By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com
Physician liaison teams often consider what their organizations could do that would make life easier. That’s tough stuff because we never get to control what others choose to change. We can, however, often improve our space if we look to those things we control within ourselves. We certainly own our personal skills – like our approach to creating relationships, refining our techniques, driving for personal accomplishment, and investing in field success.
I believe one area that creates big value in field relationships and referral growth is quality, dialogue-based questions. Bummer! I know this may not seem glamorous and I’m the first to agree that generic, broad-based or slick questions are easy. That’s not what I am talking about.
Quality, customer-focused questions are really hard and yet, they are a huge field differentiator. A common denominator of great field sales talent is that they all ask excellent questions. Think about someone you’ve worked with or really admire in this role and I suspect it’s more about their ability to get the customer talking than it is about their schmooze or a scripted line about their product or services.
Here are five attributes of excellent questions:
- They are succinct. Great questions are easy for the customer to understand, they are well-timed, and they get to the point. We’ve all been witness to a question that took so long to get asked that we lost interest mid-ask! Short focused questions rarely just happen. They are prepped and then used with the right client at the right time.
- Don’t bait the client to force information. I hate these and frankly they are out there. It’s the questions that force a client to say what the field rep wants to hear. The classic, “You do want to make money, don’t you?” or “You do want to make sure your patients have a quality experience…” These are extreme examples of course, but anytime you force the hand of the client you take away from your credibility and long-term impact. Physician liaisons will sometimes say, “I have a great relationship with my prospect, so I just ask, ‘Why are you referring to Acme?’ ” They get an answer, but it may not be the REAL answer and it may be a turn-off for some doctors.
- Ask smart questions. Physicians have little tolerance for people who have not prepared. Smart questions about clinical needs and process are top of mind in this category, but it’s more than that. Don’t ask questions when you should know the answer. A quality exchange takes time to prepare and manage and it makes the physician feel like you are an advocate for them, which helps you earn the relationship and ultimately, the referral.
- Be authentic. Good questions follow insights you’ve heard from the client or something in the conversation that led you to have interest in learning. Engage in the conversation, not to sell but to listen and learn. Done well the closure comes pretty easy. Authentic questions must be in your voice, so think about your words and your way of speaking.
- Use questions to test impact and re-engage the customer. This is a simple, powerful use of questions and it’s especially helpful if you know you are a talker. Use questions to re-engage the customer in the conversation and to make certain you are hearing and interpreting things correctly. A simple question like, “Could that work here…” or “Thinking of your patients, does that make sense?” These are more about timing and fit than eloquence.
How would you rate your questioning technique? Have you used the same old questions in most every practice this week? Are you hoping for more detail from your prospect and getting superficial answers? I see an opportunity for more, better questions in your future! Tell me if you have a favorite question or one that drives you nuts!