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How an Agile Approach to MedTech Sales Delivers Success

Improving win rate

sales agility in medtech selling

March 17, 2022Blog

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The Value Profile of MedTech Solutions Have Changed

The value of modern MedTech solutions is more than the hardware, it is also the data those devices collect, share, and analyze.

As a result, the core value drivers of MedTech solutions have changed from something that is largely tangible to something that is both tangible and intangible.

This complicates the seller’s job in three ways.

  1. Selling MedTech solutions requires the seller to meet the customer’s specialized data needs. This is a different and greater challenge than positioning the value of the hardware.
  2. The seller must demonstrate how the solution will fit into the customer’s data ecosystem. This makes the implementation discussion more complicated.
  3. Customers expect the MedTech solution to keep pace with change given that the value of the product is digital and therefore changeable. Hardware is static. Data is dynamic.

Here we show how the agile nature of Sprint Selling can overcome each of these challenges.

Understand Data Needs with an Iterative Approach

Data is a resource. Like any other resource its value changes based on the way it is used. Therefore, customers are constantly reconsidering how they will make use of data. Consequently, the task of understanding the customer’s data needs is becoming more of a challenge.

Meeting this challenge means taking an iterative approach characterized by Selling Sprints.

Selling Sprints are a simple, and effective way to convert the unpredictability of selling into forward movement. Selling Sprints consist of a three-part pattern: prepare, engage, advance.

This repeating cycle perfectly matches the dynamic nature of selling and integrates specific techniques, skills, and tools to win.

This powerful approach is based on one simple idea: new information from the customer does not push the seller off their path, instead, it steers them onto the right one. Importantly, Selling Sprints keep the sales pursuit collaborative which is crucial for revealing the customer’s underlying needs.

Learn more about the Sprint Selling approach by downloading the white paper, The Future of Sales is Agile here.

Build Consensus to Address Implementation Concerns

An EY research report into the state of the MedTech industry concluded:

“If Medtech can’t strengthen its connections with the other stakeholders, it can’t extract real value from its connected devices.”

This finding reveals the value of building consensus and resolving risk.

Connected Medtech devices bring together a host of stakeholders. Therefore, the seller has a responsibility to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the solution in a way that addresses each stakeholder’s needs while also easing their sense of risk.

This task has never been more challenging than in the MedTech industry. The seller must articulate how the solution will fit into an already complex and sprawling data environment. Moreover, the stakes can be high because the outcomes might impact patients.

Managing the complexity associated with sale is best achieved with a collaboration plan. The Collaboration Plan serves to align buyers and sellers procedurally and behaviorally. Events in the collaboration plan should include three key factors underpinning the sale: the operational aspects, the transitional aspects, and the financial aspects. Addressing these three areas helps manage resources, creates a timeline, validates the business case, and mitigates risks for the customer.

Agilely Meet the Customer's Evolving Needs

Medtech industry research from McKinsey revealed that “clear links to long-term business value will need to be established,” and that doing so will “require a well-defined business case that is tied to business outcomes and regular reviews of key metrics to ensure the link holds fast.” Putting this concept to work requires agility.

Developing an agile mindset means understanding agile behaviors in selling. We call these behaviors the Six Critical Skills. These core skills give sellers the ability to connect with the customer in a meaningful way. They also allow sellers to pivot and adjust in the moment as they listen to and make sense of the information.

The degree to which a seller can master these skills is often what separates the best from the average.

Training MedTech Sales Teams to Thrive in a Complex Environment

The skills and processes discussed above are all part of Richardson Sales Performance’s Sprint Selling™ Program. Sprint Selling™ is powered by an agile framework that prepares the seller to make the much-needed, in-the-moment adjustments that keep them aligned with a changing customer.

Adopting the agile approach of Sprint Selling™ is what enables MedTech companies to redesign their commercial models for today’s setting. As research from BCG shows, undergoing this transformation to an agile approach has benefited MedTech companies by delivering a CAGR of 27% from 2011 to 2021 compared to just 14% seen in the broader market.

Click here to learn more about our specialized sales training solutions for MedTech sales reps here.

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Sprint Selling™ Program Brochure

Train your team to use "Sales Sprints" to build deal velocity.

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