Medical supply companies operate as the middle man between individual suppliers and buyers — think direct to consumer or small clinics and hospitals. They also have to stay up-to-date on their product knowledge since most have a vast inventory ranging from beds to syringes. This requires medical supply businesses to be on top of their communication, so nothing goes amiss with everything going on.
One way for medical supply businesses to keep a tab on everything is to use business texting to coordinate their operation, sales, and support teams. We’ll cover five ways business texting can help improve your medical supply business, with some example text messages to illustrate these use cases.
Challenges medical supply businesses faces
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused medical supply companies to be hyper aware of changes in their supply and demand since they’re constantly fluctuating on inventory depending on their customers’ needs. Because of this shift, medical supply businesses are selling to many new customers in addition to their recurring current customers. Aside from needing to keep an accurate list of everything, medical supply companies also face the challenge of:
- Training salespeople on numerous types of medical supplies
- Explaining how to use complex products
- Getting time-sensitive materials to consumers
- The high cost of inventory upkeep
- Aligning communication with suppliers and buyers
- Shipping and logistics
Business texting helps solve many of these problems by assisting medical supply companies in gaining insight from text conversations with suppliers and buyers or keeping salespeople aligned. With high open and response rates and an average response time of 90 seconds, business texting is an effective way to get a real-time understanding of the medical landscape.
5 ways to use business texting to improve your medical supply business:
To better understand how business texting can help your company tackle its biggest challenges, here are five ways to use business texting to improve your medical supply business.
1. Unify sales teams
Ramping up new salespeople takes a lot of time for medical supply teams because there are so many different products to learn about. With a unified business texting solution, medical supply companies can have their salespeople only take on conversations they can handle as they continue to learn about the industry. This also helps the company stay on top of an influx of new customers, ensuring that no new business slips through the cracks due to lack of knowledge or resources. Texting makes it easier for salespeople to address multiple contacts simultaneously since they’re not tied down to a phone. It’s also a helpful tool for communicating with salespeople on the field since HQ can keep in touch with sales agents with ease.
The Textline Whisper feature allows team members to communicate privately within customer conversations to ask questions or clarify details. New salespeople can use this tool to ask their coworkers for help or clarification as they onboard.
2. Offer customer support
If your medical supply company operates as direct-to-consumer, you can use business texting to offer customer assistance. More than half of consumers prefer contacting customer support through text because it’s low touch and quick.
If a customer has a question about a product or needs clarification, they can reach out to the medical supply business for help. Not only that, but support for most medical services is ongoing, which is why texting has an added benefit since it’s a convenient way for your customers to reach you. Having your business texting number advertised in places customers look for help, like your website, makes it easier for them to find you.
3. Facilitate deliveries and in-house operations
The range of products sold by medical suppliers varies greatly — from syringes to gauzes and even heavier medical equipment like beds. Medical supply businesses are handling numerous SKUs and deliveries, so keeping everything organized is essential. With business texting, medical supply companies can communicate internally with operations to minimize inventory mistakes. They can also receive delivery updates from suppliers or send them to their customers. Coordinating by text is especially helpful when delivering more oversized products — like a hospital bed or larger machinery.
4. Align conversations with suppliers and buyers
As mentioned earlier, medical supply companies act as the middleman between individual suppliers and buyers. Texting keeps suppliers and medical supply businesses in frequent touch to assure inventory is up-to-date. Likewise, text conversations from buyers offer an insight into what demand is looking like for specific products. This transparency level helps medical supply companies better understand what products to order more or less of, so they don’t waste their money.
5. Anticipate customer needs
There’s no need to wait around to see what your customers need. With business texting, medical supply companies can keep an active pulse check on current customers to anticipate their needs. For example, if you know a repeat customer runs out of a particular supply every month, you can send a reminder text asking if the customer wants to reorder supplies. You can also use this as an upsell opportunity if you see customers are ordering more frequently. Not only will this help your business better understand your customers, but it will also make for a better experience too.
The bottom line
It’s critical for medical supply businesses to organize their conversations for optimal transparency because they have multiple communication points. Business texting gives medical supply companies the insight they need to succeed and helps them proactively communicate with suppliers and buyers for smooth operations.
