- 相关推荐
Communication, negotiation skills key to attaining career ac
National report — Good communication and negotiating skills are the cornerstones to any productive relationship, including those with patients, office staff and leaders in the cosmetic industry. Understanding the importance of cultivating these skills can help to build a solid foundation for harmonious, long-lasting and fruitful working relationships.
Effective negotiation begins with effective communication. Physicians are constantly negotiating in their practice with patients, staff members and pharmaceutical representatives who visit their office.
These interactions are part and parcel of the daily "grind" and are necessary to help physicians ultimately achieve their goals. In today's modern dermatology practice, effective negotiation has become crucial, particularly in the cosmetic arena.
Dr. Goldberg |
Some of the reasons why cosmetic patients do not return to a dermatologist's office may include cost, cosmetic results that do not last long enough, unfulfilled aesthetic expectations and having undesired adverse events that they supposedly did not know about. These scenarios may occur if the doctor's negotiation and communication skills were not used effectively during the consult.
Patient satisfaction
Effective communication plays a major role in avoiding unwanted surprises post-procedure. One way to keep patients happy is to ask them to return for a follow-up visit two weeks after a given procedure for a potential touch-up or simply to demonstrate personalized care for them.
"Patients need to know and feel that they are being treated like human beings and not as a widget. Giving them the extra time to see them and thoroughly explain the details of cosmetic procedures is not only crucial in gaining patient trust but will also make them feel special and taken care of," Dr. Goldberg says.
Physician extenders typically will spend more time with a patient, and their input can also potentially improve the efficacy of communication and/or negotiation. However, Dr. Goldberg says dermatologists should carefully select physician extenders; if a physician extender is not fully informed about the cosmetic procedures performed by the physician, communication with patients may be tarnished, and could therefore backfire.
"Poor negotiation and communication will often lead to unhappy patients, which may come back to haunt you. Unhappy patients may send you a letter voicing their discontent and they may even request a refund, which in most cases is a reflection of poor negotiation. You may even receive a letter from their lawyer, in which case any further negotiation may already be too late," Dr. Goldberg says. "In the end, if the physician takes the time to negotiate and communicate well, patients will be happier and you will be happier."
Interacting with industry
Successful negotiation and communication is also invaluable in helping the physician get what he or she wants from the cosmetic industry. This may include sponsorship for meetings, consideration as the cutting-edge research site where appropriate, and being the go-to person when the media needs a quote regarding a particular specialty or product. Achieving these goals requires that physicians build and cultivate relationships early in their careers.
Dr. Gold |
Physicians who go to academy meetings primarily want to continue their medical education and keep up with the new developments in their specialty. But academy meetings also serve as an active platform for physicians and industry to get together, and they are basically a breeding ground for tomorrow's experts in any given field. Company executives are waiting to meet people and to be introduced to tomorrow's new thought leaders.
Paying their dues
Physicians who want to climb the industry ladder of success first need to make time for their local cosmetic sales representatives and always be available to see them, regardless of how busy their practice may be. If the local representatives are treated well, they may soon bring in their regional district people.
"Some physicians may consider this approach tedious and time-consuming. However, if you want to get into the inner circle, you have to pay your dues and work step by step to get there," Dr. Gold says.
It is important to establish positive communication with local representatives and to be clear about your goals in terms of participating in clinical trials, or even becoming the principal investigator somewhere down the line.
If a physician performs well on smaller industry projects, he or she may be bumped up and chosen for regional projects, such as heading dinner programs or medium-sized regional studies. If these projects are successful, the physician soon may be chosen for national work, including nationwide industry-sponsored training programs or national — and even international — clinical trials.
Physicians also need to do their homework and know who the leaders of the cosmetic industry are, as these experts are the ones who can make a difference in their relationship with industry. They also need to research new developments in the cosmetic industry's pipelines.
To become an expert in a given area and become the go-to physician on a product, physicians must contact the right people at the right moment, should a new and exciting research opportunity arise. However, one also needs to be in the right place at the right time, which requires a dose of luck, Dr. Gold says.
"Physicians need to take this luck, combine it with already forged industry relationships, and then ethically transform it into business relations in the aesthetic arena. One must be friendly, persistent and effective to climb up the industry ladder. However, to do this successfully, one must be a good negotiator and communicator," Dr. Gold says.
【Communication, negotiation skills key to attaining career ac】相关文章：
Collaborative Negotiation11-17
Integrative Complex Negotiation12-24
Principle of Trust in Negotiation11-17
Interview Skills面试技巧10-28
高级考试备考策略Negotiation11-14
职场如何准备Negotiation谈判11-02