What's your value: a Dr's story

I went to the doctor recently for a regular check-up. While I as sitting in the waiting room, I noticed that there were three patients and four pharmaceutical reps. This fascinated me since I train phama reps. At the end of my exam, I asked the doc what he thought of pharmaceutical reps. Were they valuable or annoying?

His answer was surprising.

He said that that drug sales people have two values to him. First, he said that occasionally they actually tell him something that he did not know. He saw that as important because he needs to keep up on so many new things that every source was worth a few minutes of his time.

Then came the surprise.

He said that drug reps are part of the informal welfare system. They load him up with samples of drugs every time the stop in. He, in turn, dispenses these drugs to patients who can not afford to buy them.

I'm not sure if he is more likely to prescribe these same drugs to those of us who can afford to pay for them, but I suspect he is. The lesson for all of us is to understand that we bring a variety of values to our client. Some direct and some indirect. Determine what the client needs and you'll find your key to earning their time and earning their business.

Keep selling!

Steve Waterhouse

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Biodegradable False Teeth

My Friend Laurie called me on my cell phone yesterday. She was all excited about her new business idea!

Biodegradable False Teeth from China.

I was a little surprised since I did not see the value in false teeth being biodegradable. Laurie explained that when people left them on golf courses, they damaged the mowers. Ok, I can see how a pair of false teeth, left on a golf course could damage a mower, but why would people leave their false teeth on the course? Laurie said they did it all the time. She asked me what I did with mine after I teed off? I told her that I had taken care of my teeth and didn't need false teeth yet, but I had never seen my dad and his friends take their's out when they were teeing off.

That's when she started yelling at me. "What are you talking about? Biodegradable golf tees are going to be required by courses soon."

Golf Tees? I thought she said "False Teeth!"

The lesson is to listen more carfully on your cell phone when you are in a noisy airport.

Now go sell something.

Steve Waterhouse