Is The Doctor in?
The ultimate analogy list between Doctors and salespeople!
Written By Greg Finch
Let’s face it…we hear again and again “It’s not like we are performing brain surgery”. This statement
is very true and thank goodness! By now most of us would be defending our malpractice suits! Now
work with me on this… I’m not saying that we are worthless as salespeople…its more a case of us not
taking full advantage of everything offered to us to improve and continuously excel in our profession!
Let’s break down the similarities/analogies between Doctors and salespeople. Keep in mind; each item
listed below is important and not listed in a particular order.
1) Appearance – When you visit a Doctor’s office you look around, why? You want to have total
confidence in the professional taking care of you. If you see organization, cleanliness and
professionalism in the office space, you hold a respect and confidence in this Doctor. Reverse
this and picture how a prospective client is viewing you! Remember you are a Doctor of sales
and you are making house calls! How will the client (patient) view you? Does your portable
office have the same qualities as the doctor’s office? How is your personal appearance
(suit/clothes, shoes, briefcase, jewelry you get the picture)?
2) Preparedness – Ever wonder why a doctor’s business is called a practice? Think about this…a
doctor spends hundreds of hours a year reading about his or her specialty, taking seminars and
constantly (daily) re-confirming that he or she is using the most up to date information in order
to better serve their patients. Bottom line, a doctor is constantly practicing and preparing to be
the best! Evaluate yourself on a daily basis. Are you prepared for the day before it begins?
3) Research - This tends to be the biggest area most of us need improvement on. We have all
heard the expression “know your client”. Doing research prior to any meetings or
discussions…this goes hand in hand with preparedness. Let’s look at the doctor again. When
you go to the doctor’s office you must fill out several pages of information not only about
yourself but your whole family, why? The doctor needs to know as much about your history as
possible to avoid any mishaps. Equate this to sales, do a complete ascertainment on your client
prior to a meeting…this research will help guide you through any potential obstacles.
4) Asking Questions – When you first see a doctor he does not operate on you and then ask
what’s wrong. When you first see the doctor you are asked several questions. He wants to know
what your symptoms are, when they started, how severe the pain is. This is a complete
“ascertainment” of the patient with the intent of gathering vital information so he will be better
able to remedy any ailments. We as salespeople need to do a much better job “listening” versus
“talking”. It almost seems inherent that we as salespeople love to talk. Whether it is about our
company, our service or us. Don’t get me wrong these points are important. It’s the information
we never ask for where we fail. So many times we spend a great deal of the meeting time
telling the client why they need our product or service. Rarely does the question come up to
determine what the client is looking to accomplish and exactly what their needs are. More often
than not the meeting you attended has become a waste of time for all parties involved. You are
much better served to spend 10 minutes of quality time “gathering” critical information on your
client than 30 minutes of idle chit chat which leads to another meeting to again go over what
YOU feel is the perfect opportunity for the client. Bottom line: spend as much time as possible
asking questions. This truly gives you an advantage in combating potential objections that you
more than likely never would have known existed!

5) Confidence (perception is reality) – “Perception is Reality” is another term used frequently
in sales. What exactly does this mean and why is it used so often? The perception (observation
someone has of you) is reality (actuality of what they think of you). No matter how much
knowledge and experience a doctor may possess if he “appears” ill prepared or unsure of what
they are saying, your perception will be one of doubt. Once you have lost this trust or
confidence in the Doctor you will be asking for a second opinion and looking for another! A
sale is no different, no matter how prepared or ill prepared you are, strong confidence will show
high on the perception meter! If the client hears you shuffling through papers, stammering or
having continuous pauses the perception will be one of incapability thus giving complete
distrust in anything you say. Perception and reality really are one in the same. Instill confidence
to whom ever you are talking to, be prepared organized and buttoned up!
6) Goals!!! – Every Doctor sets a goal for himself in everything he does. The Doctor makes sure
that everyone knows what the goals are. This would include the patient, the Doctors’ medical
staff and colleagues if involved. Equate this to sales…you need to make sure that EVERYONE
knows what our share (goal) expectations are. First and foremost, you must know what share
you are striving for (if you do not have a share goal in mind how can you expect anyone else
to). Second should be your company managers and station management. Third and certainly
not least important, the buyer needs to know what you expect. Having preset goals committed
insures or at least limits the numbers of surprises one will receive. A goal can be very simple or
extremely complex. The extent of a goal does not matter. Setting and obtaining goals is what
matters!
7) Communication – The Doctor must continuously communicate with all parties involved. As a
patient you expect complete communication. You as the patient certainly will not be involved
with the same manner as the Doctor hence making you less knowledgeable to all the details
regarding your road to recovery. When you don’t hear from the Doctor in what you judge to be
a timely manner you feel let down and worse yet you believe it be a sign of bad news!
Certainly the Doctor has not called you back because there is something wrong! Now equate
this to your internal managers and station management. If you operate in a vacuum without any
form of communication via verbal or written (ACR’s, forecast reports, pipelines, projections
and call sheets) the assumption will be that nothing is being done or again the worst possible
scenario is happening. You are the eyes and ears for all other parties involved…keep them in
the loop regarding progress or potential failures BUT KEEP THEM INVOLVED!
8) Accountability (Pride In Ownership)- A Doctor for the most part is his own boss. It is his
reputation on the line every single day of his life. The Doctor is proud of his profession that he
chose and he will do everything in his power to make sure he holds himself and his colleagues
in a positive light. The Doctor is accountable for the lives and well being of his patients…he
will not sacrifice the responsibility he holds to his patients. YOU are the face of your company
and ultimately responsible for anything that happens with your accounts…hold your head up
high and be proud of the company you work for!
In summary…Hold yourself to a higher standard. By doing so you will see positive results in
everything you do!