With all of the change that has taken place in the past seven years, it’s no surprise that sales organizations using the same strategies and processes of the past are struggling, said Debbie Sizemore of Mercury Medical, speaking at the 2016 Independent Medical Specialty Dealers Association (IMDA) Annual Conference & Manufacturers Forum in Nashville, Tenn.
The conference, whose theme was “Mission: Possible,” attracted IMDA members as well as manufacturers seeking specialty distribution throughout the United States.
The milieu
In 2009, the economy tanked, she said. One year later, healthcare reform was enacted. Healthcare purchasing departments, which once resided in the basement of the hospital, transformed themselves into sophisticated corporate supply chains with compliance officers, contracting analysts, diversity supplier directors, and value analysis committees.
“The traditional approach to selling doesn’t work,” said Sizemore, who walked IMDA members through the high points of the best-selling book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation, by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon Adamson. “The deals are more complex; customers have access to much more information than ever; buyers are more sophisticated. We have to throw away the old sales playbooks.”
Sales representatives and managers who continue to focus on the clinical contact only, relying solely on their relationships and selling the features and benefits of their product, are finding today’s market frustrating to sell in, said Sizemore. Simply building solid relationships isn’t enough in today’s more complex healthcare sale, which typically involve many decision-makers. What’s needed is more “challenger sales.”
The challenger salesperson
What sets the challenger salesperson apart from others? He or she:
- Offers the customer unique perspectives. Challengers know what is unique about their company and the products it makes, and they lead with that.
- Has strong communication skills.
- Knows the individual customer’s value drivers.
- Can identify the economic drivers of the customer’s (e.g., supply chain’s) business.
- Is comfortable discussing dollars and cents, and isn’t susceptible to folding under price pressure.
- Isn’t afraid to pressure the customer.
- Understands value analysts’ processes and knows how to work with them.
“Challenger salespeople can teach, tailor their presentation, then take control of the sales meeting,” said Sizemore. “They challenge the status quo. They are excellent communicators and understand they need to stay away from commonly used sales and marketing words that were once accepted, but now require data to back up the claim.
What’s more, it’s obvious to the customer that the challenger sales rep has the support of his or her entire company, as well as the technology to be effective and efficient.
Reps don’t transform into “challenger sales reps” overnight, she said. “It takes training and commitment to get out of your comfort zone. But if you make the investment in challenger sales training, as other Fortune 500 companies have, you will find it is well worth it. Companies that have invested in this training show increased sales revenues and shortened sales cycles.
“It’s time to invest in your salespeople and make these changes,” Sizemore told the IMDA members.
Today’s value analysts
Among the other speakers at the IMDA Conference were Gloria Graham, DNP, RN, CVAHP, president of the Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals, or AHVAP; and Shannon Candio, RN, BSN, CVAHP, eVentureHealthcare.
Value analysis professionals are the bridge between the clinical and financial sides of the hospital or hospital system, they told IMDA members. And their goals parallel those of the specialty dealers who make up IMDA – to bring into the institution medical devices and procedures that improve patient outcomes while holding the line on total cost.
There’s an urgency to health systems’ implementation of value analysis today, said Graham. That’s due to our aging population; an increase in chronic disease; pressure to contain costs while maintaining or improving quality; the need to prevent so-called “never events,” such as healthcare-acquired infections; and simply, better educated consumers.
Value analysis has been about maintaining value and quality since its beginning, when the concept – first known as “value engineering” – was developed by General Electric design engineer Lawrence D. Miles, she said. It was Miles’ belief that anything that doesn’t add value to a product adds costs.
Value analysis is a five-step process:
- Identification of the problem that a medical device or procedure is supposed to address.
- Information-gathering, such as clinical studies or field studies of the device in question.
- Analysis of the information.
- The decision to implement, if the clinical evidence and financial implications warrant it.
- Monitoring, that is, revisiting the purchasing decision six to 12 months after implementation to see if the device did indeed reduce infection rates or led to reduced costs, as the vendor had promised.
What does the evidence show?
Clinicians live and breathe by evidence, and suppliers should provide it, said Graham. Randomized-controlled trials are at the top of the list, but if none are available (as if often the case with the new technologies sold by specialty dealers), they will work with non-experimental studies or case reports as well as feedback from colleagues throughout the country. If the situation warrants it, some teaching hospitals may seek federal funding to conduct their own studies.
But in any case, the IMDA member shouldn’t try to bypass value analysis, said Graham. For one thing, doing so can compromise the safety of patients and staff. Second, if the vendor makes inroads with one department but inservices only the staff in that department, when the patient is transferred to another floor or department, the staff in that next department may be unfamiliar with the new device, and the results can be harmful to patients. And third, if the product isn’t brought in through the front door, it may not be stocked in inventory, so when a patient moves from one unit to another, those in the second unit may have no idea how to get the product.
Certification
Meanwhile, Shannon Candio told IMDA members about AHVAP’s certification program, launched last year. Candio played a large role in designing the six hours of online education necessary for certification, a two-year process.
“There’s a growing need for certification,” she said. Certification of more value analysis professionals will lead to greater patient safety and will hasten the adoption of new solutions that will improve the delivery of care and lead to better outcomes.