Objective 4: To analyse how B2B marketers in this industry can optimize the

sales pipeline keeping these challenges in mind.

Three Tools to Improve Medical Product Sales

Customer relationship management systems, mobile applications, and master data management can
change the game for a medical device sales team.
A host of economic and regulatory challenges are driving medical product companies to implement
new selling models and strategies such as value-based selling (VBS), team selling, key account
management, multichannel marketing, and pricing optimization. But theyre not always finding success.
Monitoring contract compliance is extraordinarily challenging.
Our sales force is trained on value-based selling, but it focuses on relationship selling.
We have account-level potential data, but the sales force thinks its unreliable.
We invested in CRM and iPads, but wheres the ROI?
Better Pricing and Better Service Starts with Better Information
One of the most important drivers for upgraded commercial operations in the medical products industry
is the trend toward more centralized purchasing. Many hospital systems and institutions are demanding
preferential pricing, better service, or both.
Medical product companies need better information and communication to understand their customers
and support incremental sales roles and strategies. In the past, it may have been sufficient for sales reps
to build and maintain strong relationships with surgeons, who had significant influence on hospital
purchasing decisions. Purchasing, value analysis committees, contracts for integrated delivery networks
(IDNs), and CFOs can directly and indirectly influence decisions to buy medical products. More sales
roles and sales strategies, as well more complex information and systems, are often required to succeed
in this environment.
For example, a recent ZS Associates and Aberdeen Group study illustrates when companies excel in
articulating the overall economic value of a medical product or service, they have significantly higher
customer retention, market share, revenues, and profits. These businesses collaborate closely with
multiple customer stakeholders within accounts to understand the goals and objectives, tailor their
offerings to customer needs, and communicate a compelling message about the total value delivered.
Interestingly, the study also shines a spotlight on how numerous medical product companies even
those who recognize VBS as a key driver of performance have yet to implement the advanced selling
techniques and processes that enable it.
The successful implementation of a VBS program requires a holistic approach to managing and
supporting the sales force. Pioneering medical products companies recognize that successful execution
of these strategies requires real-time, enhanced customer insights, which, in turn, require strong
operational capabilities and support.

Three Tools To Improve Market Strategies

In our experience, upgrading sales and marketing operations is critical for successful implementation
of new sales strategies in the medical products industry. Upgrading operations such as customer
relationship management (CRM) design, mobile technologies, and master data management (MDM)
are particularly important. CRM focuses on developing more informed and engaged rep to customer
relationships. Mobility is a critical technology that supports more efficient and effective implementation
of new medical products sales models. MDM provides the underlying infrastructure to help medical
products companies accurately define their customers and synthesize more robust data at an actionable
level.
CRM Systems
Medical products companies have made heavy investments to develop CRM systems that help their
sales forces manage customer relationships effectively and uniformly. Well-designed CRM systems
help companies collect more information about key customers and marketplace trends on a timely basis,
as well as inform sales reps on customer needs and opportunities. Best-in-class systems also help update
sales reps regarding other critical commercial activities, such as marketing strategies and tactics,
customer service interactions, and contract negotiations.
Mobile Platforms
Along with CRM implementation, developing mobile platforms and applications was identified as a
key priority in a recent ZS benchmarking survey of leaders in the medical products industry.
Mobile technology, including tablets and smartphones, allows medical products companies to develop
platforms and apps faster than ever. It also enables those platforms and apps to make a sizeable business
impact. Mobility computing offers reps the opportunity to demonstrate products through video or
initiate a video conference with peers or clinical specialists for expert commentary. This collaborative
and customized environment during sales calls improves the quality of a reps interactions with
physicians and other key decision makers.
Apps that deliver fast interactions, easy accessibility and easy-to-reach data serve as a seamless
integration of the sales reps natural routine and result in increased productivity, convenience, efficiency
and responsiveness. Mobile solutions can also improve the effectiveness of closed-loop marketing
solutions by allowing reps to provide immediate feedback on physician responses to marketing
materials.
Master Data Management
MDM is the combination of systems and processes that link, manage and process key commercial data.
MDM helps integrate disparate data sources to fuel successful sales and marketing initiatives. It can be
as simple as a robust process to manage a consistent customer ID number across business functions or
as sophisticated as integrating sales activity, marketing investment, customer service conversations,
market potential and company sales results at the customer level.
A holistic, 360-degree view of customers based on data that is complete, accurate and timely provides
better visibility into accounts, their organization, priorities and behaviors. This, in turn, provides
accurate measures of market potential, delivers strong customer coordination across different
commercial channels, and supports better pricing and contract management for existing customers.
Six Key Drivers of Effective Ops Investment
Business-driven Design
Relevant business intelligence ultimately informs
commercial decisions. This makes it essential that
investments in commercial operations are driven by
business strategies and not just the IT departments's intuition. IT-driven designs tend to leverage
existing technology platforms and systems that are insufficient at best, and at worst can conflict with
business imperatives.
For instance, a large medical device company with multiple business units was implementing cross-
selling strategies to help different business units of the company sell to a single customer. The
companys legacy systems fit each of the units but required convoluted processes to create a common
customer profile. When the company developed a full MDM program, it kept the focus on business
needs, not IT. As a result, the program successfully facilitated the collection, maintenance, and retrieval
of disparate information at a customer level using a customer definition that the sales force was
accustomed to using.
Its important to clearly define customers. Different industry segments require customer insights at
different levels, which MDM should support. For instance, companies that provide laboratory-testing
services require business tracking by individual physicians who order tests. Therefore, MDM systems
for these companies must support defining individual physicians as accounts while maintaining
physician affiliations to group practices. Likewise, MDM in diagnostic imaging must enable users to
view individual departments, such as radiology or cardiology, as customers within a hospital account.
Phased Implementation
Commercial operations improvements in the medical products industry can be complex and expensive,
and there are numerous examples of poor implementations that have led to significant costs with little
or no return on investments. Almost all successful implementations focus on critical needs early on and
allow for feedback and course-correction before implementing new systems or features. This phased
approach also allows for the celebration of quick wins, which can be important to gain early excitement
and support.
Successful CRM implementations plan for this phased development. They start by developing a broad
list of business-driven features most important to their customerssuch as sales force and
managementwhile also considering the effort required to implement these features. Then, they create
a CRM roadmap to define features to develop first, as well as those to be rolled-out in later phases.
CRM implementations that follow this process are far more likely to be implemented on a timely basis,
adopted by users and enjoy early positive financial return.
Broad-based Sponsorship
Operations initiatives driven primarily from one department or high-level management are less likely
to translate into changed behaviors in the field and elsewhere. Grass-roots initiatives can fall short with
a lack of managerial or departmental support. Successful commercial operations initiatives need broad-
based support from all levels of sales and marketing, and often should include input from other
departments such as customer service and finance.
Senior management sponsorship is essential to get an initiative off the ground. Projects that do not
garner high-level organizational support as early as possible may struggle to receive funding necessary
to acquire data, systems, and tools. Leadership must also continually be engaged to challenge the state
of the initiative and ensure it has the resources to evolve appropriately over time.
Sales rep buy-in is also essential to making a commercial operations program thrive. Sales reps, after
all, may be the most effected by new tools and processes. They must internalize the strategy and vision
of the initiative and understand how it will ultimately improve sales results. A new CRM system, for
example, will not succeed if the sales force merely goes through the motions of adoption but does not
truly embrace the system or understand the value it brings to them.
First-line management buy-in is perhaps the most essential to making an operations-focused initiative
prosper. Management often serves as a direct line of communication to field representatives. Managers
need to be champions of the process and emphasize not only the vision, but also the tactical details of
how to turn the initiative into results.
It is also critical to involve the marketing department, as well as additional departments, early in the
design phase to ensure the planned initiatives will support their strategies. An understanding of key
product and segmentation strategies can help shape the data collected and the design of support tools.
Operational Stewardship
At a minimum, this requires appropriate processes to support ongoing maintenance, feedback
collection, and identification of needs for system expansions or modifications.
In addition, it is critical to clearly define the people and teams involved with ongoing operations and
stewardship. A global medical products company built an effective MDM operation that emphasized
governance as an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. The MDM initiative defined individual roles
and responsibilities to manage data quality, covering all relevant stakeholder groups that included end
users from sales, marketing, and commercial operationsnot just administrators from IT. For ongoing
success, the company also set up a centralized governance council to make system changes when
required.
Performance Metrics
For example, a dashboard for a mobility device can be designed to measure the number of reports
accessed, demonstration videos, or customer feedback comments documented. Such metrics can
provide effective methods of measuring results and be used to help garner further senior leadership
support for the initiative. Similar metrics and scorecards can be designed to provide insightful feedback
for field management and sales reps.
To the degree that these metrics can also help medical product sales reps and managers see benefits in
terms of their own performance and compensation, there can be a strong positive impact on their buy-
in and support of the initiative. It may even be appropriate to directly tie incentive compensation to
metrics such as the growth of target segment accounts. Whether directly tied to compensation or as part
of performance evaluation, appropriately designed metrics can be a powerful tool for gaining long-term
traction for many operations initiatives.
Economic Efficiencies
For some, it may mean creating shared service support for several divisions in areas such as CRM
support or incentive compensation management. For other companies, there may be synergies to be
gained by supporting multiple geographies from a single location or outsourcing some non-strategic
areas, such as MDM or sales reporting. Whichever route they take, these approaches can help free funds
needed for upgraded operations capabilities.
With todays complex selling strategies, operations improvement is no longer optional. A holistic, 360-
degree view of customerswith insights into their organizations, priorities and behaviorsis critical
for commercial success. Without upgrades in key area of commercial operations, such as MDM, CRM,
and mobility, this type of view is simply not possible.
Medical products companies that develop the right capabilities will keep their commercial operations
thriving long after they have implemented a commercial operations upgrade and will be rewarded
with more favorable contracts, greater market share and commercial strategy ROI. As opposed to the
critical comments mentioned at the opening of this article, commercial managers at companies that
invest in commercial operations upgrades will celebrate their progress with their most important
customers, experience greater financial returns, and, most importantly, say, Were winning with our
new commercial strategies.
focusing on medical products and service clients
How to optimize your medical device sales process: To hit your organization's sales goals in 2017,
you'll have to make sure your selling strategy is carefully planned and executed so you can turn every
account into a profit-making machine. Here's how you can optimize your sales process to sell more in
2017.
Commit to Expertise
The better employees are trained on a product, the more likely they are to convince a customer to buy.
Seventy-three percent of consumers are looking for product knowledge, Experticity reported. Your reps
should be able to educate customers on the product and customize the product to each customer's goals
and needs. Arm your employees with up-to-date knowledge and skills, so they can reach customers with
more success and confidence.
Create a Territory Management Strategy
Knowing the territory your sales reps are covering is a must. Having strong territory coverage means
that there are enough reps evenly distributed throughout the field, that they are busy but not overworked,
and are making meaningful interactions. When it comes to designing your sales territories, don't leave
it up to guesswork. Try integrating your territory management strategy with a data collection process
so you can make educated decisions about where and how your reps visit clients.
Manage Your R&D Process
Laws and regulations are in constant flux. Staying up to date on the latest requirements for your products
will keep your sales strategy clear of any roadblocks with hospitals concerned about compliance. Plus,
staying on the right side of the rules could save your company serious cash. As much as you might wish
you could, you can't control progress on product development. What you can do, however, is make sure
your team conveys accurate information to your customers throughout the regulation process. The FDA
now takes as much as 140 days to process medical device marketing submissions, according to USDM
Life Services Make sure you plan this time into your selling strategy to prevent buffers in the flow of
sales.
Think Ahead
The only thing changing as rapidly as the regulatory landscape is technology. The medical device
industry is one of the most fast moving and inventive fields - products have an average life cycle of just
18 months before they're replaced by something even better, according to the U.S. National Library of
Medicine. Think ahead about upcoming products so you can shift your selling strategy to
accomodate future releases. Educating customers about forthcoming updates can help your reps upsell
accounts as well, so make sure they stay in tune with what's coming up on the horizon.
Dive Into Data
Detailed data about your customers and your reps' activity can shed new light on your sales process,
helping you not only organize your business and track goals, but also improve your reps' effectiveness
at the point of sale. Here's how you can use data to optimize your medical device sales process:
Collect Quality Data
Sales content is key to locking down deals, and collecting quality data is the first step toward
more effective sales content. Twenty- five percent of marketing budgets each year are allocated towards
producing sales-boosting content, reported Showpad. Using better data allows companies to see the best
way to produce this content and gear it toward the market in a visual way. Better data means improved
content and more targeted, successful sales strategies.
Use Mobile CRM Software
Customer relationship management software helps sales teams collect, maintain, and organize data
about their customers and products. Over the past two years, the use of mobile technology by
the medtech industry more than doubled, according to ZS Associates. Now 75% of companies use such
systems! A CRM is critical to maintaining efficient operations, especially as technology in the industry
advances. Mobile CRM software standardizes data collection and improves consistency, helping
managers formulate an outlook to guide future adjustments to the sales process.
Prioritize Your Customers
When optimizing your medical device sales process, be sure not to lose sight of your customers - they
should always remain the driving force of your business. No matter what changes you might make to
streamline your operations, never let efficiency encroach on the customer experience.
Assess the Economic and Demographic Impact
Medical device sales depend on the state of the economy and the market. In a thriving economy, sales
might be booming. However, outside forces such as the 2.3% medical tax imposed in 2012 could
hurt sales. No matter what your sales process, it's critical you remain flexible enough to tailor
your selling strategy to the state of the market.
Even in a static market, you may have to adjust to demographic differences in the populations
different hospitals and medical facilities serve. For example, individuals 65 and up now account for
14.5% of the population and will reach 21.7% of the population by 2040, according to the
Administration on Aging. Facilities that treat these patients will have demand for different products and
services than other locations. Always keep an eye on how each hospital's demographic makeup changes
over time as well, so you can anticipate order changes before your reps ever arrive.
Develop a Strategic Selling Process
Consistency and persistence is the goal as you sell medical devices. Eighty percent of sales require five
follow-ups, Hubspot reported. When formulating your teams selling process, create a clear vision of
your product and how it stands out from other medical devices.
When doing consultations and building customer relationships, be sure to feature products in a hands-
on or creative way so that customers can fully experience what they are anticipating to buy. so its
important to have a clear explanation of your product
Get to Know Decision-Makers
One of the challenges of selling devices in the medical industry is figuring out who is in charge of
decision making and purchasing. Often times, field reps have to consult with surgeons, doctors, or other
medical professionals who are extremely busy.
A recent hurdle for medical device companies is group purchasing organizations, or GPOs. GPOs work
to find the lowest prices for hospitals and health care providers, and work as middle men between
medical devices and medical sites. They play a large role in negotiating contracts and purchasing
medical equipment. Although GPOs may take more navigating and an adapted approach, your selling
strategy should still convey why your product is better than the competitions and why they need it.
optimize any sales process! Selling can be a breeze with a well executed strategy and a dedicated team.
GE Healthcare on how to humanise B2B marketing
GE Healthcares move to a more personalised marketing strategy and using automation to track
customer behaviour may be pushing up sales.
the division now looks at marketing beyond B2B or B2C techniques, instead focusing on a human-
centred approach. Working with automation software developer Marketo, the organisation has switched
to a personalised strategy when talking to healthcare professionals.
The personal touch has resulted in Meyer and her team creating $2bn (1.3bn) in potential new revenue
and $600m (390m) in actual deals last year
For Meyer, personalisation is a long-term brand building exercise that goes beyond sales and affects
not only marketing communications but also the calibre of future recruits to the business.the
marketing chief explains the human approach to B2B
As a B2B company, how has your approach to marketing evolved?
Stephanie Meyer: We woke up to the fact that most customers are making up their minds earlier,
before they see a sales person. Marketers have to think about content in the context of where the
customer is versus where we are.
What we are seeing now is that content [can be delivered] higher upstream. There are reading materials
and key opinion leaders that publish information that we would like to share with our customers. [We
need to consider] how we bring that experience in.
What effect did the evolution to content before purchase have on marketing?
We made marketing more functional in order to bring out the right digital tools and automation tools,
and [changed] the way we think about making our jobs easier. Now we are using marketing automation
as a way of tracking customer behaviours that will help us be more prescriptive in the content, as well
as being able to drill down to a specific role, for example [talking to] a radiologist. [We use] the same
channels but its different in terms of messaging;
Has the restructure and move towards personalisation changed the way marketing is viewed by GE
overall?Do you have any advice for others looking to personalise B2B marketing?Dont paralyse
yourself by trying to make a perfect decision [about] the vendor or how to design it. Make a choice, go
with it and iterate from there. Once you have made that decision, stick to it and go as big as possible
because if you pilot little bits here and there, you wont get the full bang when you go to implement.
And dont underestimate the process and the people because its a three-legged stool people, partners
and platforms.
What effect does this have on the skills required from your team?What challenges do you face as a B2B
healthcare marketer?Another difference is the complex selling cycle and complexity of a highly clinical
sale. I dont have many ecommerce transactions because people are not going to buy equipment that
costs $3m (2m) online. There is still a heavy dependence on sales and trade shows.
Given the cost of the equipment you market, how does personalisation help?
In the former world, we would give the same message to all of those people. Now we tailor these
[messages] and it has challenged us to think differently about content. There have been some amazing
things we have been able to think about in terms of elevating our marketing skills [and] content but
also our reach and relevance in the marketplace. What results are you seeing beyond driving $2bn in
potential revenue and $600m in actual deals in 2014?. You touch all of these opportunities but have you
built the brand, increased loyalty and [changed] how people feel about interacting with GE?We will
shift to digital, like everybody, whether that is increasing interactions on websites, apps or email. But
we are a handshake business and you still need the sales role.