Being ‘old school’ with technology can be the kiss of death
During the press conference to announce NOKIA being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia CEO ended his speech by saying, “We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost.” Upon saying this, his management team, himself included, teared sadly. Nokia has been a respectable company. They didn’t do anything wrong in their business, however, the world changed too fast and their opponents were too powerful. They lost.
The moral of the story is one which has been told thousands of times – You Snooze, You Lose. Technology is a moving target these days folks, and if corporations don’t consistently, and I mean consistently, keep up with the innumerable amount of tools available to help achieve revenues, and use them, then they simply will be left behind.
The competition is already fierce, don’t be old school.
A tale which is also often heard, is that the Healthcare Sales Industry is behind the times when it comes to leveraging new sales technologies. We hear the terms “prehistoric operations” or “dinosaur tactics” when it comes to how a lot of these companies run marketing, business development and sales. In stark contrast, we continually hear about the latest CRM’s, Marketing Automation platforms, SEO companies, Social Media platforms, and Inbound/Outbound strategies. It’s quite dizzying when you really pay attention. So, my question is really pretty simple: Who’s buying all of this tech stuff?
Many companies are leveraging some form of automation as part of their “Tech Stack” or outsourcing agency assistance as part of their Go-To-Marketing strategy. Why wouldn’t you? Why would you continue to travel via horse when cars are available? Sure, the horse works and he can get you from point A to point B – but the car can do the same thing, in a faster, more efficient way. It’s a no-brainer. So, why are these dinosaur tactics still around?
I believe one of the biggest reasons a lot of companies and salespeople operate in prehistoric times is resistance to change. The world changes, yet for whatever reason, it takes some folks a lot longer to change with it. Then you see the unfortunate result, just as Nokia did. Dust.
It could have been avoided. In fact, if you are in the medical device industry, you had better already be in the process of stepping up your game. According to Morgan Phillips Executive Search, “The medical device industry is one the biggest industries in the $3.2 trillion global healthcare sector. The last decade has seen the industry go through a big shift, driven by innovation and new technologies.” The complex nature of the sales process for medical devices makes it very difficult to build and deliver a meaningful experience. They are increasingly figuring out innovative ways to build compelling experiences while building credibility with their customer physicians.
Bridging the Sales Gap
While these sales folks are becoming more and more adept at utilizing new sales and marketing technologies, a gap still exists in the process. This void lies somewhere between a sales rep being handed a list of physicians to call upon and delivering an over-quota performance. Can you guess what lies inside this gap? I can. In my 15 years of medical device selling, I managed to bridge that gap manually. I took my manual processes and automated them into a dynamic mobile solution. The ProSellus Linx Tool is innovative and revolutionary to the healthcare sales world. Reach out to me at scottwalle@prosellus.com and let me show you how leave the dinosaurs in the past where they belong.
Remember, if you ignore the new ways to increase your competitiveness in the sales industry, you might as well look for a new career. Like Nokia…you will turn to dust and, quite possibly, so will your company.
