Healthcare
The Need
A successful $240M medical devices company had outgrown their sales processes. The front-line reps were pitching products, not solutions, leaving them exposed to commoditization. Sales managers behaved as “super-reps” but needed to learn to coach and build the competencies of their team. And the leadership team had little visibility to competency and performance across a sales team of several hundred salespeople.
Our Approach
- Strategy Advice
- Street Skills Training
- Integration of CRM Tools
Customized 2-day strategy-focused Leadership training was deployed to SVP level and direct reports, delivering a competency framework, an expanded set of value propositions for their products and services, and leadership buy-in and alignment.
Training was then deployed top-down to Regional Sales Managers (with a coaching focus) and then reps. The Managers attended their team’s training for additional coaching practice and advice and alignment.
Value-add call planning and coaching tools were integrated into the Salesforce CRM and deployed to the field. A “Deal Room” review process was deployed to pressure test planning on critical opportunities. Monthly follow-up refresher webinars were deployed to ensure that the process was embedded and emergent challenges could be addressed for the sales team.
Our analysis uncovered several underlying issues. While most salespeople had attended multiple sales training classes over many years, there was no common language for planning. Team selling was rarely deployed and inconsistent. Call planning for significant meetings was haphazard, and was viewed by the sales teams as administrative, not value-add. Manager “ride-along” activities with their reps were focused almost entirely on helping land the sale, not on assessing and building competencies.
Growth Path
The sales team now has a common language and approach to support efficient planning and meeting execution. Call planning tools, at the reps’ fingertips in the field, are supporting more optimistic meeting goals, along with coaching. Managers can now address competency gaps and focus on stretching the capabilities and motivations of their teams. Sales executives now have real-time dashboards built into their CRM showing the competency development of each rep and how effectively each manager is as a coach, supporting accountability across the entire sales organization.
“Highly engaging! Simple in process makes it easy to digest and implement. Highly effective and impactful when applied.”
J. S. Area Vice President.