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The Pharma Career Ladder · The medical rep · Step 5: The visit · Lesson 1

First thirty seconds

What the doctor decides before you open the detail aid

By Ahmed El Menshawy · 20 years in pharma, from medical rep to country manager in the UAE. Founder of RepPharma. LinkedIn
Published

The doctor decides about you before you open the detail aid.

Research on snap judgement found that people watching a few seconds of behaviour judge as accurately as people watching for five minutes. In a clinic, your opening is that thin slice.

Eight things decide it:

  • They read you first. Posture, pace, whether you look rushed.
  • Say why you are here. One line, and it is not the brand.
  • Name the patient. "The patients failing on first line" beats any opening slide.
  • Ask before you present. One question that proves you remember the last visit.
  • Do not apologise. "Sorry to disturb you" invites them to agree.
  • Match their speed. A busy clinic needs a short call, not a fast one.
  • Put the aid down. Opening the folder early announces a presentation.
  • Earn the next thirty seconds. That is the only goal of an opening.
“You do not get a second opening. Plan it like the rest of the call.”
First thirty seconds: What the doctor decides before you open the detail aid

Lesson 1 of 15 in Step 5: The visit, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.

More lessons in step 5: The visit

Lesson 2Opening without a pitchThree openings that earn the next two minutesLesson 3The patient type openingNaming the patient before naming the brandLesson 4The question you never askFour kinds of question, and the one most reps skipLesson 5SPIN in a two minute callSituation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff, compressedLesson 6Listen twiceThe two-to-one rule between listening and talkingLesson 7Silence is a toolWaiting after a question instead of filling the gapLesson 8Reading the roomFour signals a doctor is finished before you areLesson 9What you say after the dataTurning a study into one sentence a doctor repeatsLesson 10Features, advantages, benefitsWhy reps stop at the featureLesson 11Three levels of a benefitThe patient, the practice and the doctor himselfLesson 12The value equationBenefit over cost, in the doctor's termsLesson 13Storytelling with a patient caseA case that lands in thirty secondsLesson 14Three minutes in a corridorStructuring a call you did not planLesson 15Group calls and lunch meetingsRunning a room without losing the individual

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