When Matthew received his company's latest clinical study, he was excited to use it. It offered exactly the proof he needed in his key offices. He read the study, looked at the data and patient population and knew that this was important information his physicians could use. He planned just how to position the study in his sales calls and was anxious to start. But after several calls, he was anxious for another reason. The physicians he knew could use the information the most were questioning him the hardest about the study. They questioned him about patient selection, data analysis, numbers needed to treat and endpoints. Their questions surprised Matthew. The study had seemed like a sure thing, a great tool to get his selling message across with clinical support. Now he was tempted to tuck it away and just stick to "relationship" selling. Have you ever wished a physician would just glance quickly at your study and make a commitment to write more of your drug without further question?

Clinical studies are excellent tools to support selling messages and help physicians make informed prescribing choices. It is inevitable, even desirable, that many physicians will question clinical studies and the data they contain. As you know, it is not very likely that after one glance at a study, a physician will declare it just what she needs to prescribe more of your drug. Instead, the likelier scenario is that the more interested a physician is in the study and its implications for her practice, the harder she will question you. Objections are an indication that physicians have looked at your study and not dismissed it without consideration. They want to know more and be assured that the findings really do support your sales message. And sometimes, their questions are aimed at you, to ensure that you know what you are talking about. Their questions are your opportunity to discuss the study in greater depth and show how its findings can be applied to their practices. Their questions are also your opportunity to show that you are a knowledgeable, valuable resource to the doctor. Still, study objections can fluster even the most experienced sales professionals.

How do you turn study obstacles into opportunities to sell? There is a three-step process that can get you out of the corner with physicians and into the clinical study. The first step is to thoroughly understand your study. The second step is to anticipate physician questions. The third step is to handle study objections the same way you handle all objections in a sales call.

Study your study

Question yourself

When physicians question a study, they are usually trying to assess its validity. Once they are assured of the validity of the study, they want to know if it is useful to their practice and patients. The only way you can prepare yourself to effectively demonstrate validity and usefulness is by thoroughly studying the clinical study. Start by reading it quickly: the title, charts, graphs, tables, abstract and conclusion. Then, read the entire study thoroughly. Doing a quick read before studying it carefully will help you grasp the concepts more quickly. If you understand only the abstract, you might miss valuable information for the physicians in your territory. Know the study from the title to the references. Highlight unfamiliar words. If your study mentions a Fisher's Exact Test, know what it is and why it is important. It is easy to skip over things you do not understand and jump right to presenting from the abstract. This can be a mistake, since physicians who are really interested will want to go deeper than the abstract. After reading the entire study and investigating any unfamiliar terms, you should understand and be able to discuss study design, methodology, data analysis, statistical significance and clinical relevance. Data analysis and statistical significance are areas that can give sales professionals the greatest challenge. While you do not need to be a statistician to master a study, you do need to know the methods used for data analysis within that study and how they lead to statistical significance and clinical relevance. A thorough understanding of the clinical study will allow you to demonstrate with confidence that it is valid and can be used by physicians to make prescribing choices for their patients.

Anticipate questions

The second step to handling physicians' concerns is to anticipate the questions they might ask you. As you read the clinical study, think about the obstacles you can expect. Below are some categories of questions that will help you anticipate physician objections. The questions are based on evidence-based medicine, which is a set of validity and usefulness criteria physicians use to review studies and make treatment decisions. By answering the questions yourself before using the clinical study in a sales call, you will be prepared to field physician questions and use the study more effectively.

Patients. Were there enough patients in the study? Were the groups similar at the start of the trial and then treated equally, apart from the experimental treatment?

Study design. Was the assignment of patients to treatments randomized? Was the follow-up long enough? How were the data analyzed? Were patients and clinicians kept "blind" to treatment?

Statistical significance and clinical relevance. Are the results statistically significant? Are the results clinically relevant?

Logistics. When and where was the study published? Who sponsored it?

As you answer the questions about your study, you may realize that it is not "perfect." Few studies are perfect by evidence-based medicine standards. But the questions can provide a framework to determine if the study is valid and therefore useful to a physician's patients. Many times there are legitimate reasons why a study may not appear to measure up. For example, what if patients and clinicians were not kept blind to treatment? You might think this is a negative. But, depending on the clinical question, it may be entirely appropriate. If clinicians are researching patient preferences for different formulations of the same drug, blinding may be unnecessary; it also may be considered unethical in some disease states.

Handle objections

The third step to fielding physician objections to a study is to handle them the same way you handle any objection during a sales call. You will recognize study objections because they tend to be based on the validity and usefulness of the study, while product objections are usually based on the features of your product. Many sales professionals are adept at handling product-related objections but do not realize the same formula can be applied to concerns regarding a clinical study. For example, you might use some variation of "buffer, search, answer and confirm" when handling product objections. When the objections are based on a clinical study, you can use the same formula. However, when you answer, you should refer to the information in the study that will address the issue. If a doctor questions you about what looks like a small number of patients in a study, you might say, "It would be ideal to have thousands of patients in a study. It sounds like you are concerned about the study's design." The physician might point out that he is concerned that the number of patients was too small to yield significant data. Your response could be, "Doctor, this study was powered by the primary endpoints. The patients selected are appropriate for what the investigators were hoping to find." As you mention powering and endpoints, you can direct the physician to the information in the study.

There is a lot to learn with every clinical study your company approves for use in sales calls. With each one comes a new set of potential obstacles – and opportunities to support your selling message while becoming a valuable resource to physicians. Matthew realized right away that his study contained information the physicians in his territory could use. What he quickly learned was how to use the study itself to turn objections into opportunities.