Enthusiastic Doctor Popular

Gregarious and encouraging, this doctor personality wants to be your friend.

The difference between a wildly successful campaign and one that never sees the light of day sometimes comes down to how well the marketing department gets along with different doctor personalities.

To help build great relationships, we’re sharing insights into the 4 doctor personality types we’ve met time and time again in our 30+ years in marketing for healthcare providers. In this post, we’ll look at the quintessential buddy type, Dr. Popular.

If you’d like to learn how to build great relationships with all kinds of doctors, download our eBook The Complete Healthcare Marketer’s Guide to Building Great Physician Relationships.

The Dr. Popular type needs to be liked

The Dr. Popular type stands out, sometimes through their own personality and other times through the sheer number of people who count them as a friend. Gregarious and encouraging, this type will have many tight relationships among his or her peers.

Top priorities: The Dr. Popular type prizes enthusiasm and cooperation. Very sensitive to how they are perceived by others, they very much want to be liked. But for all their friendliness they’re also action oriented, and may have difficulty balancing a desire for forward motion with a need to be liked.

Motivated by: A Dr. Popular type loves connections, and thrives in peer group activities and friendly relationships. Social recognition is the ultimate motivator for them, and they’re likely to jump at the chance to make a presentation or host a meeting

How to spot them: In group situations, this type is never alone. You’ll notice that they’re always engaged in a conversation, sometimes in the center of a group conversation. One-on-one, you’ll notice chattiness and optimism. You’ll probably like them.
Where to find them: Gregarious by nature, you’ll find them in service lines like bariatrics where patients may need a little extra positivity.

How to build a great relationship:

First and foremost, be nice. Spend a little time on small talk, ideally asking about hobbies or life outside of work. Be prepared to share a bit about your life outside of work, as mutual disclosures help this person feel like you can be trusted.

Prepare to talk about next steps as well as steps you took that led to the current conversation. If you’ve had a track record of success, talk about it in a way that emphasizes your credibility without questioning theirs.

Be ready to lead the conversation. A Dr. Popular is comfortable listening to others as long as presentations stay positive.

Meet the 3 other doctor personality types

Dr. Popular is just one of the 4 personality types we’ve identified. Read profiles of Dr. Logic, Dr. Driver and Dr. Allheart, or meet them all in our quick guide to the four physician personality types infographic.