How Sales Teams Can Improve Customer Engagement in Healthcare

The healthcare industry experienced a massive upheaval during the

COVID-19 pandemic – hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, there were global product shortages, and all unnecessary interactions were put on hold.

In response to these sudden shifts, medical suppliers have had to adapt to years’ worth of digital growth in the space of a few months. Instead of being able to meet with customers face-to-face like they were used to, many sales representatives were thrust into digital meeting spaces. This caused many people to lose some customer engagement in healthcare.

As the industry begins to reshape the definition of customer engagement, you can use your expertise to your advantage and deliver quality communication and optimized content, whether that is virtually, in person, or a combination of both.

Why is customer engagement in healthcare important?

As a medical supplier, the products you sell are designed to improve a person’s health. You believe in your products, and you need your customers to believe in them too. If you or your customers are not engaged during the sales process, sales are going to suffer, and patients may miss out on valuable products that could improve health outcomes.

In our modern, digital world, it is important to use whatever technology options you have available to you. Use tech options like virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D visuals to demonstrate products in a virtual environment. This will keep healthcare decisions makers engaged and help them visualize how your medical supplies will work in their clinical settings.

Engaged customers will feel more of an emotional connection with your company. This will lead to better sales, more referrals, and improved loyalty.

6 strategies to improve customer engagement

Customer engagement is one of the most important factors in selling medical supplies and equipment. Use these strategies to improve customer engagement in the digital healthcare environment.

No. 1: Get to Know Your Customers

Your customers are real people. They have unique interests, family relationships, and learning styles. When you learn about these people, you may discover things you have in common, or at least things you can relate to.

To help you keep track of all your customers, create customer personas for each person. These are individualized sheets or digital files where you record specific information on each customer, such as the following: ʯ Demographic information ʯ Job title and level ʯ Pain points and how you can solve them ʯ Values and goals ʯ Hobbies ʯ Learning style (visual, written, etc.)

Use this information to refresh yourself before each interaction. Update these personas when you learn new information.

No. 2: Connect with Genuine Emotions

Healthcare is an emotional industry. Patients can experience every emotion imaginable while interacting with healthcare professionals. To match this level of emotion as a medical supplier, you need to keep patients’ needs at the forefront of all interactions. This can help you connect honestly with your customers. When customers feel appreciated and understood, they are more likely to reward you and your business with more sales.

No. 3: Meet Your Customers on Their Terms

If your customers prefer face-toface communication, try to make that happen. Others may still want to meet virtually. According to a 2021 report from Veeva, many healthcare professionals have found they prefer virtual meetings with representatives. In fact, the average duration of meetings has increased 133%, when you compare face-to-face meetings with remote meetings.

Remote meetings can be a versatile tool that you can use to meet with healthcare professionals who have tight schedules. Since it eliminates any travel time, you may have more freedom to plan for longer meeting times.

No matter what the preferences of your customers, you will likely end up using a hybrid approach. The key is finding the ideal balance between remote and in-person interactions.

No. 4: Follow the Customer Path

To understand your customers, you need to see the medical supplies sales cycle from their perspective. Put yourself through the sales funnel and try to identify any bottlenecks where customers can get stuck or drop out of the cycle.

You can also speak to your customers directly and ask them what they expect from the sales experience with you.

To broaden your customer base and increase engagement, you should consider using an omnichannel approach. This allows customers to learn about your company and products using their preferred channel, whether that is your business website, a blog, or even social media.

No. 5: Create Customized Content

With multiple channels for your customers to connect with you, your business needs customized content for each channel. While this content can have the same overarching theme, different channels require different approaches, especially for social media. You want to deliver content that is relevant and engaging to your customers. This will ensure a more personalized experience.

Rely on the personal preferences of your customers when choosing which content to share with them. Compare analytics from your customer tracking systems to determine the best approach to take with certain types of customers.

No. 6: Thank Your Customers

No matter the outcome of your customer interactions, you should thank them for giving you some of their time. Whether you send them an email, a handwritten note, or some other form of appreciation, it can go a long way toward improving your customer engagement. Even if you didn’t close a sale, your act of kindness may encourage them to think of you the next time they are looking to buy.

By focusing on your customer’s needs and connecting with them on an emotional level, you can improve your customer engagement. Share Moving Media is a great resource to help you reach more customers where they are. Visit sharemovingmedia.com for more information.