By: Susan Boydell | sboydell@barlowmccarthy.com
It’s been a year! This time last year, I’m not sure any of us thought we’d still be in the throes of the pandemic one year later. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. When I think back on the past 12 months, we created many new terms and phrases for the many stages we were going through. There was the “new normal.” I think we grew tired of that one very quickly. We also learned to “pivot.” Well, guess what, it’s time to pivot again.
There isn’t a hospital or health system out there that doesn’t need volume – the right volume – right now. Unlike the COVID surges, most have not seen a surge in volume. As physician relations experts, the pressure is on to get results. Perhaps it’s time for a “blitz” strategy. The whole idea behind a blitz strategy is to get really tight on who you can earn volume from and what you’re going to do to earn it. Let’s talk through what’s included and how you can put together a blitz strategy for volume.
- Get targeted. A blitz strategy is for a dedicated period of time, focused on a dedicated clinical area with a dedicated list of targeted physicians. For many organizations, surgeries are the priority focus. You likely know which surgeries have the most significant opportunity to grow now. The usual timeline for a blitz is for 30-60 days. Because it’s short, targets should be selected based on the opportunity to earn additional referrals quickly. Do you see a theme here? Most likely, these are established targets using your services today. You might have a prospect or two, but they will need to be pretty far along in the sales cycle to capture referrals quickly. For your established targets, if each of them gave you just one more referral than you are getting right now, how much additional volume would that be? In some ways, that drives how many targets are on your blitz list. It’s a numbers game.
- Field strategies. Once you’ve identified your tight group of targets for the specific surgeries or procedures you want, it’s time to create your tight field plan. Take your targets and put them into categories based on their likelihood to deliver additional referrals. Create a call cycle for the next 30 days to ensure you get with all targets. Map out what questions you will ask and what messages you will share. If one of your strategies is to earn one more referral, think about how you would start that conversation with a physician. Once you get that down on paper, it’s time to work the plan in the field. As you complete your visits, pay attention to what’s working and what’s not and make adjustments along the way.
- Intelligence and results. The purpose of a blitz plan is to get results in a very short period of time. Set your baseline to start, and then keep track of every new referral earned due to your blitz efforts. You probably guessed this, but it won’t be all sunshine and roses with referrals flooding in. You will need to earn each one. And you will learn what’s preventing those referrals from happening. Good intel for your leaders to hear. Remember, these conversations are tight, so be specific about what barriers prevent that referral from happening right now.
Think about what’s happening in your market and your organization. If you hear a strong sense of urgency for volume, a blitz plan might be the way to go.
This is just one strategy for how to approach the next couple of months. Depending on your specific scenario there may be other options as well. If you are wondering what’s next, please reach out and we can set up a time to talk through the process. You can reach me at sboydell@barlowmccarthy.com.