Gaining Insights
Scott Adams
Share Moving Media, Repertoire’s parent company, recently held our IDN Insights West meeting, hosted by Amazon. Most of the meeting was about best practices when calling on IDNs, but a portion of it included an Amazon presentation. Below are a few pearls I took from the meeting.
Insights from IDN supply chain leaders:
- Think logistically on ways to save each other dollars. It’s not always about the price of the product
- Stop bundling and stop selling around their formulary
- Culture and integrity are key – always tell the truth, even if it’s unpopular
- If you’re not spending 50 percent of your R&D on ensuring your product is EHR friendly, you’re wasting your time on new products
Takeaways from Amazon:
- Price-Selection-Convenience is Amazon’s moto. Candidly, it should be our moto in traditional distribution as well, just maybe not in that order.
- Amazon as an organization has “Customer Obsession.” They don’t do anything without asking their customers what they want first. This is the reason they are successful in my opinion.
- Personalization is where everything is headed, not just at Amazon. For example, think of how personal your phone is compared to your spouse or kid’s phone. We need to be personalizing the way we work with customers.
- Amazon is a marketplace. They are not here to eliminate distribution. They are here to work with distribution in a way that is convenient for the end-user. Last week, my business partner ordered laundry detergent from Amazon, and it came to his house from Costco. We have to keep in mind the difference between distribution and a marketplace. Regardless of your opinion on Amazon, it’s 100 percent about the customer. Now more than ever in our history, your relationship with your clients is of upmost importance!
Dedicated to the Industry,
Scott Adams
PS: I am launching a new podcast series this month called “Road Warriors and Their Untold Stories.” This podcast focuses on salespeople and their days in the field. I have already recorded several episodes, and let me tell you these stories will make you laugh, cry, and a better rep. Be watching the dail-eNews for the launch of this series. If you have an interesting story, or you want me to interview a fellow rep on this series, please send me an e-mail with a short description. I will forward it to our editors for approval. sadams@sharemovingmedia.com