Last Updated: Feb 15, 2021
As a lead generation company exclusive to the healthcare technology field, we’re helping our clients stay visible and relevant by changing their narrative to continue to add value. We continue to define appropriate ways to prospect into Hospitals, Physician Offices, Labs and Ambulatory Centers in the middle of a health care crisis while fostering double-digit pipeline increases. Here is what we learned along the way.
“We are helping our clients articulate, one conversation at a time, what mission-critical problem their solution solves.” – Robin Day, Managing Partner, NIH Research & Consulting
5 Tips to Communicate Effectively & Build Your Pipeline Through COVID-19
1. Have a Heart. Broad-based marketing has fallen to the wayside and every marketing effort should feel personalized and empathetic. Our one-on-one conversations with prospects address the rational and emotional component that is essential in the market right now. We work with our solution providers to craft a “gentler” message.
2. Be Ready to Nurture. Prepare for longer sales cycles. Stay patient and be prepared to redouble efforts to explain your value as many times as necessary or bring additional personnel into the conversation. One-on-one time on the phone is paramount to carefully monitor requested follow-ups. Maintaining a comprehensive nurturing schedule is key. Processes need to be in place to ensure that no opportunity slips through the cracks due to initial low interest.
3. Expand Company Webinars. Webinars are seeing record attendance in the absence of conferences, seminars, and regional professional events. These sessions are proving to be an essential way to provide valuable information, clarity and assurance, while staying top of mind. Trends show that since the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. in March, webinars have jumped by more than 330% and attendance rates have doubled over last year. If you are not offering webinars yet, we can help! This is a very effective tool for creating a targeted and qualified prospect base!
4. Add Value. Articulate, one prospect or client at a time, reassurance, guidance, and tangible value. We craft messages to our clients’ prospects by following best practices for discussing how their solutions create measurable improvements and quantifiable change. We are helping our clients articulate, one conversation at a time, what mission-critical problem their solution solves. Every solution claims to be agile, disruptive and innovative…what are you promising and how quickly will it have an impact?
“Every solution claims to be agile, disruptive and innovative…what are you promising and how quickly will it have an impact? – Cindy Kanstoroom, Managing Partner, NIH Research & Consulting
5. Adapt Communication Styles. It’s important to communicate with your clients and prospects effectively amidst the coronavirus environment in order to stay visible and relevant. Traditional communication methods changed overnight.
- Emails have become unquestionably inundating. Think of your own inbox. What gets your attention that is not tied to a deadline? More than ever, quality over quantity is important. While emails are key to growing webinar attendance, a focused call campaign to ensure commitment from interested parties is key.
- Snail mail is not seen, as most employees are out of office.
- Face to face visits are out for the time being.
Where Does That Leave Us?
The heart of pipeline growth lies within high-level one-to-one tele-prospecting. Personal and human conversations from well-versed and highly focused sales support professionals help clients stay visible, which in turn continually increases brand exposure and eventually, sales.
According to a study by McKinsey & Company, almost 90% of B2B sales have moved to a phone, videoconferencing (VC) or web sales model, and more than half of the respondents believe this is equally or more effective than sales models used before COVID-19.
Even if your content is highly engaging or you have the most advanced marketing automation tools or a well-honed lead-scoring model, it’s not enough to close the deal. In this industry, you’re selling solutions, changes, and sophisticated services to C-level executives. The sale demands trust, and that can only come from consistent human interaction.
If your current account executives are highly committed to making and documenting hours of calls for the purpose of listening and relationship building, is this the best use of their time? Are you able to review daily, weekly, or even bi-weekly evidence of market canvassing? Our campaigns ensure that you’re not missing opportunities in the market and provide the support your team needs to focus on the high-end conversation beyond the prospecting call.
Our expert team at NIH Research & Consulting (NIHR) develops and implements high-level marketing and sales support services. With over 25 years of experience, we excel in delivering informative research and quality leads to clients, and have a proven track record of providing essential market insights and ROI.