One of our dental clients sent us a link to an article and asked, “What do we learn from this?” The article, written by Anthony Stefanou DMS, talks about the four biggest obstacles to overcome when selling to dentists.
When I first read the article, I consumed it thinking about our dentist client. Then I read it again.
You know what? What the guy says applies for all of us.
I’m betting these four obstacles resonate with you. Thankfully, Anthony and I will share ways to overcome them.
Noise: Your prospects get bombarded with emails, cold calls, advertising, billboards, knocks on their doors, “yellow” letters, postcards, and who knows what else. The American Billboard Association did a study a few years ago and found that we…all of us, you and me…get slammed with over 2,456 messages EVERY DAY!
It’s not hard to see why you struggle to get their attention.
The Cure: Keep the conversation always on t-h-e-m. You’re not exciting. And don’t believe your prospects see your message, email, advertising or hear your call when you only touch them once. One message in a sea of 2,456 messages isn’t a message at all.
Habit: The article says dentists resist change. Don’t we all? We get grooved in our routine. Not just when we brush our teeth, but also in what brand of toothpaste we buy. People don’t really want to break a routine and switch to you “just because.”
The Cure: People will change. They will try new things (you are a new thing). Your job is to connect them to the benefits they receive from your offer: how your solution takes away their problem, issue or challenge. When they see it, feel it and believe it, they will choose you.
Skepticism: This one’s tough, if you ask me. We’ve all gotten so jaded. We don’t trust testimonials any more. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp and that crowd give you mixed feedback—love it, hate it, love it, hate it. We feel key influencers have sold out. Skepticism is a big enemy of believing.
The Cure: Embrace your prospect’s skepticism. Don’t get frustrated by it, and don’t think you can rationalize it away. Instead, hug their skepticism; show it some sympathy and understanding, which in many cases will move it out of the way.
Indifference: This is your competition! Not the company down the street or around the Internet corner. Most of your prospects will buy from you OR DO NOTHING AT ALL!!!
The Cure: You can combat indifference by recognizing that all of your prospects really believe…deep down…there is room for improvement. Your job is to find out where they want to improve, and what currently hurts the most. What they WANT, not what they need.
You can’t sell anyone something that they don’t want. Figure out what they want and give it to them. As they say, it’s not rocket science, but something we too often forget.
These are the four obstacles Anthony believes stop dentists from buying. But they sure feel like four obstacles we all face when talking to our prospects.
And now you have the cures. To your health!
Go forth and do great things,
Martha Hanlon and Chris Williams