Introduction:

In patient advocacy, the power to persuade is an indispensable tool that ensures a practice thrives and grows. This art, when practiced with strategy and empathy, transforms your outreach efforts into genuine connections that drive success. In this post I dissect the persuasive sales process in advocacy sales and offer a path to sustainable and profitable growth in patient advocacy. Let's dive into these valuable insights.

Focus on Active Listening:

Active listening stands as the foundation of effective patient advocacy. By truly understanding a client's needs, we can tailor our services to match precise requirements. Rather than concentrating on a hard sell, I emphasize the significance of focusing on the individual's story—what do they need help with right now? This requires asking open-ended questions, repeating back what they've said to confirm understanding, and genuinely investing time to identify how I can impact their lives positively.

Needs Assessment:

The next logical step in the advocacy sales process is a comprehensive needs assessment. This isn't about what services you offer but rather pinpointing the client's specific needs, anything from consolidating scattered medical records to navigating complex insurance benefits. The goal? To create an agenda of actionable items that reflect your client's needs based precisely on what they have revealed during your conversation.

Benefit-Oriented Communication:

Once needs are established, the advocacy process segues into benefit-oriented communication. In this phase, it is super important to talk about the advantages of our services in the context of the client's needs. How does your skillset or service package directly benefit them? How will their life improve? This isn't boasting about capabilities; it's about painting a clear picture of their life after engaging your services, easing their stress and solving their problems.

Becoming a Trusted Advisor:

My favorite element in persuasive sales is stepping into the role of the trusted advisor. It entails demonstrating authority in your field and constantly updating your knowledge base. As advocates, we should be confident in sharing our insights—be it about new legislation or intricate billing systems—and offering free, high-value resources that cement our trustworthiness. It’s about letting clients know they can depend on your expertise and that you’re actively working on their behalf.

Storytelling:

Finally, I can’t stress the importance and power of storytelling in advocacy sales. Tell stories that illustrate your successful client engagements, focusing on a problem, your intervention, and the positive outcome. Craft the narratives thoughtfully and purposefully, with the intent to demonstrate past wins and showcase your problem-solving abilities. Stories not only anchor your service's value in the real world but also keep prospects engaged and receptive.

Conclusion:

Navigating the intricacies of advocacy sales requires more than a one-dimensional approach. The journey from an initial consult to a secured client involves multiple layers of interaction, each with its own strategic importance. By actively listening, performing thoughtful needs assessments, communicating benefits clearly, establishing yourself as a trusted advisor, and leveraging storytelling, advocates can create a deeply positive experience. 

Final Thoughts:

I hope this information provides a blueprint to not just making a sale, but building a relationship that’s rewarding not just for your practice, but, most importantly, for the clients you serve.

If you’ve found these tips valuable, check out some of my other posts about Sales. Specifically you might like Sales Made Simple. All of my posts are crafted to empower you on your healthcare advocacy journey. Explore and absorb the wisdom shared, and let it fuel your aspirations. In fact, if you want to be the first to get new information and support, join me in The Circle where we meet LIVE on Zoom every week!

Stay tuned for the next blog post, where we’ll talk about some of the “VA Benefits.” I’m going to share what I have learned about the Veterans Administration and available benefits.  Get ready to learn more in our next post.