Health Professionals: Help Us Help You

Thousands of nutritionists, physicians, nurses, dietitians, fitness instructors, and other health professionals have opted in to receive programs through PulseConnect. Why? Because we not only tell them about healthy brands, educating them on the specific health benefits of a product, but we also provide them with educational materials, product samples, and coupons so they can naturally recommend products to their patients and clients when relevant.

If this sounds dull to you, you don’t know health professionals like we do. Having worked with them for over 18 years, we know that they like more information, not less. We know that they want marketing material that’s primarily paper-based. And we know the types of information that they find most helpful. 

And as much as it helps the brands we work with sell products, what we provide to health professionals actually helps them do their job.

They discover new products.

Health professionals do their best to keep up with new products, scientific findings, studies, and surveys. But unless brands make an intentional and repeated effort to communicate with them, their products or the benefits of their products will likely go undiscovered. 

“Through PulseConnect, I’ve discovered new products, and it’s nice to have that firsthand knowledge and be able to try the product,” said Gina Crome, the founder of Lifestyle Management Solutions and a PulseConnect member. “For me, it’s the part I like most about the network itself because I find it really hard to make a recommendation if I don’t know anything about the product or haven’t tried it myself.”

Being able to try the products is an important next step after discovery. Katrina Howard, a retail dietitian who works at Hy-Vee and advises CrossFit athletes, says, “I like being able to try products before I make a recommendation. Sometimes, you hear about healthy foods and get excited, but then they taste like dirt.”

They (really) understand the health benefits.

For good reason, health professionals are some of the smartest, most curious, and engaged health & wellness consumers. They want to understand the detailed health benefits of your brand’s products. Give them the science behind the packaging labels so that they can help sort through, with their clients, the mess of health information shared by well-meaning friends, family, and sometimes brands themselves.

“I get a lot of questions about GMOs and artificial sweeteners,” says Howard. “People hear from friends or the internet these terrible things about GMOs and artificial sweeteners, and a lot of it is just wrong. Some people don’t know what GMOs are, but think that they need to avoid them entirely. It just comes down to a lot of misinformation online.”

Kelly Wolschon, a registered dietitian who works with dialysis patients and pregnant women, says, “We often discuss the science behind the claims. The people I counsel are not afraid to get a little bit of science background to help them better understand the claims.”

They can recommend a specific brand.

Stickney Brook Yoga by raganmd

When health professionals can help clients by recommending a product available at their local grocery store, both parties benefit. The client feels more in control of their health outcomes, and the professionals are able to offer a tangible solution.  

“I always recommend brands by name,” says Amy Kubal, a registered dietitian. So does yoga teacher Stacey Green: “If I am aspiring to be an example to my students, pointing to a particular brand I actually believe in and/or use is very helpful.”

They get materials to share.

Though they could recommend that their patients or clients visit a website to learn more about a product or brand, what are the chances the consumer will actually do so? By the time they’re online next, they’ve likely forgotten the URL or the name of the brand to search. This is one reason why old-fashioned printed materials are so effective.

“I use the materials in a one-on-one setting with clients, where they apply. I also like to share the educational information and samples at events in the community that I attend, like health fairs.” That’s Kubal again. Crome appreciates the printed marketing materials, too: “Since I do a lot of public speaking, the materials we get from PulseConnect have been a great resource to hand out at my talks.”

The ultimate goal of this repeated, detailed communication from brands is to strengthen the existing trust and faith consumers have in their health professionals. As a registered dietician and world-class triathlete, Rachel Chambers says, “Patients can tell whether you’re sincere and honest if you truly believe in what medicines you’re sharing.” Especially when that medicine is the food they eat.