Bringing Physicians to the Conversation

Recruiting styles vary. I worked from a list of the staff physicians and called them explaining the costs and goals. I reported the comments of previous participants in Spirit in Medicine. Using an invitation list helped me insure that I also contacted physicians beyond my personal acquaintances. The medical staff was large. My early attitude was frustration at the low response rates and the need to make so many calls. I soon discovered that those calls were valuable, that there were physicians who needed to talk about practice issues, hospital relations, divorces and children on drugs. Some physicians will resist your invitations, but invite anyway and repeatedly. Several physicians participated only after declining as many as five invitations. A dictum in pharmacy sales is that a physician needs to hear about a new product an average of 29 times before prescribing behavior changes. What does that mean for your recruiting calls? As the word gets out about the quality of Spirit in Medicine, recruiting will become easier.