Advancing The Profession of Pharmacy

How to Respond When a Physician Shows Interest in Pharmacist Led Clinical Services

by | Oct 18, 2019 | Consulting Pharmacist Education

Today, we’re talking about the consultant pharmacist who is focusing in on the Physician’s Office Pathway in the Business Blueprint.

Here is the scenario:

⇢ Consultant Pharmacist works closely with Physician A in the hospital. After treatment rounds, Physician A is thanking the pharmacist for input and a job well done, and the pharmacist casually mentions their new consulting business venture.

⇢ When Physician A seems interested and asks how the Consultant Pharmacist could help them in their private practice, they aren’t sure what to say.

⇢ In a panic, they begin running through 101 ways they could work with a patient.

⇢ As the pharmacist is talking, Physician A thinks, “That sounds great, but that would probably cost a lot of money.”

⇢ Physician A asks no further questions and wishes the pharmacist the best of luck.

​⇢ The pharmacist leaves wondering if they should go home and make a business card to hand Physician A next time they see them.

What went wrong here?

Without realizing in, the consultant pharmacist blew an opportunity for new business because he or she wasn’t prepared with a concise response.

Has this happened to you?

If it has, don’t worry!

What you can do better next time:

When the Physician A seems interested, the pharmacist should instead begins with a succinct Elevator Pitch that focuses on how they help private practice physicians be more profitable and productive.

Physician A says, “Wow thats great, I’m a hospitalist, but my buddy owns his own practice and I think he’d be interested!”

Physician A then offers to connect the consultant pharmacist with Physician B.

The pharmacist uses the “follow-up script” from the Start the Conversation module in the Pharmapreneur’s Business Blueprint and has a meeting with Physician B scheduled within a few weeks.

The pharmacist is excited and confident in pitching their services to Physician B and finally feel ready for their first “Yes!”

What can we learn?

The second situation led to a referral because the Consultant Pharmacist had prepared their Elevator Pitch the right way.

In a different situation, maybe Physician A is interested!

The primary takeaway is that we should keep things short and to-the-point to allow for easy conversation that will lead to profitable opportunities!

If you’re finding yourself struggling with the sales conversation, the Pharmapreneur Academy is hosting a free live training on October 27th at 8pm.

Register for the last call of the year here!

About the Author

Blair Thielemier, PharmD, is a business development consultant specializing in pharmacist-led billing models. She has set the industry standard for virtual pharmacy conferences with the Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit in 2017. She has consulted with national pharmacy organizations, drug wholesalers, point of sale companies, and Fortune 5 health insurers. She has books and online courses available for individuals looking to leverage their pharmacy knowledge into monetized clinical programs at PharmapreneurAcademy.com She speaks internationally about trends in leveraging pharmacists to improve value-based care.

 

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