reading for tips on how to engage with and ultimately close the deal with hospital administrators.

Respect Their Time

Hospital administrators are extremely busy. With increased patient demands and budget constraints, there are not many hours in the day to chit chat with sales people. If you do not have a product or service that is a good fit for a particular administrator or hospital system, it may be best to skip them. And when you do get a good prospect on the phone or through your carefully crafted emails, be sure that you are direct and get to the point of how what you’re offering will benefit their healthcare facility directly.

Provide as Much Information as Possible

When they are looking to make a purchase such as dust containment systems, administrators are likely to do a good deal of research before ever engaging with a sales person (no matter how persistent you are!) That means that you team should have a significant amount of information available on your website and in your literature that is easy to access.

Have Data to Back Up Your Claims

Hospital administrators are not clinicians, but that does not mean that clinical data is lost on them. You are much more likely to grab their attention and lead them towards a sale if you have hard data to back up your claims. Do you know the clinical benefits of the dust containment enclosure you are selling? Do you have any statistics on how many lives could be improved and how patient experience may be impacted by dust containment systems? If not, it is time to get them.

A Hospital is an Ecosystem

While the hospital administrator may be the key decision maker you are going after, the truth is that rarely does a decision get made at a healthcare facility that does not include a group of people. Before any major purchase whether that is a single dust containment enclosure or a series of dust containment systems for a hospital network, hospital administrators will have to talk over the choice with other stakeholders. Make this part of their job as easy as possible by providing those key facts and statistics, as well as comparisons to other products on the market and customer testimonials. Make sure this information is easy for the administrator to present and share.

Ultimately, your sales acumen will serve you well when you are selling to hospital administrators. However, do not make the mistake of underestimating them. This group of dedicated professionals want what’s best for their facility and their staff, and they will be willing to listen to the right message.