Transforming Fertility Experiences: The Role of Technology and Empathy

Speaker A: How can the journey of fertility care become more supportive and innovative for those navigating its challenges? This episode with Jessica Bell Vanderwaal shines a light on enhancing patient experiences in fertility healthcare, introducing new pathways for compassionate and advanced care.

Speaker B: Welcome to Health Tech Growth, the weekly

Speaker A: podcast for healthcare founders and innovators, where

Speaker B: we explore essential strategies to create successful and sustainable sustainable healthcare startups that improve patient outcomes and transform the healthcare industry.

Speaker C: Hi, my name is Rob Bedell, and, um, I'm part of Pulse Point Path Advisory Board. I'm, um, on the sales side of things. Uh, so I've been doing sales for over 34 years, sales leadership for over 32. I'm going to date myself here, but I started my career selling classified advertising. That's when newspapers made a lot of money off selling classified ads. I came quickly through the ranks because I found out I was actually good at sales. And I knew sales was all about building relationships, and I knew how to build those relationships that mattered. And so I got to the top of my profession. Before I was 40, I was publisher of a satire publication called the Onion here in Los Angeles. Did not run all the Onions or the Onion website. I just ran the Los Angeles Onion. So I got to the top of my profession, like, this is it. This is it. I'm like, this isn't it. And so I said, well, what do I truly enjoy doing? And I enjoy making other businesses and people successful. So I became a fractional VP in sales, well before they called anything a fractional VP of anything. Fractional CFOs have been around for decades, but fractional executives are somewhat new to the market. But I became, before it even became part of the market, because I realized that what I used to do for one company, I could do for multiple companies. And what used to take me a week to do now with technology and everything I can do in a half a day. So I've been a fractional VP of sales for over 14 years now. Uh, and I worked with many different companies. I've worked, I love working with manufacturers. I've worked with one manufacturing company and I made their inside sales and customer service division profitable within nine months. Uh, and it wasn't much to do. There's just little simple twists that because I had the experience I knew how to do, I worked with another company that you get a kick out of this. I found 400 to $450,000 a month that no one was calling on. They were leaving it on the table. So we're able to take advantage of that and spin off a company of its own. Now, I have many other examples to share, but I heed my own advice. I realized that sales is not about me. It's about you. It's about your customers. So I want to show you how you can make sure that they're hearing you when you're talking to them. And again, the one thing that I think you'll enjoy with working with us is you get not only my experience, but that experience in every other area of your business. We have you covered. I hope to get the chance to work with you again. Rob Bedell.

Speaker A: Join us to glean insights from Jessica on transforming the accessibility and empathy of fertility services.

Speaker B: Well, nice to meet all of you. I'm Jessica. Bella Vanderwaal. I am CEO and co founder. Here at Frame, we are basically the missing link in the family building equation. Uh, we partner with healthcare providers to offer wraparound services that support patients on their fertility and family building journey. Uh, and in particular we work with OBGYNs and primary care doctors to ensure that patients are having conversations about fertility and pre pregnancy risk factors early because we know that that has a direct bearing on their maternal health outcomes. We also partner with fertility clinics to provide additional services to their patients to ensure that they have emotional and mental wellness support throughout the journey. They're optimizing their lifestyle and health as they go through fertility treatment which improves their outcomes. And through all of this, we're basically increasing access to care and also we're extending the care of physicians and their staff which is so sorely needed as we see a shortage of physicians and especially specialists across the board and really clinical burnout overall. And so we're honored to work alongside them and to support a better patient experience on the fertility and family building journey. We are B2B 2C. If that wasn't clear. And I think, uh, every company I've been at for the last 15, uh, years has actually been B2B2C. Um, and in many ways I think it's, it's a great business model because it means that we are partnering with the business to support the end consumer. But it's also a tricky one, um, because it means that in many ways we have multiple sales to make and B2B sales often have a long sales cycle. We've been lucky. We have a couple of really key, big first clients out of the gate. Uh, but those contracts and those relationships took years to build and to grow. And so obviously there's work to be put in before you start to see the revenue Pull through. Um, but I would also say, you know, what's exciting about B2B sales is, you know, as you start to unlock some of the big players in the space, it does lead to a cascading motion. And so that's what I'm excited about, is now we have more clients coming in as they see their competitors sign on with us. But again, it is a tricky sales cycle, um, with B2B partners. So I think that's the biggest piece that I'm always mindful of. I'm, you know, somebody who's worked in digital health for the last 15, 20 years. I've worked in healthcare my entire career, so I kind of know what early stage B2B2C digital health looks like. But I also happen to be a infertility patient that went through a really tough journey to grow my family. And, you know, the intersection of both my professional and my personal experience is what led me to Frame and to the vision that we're trying to solve for, um, which is how do we ensure that patients have knowledge and support in understanding their fertility and pregnancy risk factors earlier in the equation and the ability to address them? Um, so, so again, I mentioned this before, but we're really trying to take a more proactive preventative care approach, which is no small feat in the grand scheme of healthcare in the United States overall. Um, but in particular in fertility, where there's so much money to be made actually by patients not, uh, knowing their risk factors and having to go through fertility treatment, we're pushing a ball uphill, uh, because again, we're really trying to change a paradigm. We're really trying to ensure that people have the knowledge and, and the support to get the care they need earlier upstream. And it means that we're also running up against a lot of other challenging reproductive health conditions that have not had a lot of funding and support as well. So, for example, I have polycystic ovary syndrome, which a lot of women have, but is so under diagnosed and often untreated until somebody goes through a crisis. And so the goal really of FRAME is to ensure that patients have that type of proactive preventative approach earlier in the equation, because we know that'll improve their overall health and it's key to improving the maternal health crisis. It's not just the nine months of when you're going through pregnancy.

Speaker C: One, uh, of the things that I help a lot of companies with is their sales presentation, the way they present themselves. Uh, you did a really good job. So don't take any of this as criticism. These are a lot of things that leaders of companies, uh, don't always have the background that I have. So you did a really good job with what you're doing. Just these are just a few notes that might make things a little bit better. Uh, in the first segment, it's really important to get your value proposition on point, uh, because you have an interesting market your business to business to consumer. I know you know how tricky that is? I know how tricky that is. Because you have to have value proposition that, that second line of business owners, meaning the doctors and medical staff, needs to be able to portray to that the customer, the end user, so they understand it. So it needs to be in the end user's words, but in such a precise and easy to understand way that the doctors can repeat it so they don't have to remember anything else. Trying to get doctors to remember anything new nowadays is, it's, it's hard, it's a challenge because they have so much that to know already. So by making that value proposition on point, you're going to make it a lot easier for women involved. And then I got to the second, second, and I will say you led with the wrong part. Lead with your story. Your story is incredible. It was entertainment. It caught me, it hooked me immediately. It got me that this is why I should listen to her. Because before that, like, oh, well, this is just somebody in the industry that's doing something. Once I heard your story, that made it personal. And every time we're talking to these people, it is personal, would you say? Not what you agree. So make your story first because it was great. And basically show them what you helped them, you educate them, you reduce their cost, you protect them. Just keeping it to simple things like that. Again, giving them the 10,000 view because trying to get down into the weeds, you're not. When you're first starting to talk to somebody, you can't get there and they won't even hear you to try. The thing I liked it actually also said is that you work within the system. Uh, my mom was an rn. I understand the challenges that you have, but basically you have to try to work with the system and you could really even emphasize more and you're helping the medical team. I mean, think about it. What has the medical teams gone through in the last, you know, since the pandemic? I mean it's, it was bad enough before the pandemic. Then the pandemic, they need to know everything and you provide them support, you make their job a little bit Easier, you lessen the strain that they have on them on a regular basis. So I think you need to make sure that they, they understand that, because that's the first level that you need to talk to. And then you basically sit there and say, what would you like to see happen? Yeah, the first thing you said is good, but don't mention the reimbursement. I know, I know the industry, I know it's a pain. I know. But that doesn't affect the doctors, and that doesn't affect the customers, your consumers. So I. And we don't want to focus on anything negative. We just want to keep positive things. The little steps that you can take to make things just that much easier, the common thing that you have that a lot of other small businesses have is you're your own sales team. Well, that's good. But, you know, you don't have the resources to have it. So everyone's on the same page of things. There are free tools out there. There are CRM systems you can get for free for up to 5,000 contacts. The problem is you need to make sure that everyone uses it. If you don't use the tools together, it doesn't work. But there are free resources out there. I highly, highly recommend you look into those more and you utilize those more. And then, uh, the key thing about differentiating, talking to the two different audiences is when you're talking to the B2B, to the medical teams, you want them to know your name, you want them to know Frame, you want them to know Jessica, because you want them to be able to talk to each other about you. When it comes to the end user, you want them to know your message, not necessarily your name. And why do I say this? Because we know doctors well enough to, where they don't like to be told to go someplace to get some help. So you, they want to know the message you're messaging, and then they can come and find you, or they might have already been contacted by you. Again, you did a really good job, uh, on everything. I'll just leave you with one more question. Are you scalable? And I don't mean to scare you with this, but I ask this question. Of every company that I work with, are you scalable? If next year you do 100%, 207, 300, 400%, could you handle the demand? And I. You don't need to have the answers right now, but something I want you and your team to start thinking about may not happen overnight, but you may get to that point. And I've worked with companies where they didn't take that into account, and then once they started growing too fast, it hurt them. And I don't want that to happen to you again. My name is Rob Bedell. I appreciate watching your video. It was great. I hope we get to work together. Thank you for listening to Health Tech Growth. If you're a healthcare tech innovator or founder interested in being a featured guest on our show, visit HealthTechGrowth IO to learn more.