Yesterday I received the "test" from a doctor who wanted to make sure I knew what the hell I was talking about. It was a joint call, and so I met another rep, and when I walked in the door, the doctor immediately confronted me:
"Okay, I have this patient right here and her condition is this, this, and this. What would you prescribe?", he said. (Indulge me I don't want to get into the details of the patient's condition. Heck, HIPPA might come down on me.)
I looked at him for a few seconds. He was an older doctor, his hair slicked back, with an old lab coat on. He must've been at least 60, with giant white caps on his teeth. Picture Dracula but without fangs and large, horse-like teeth. It was an imposing site. I looked at him, then his patient, then at him again.
"How should I know you're the doctor.", I responded, which made his assistant laugh. However, the doctor wasn't laughing. He really was testing my knowledge of both the patient and my products.
So I asked him a series of questions about the patient's age, her history, the conditions he had treated her for before, and gathered all the information I could about the patient.
" I think you should do this, this, and this. If the other treatments aren't working."
He seemed satisfied with the answer and so did the patient who was staring right at me. "Good answer", he said.
I looked at the patient and at the doctor and said, "Thank you doctor. I'll be in the other room with my next patient. If you'll excuse me.", and acted as if I was going to leave.
At that joke he did laugh. Lesson learned. Whether it's a doctor, mechanic, restaurant owner, truck driver, or anyone you're selling: Know Your Stuff. Otherwise, you won't earn respect and you'll never make the sale.
-M
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