In the medical industry, sales representatives play a crucial role in introducing new products and services to healthcare providers and facilities. Traditionally, these sales visits have been conducted in person, with reps visiting doctors and hospitals to make their pitch. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have shifted to virtual sales visits as a way to stay safe and maintain social distancing. In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at how MDs have adjusted to this change.
Here, at ZoomRx, we conducted a survey to understand the consensus among Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) on what they prefer between in-person and virtual sales visits. According to our findings, the majority of healthcare providers (95%) stated that their institution's policies regulate visits from sales representatives.
When asked about their personal attitudes, 97% of the physicians reported that they are comfortable meeting the sales representatives in person and prefer in-person sales rep visits over meeting the sales rep virtually
However, substantial differences exist across specialties. Specifically for oncology, only eight out of ten physicians feel personally comfortable meeting sales reps in person.
Nevertheless, 58% of physicians do not require reps to be vaccinated prior to resuming in-person visits.
Additionally, in-person meetings tend to last longer, on average 11 minutes, compared to 9 minutes for virtual interactions.
If you're looking to maintain compliance with your institution's regulations while still experiencing the benefits of an in-person meeting, then you can request a video-based interaction with your sales rep.
We will continue to share valuable insights from our research on social media handles. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to stay updated.
