Cencora MWI Animal Health Division Exceeds Plan Objectives

The Challenge 

Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen) Corporation is an international healthcare distribution company. They provide drug distribution and consulting related to medical business operations and patient services. Cencora was seeking a way to drive profitable growth within the Animal Health division. MWI Animal Health recognized that doing so meant changing their go-to-market strategy because their end customers – animal caregivers and “companion animal pet parents” now think differently about companion and productional animal needs and how to manage and enhance animal health and wellbeing.

Our Approach

The goal of the program was to move from a “product provider” approach to selling to a customer-focused approach in which a consultative style is evident in the sales professional’s thinking, actions, and words. 

Cencora engaged Richardson Sales Performance to develop a customized, multi-stage approach to learning and behavior change. 

Learners were introduced to the Six Critical Skills and the Consultative Selling Framework on Richardson's Accelerate digital learning platform before starting their virtual instructor-led training sessions. 

Then participants completed a pre-assessment of their selling skills which established a baseline. This step enabled sales professionals to quantify the impact of their learning journey. 

Third, sales professionals participated in virtual, instructor-led consultative selling workshops focused on building customer-centric selling skills including positioning, gaining access, questioning and listening techniques, resolving objections, and gaining commitment to close. The competencies targeted were chosen because they were applicable to a range of sales professionals positioning many different products. This approach was critical to success because MWI offers a wide range of about 35,000 products from over 500 vendors. The range of products covers almost everything a customer needs. Products include pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, capital equipment, supplies, veterinary pet food, and nutritional products. 

The program was integrated throughout the animal health division. As a result, participants included new hires and seasoned sales professionals. By engaging the entire sales organization in the training AmerisourceBergen had an opportunity to approach the market with a united selling style. Additionally, a universal sales language and methodology meant that adjustments to sales techniques could be made at scale.

The Impact

During and following the training the Companion Animal group exceeded their plan objectives for the fiscal year 2020 at a significantly greater percentage than other teams that had yet to start sales training.