In today’s strained economy, health care organizations are going straight to the physicians as a direct route to more business. This means that health care leaders are investing in more physician-hospital relationship strategies and calling on their physician relations teams to help connect the dots. Embrace this opportunity and make sure that you have the tools you need to give you the best chance at success.

Among the many tools we could talk about, let’s focus on one that can be used to help extend the life of your sales messages. We know that making a strong impression is really lasting, especially when you’re feeling the pressure to meet with what seems like an endless target list of physicians. Physician-specific print material can be a great tool to support your face-to-face visits and reinforce your verbal messages.

An important consideration when using these materials is finding the right balance between telling and showing. These sales sheets should not be used in place of your pitch, but rather to call out special points of your pitch. And that is how these materials should be assembled – highlighting your most competitive differentiators. Don’t think of these items as “leave-behinds” or you’ll be tempted to cut corners on the verbal message and rely on the sales sheet to communicate it for you. And don’t expect the physician will read the material after you leave. Take the opportunity to “walk them through” the piece in person.

The most effective way to present the information is using a direct, straightforward and simply-designed approach – contained within a single sheet. Presenting snapshots of the information is best – charts and graphs are even better. Use graphic boxes to compartmentalize the information and to guide the physician’s eye. They want factual data related to quality, service and outcomes. Statistics from reliable, objective resources (e.g. state statistics, clinical studies, journal articles) can have great impact and credibility. And don’t forget a call-to-action, which would ideally be a centralized phone number to any service line within the system to make a referral or get a consultation.

Just as you segment your physician audience to help customize your messages you should approach your sales sheets with the same thinking. Consider your audience – by specialty – to help guide your print content. For example, primary care physicians are going to care about what communication protocols are in place to keep them informed about their referred patients. And in order to encourage them to refer to say, your orthopedic specialists, they need to know what makes them different – and better – than the group down the street. Material created for specialists, on the other hand, should emphasize aspects of the organization that would support their work there, such as operational efficiency, nursing staff expertise and patient throughput.

The best sources for service line information will be the service line leader, the lead specialist and your quality director. Prepare to work with these individuals to help them understand that you need “marketable” information. They are masters of the information, but you will want them to know your objective and the context within which you are presenting the information so they assemble the details most effectively.

Working with your marketing department will ensure that you maintain your organization’s brand look-and-feel and use consistent sales messages. It is important that both audiences – physicians and consumers – receive messages that fit together in a harmonious way. Then, when physicians select your hospital based on the messages you’ve shared with them, the hope is that their patients have received complimentary messages through other communication channels that will give them the confidence in their physician’s choice.

There is no better time than now for reps to demonstrate the value that physician-focused strategies bring to the organization’s bottom line. Let your printed materials support these efforts – just as your verbal messages are designed to “ask for the business” so should your printed messages.