By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com

In physician relations, there’s a ton of conversation about finding, guiding and motivating the right talent.

Talent development continues to be a cornerstone for best practices and it’s a good place to invest. After all, these team members represent the brand with an especially important audience and their time is largely spent without direct field oversight. Having said that, “Can talent alone make your program successful?”

I think there’s more to it and the best talent is dependent on the right structure, a clear strategy and an implementation plan that provides tactical direction and measured accountability.

Structure: Great field talent always benefits from clear direction. Most of the best field people are marvelous tacticians, so we should give them solid support to do their jobs. Structure starts with a leader who understands what it takes to earn a referral and can help manage the distractions. We’re often asked, “Where should this report?” It needs to report to the person who understands the field strategy, the data and analytics to set it up and measure it and who embraces the physician audience. Today, most report to Business Development or Marketing though there are always exceptions. At the end of the day, the leader needs to “get” the job and be committed to leading the team.

Clear Strategy:  Without strategic direction the team is left to create actions based on the needs they perceive. When the liaison is promoting a person or a service that is not a strategic priority, time is lost and results are not aligned. The strategy provides direction and calls out where time should be spent and how impact will be measured. This one has been rough this year as many organizations have struggled with strategic vision considering all the access and staffing challenges. Clear goals that are more than, “Earn more referrals.” Give the team predetermined goals that are measurable and have a timeframe associated. Unfocused reps, even when very talented, are rarely successful.

Plan Creation: Good sales planning always starts with the strategy, specific goals and a set of data tools to focus and align the work. Here’s where great talent can generally shine. They will create their plans, but always benefit from another opinion! Active leader involvement in the sales planning process ensures nuances and politics within the organization are considered. And, often a leader can provide competitive insights to help focus the physician relations team. The best leaders look at the plans their liaisons have created through a lens of project management. They recognize that just showing up isn’t enough in today’s competitive environment.

So, where are you? As a leader, where are you focused? As a liaison, what do you need from your leaders? While we all hope for a little magic to push our referral numbers in the right direction, we all feel better when the process reassures us that we can achieve success.

We’ve worked with health systems across the country helping them find and train good talent. We would love to help you too! You can contact us at info@barlowmccarthy.com.