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Working With Sales Representatives Sales consultant Vanessa Bird discusses how to have an effective partnership with a sales rep in order to grow your aesthetics business The working relationship with a company sales representative is often under-valued when planning the future success of an aesthetic practitioner or clinic. In my experience, sales representatives are often branded as pushy, order-takers, or viewed as someone you briefly need to deal with if you want to buy a product or device. However, practitioners who understand the true value of a sales representative when it comes to developing their business are really on the road to success. Sales representatives can help support you, identify often-overlooked areas of expertise you can tap into, and give advice on how to build a lasting, mutually beneficial path to success. This article will cover the key ways you can benefit from working with sales reps, identifying the areas you should focus on. It will outline the best approach to take and explain how working with the reps can help you manage and grow your business above and beyond making a purchase.
get off the ground despite their best efforts, and either stagnate or close their clinic and move on to pastures new. Others would do well, earning a good living and building their reputation successfully. A select few would excel, growing more quickly than other clinics, appearing in the press and becoming key opinion leaders (KOLs) for companies keen to partner up with these rising stars. However, I soon noticed a pattern. The vast majority of practitioners who worked with sales reps and trusted their expertise, achieved a more rapid return on their investment because they could integrate the new technology far more successfully than those who didn’t. I’ve found that mutual trust and respect between sales reps and practitioners can also spark more sales in clinic and help to develop a working partnership that brings about future opportunities for clients, which can enhance their professional profile. So, how do you get started?
The learning curve
What to look for
Having a background as a capital equipment sales representative in the aesthetic medicine specialty means I have banked years of experience working with industry experts, clinic owners and practitioners. In my time I’ve noticed that some clinics would never quite
Your initial contact with a sales rep begins with an enquiry about the product or service they offer. In some instances, you may have done business with them before and know how they work, but if you haven’t, what should you look out for?
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Experience is important, especially industry experience. Aesthetic medicine is quite a unique field and what works in another sector won’t necessarily work in aesthetics, so you should ask your sales rep about their background. Be cautious if they have moved around a lot over a short period of time. In my view, sales reps who stay for less than two years in a role are usually less committed to a technology/product and won’t share the same passion or knowledge as a rep who has stayed for two plus years, and those who move companies cannot provide the longterm support a successful partnership needs. You should also check to see if they have knowledge of other technology or products, not just their own. A good sales rep understands the features and benefits of competitors and can help you incorporate multiple technologies into your clinic. You should ask your peers for recommendations on who to work with. People buy from people and if your peers recommend a sales rep, it’s because they have delivered exceptional service. Red flags include not being able to reach your sales reps because they ignore calls or emails. If they don’t reply now, they certainly won’t after the sale is completed and this is a huge issue if you really need their support. Another red flag to look out for is a sales rep who slates the competition and pulls them down to promote their product, rather than talks about the benefits of the technology or product because it is a classic sign of unprofessionalism. Do you really want to work with someone who focuses more on their competition? Wouldn’t it be preferable to work with a sales rep who is confident in their own technology or product and can talk about the features and benefits, the strengths of what they are offering and how it can work for you?
Lay the foundations In order to lay the foundations of a successful partnership, be honest and open with your communication at all stages of the sales cycle with your sales representative. Sales reps have to create forecasts every month so their manager can predict what business is coming in, prepare stock levels accordingly and start booking in training. If you’re at the research-only stage and have no intention of buying anything for another six to 12 months, please tell them this. Give them a realistic timeline so they can forecast accurately. Sales representatives work on targets so this also helps them focus on more urgent sales for the quarter and means they won’t
Reproduced from Aesthetics | Volume 8/Issue 9 - August 2021
