Power Words To Use When Selling Pharma Products

One reader asks the question about what power words to use when selling pharmaceutical products. If this reader has been with me for a considerable amount of time, he or she should know that focusing on such words is only part of the equation.

I've written before that, pharmaceutical marketing and selling embody fundamental principles of promoting products or services. I got to understand that from studying a discipline called "copywriting."

If you're paying even a slight amount of attention, then you probably have noticed an ever important hierarchy of promotion:

• 1) Market/Mindset
• 2) Offer
• 3) Copy

Number 3 is where "power words" come in...

And as you can see, two critical factors precede words. Mindsets of people who we promote to and the kind of offer we have for them are more important than words we use to encourage them. I would love to help the one asking by giving a helpful answer but not addressing the real issue is more damaging. It's like handing over a wrong map and tells you how to reach the destination.

You'll end up at the wrong place, obviously...

So, lets cut the chase and get straight to the heart of the matter. The most crucial part of getting any good result with any type of promotion is to put it in front of the right people, first. I can understand when pharma sales reps face too much resistant while the company is all "gung ho" about certain products because of the wrong crowd targeted.

I recall a time when I was selling analog insulin in prefilled pens. The other company was busy selling the same product but having it in cartridges, where patients have to take out and put in rounds before each new use: to prescribers that's like one step backward. When the market already embraces a new way for convenience benefit, the other company ask the market to step back because it's cheaper...

...and the cost is not the only reason people buy. I've seen lots of other drugs being prescribed, despite being higher priced, because of other benefits like convenient, new, effective and safe, among others.
That's why it's essential to get into the mindset of prospects. A good analogy to use, as shared by someone, is the "napkin analogy."

Pretend for a moment that you're a traveler who got stuck in a dessert while looking for a long lost city. The hot sun shines directly on you, and it makes you thirsty every ticking moment. Your eyes play a trick on you. You see the pool of water every time you look ahead, but it vanishes as you're approaching. You're getting tired and your body's aching all over.

Suddenly an old woman appears out of nowhere. She flashed her smile and said in the most precise voice, "Young man. I have with me a map of the coolest oasis. The pool filled with clear water with dates trees all around and their ripe fruits just fall and fall. All it takes for this map to be yours is whatever you have in your pockets - ALL pockets!"

And she smiled...

Would you, at that defining moment, not feeling like emptying your pockets for the map? You have probably been thinking how you'll make up for your loss now, once you found the treasure of the lost city.

You hand her all that you've got with both your hands, shakily...

And she hands you the map, a sketch on an old, yellowish napkin.

OK. That's the end of our original story, but the point is:

You appeal to the mindsets of prospects.

Even if the product is just a sketch on old, near torn napkin, all you care about is the water, which can prolong your survival.

And the same goes to the power words you're looking for. The power, if you understand, is not in words but in the perception of your prospect's mind. The sketch is meaningless in the city with cafes and bistros, but it's precious for a thirsty traveler in the desert, right?

My final recommendation is, if you're aiming to sell more of your pharma products, find more people with the right mindsets and put an irresistible offer in front of them. You'll create more win that way than parroting mere words and hoping they're like magic spells out of wizard's mouth. Even a magic spell does not work most of the time.

I hope this help. If you have other thoughts, share them in the comment box below.