Real-World Resource in Sales Training
C-Suite Resources was asked by a fortune 100 company, which produces a broad array of clinical and administrative products and services, to serve as a real-world resource in sales training for a program they conducted with its Key Account Sales Team. This initiative was undertaken as the company has developed a new service offering that profoundly impacts the incidence of hospital acquired surgical infections which is now subject to greater scrutiny by consumers and increased penalties from government and commercial payers. Because of the impact their service has on reducing cost, improving quality and reducing risk, the client believes their story should be heard in the C-suite. Before doing so, the client wanted help in determining and testing its value proposition, messaging and presentation.
Typically, the client’s interaction with its customers is with supply chain managers and/or service line managers. These will continue to be important contact points and the Key Account Sales Team representative is quite comfortable working in this setting. The new challenge of accessing and effectively presenting to the stakeholders in the C-suite was an area the client wanted to properly prepare its sales team to undertake.
One might ask: “Why don’t they simply go try it out?” The answer reflects the regard this company has for protecting its reputation and image in the market place and the attitude of not wanting to “experiment” with its clients.
Our project was to recruit a team of former healthcare CEOs, CFOs and CMOs to role play encounters with the Key Account Managers. After four days of sales training that focused on high level “solutions” selling conducted by a training company, C-Suite Resources brought in a team of experienced healthcare executives (administrative and medical) to role play various typical encounters that could occur with the Key Account Manager. This took place on the last day of the sales training conference attended by the Key Account Managers.
C-Suite Resources role was to:
- Function as “real-world” executives in meeting with the Key Account Managers;
- Challenge the Key Account Manager on why the meeting was taking place and why the executive should be interested;
- Provide feedback on the presentation and knowledge demonstrated by the Key Account Manager;
- How relevant?
- How effective?
- Opportunities to enhance
The benefits to the client included:
- Enhanced understanding of the changing healthcare industry that is affecting the way provider organizations make decisions related to purchasing products and services from vendors and suppliers;
- Further test and develop skills that empower the Medical Key Account sales team to be increasingly effective in interacting with senior administrative and clinical executives who influence or make the purchasing decisions within their organizations;
- Equip the Medical Key Account sales team with new service offerings that deliver a broader set of solutions to their clients, thereby creating stronger strategic alliances.
The Key Account Managers felt this part of the training program was the most effective in terms of allowing them to apply the concepts and skills learned in the preceding sessions. The impact of this added feature to their training program has resulted in further opportunities to offer again in future training program.
