Healthcare Technology - Know your customers

eHealth Insights · 26 August 2014 · Jessie Sampson

Marketing, no matter where you are or what you are promoting follows the same basic principles, the differentiators really come down to who your customers are and how you reach those customers. Understanding this are crucial...

Marketing B2B Healthcare Technology

Marketing, no matter where you are or what you are promoting follows the same basic principles, the differentiators really come down to who your customers are and how you reach those customers. Understanding this is crucial.
Know and understand your customers. Healthcare technology customers are made up large groups of stakeholders, each with their own set of requirements and goals. The needs of multiple groups of clinicians as well as finance, administration, business systems, quality and IT all need to be taken into account. Once you have that covered, the next decision is how do you reach those customers. In our industry you need to get yourself infront of your potential customers, face to face.
The procurement process within Healthcare is notoriously slow, it is not unusual for a single sale to take anywhere between nine and twenty four months. The Sláinte Insights series has touched on why this is on more than one occasion, factors like the number of stakeholders, the public sector funding model and past negative experiences with healthcare IT implementations leaving stakeholders with a high degree of scepticism and caution. All of these factors contribute.
This means that you need patience when it comes to seeing a return on your investment. The goals from a marketing perspective include getting your brand out there, letting your industry know who you are and what you do, help with identifying leads and providing the support tools to the sales team to help them makes sales.
Some of the things that I think are crucial as part of any approach include;

• Listen to your customers & listen to your team on the ground; While most healthcare organisations experience similar challenges, each region may have a different focus or priority within those challenges, make sure you understand your customers and tailor your message to address their individual needs.
• Don’t be afraid to try new things; I receive sales calls and emails every day from companies selling advertising, events & exhibiting, website solutions, branding, PR, display… I could go on… you can’t try them all and to be honest you won’t want to or need to, but don’t dismiss something new instantly, consider it, leave some space in your budget, the only way you will really know if something works or not is to try it.
• Let analytics help you learn what is working and what is not, use tracking codes on links, check your online acquisition channels, track open rates, study subject lines, analyse your leads and their source, check your most visited pages, check who is visiting your site. Build on what is working and ditch what isn’t.
• Be proactive but also be ready to be reactive. This very much so leads from the last point about building on what is working and ditch what is not (though I do offer caution to make logical decisions about what you ditch, if something isn’t work it may have been down to your approach).
  In this industry you need long term plans, be determined, be quick to react to change, be innovative, listen and be willing to take calculated risks. Last of all, as I always say ‘make it happen’
  Jessie Sampson - Marketing, Sláinte Healthcare Jessie has over 12 years’ experience in Marketing and related fields and has gained this experience both in Ireland and Internationally, having lived and worked in the USA, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand. Jessie’s previous roles includes positions in Saxo Bank, the online Investment Bank, GE Insurance and Auckland Regional Public Health Service. Jessie is responsible for managing the international brand growth and marketing activities for Sláinte Healthcare with a can-do attitude. LinkedIn: http://ie.linkedin.com/in/jessiesampson/

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