There are a thousand different ways to sell a product. You can paste your logo on promo items and hand them out to everybody you see. You can spend billions on Superbowl ads. You can even plaster your website across a hot air balloon. But the fact remains that education is still the best way to sell healthcare solutions.
Education doesn’t feel like a hard sell.
The old saying that “everyone likes to buy but no one likes to be sold to” is absolutely true. Even when it’s something we want (even when it’s something we need), we can still be resistant to someone selling it to us. With an educational approach, you can sidestep that problem.
One of the companies I work with uses a predominantly cold-outreach approach to generating leads. They do a lot of cold emails – but they share a lot of useful information. Yes, that means they have to produce a lot of content, but the ROI is worth it. Their focus on education also means they always have something interesting to share when following up with a cold lead. At worst, they educate – and thus warm up – their target audience. At best, they pique their interest and move prospects into a sales conversation.
Healthcare folks value education.
Education as a lead generation strategy is particularly effective in the healthcare world, in large part because it is so valued by healthcare professionals. As a group, healthcare professionals like to be given information to digest. They appreciate the opportunity to ask questions and look at data.
This is why charts and tables are so important to a healthcare audience. They are not as interested in a fancy slogan as they are in hard data and facts. Luckily, these can be presented in a variety of formats, from webinars to reports to panel presentations.
Healthcare solutions can be complex.
In any sales situation, the first step is always going to be awareness-raising. You can’t move forward until you orient people to the situation. In healthcare, that situation is often complicated and requires a lot of nuanced explanation and discussion. This is why education is such a perfect fit.
Another company I work with uses a webinar as their primary marketing tool. They invite people to a Zoom presentation at the prospect’s convenience, and leave plenty of time for Q&A. With a simple request – would you be interested in seeing this presentation? – they instantly qualify their leads.
Education is the starting point.
Whether you provide a service or a product, education is always the best way to sell healthcare solutions.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash.