Most reps love the mechanism of action slide. Most doctors either know it already or do not need it today.
It is the slide reps feel safest on, because it is science and nobody can argue with it. That is exactly the problem. It feels productive while the doctor quietly checks the clock.
- When the mechanism slide bores:
- Opening the call with it.
- Five minutes of pathways and receptors.
- Explaining it to the specialist who teaches it.
- Using it instead of outcomes.
- When it helps:
- Answering the doctor's own question, "How does it actually work?"
- One sentence and one simple picture.
- Explaining it to a GP meeting a new class for the first time.
- Using it to explain an outcome or a side effect.
The test I give reps is simple. Did the doctor ask, or did you need it to make a result make sense? If neither, move on to what the drug does for her patients.
“Mechanism explains the result. It never replaces it.”
Lesson 10 of 11 in Step 3: Knowing the science, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.