Sales Archives - Page 2 of 5

30Aug 2024 by cesare ferrari

Mastering Account Targeting in Medical Sales: A Strategy for Maximizing Value and Efficiency

Sales

This is the fifth post about targeting, and I will talk about account targeting. Since the subject of this post is strongly related to previously discussed content, I suggest you access the previous posts about the importance of sales force targeting, how to identify the right prospect, how to deliver the message according to target, and when to deliver the message. Account Targeting If you work in medical sales or marketing and your product is sold to a healthcare provider, like a hospital network, a clinic, a medical group, or a single hospital, account targeting is a strategy you should implement. But what is it about? Account targeting is a strategy of defining and planning where and how to focus your sales and marketing efforts. As discussed previously, targeting is…

30Jul 2024 by cesare ferrari

It’s Time for My Summer Break

Downstream marketing, Sales, Upstream marketing

As the summer season approaches, it's time for my usual break. For a few weeks, I will pause my postings and plan to return to my regular schedule of bi-weekly updates in September. Before I go, I'd like to share a summary of some series I've published over the years: Cultural Factors in International Medical Sales Selling medical products (devices or drugs) internationally involves understanding and managing cultural differences. Parts one and two of this series examine the importance of cultural sensitivity and the key elements of a country's culture, and their impact on sales. The Importance of Cross-Selling and Upselling In medical sales, upselling and cross-selling are often seen as unethical tactics, and sometimes this view is justified. However, in the first and second posts of this series, I…

22Jul 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 4)

Sales

One of the challenges in medical sales is disseminating the right messages to the right doctors at the right time. Previously, I discussed how to identify the right customer and pass the right message; today’s post will focus on when to pass the message, knowing fully well that timing is critical. This is equally because the degree of difficulty of the “targeting at right time” challenge is unique to each specific message, campaign and customer. Moreover, due to the limited access to doctors, which is steadily increasing year after year, the task of reaching the customer at the right time is even more demanding. Also, already before the COVID-19 pandemic, many physicians began to restrict visits from pharma reps in some way, and the majority of offices had variable access…

06Jul 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 3)

Sales

Previously, I discussed that I consider sales force targeting essentially identifying the most promising prospects and suggesting the right product with the right message at the right time. I've also analyzed how to identify the most promising prospect for your product and the related message. Today, I will cover how to properly deliver the right message for effective medical sales targeting. So please read on. Communicating with doctors Most people consider what they are saying very important. For this reason and for compliance with regulations, the marketing and sales departments of pharma and MedTech companies concentrate extremely on the content of their communication. Nonetheless, in every contact, there is a component of information and one of relationship. The information mainly flows through verbal communication, but the relationship prefers the non-verbal…

22Jun 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 2)

Sales

Are you looking to improve your sales force targeting and medical sales results? In my previous post, I covered the importance of sales force targeting, some typical errors, and the financial and non-financial impact of un-targeted sales strategy. Today I will discuss some strategies that can help you increase sales force targeting and improve your medical sales results. What is sales force targeting? In my opinion, targeting is identifying the most promising prospects and proposing the right product, with the right message, at the right time. This enables the customer to buy the product with a relatively small sales effort. How to identify the most promising prospects One of the objectives of your marketing department is to produce the ideal customer profile. Your ideal customer profile must be based on…

07Jun 2024 by cesare ferrari

Medical Sales Targeting (Part 1)

Sales

Reaching the right doctor with the right product, and the right message, at the right time is the essence of targeting and medical marketing in general. If you are a medical sales rep working for a pharma or a medical device company, you might already have experienced the frustration of not convincing a prospect about your product. Even very successful products with high use and market penetration are not for everybody in a given market. As a salesperson, you need to accept that you should not target some potential customers because the chances of selling your product are very low. The sooner you understand that targeting is not an abstract marketing strategy, the faster your sales results will improve. In fact, implementing precise targeting tactics in your territory is the…

16Dec 2023 by cesare ferrari

Holiday Season

Downstream marketing, Sales, Upstream marketing

The holiday season is a hectic time for many people. Between holiday shopping, holiday parties and holiday cooking, it can be difficult to find the time or energy to read during this busy time of the year. This is the reason I normally take a pause during the holyday season. This is my last article of 2023, and I would like to re-share a few posts on important topics for medical sales and marketing professionals. Business plans I have a pragmatic position on business plans and business cases. I do not consider realistic plans and planning useless. However, before starting to write a long and detailed business plan any entrepreneur or intrapreneur should focus on building and testing the product and the business model. I have analyzed in detail the…

01Dec 2023 by cesare ferrari

6 Best Practices For Onboarding New Medical Distributors

Sales

In the previous post, I examined the importance of an effective onboarding program for new medical distributors. In this article, I will focus on six best practices to produce a successful onboarding plan. Let’s see together what I think is important for onboarding medical distributors: 1. Prevent misalignment There is an old saying, “Prevention is better than cure,” which is valid also for commercial partnerships. We can all agree that partnership is working together to achieve common objectives and it is fundamental to understanding each other in a business relationship. For this reason, at the onboarding or even better before the onboarding, the two partners (supplier and distributor) should be clear about their respective priorities and goals. As a supplier, you should establish what is important to you and communicate…

18Nov 2023 by cesare ferrari

How To Make The Best First Impression With Your New Medical Distributor

Sales

Consider this: You worked hard to find and select a new commercial partner in an uncovered market. You and your new distributor invested time and resources to establish what both expect to be a long-term, profitable and fruitful commercial relationship. All the prerequisites are fulfilled, the distribution agreement is signed, and the regulatory departments are working together in harmony to register the products. Well... the worst thing you and your partner can do is consider the partnership well-founded and drive attention to something else. As a supplier, you have the responsibility to help your distributor capitalize on “quick” wins in the first months of the relationship. This is why it’s necessary to show you how to make the best first impression with your new medical distributor and establish a successful…

05Nov 2023 by cesare ferrari

5 Mistakes In Key Account Selection

Sales

In my previous post, I discussed key accounts and their role in product development. Today I would take the analysis several steps further by sharing a few common mistakes in selecting and categorizing key accounts.  In my experience in medical device marketing, suppliers and distributors are frequently small and medium size companies and I have always believed their process to properly identify and select their key accounts can be improved.   This is because the selection of key customers of a medical company has a fundamental effect on the success of its sales management strategy.   Also, categorizing the customer base needs to be internally agreed upon and normally takes more time and effort than expected. Nevertheless, the impact on sales can be relevant, therefore it is worth it.   With that being…

Category: Sales