Share Moving Media

How to Create an Online Medical Supplies Product Catalog

By

The online medical supplies industry is increasing rapidly as more and more people continue making purchases electronically. From 2015 to 2020, the sector grew at an annualized rate of 17%. 

A medical supplies catalog is another marketing piece you can share with potential buyers to encourage them to purchase. A product catalog should include all the details a prospect needs to make an informed buying decision. Essential features include product descriptions, images, pricing, colors, customer reviews, and much more.

Throughout this article, we’ll explain why you should consider offering a catalog that includes the medical supplies you provide and how to create one from scratch.

Quick Takeaways:

  • The online medical supplies industry is growing rapidly as more and more people continue making purchases electronically.
  • Having an online product catalog allows you to look up technical information quickly, generate more sales, and keep inventory updated in real-time. It also helps enhance the user experience.
  • To design your new catalog, start by conducting research and identifying your supply system. Next, choose which elements you want to include, choose software, and design your catalog.

The Benefits of Having a Medical Supplies Catalog for Clients

Having a medical supplies catalog on hand is not only helpful for marketing and sales purposes. Yes, it’s an excellent piece of collateral for sales reps to use to communicate with customers. But it’s also beneficial for internal warehouse managers, operators, and partners. Everyone can refer to it as a manual or guide to making purchases, selling, taking inventory, performing demos, and sharing it as needed.

Here’s a rundown of several other benefits your business can experience by producing a detailed product catalog online.

  • Always have complex or technical information on hand.
  • Keep inventory updated in real-time.
  • Generate sales by having all product and service information readily available.
  • Share information quickly and easily online.
  • Generate sales from anywhere at any time.
  • Improve the user experience.
  • Promote your brand with a well-designed product catalog.
Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated with medium confidence

How to Design an Online Medical Supplies Catalog in 9 Steps

So you’re ready to start selling medical supplies to your clients online. Here’s how to develop an online product catalog that stands out and converts.

1. Conduct Preliminary Research 

Before you begin, ensure you are updated with the licensing and regulations the FDA has set for medical device distributors.

2. Identify Your Supply System

Compile a list of your current vendors (or shortlist vendors if you’re setting up a new system). Factor in resources and manufacturing capacity for each vendor. That way, you can strategically work toward your sales goals.

3. Incorporate the Right Elements for Your Online Catalog

Before developing your catalog, choose the elements you want to include based on your business, goals, and resources. Here are several pieces to consider: 

  • Product names
  • Product descriptions
  • Certifications 
  • Customer reviews
  • Product dimensions
  • Product features
  • Product guarantees or warranties
  • High-quality images
  • Return policy
  • Safety information
  • Year and version of each product
  • Terms and conditions 
  • Front cover
  • Table of contents
  • Introduction 
  • Closing summary
  • Back cover
  • Calls to action 
  • Branding 

4. Choose the Right System or Template

After you’ve decided on the elements you want to include, you can choose a system and template that supports your plan. Look for a system that’s secure and powerful enough to support your catalog while giving your customers the best online experience you can muster.

You’ll also want to choose a tool that’s easy to navigate. While the back end of your catalog may be complex, the front end shouldn’t be. Many ecommerce product catalog tools exist. Choose the best one for your business needs and catalog complexity.

5. Choose an Automated Configuring Process 

Look for software that includes product configuration technology. That way, you can track items for planning and inventory automatically. Standard configurations include prices, part numbers, and a spec doc.

6. Professionally Design It and Add Branding

If you want people to associate your online catalog with your business instantly, incorporate branding elements. These should include your logo, brand fonts, colors, and graphics that reflect your company’s styles and personality.

Hire a professional designer to lay out the pages, incorporate branding, and create a cohesive design for best results. Pages should appear balanced, photography should be pristine, and the catalog as a whole should attract your target audience. Every page and element should work toward a common goal: to encourage users to buy.

7. Tell a Story and Build Trust

To make your catalog engaging for browsers, you can incorporate messages that resonate with readers and storytelling. This will help people get to know your brand and connect with prospects on a deeper level. You can include client stories, testimonials, and case studies that resonate with potential buyers.

8. Include Filter Functionality

Finding a specific item can be tricky and time-consuming if you have a massive catalog with hundreds or thousands of products. Giving people the option to locate a particular product or add a filter to narrow down results will enhance the user experience. You can do this by tagging and categorizing products.

9. Incorporate Key Conversion Components

Incorporating key conversion elements is crucial to getting more sales. Adding calls to action (CTAs) strategically, offering prices upfront, and making the buying process as simple as possible are all ways to increase conversions and move people through the sales funnel.

You can also aim to upsell and cross-sell by suggesting related products throughout your catalog. Offering alternatives to what a user is considering is another way to get people to continue shopping to find the best product to meet their needs.

Diagram Description automatically generated

Ready to Enhance Your Online Marketing Results?

Share Moving Media is a premier publishing and content marketing company. We love partnering with manufacturers and distributors in the healthcare space. If you want to expand your market share, grow meaningful relationships with potential buyers, and improve your brand image, we want to help. We can also help you create an epic online medical supplies catalog that converts.

Reach out to get started!

Top Marketing Challenges for Medical Suppliers

By

Today, we’re addressing some of the top marketing challenges for medical suppliers based on a recent survey that touched on content creation, marketing spend, essential resources, and success metrics.

Marketers today have so many options for growth strategies that it can be challenging to know where to begin. And the healthcare supply industry is no exception. Sometimes we can struggle to identify the best methods for reaching our audience effectively. Other times we face bandwidth or budget limitations that can cut us off at the knees.

Graphical user interface Description automatically generated with medium confidence

As a distributor or manufacturer in the healthcare space, your target audience may include IDN supply chain leaders, GPOs, and distribution representatives, among others. Keep reading to learn some expert tips on meeting your clients where they are and providing what they need when they need it.

Quick Takeaways:

  • Content marketers commonly struggle with content creation, finding subject matter experts, keeping an editorial calendar, and the content approval process.
  • To achieve your sales goals, you should start blogging, utilize email marketing, and take advantage of LinkedIn.
  • If you want to boost engagement online and win new clients, start sharing educational case studies, personalize communication and marketing, and engage on digital channels consistently.
  • Having enough bandwidth on your marketing team and setting clear expectations are critical factors for success.

Top 5 Marketing Challenges for Healthcare Manufacturers and Distributors

Below, we’ve identified the top marketing challenges in our recent survey, which was conducted primarily by healthcare product manufacturers.

1. Creating Content

When it comes to content creation, we found that marketers struggle most with the actual creation process. They also have difficulty finding subject matter experts, keeping an editorial calendar, and with the approval process.

Creating quality content that speaks directly to your target audience requires strategy. It’s essential to build a collection of content that reaches prospects at every stage of the buyer’s journey. To create authentic content that does its job, you need content creators and strategists that understand your industry, digital marketing, and core values.

Timeline Description automatically generated

You can either hire and train an in-house content creator (or multiple, depending on the size of your business) or outsource your content needs to an experienced agency.

2. Achieving Sales Targets

Achieving sales targets was the top metric for proving market success for survey participants. So we’ve compiled a short list of winning strategies to help you boost sales in your business.

  • Start blogging: By prioritizing blogging, you can see up to 13x the ROI of companies that don’t.
  • Utilize email marketing: You can nurture leads, track KPIs, and create engaging campaigns to see an ROI of $42 for every buck you spend.
  • Take advantage of LinkedIn: As a top B2B social media platform, LinkedIn is a brilliant place to create connections, convert leads, and engage customers. You can reach your target audience through paid advertising and organic outreach.

3. Getting Clicks, Impressions, and Downloads

Your audience is busy. No doubt about that. So how can you reach and engage with them genuinely and naturally – without feeling salesy or pushy?

Your audience needs what you have to offer. Doctors’ offices and hospitals can’t function without supplies and equipment. You don’t need to sell them on that point. However, you do need to stand out from all the other medical suppliers vying for their attention.

To boost engagement and get more clicks, impressions, downloads, leads, and sales, follow these tips:

  • Share interesting case studies containing educational content for your clients or their patients.
  • Personalize messages and use storytelling to boost engagement.
  • Create buyer personas for your target consumers to better understand who they are, where they spend time, and how to engage them effectively.
  • Reach your audience by engaging consistently on social media channels and running online promotions.
  • Be the go-to source of information for research about your offerings and questions your audience is asking.

4. Having the Bandwidth for All Necessary Marketing Roles

Lack of sufficient bandwidth can be a big hurdle in marketing. Without the talent and workforce to successfully execute strategies and reach your goals and objectives, your initiatives will fail. Many marketers these days are either stretched too thin or required to wear too many hats.

To set your team up for success, you need to set realistic expectations that you can meet using your current resources. You may need to reevaluate your team dynamic. Or it may be time to hire more marketing experts or outsource specific roles to a full-service marketing team.

Here are some other quick tips to consider:

  • Ensure your marketing and sales goals align.
  • Focus on marketing tactics that have proven successful, and let go of others that are draining your team’s time and energy. 
  • Break down massive, intimidating campaigns into small actionable steps.
  • Learn new tools and technology to make processes more manageable and efficient.
  • Continue learning and growing together as a team.

5. Having Clear Expectations

Setting clear expectations is another prominent challenge marketers across all industries face. To get all team members on the same page so everyone can move forward in the same direction at the same speed, follow these pointers:

  • Define and clearly articulate your expectations. Ensure everyone understands them or asks clarifying questions if they don’t.
  • Where have you not set expectations that you need to? You may need to identify problem areas and make some changes.
  • Make sure you explain the “why” behind your expectations. This will help you build trust with your team by confiding in them. It can also hold everyone more accountable.
  • Document your expectations and share them with your team. If anyone has reservations, they can share them. Once everyone is on board, they can sign the document and revisit it as needed.

Tactical Marketing for Medical Suppliers

Share Moving Media is a leading publishing and content production company that proudly partners with manufacturers and distributors in the medical field. We would love to help you grow your audience, crush the competition, and win new customers for your business.

Contact us today to learn more.

Creating a Healthcare Vendor USP in 8 Steps

By

A unique selling proposition (USP) will help you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your industry. As a healthcare vendor, a strong USP can help you stand apart from competitors. Leveraging your USP through branding, marketing, and sales is foundational to your success.

In today’s article, we’ll cover the basics of USPs, why setting your business apart is essential, and how to craft a USP your clients can’t resist.

Quick Takeaways:

  • Your unique selling proposition is what makes your company different from every other business.
  • Without a USP, potential customers could see you as bland, untrustworthy, or outdated.
  • To craft your USP, you must know what makes your business unique, understand your target audience, and address a prevalent problem.
  • Collect customer feedback, brainstorm ideas with your team, combine and cut down essential points, and then test and solidify your USP.
  • You can use your finalized USP for marketing, advertising, and communicating about your business – both internally and externally.

What is a Unique Selling Proposition?

Your USP, also called a value proposition, is what makes your company different from every other business. If you’re in a competitive market, setting yourself apart is vital. If you don’t, you could get buried beneath all the other businesses vying for your clients’ attention.

In a nutshell, your USP should instantly tell people:

  • What makes your brand, product, or service unique
  • How you can solve a relevant problem
  • The main benefits of your brand, product, or service

It should also focus on what your clients value most while assertively articulating your position. It’s where what your business does best overlaps with what your customers want most.

Diagram, venn diagram Description automatically generated

How to Create a USP as a Healthcare Vendor

Without a value proposition, potential customers could see you as bland, untrustworthy, or outdated. Follow these eight steps to build a USP that helps you stand out, get noticed, and win and retain loyal customers.

1. Answer “What Makes You Different?”

What is it that makes your company truly unique? You may know instantly. Or you may have to do some brainstorming and research to determine the element(s) that makes you different from others in your space. Studying your competitors’ USPs can help.

Your USP could have to do with your customer service, technology, how or why your business started, or a specific niche you serve as a healthcare vendor. Maybe your service is faster, your products are of the highest quality in your industry, or your company is highly innovative. Whatever your differentiator is, make sure it resonates with your target market.

2. Study Your Audience

Continue your research by learning more about your target audience and current customers. Who are they? Hint: you’re not here to serve everyone. Narrow down on a specific niche of customers you can serve best.

Get inside their heads to learn what they want, the challenges they face, and how you can solve their problem. Why should they choose you over a competitor? Make sure you know who you’re targeting with your USP so you can be specific and authentic.

3. Solve a Relevant Problem 

What problem is your business solving? Again, look through your customers’ eyes to understand the challenges they face and how you can step in and make their lives easier. As Simon Sinek says, “They don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” People don’t simply desire your product or service. They want you to solve a pressing problem. Explain how you can meet an immediate need through your USP.

4. Get Client Feedback

Another resource for discovering your USP is your current customer base. You can speak directly with your sales and customer service teams for quotes and customer feedback. You’ll learn about what your business is doing well and what you may need to work on. Chances are, more than one client has brought up the same reason your business stands out to them.

You could also send out surveys, review call transcripts and customer feedback forms, and look at reviews. More than likely, you’ll find some gold nuggets to support your USP.

5. Brainstorm What Makes Your Company Irresistible

Get your marketing team together for a brainstorming session. All hands on deck! This is where you can take all of the research you’ve collected so far and put it together. Throw as many ideas up on the whiteboard as you can. You’ll likely go through several versions of your USP before nailing it.

At this point, there’s no wrong answer. You’re just getting everyone’s ideas out in the open so you can analyze everything at once. In the next step, you’ll organize the information into a clear, concise summary.

6. Write Your Elevator Pitch

Pull the best elements of your brainstorm into a clear-cut elevator pitch. Remember to address each of the following questions:

  • Who do you serve?
  • How can you solve a problem?
  • What makes you unique?
  • Why should someone choose you over every other competitor?

Once you combine your best information into a cohesive, 1-3-sentence blurb, work it and rework it until it’s what you want. Often, the shorter, the better. Short USPs can be easier to remember, catchy, and easily identifiable.

7. Review and Test Your USP

Next, it’s time to test your USP by bringing in other team members, managers, departments, and stakeholders. Gather constructive feedback, and then make edits to finalize your USP. Don’t rush the process. Your USP will represent your business and influence your future marketing and sales campaigns, so it’s essential to get it right.

8. Communicate Your USP

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! Forming a strong USP is no walk in the park. It takes focus, intent, lots of research, and patience. Your organization can now use your powerful USP to communicate effectively, target potential customers, and reiterate what makes you different – while keeping everyone on the same page. You can use it for healthcare marketing, advertising, and messaging.

Content Marketing for Healthcare Vendors

Share Moving Media is a leading content and publishing company for healthcare manufacturers and distributors. If you’re looking to increase market share, profitability, and mind share, we’d love to partner with you. 

Contact us to learn more.

The Definitive Guide to Medical Equipment Procurement and Planning

By

As a medical supplier, you are primarily concerned with selling your items. On the other side of the equation are the group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and purchasing departments in hospitals.

To improve your sales, you need to understand what hospitals and GPOs expect from the medical equipment procurement process – a process that can take months or even years to complete in some cases.

With this guide, you can gain a new perspective on the medical sales cycle and learn how to make your sales process easier and more beneficial for your customers.

Key Takeaways

  • The medical sales cycle is a complex process that requires careful negotiating through all the steps to close a sale.
  • Medical suppliers need to get to know key influencers in the medical procurement process to understand the needs of potential customers.
  • Sales representatives should provide clear and complete information throughout the medical sales cycle.

Medical Sales Cycle Overview

Medical equipment procurement can also be called the medical sales cycle. It can be a long process. However, it is something that hospitals and suppliers want to get right. Carevoyance breaks down this cycle into nine steps:

  • Documenting the customer journey
  • Identifying target customers
  • Locating key decision makers
  • Discovering your prospects’ goals
  • Raising awareness of your products’ benefits
  • Building trust with prospects
  • Presenting solutions
  • Following up with next-step goals
  • Closing a sale

Who Is Involved in Medical Equipment Procurement?

There are numerous decision makers involved in the buying process for any hospital. Usually, one of the most important people in this process is a hospital purchasing agent. It is this person’s job to make sure a hospital has all the supplies, equipment, and tools it needs to deliver the best patient care. They also want to get the goods they need at the best possible price. 

Here are some of the most common responsibilities for a hospital purchasing agent:

  • Negotiating contracts
  • Administering contracts with medical suppliers
  • Finalizing sales
  • Monitoring shipments of goods
  • Analyzing data to maintain budget limits

As a medical supply company, you should be familiar with hospital purchasing agents, their goals, and how you can help them reach those goals. One important thing to remember for everyone involved in procurement is that all outcomes should be focused on improving patient care. 

Creating an Effective Sales Strategy for Medical Equipment Procurement

To master the hospital procurement process, you need an organized plan that will get you through every step of the sales cycle. These five stages can help you create an effective strategy that will make it easier to navigate through the complex medical sales world.

1. Get to Know Key Opinion Leaders

When selling medical equipment to a hospital, you will want to get to know some of its key opinion leaders (KOL). These are people with major influence in the hospital and could include the medical director, hospital purchasing agent, hospital executives, or even researchers. 

These people may also be part of a larger Value Analysis Committee (VAC), whose primary responsibility is overseeing the procurement process, especially of major hospital equipment.

Once you have established a connection, you can talk to your contacts about their needs and goals. This will help you understand what kind of solutions you can offer them.

2. Present Pertinent Research and Data

Collect all necessary data and research regarding the equipment and supplies you plan to present to the VAC or hospital purchasing agent. This could include studies, FDA information, MSDS documents, and product literature. Having all of this information on hand can help make it easier to close a potential sale.

By the time you reach this point in the sales cycle, the purchasing team likely already knows a lot about your product. According to a 2019 study by Gartner, many B2B buyers want suppliers to act more as an “information connector” to help organize the vast amounts of information in an easy-to-understand way. 

The study also indicated that providing information that is designed to help buyers make progress in their purchase decision will have the biggest impact on sales. It is three times as likely to lead to a “high-value, low-regret” sale.

3. Be a Thorough Negotiator 

While hospitals care about the cost of medical suppliers, the lowest price is not always the best deal. When negotiating with VACs, make sure all of your bidding information is complete. Offer them more than just the lowest price. Tell them how your product or solution can help reduce their costs and how it will affect patients and hospital staff.

Be prepared to answer tough questions about your competition and how your pricing may differ from theirs. If your cost is higher, defend your pricing by emphasizing the value and other fundamental values of your products. 

This YouTube video offers practical negotiation tips you can use when working through the procurement process.

4. Offer a Trial Phase 

Depending on the product you are selling, some hospitals may feel more comfortable proceeding with a sale if they can test the product first. You can offer a discount during the trial to encourage hospital staff to try the product.

Make sure you thoroughly outline the parameters of the trial including how long it will last and any limitations. Communicate frequently during this time so you can answer any questions and continue to emphasize the product’s capabilities.

5. Maintain Honesty Throughout the Process 

Honesty is a key trait in any successful sales representative. There may be times when you might not want to share specific information. However, by always delivering complete and truthful information, purchasing groups will respect you, even if you do not complete the sale. This could lead to sales in the future.

By using these strategies whenever you start a relationship with a potential customer, you can quickly become an expert in the complexities of medical equipment procurement.

Avoid Roadblocks in Procurement Planning

Because medical procurement is such an intensive process, you want to recognize and/or remove any potential roadblocks as quickly as possible. This could be as simple as making sure the technology in your products is compatible with the computer systems in your contact hospital. 

You do not want to be further down the sales funnel before realizing your solution is not compatible with their technology. The key to doing this is continual communication through every step of the process.

Share Moving Media Can Help You Improve Your Sales Potential in the Medical Sales Cycle

Even with a complete understanding of the medical equipment sales process, it can still feel like you are not making any progress. If you need a boost in finding new customers, Share Moving Media can help. We specialize in helping medical suppliers reach their target audience through a range of media sources and marketing strategies.

If you are ready to increase your profitability in the medical equipment procurement process, contact us today to get started!

5 Freight & Shipping Challenges in the Healthcare Supply Chain

By

There are over 2.14 billion consumers around the world who shop online. Even those who shop in a physical store may still order a product online because it’s out of stock. In addition, healthcare and medical personnel are also turning to online stores to make purchases.

To meet the growing demand for shipping products, you also need to meet the accompanying challenges.

Getting healthcare products from medical suppliers to the customer isn’t always easy. Here are five common freight and shipping challenges in healthcare to address for a seamless supply chain.

Key Takeaways

·       Fast and reliable shipping is essential to the healthcare supply chain

·       Costs and requirements for shipping often fluctuate

·       Communication and support should be customer-focused

Continually Changing Costs and Requirements

The added cost of shipping isn’t pleasant for anyone to see, especially in a society where free shipping is becoming the norm. Sometimes, extra high shipping costs are so off-putting to the point that you could lose customers over them.

One reason why the cost is a significant shipping pain point is that it’s unpredictable or unclear. It changes depending on a product’s:

  • Dimensions
  • Weight
  • Location
  • Carrier

In addition, healthcare workers often need special services for their products, such as temperature-controlled shipping or fragile labels. In the end, shipping costs may sky-rocket, leaving customers wondering if the price is fair or the manufacturer is just trying to make a profit.

Your Solution: You can create charts and shipping calculators for your customers to use. These estimates will give your customers a better idea of what to expect and where the added charges came from, so the costs don’t catch your customers off guard when they arrive at the checkout.

You can also do your part to cut shipping costs so your customers aren’t as startled by high prices. Plan your freight routes and location of supplies to cut back on unnecessary shipping charges.

Increased Errors Due to a Lack of Automation

When humans are involved in a process, errors are inevitable. As a result, the more humans do, the more errors will occur. On the contrary, the more tasks you automate – the fewer errors will occur.

Already, 62% of businesses use automation in their workflow. One of the top workflow challenges that automation solves is communication issues.

Errors in shipping lead to returns. In the U.S., returns peak in January at 1.75 million packages returned a day.

Your Solution: Through automated systems, medical suppliers and healthcare facilities can cut down on returns and shipping errors. These systems can:

  • Log inventory needs
  • Communicate purchases
  • Streamline orders
  • Track packages

Lack of Communication within Departments

A healthcare supply chain involves many pieces that link together. However, when one link breaks, the entire chain falls apart.

For example, the healthcare worker ordering supplies isn’t usually the same person who uses the supplies. So, often, what they order and what workers need are very different. In addition, the person doing the ordering may select the wrong shipping speed and either spend too much on fast delivery for unnecessary supplies or neglect to purchase expedited shipping on urgent supplies.

In companies with over 100 employees, miscommunication costs the business an average of $420,000 each year.

Your Solution: Communication is key to keeping your supply chain together with effective supply chain management. While you can’t control a healthcare facility’s inter-company communication, you have one way to help eliminate errors due to communication. Encourage healthcare workers to consolidate their medical suppliers to one or two companies.

In this way, as the medical supplier, you can track their purchasing history and identify errors and inconsistencies. With timely communication, you can save both yourself and the healthcare facility money by confirming flagged purchases. One way to promote consolidation is by letting healthcare businesses know that they save money when only one company ships their supplies versus paying for shipments from multiple locations.

Unreliable Shipping and Handling

In the U.S., over 1.7 million packages disappear every day, resulting in a total of $25 million in lost goods. A lost package is a big deal for healthcare workers, especially if it includes life-saving equipment or time-sensitive supplies.

Healthcare facilities also need to know that when their packages arrive, the contents will be safe. For example, a broken piece of equipment could be life-threatening. Also, many supplies need a temperature-controlled environment or other special shipping instructions.

If a healthcare facility can’t trust that their supplies will arrive undamaged, they will lose trust in the entire medical supplier.

Your Solution: You shouldn’t feel stuck to one shipping supplier. Instead, find a fast and reliable shipping solution that can handle all your special requests and address your freight challenges in healthcare.

Lack of Customer Support for Shipping Challenges in Healthcare

When things go wrong, your customers need to know you have their back through reliable customer support. About 95% say customer service is vital for brand loyalty.

Healthcare providers need to know they can count on you when their package is lost, damaged, or wrong. However, all too often, customers can’t get ahold of someone capable of remedying the mistake. Alternatively, customers end up struggling to find a solution through an automated phone system.

Your Solution: You can build trust with your healthcare customers by offering easy-to-access customer support. Providing 24/7 support is essential in the healthcare industry as many medical workers are on duty around the clock. They need to know they can count on your support no matter when their product issues arise.

One way to eliminate many issues is by creating a patient-centric supply chain. In this system, you provide a reliable tracking system that alerts your customers where their package is, along with updated arrival predictions and a way to give customized delivery instructions.

Contact us to learn more!