To get meetings with healthcare decision makers, work out who owns the decision in each segment, call around clinical schedules rather than standard business hours, and keep your callers out of the clinical conversation. Hospitals need a clinical champion and procurement, pharmacies need the owner, clinics need the practice manager, and aged care needs operations or the facility manager.
This overview covers how to book meetings in healthcare in Australia, with a detailed guide for each segment. Our role throughout: Nousu books meetings and runs calling. We are not field reps, our callers make no therapeutic or clinical claims, do not promote prescription medicines, and your team runs the product conversation.
Who are the healthcare decision makers in each segment?
The buyer changes by segment, and the clinician is rarely the only one. Most healthcare purchases need someone who wants the change and someone who controls how it's bought.
| Role | What they own | How to reach them |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical champions and department heads | The clinical need and whether to evaluate | Through department secretaries, at a time they suggest |
| Hospital procurement | Supplier approval, contracts and tenders | Through the switchboard, then a booked callback |
| Pharmacy owners | Suppliers, software and services for the store | Ask staff which days they're in store |
| Practice managers | Clinic software, workflow and vendors | Outside reception and patient arrival peaks |
| Aged care operations and facility managers | Rostering, site services and local supplies | After the morning handover |
Each segment has its own guide: hospitals and medtech, pharmacy owners, medical clinics and aged care and NDIS providers.
When is the best time to call healthcare buyers?
Around the clinical day, not the business day. Theatre lists, dispensing peaks, patient arrivals and shift handovers decide when people can talk, so booked callbacks do much of the work.
| Segment | Buyer | Best channel | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitals (medtech) | Clinical champion and procurement | Phone through the department, then email | Mid-morning or early afternoon, outside theatre lists and handovers |
| Pharmacy | Owner, pharmacist in charge, banner group | Short phone call, then a booked callback | Mid-morning or mid-afternoon, outside dispensing peaks |
| Medical clinics (healthtech) | Practice manager, owners for sign-off | Phone to the practice manager, email follow-up | After the first patient rush, or early afternoon |
| Aged care and NDIS | Operations, facility manager, finance | Phone, with LinkedIn for larger providers | After the morning handover; avoid roster days and audits |
| GPs and HCPs (consent, verification, research) | GPs, specialists, practice managers | A scoped calling programme | Around clinic sessions, by booked callback |
Calls to GPs and other healthcare professionals for email consent, data verification or research recruitment are a different job from sales meetings. We run those as fixed-scope GP and HCP calling programmes. All telemarketing calls must stay within 9am to 8pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, with no Sundays or national public holidays.
How do you get past reception and switchboards in healthcare?
Be honest and specific, and ask for a time rather than a transfer. Healthcare reception teams protect patients and clinicians first, and they help callers who respect that.
"Hi, it's (your name) from (your company). I'm calling about (business topic), nothing clinical. Who looks after that, and when is a good time to reach them?"
"I know you're busy with patients, so I won't hold you up. Could you tell me the best day to call (role) back?"
"Is that decided here, or by a group or central team? Who should I speak to there?"
Callers must give their name, the business and the purpose at the start of every telemarketing call, which suits healthcare reception anyway.
What opener works with healthcare decision makers?
One that names an operational problem the person owns, says plainly that the call isn't clinical, and ends on a quick question.
"Hi Helen, it's Alex from (your company). I'm calling because we help (practices, hospitals or providers) with (operational problem). I'm not calling about anything clinical; our specialists cover that in a meeting. Is (problem) something you're working on at the moment?"
It works because it meets the identification rules, talks about workload rather than product, separates booking from clinical discussion and gives the person an easy first answer.
What objections will you hear in healthcare?
Most are about time, process and existing arrangements, not interest.
| Objection | What it really means | Response |
|---|---|---|
| "We're flat out." | Wrong moment. | "Understood. Is there a day this week when clinics or lists are lighter? I'll call then." |
| "It goes through procurement or the group." | Someone else approves. | "Thanks. Who's the contact there, and is there anything decided locally?" |
| "We're happy with what we have." | Switching feels risky. | "Fair enough. When is it next reviewed, and who would be involved?" |
| "Is this about a product?" | Wary of product promotion. | "It's about (business topic). Clinical and product questions go to our specialists in a meeting." |
How do you follow up a "not now" in healthcare?
Book a specific callback, ask permission to email, and run a two-week cadence across phone, email and LinkedIn.
- Same day, email: confirm the topic and callback time in a few lines.
- Next working day, LinkedIn: worth it for hospital, group and larger provider leaders; skip it for most pharmacy and small practice owners.
- Middle of week one, phone: call at the agreed time, which in a clinic or pharmacy usually means the quiet window staff gave you.
- End of week one, phone: check timing with whoever runs the diary: the department secretary, reception or the pharmacist in charge.
- Early in week two, email: one useful item your team has approved, never product or clinical material.
- End of week two, phone: last call; log the reason (a tender, an audit, accreditation or staffing) and book the next callback.
Follow-up emails must meet the Spam Act 2003, and personal mobiles can be on the Do Not Call Register. This is general information, not legal advice.
What counts as a qualified meeting in healthcare?
The person who owns the need or the purchasing route, a problem in their own words, a known approval path and a confirmed date, with your team ready to run the product conversation. Our guide on how an outbound agency defines a qualified meeting has a template you can adapt for each segment.
Should you book healthcare meetings in-house or use outsourced medical sales?
In-house suits small territories where reps already know the buyers. Outsourced medical sales development suits national coverage and teams whose reps should be in meetings, not chasing callbacks.
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| In-house | Product and clinical knowledge; existing relationships; full control | Callback-heavy work eats rep time; prospecting stops when reps travel |
| Outsourced | Daily calling around clinical schedules; tracked callbacks; meetings handed over with notes | Callers don't run clinical or product conversations; needs a clear brief and a minimum term |
See our medical sales development page and pricing.
How does Nousu compare?
Nousu Collective's senior callers all work in-house in Sydney, booking medical sales meetings in Australia across hospitals, pharmacy, clinics, aged care and NDIS. Pricing starts at $7,000 a month (ex GST), with the exact fee quoted after a 30-minute call. The initial term is 3 months, then rolling monthly, and first calls are 2 weeks from sign-off. Most campaigns book about 8 qualified meetings a month once running, within a range of 6 to 20, and from month two an agreed meeting floor applies, with a credit for every meeting short. In our data, onshore callers booked 1.3 meetings per 100 dials, against 0.3 for offshore teams.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the decision makers in healthcare sales? It depends on the segment. In hospitals, a clinical champion and procurement. In pharmacy, the owner, sometimes with a banner group. In medical clinics, the practice manager, with owners signing off. In aged care and NDIS, operations, facility managers or finance. Map who wants the change and who approves it.
How do you book meetings in healthcare? Call the person who owns the decision for your segment, time calls around the clinical day, and ask reception for a callback time rather than a transfer. Keep the call about a business problem, not clinical claims, and follow up over two weeks by phone, email and LinkedIn.
Can you outsource medical sales in Australia? You can outsource the prospecting. An outsourced team finds the right buyer, gets past reception and books meetings for your reps, who run the clinical and product conversation. Nousu books meetings and runs calling; we are not field reps and our callers make no therapeutic or clinical claims.
What is the best channel to reach healthcare decision makers? The phone, in most segments, because clinical and care teams are rarely at a desk reading cold email. Use email for agreed follow-up and LinkedIn for hospital, group and larger provider leaders. Pharmacy owners and small practice owners are usually easier to reach by booked callback.
Do you call GPs to book sales meetings? Not as cold sales calls. Calls to GPs and other healthcare professionals for email consent, data verification or research recruitment run as separately scoped GP and HCP calling programmes. Sales prospecting focuses on business buyers such as practice managers, procurement and owners; where a GP owns the practice, we reach them through the practice manager.
How long does it take to start booking healthcare meetings? With Nousu, first calls are 2 weeks from sign-off, after we agree target accounts, buyer roles, the talk track and the meeting definition with your team. Meetings depend on buyer availability, so the launch date isn't a promise of booked meetings in that time. Callbacks build over the first weeks.
Sources
- Federal Register of Legislation, Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017: https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2017L00323/asmade/2017-03-28/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html
- Do Not Call Register, Industry standards (calling hours, identification and calling line identification): https://www.donotcall.gov.au/industry/industry-overview/industry-standards
- Do Not Call Register, Industry guide (business numbers can't be registered; personal numbers can): https://www.donotcall.gov.au/media/1212/dncr-industry-guide.pdf
- Federal Register of Legislation, Spam Act 2003: https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A01214/latest/text
- Nousu call data: 218,000+ dials into Australian businesses, November 2024 to April 2026, published in Inside 200,000 Cold Calls.
Book a 30-minute call
Selling into healthcare? Book a 30-minute call with Harry Constant, our founder, and we'll talk through which segments and buyers to start with.