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Emerging Trends in Medical Device Sales
The following article appeared in the Voice of Industry column in ORTHOKNOW®,
February 2012. Copyright ORTHOWORLD Inc.
We recently read a compelling discussion between Richard
Ruff, Ph.D., co-founder of Sales Horizons, and Scott Nelson, founder of
Medsider.com, regarding Emerging Trends in Medical Device Sales. The following
presents highlights from that conversation.
In this changing environment for medical device sales, this
discussion addressed questions such as:
-
Why are hospitals
hiring medical device sales reps? What are the future implications of this
trend?
-
What are the best
practices of superior medical device sales reps?
-
Can role playing
be
an effective tool in sales training?
First, some facts that we know about the medical device
environment:
-
More and more
hospitals are acquiring larger physician practices
-
Physicians are
aligning their objectives with hospitals on matters of cost reduction
-
Value analysis
committees are replacing the physician as the ultimate decision-maker
Why are hospitals hiring medical device sales reps? What are
the future implications of this trend?
-
Hospitals are
hiring reps to call on physicians and persuade them to send larger numbers of
referrals to the hospitals. This is a fundamental change in the way the
hospital operates.
-
Sales reps must now
be even smarter about a new customer (the hospital: its finances, its
physicians) and a new type of conversation (with the Chief Financial Officer,
value committee)
-
This suggests the
need for a change in the way that reps are trained. They must develop a
narrative to catch the attention of a hospital CFO, and must help the surgeon
win over the value analysis committee.
What are the best practices of superior medical device sales reps? They all
focus upon understanding the customer's business.
Three of six best practices cited were:
-
Understand and develop customer
needs
-
Understand the customer's business
-
Develop trust in the customer
relationship
(Source: Sales Training Connection Blog, "Six Best Sales
Practices," February 11, 2011.)
Focusing specifically on the second: Average reps simply
"get" the customer's business. Superior reps gain a comprehensive understanding
of the business imperatives and initiatives of a particular hospital, trends
impacting that hospitals' strategic direction, players within the organization,
external competition, etc.
Finally, what new kinds of training can medical device
companies undertake to better educate their reps?
Faced with increasing price pressures (among other
challenges), large companies with sales forces of 700-800 are hesitant to pay by
a per-head training model year after year.
Sales Horizons has designed training by use of a license:
companies may print the product and hold rights to use it in perpetuity.
Further, the company has redefined customization of training
programs past simply classic role play. New ideas include creating a dossier on
the new customer, e.g. a 4-5 page background sheet on the hospital, descriptions
of individual physicians, enabling sales managers to learn new ways to sit
inside the mind of the hospital buyer, etc.
About Medsider.com: Medsider.com's stated goal is to help
ambitious doers and thinkers learn from a mix of dynamic and experienced medical
device and medtech experts. Listen to podcast interviews or download
transcripts.
www.medsider.com
About the Sales Training Connection blog: Dr. Ruff's blog
features a number of posts focused specifically on medical device sales and
sales training ideas.
www.salestrainingconnection.com
http://www.orthopreneurpub.com/component/content/article/220-emerging-trends-in-medical-device-sales |
