I was just speaking to a colleague in the EMR / EHR industry about EMR sales. Are doctors buying EMR in the small ambulatory practice market? This is a small company just starting to get into the market. He said sales are ‘not bad’. He claims a ‘few’ sales a month. In reality, this company is not doing more than 2-3 sales per month.
EMR seems to be the place to be. It is incredible – have you counted the number of EMR companies (both client-server and web-based EMR) that have mushroomed in the last 18 months? Granted that the market is still young and majority of the doctors have not yet adopted EMR. But what is happening?

I’ll tell you what is happening. EMR (web-based EMR or client server) is becoming a commodity. It is becoming hard to sell on features. It is becoming hard to sell value. It ultimately boils down to Price. Even before looking at a Demonstration, doctors are asking ‘how much’?

How do you fight that?

One thing that has not changed over the years is how you connect with the Doctor. What I mean is, giving a demonstration that doctors can relate to. Can the Docs see themselves using your software everyday, in front of patients, when they are done with patients, when they want to access patient data any time? It does not matter how fancy your user interface, it does not matter how many features you have, it does not even matter if it is free.

What I mean is your ability to give a Demonstration that connects with the Doctor. This is a rare skill, however it is something that can be taught and nurtured. Focus on it, your sales will increase.