We all know that behind each cancer patient is a referring physician. But really, how well do you know each of these physicians? How effectively do you connect with them to secure steady streams of referrals? How often do you talk
to them?
A great deal of attention is being given these days to improving the quality and safety of cancer care, as well as improving the experience of the patient. These are indeed important and lofty goals. But they do ignore the importance of another customer who is critical to growing referrals in the face of intensifying competition between cancer programs.
Many cancer programs don’t really pay much attention to fostering long-term and mutually beneficial relationships with the physicians that refer patients to them. After all, “we built it so they’ll keep coming” – the referrals that is. By the way, the same is true for free-standing oncology practices as well, regardless of whether they are surgical, medical or radiation oncology or multi-specialty practices.
I have worked with numerous cancer programs, whose patient volumes are declining steadily. In addition to not being effective in promoting their cancer programs, many centers are also not paying much attention to a key source of their patients: referring physicians. When that happens, these physicians lose interest or worse, confidence and trust. Before you know it, they start sending patients elsewhere. In addition, many referring physicians are involved in cancer care themselves and may prefer treatment options that differ from the ones your center offers.
So let’s be honest, how many cancer program medical directors, administrators and oncologists are natural “sales” people, who are extroverts and instinctively know how to effectively connect with other physicians? How many really know how to effectively promote their cancer program and secure steady streams of referrals from these physicians?
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a natural marketer or sales person to build effective relationships with referring
physicians. There are a number of tools and methods available to help you effectively connect with referring physicians. Here are some ways to help you establish long-term relationships with loyal referring physicians.
- View and treat referring physicians as Very Important Customers. Your promotional and business development
initiatives should include an intense focus on building long-term relationships with loyal physicians to secure steady streams of referrals. - Recognize that referring physicians are people too, so get to know them as individuals. This may sound obvious and trivial but it is not. Like you and I, referring physicians have hopes and dreams, face personal and business challenges, may have priorities different from yours and have probably become biased due to their profession, training and personal experiences. In addition, treating cancer is a people business. That means that referring physicians have to like and trust you as an individual, as well as the organization you represent, to feel comfortable referring patients to your cancer program. If the chemistry is not there, it will quickly become an uphill battle.
Consequently, you cannot assume that referring physicians are ready to do business with you right away after the first meeting. You are going to have earn their trust and respect by aligning your priorities with theirs to create a “win-win” relationship.
- Listen actively to referring physicians. Most representatives of cancer programs will have the natural urge to start “selling” themselves as soon as the meeting with the referring physician begins. However, it is very important to resist this urge and to get the referring physicians to tell you about their views, expectations and the challenges they may be facing. This will help you understand them effectively and it will enable you to tailor your relationship to better meet their needs. In addition, it will help you gain their trust in and respect for you as a person and the organization you represent.
In the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry, active listening is a critical and powerful part of consultative selling, whereby the seller and buyer try to find mutually beneficial reasons for working together.
- Make the relationship worthwhile for both parties. Relationships in which one partner benefits and the other gains little seldom last. While your goal is for them to send their cancer patients to your cancer program, you should also pay attention to what they hope to get out of the relationship. You are building a partnership around your shared customers – the patients. Most likely, their expectations will go beyond just taking good care of their patients. At a minimum, you need to treat them as partners of the team, keep them proactively and regularly informed about their patient’s progress, involve them as appropriate in their patient’s care, and be responsive to their requests. In addition, they will want to know that their patients will have timely access to your program’s services and that you will provide them with best possible care. Finally, their own practice may be struggling and there may be ways in which your organization can help them get back on track. Failure to do any of this will quickly lead to their referrals drying up.
- Establish trust and respect. Actions speak louder than words, so say what you do and do what you say. In the early stage of building a relationship with a new referring physician, provide them with meaningful facts about how you care for their patients. And request that other referring physicians share their experiences with your cancer program with the new physician. Later on, it is important to follow through on your commitments, even if some of the referring physicians turn out to be less than perfect partners. If they are important to you, find ways to improve the relationship.
- Keep in touch – often. Relationships with referring physicians are like any relationship: they require time, effort and the sincere desire to provide value to each other. Without these, partners will lose interest and cast their eyes elsewhere. Also, building and maintaining relationships with referring physicians cannot be based on a brief and one-time meeting. It will require regular meetings over time. Such encounters can be arranged through multiple venues, i.e., at their office, professional society meetings, country clubs, breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, etc. You get the picture.
So, how effective are you at building and maintaining a network of loyal physicians? Do you feel comfortable reaching out to them even when they show no interest? Please call or email us for a free discussion about how we can help. A few minutes of your time may just be what your cancer program needs to start growing again.
If you have any questions, contact primeASCENT by calling 410-444-6024 or click here today!
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