How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Physician Liaison

By Stewart Gandolf, Chief Executive Officer

A well-run physician liaison referral marketing program can be a game-changer for hospitals, health systems, and multilocation practices. It can draw in consistent revenue and support long-term referral relationships.

But what’s at the heart of these programs? A skilled, well-trained, and motivated physician liaison.

I’ve met some fantastic physician liaisons over the course of my career—especially when they’re placed in the right environment with adequate training, time, and the proper compensation.

Unfortunately, I’ve also seen some really great people struggle, not for lack of talent, but because of poor physician liaison management strategies.

Here are some of the fastest ways to ruin a perfectly good physician liaison role.

Mistake #1: Hire Someone Before You Have Defined Expectations and Goals

Before posting the job, ask yourself: “What do I actually want this person to accomplish?”

Their success should be measured by physician liaison marketing performance metrics such as new patient volume and revenue. Without clear objectives and goals, even the most driven physician liaison may flounder.

The physician liaison role differs from typical sales and marketing positions, as it is primarily an outside sales role, not a standard marketing or administrative support role.

The job description should reflect that and attract professionals with sales experience.

Pro Tip:
Physician liaisons have clear goals, expectations, and success metrics to ensure alignment and accountability.

Mistake #2: Confuse the Physician Liaison Role With Marketing Tasks

One of the most common mistakes we see is when physician liaison and marketing coordination roles become entwined.

While it may sound like an efficient choice, we have several reasons you may want to reconsider.

First, the ideal person for the job does not want to do marketing coordination. The best physician liaisons are natural communicators and enjoy selling and motivating people. They are not content creators or social media strategists.

More than one successful physician liaison has told us, "I am the closer."

Second, the opportunity cost is enormous. A great physician liaison can protect your most important referral sources and bring more than $1 million in new revenue to your healthcare organization every year. When you take your physician liaison out of the field, you are replacing her $500+ per hour production with a $20-$40 an hour administrative task. Not a great ROI there.

Third, sales and marketing are different disciplines requiring entirely different skill sets. While we have seen a handful of people do both roles well over the years, more than 95% of the time, they do not.

Fourth, marketing today is a world of specialists, and no one person can do it all. Hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical companies, device companies, and SaaS companies have entire teams to manage their specialized marketing needs or outsource to a skilled healthcare marketing agency.

One physician liaison confided, "They hired me to grow doctor referrals. Now, they expect me to write for the website, design their new brochure, post on social media, buy advertising, host events, and write press releases. I don't know much about any of those things, and now I don't have time to be a salesperson anymore. I simply feel like I am being set up to fail. Will you please talk to them for me?"

Finally, we have seen firsthand what can happen when the wrong physician liaison spends too much of her time with marketing. The marketing stuff is cool, and the air conditioning is even cooler (literally and figuratively) than going out and visiting doctors’ offices. These former liaisons can quickly lose sight of why they were hired in the first place and start finding excuses to stay inside the office rather than interact with referring doctors and their staff.

Pro Tip:
Physician liaisons are focused on relationship-building and sales. Marketing tasks are limited to 20% of their time (or less) to protect ROI and preserve effectiveness.

Mistake #3: Ask Someone To Do It in Their Spare Time

A good physician liaison could become your biggest source of doctor referrals, and the best can bring in millions of dollars.

Would you really want to pass this responsibility and opportunity off to someone to do in their spare time?

Your referral strategy deserves more than a few quick calls or a dropped-off brochure. It requires consistent effort, a personal touch, and dedicated time to nurture each relationship.

Pro Tip:
The physician liaison role is a dedicated, full-time position requiring consistent outreach and meaningful relationship building.

Mistake #4: Hire the Wrong Person

A great clinical team leader does not automatically translate into a terrific physician liaison. The best physician liaisons are extroverted, goal-driven, and deeply motivated by results.

While you can teach a salesperson the clinical aspects of your organization, teaching someone with no sales experience how to become an effective closer is much more difficult.

A home run would be finding someone who’s good at clinical work and sales already. (But you almost never find that.)

Good physician liaison management starts with good hiring. Look for sales experience, people skills, and a desire to build long-term professional relationships.

Pro Tip:
Hire individuals with strong sales experience and the right personality fit over clinical familiarity.

Mistake #5: Offer a Noncompetitive Compensation Package

A good physician liaison is a good salesperson who can influence doctors. These individuals are highly desirable to corporate America—not to mention your competitors.

The ideal physician liaison has the skills necessary to succeed in a high-stakes sales position, and that’s how you should treat them.

Expecting top-tier sales performance from someone earning minimum wage is unrealistic.

A talented liaison can be the engine behind a seven-figure physician referral marketing program, making competitive compensation and appropriate incentives critical.

(While we can’t offer legal advice, be aware that you cannot offer direct commissions, which would be akin to taking medical fees.)

Pro Tip:
Attract and retain top talent who can drive high-value referrals with a competitive salary and bonus structure.

Mistake #6: Fail To Train and Manage Them

Every once in a while, we meet that physician liaison who drops off bagels at a doctor’s office once a quarter. That’s better than nothing, but is it what you’re really looking for if you want to maintain a relationship with someone who has no other reason to continue referring you? No.

Your physician liaison should receive ongoing physician liaison training focused on relationship building, sales techniques, CRM usage, and your internal processes. While good physician liaisons can manage themselves to an extent, it’s also important to set regular check-ins, review results, and offer coaching. A well-managed liaison will drive your referral marketing goals forward.

Pro Tip:
Provide sales training, relationship-building support, and ongoing physician liaison management to help them grow into the role and remain effective.

Mistake #7: No Database or System to Measure Results and Activity

Your physician liaison should continuously touch base with physicians and prospects to ensure a steady flow of referrals.

They should be armed with a CRM (customer relationship management) to track conversations, schedule follow-ups, or measure progress. This drives accountability and makes progress tracking more efficient.

Every physician liaison program should include technology to manage contact data, log interactions, measure results, and generate performance reports.

Pro Tip:
Leverage your CRM to track outreach, measure performance, and maintain accountability across your referral network.

Mistake #8: Expect Your Physician Liaison to "Act Like Everyone Else"

Physician liaisons are cut from a different cloth than clinical and administrative team members.

They’re assertive, outgoing, and independent and often feel like they don’t fit in with everyone else.

Rest assured, this cultural disconnect is common in virtually every industry. But it tends to be even more pronounced in healthcare. Remember, a good physician liaison is a salesperson who works independently to grow your referrers. They will not act or even think like the rest of your team. And that’s a good thing.

Pro Tip:
Embrace your liaison’s uniqueness and help them feel supported while giving them the space to succeed.

Follow Physician Liaison Best Practices for Long-Term Success

Help your physician liaison program thrive with these best practices:

Define clear, measurable goals and objectives.
Invest in physician liaison training programs to build confidence and skills.
Leverage CRM or other technologies to track and report outreach.
Limit marketing and administrative work to keep your team focused on their goals and objectives.
Offer competitive compensation and recognize wins along the way to maintain momentum.

Do you want a physician liaison management program that drives results? Contact us to learn how we can support you.