Category — Training and Development

Innovation is at the heart of long-term growth, shareholder returns, and the ability to remain at the leading edge of the market. Much has been said about innovation and its importance to the growth and prosperity of the healthcare industry and this has raised a number of questions about what actually drives success. Whilst many companies appear to be creative and resourceful, they do not always achieve success. According to the Harvard Business Review (2004) only 1 out of 10 new product introductions succeed in the market, thus provoking numerous attempts to identify the key factors in an effort to improve the outcome.

Just to be clear about definitions: Creativity is about the generation of ideas and innovation is about putting them into action. Innovation is about making ideas happen, and is more a blend of people and processes.

RELEVANCE & IMPORTANCE

Research conducted by Mike Warren at GreyMatter involving 65 global organisations [Read more →]

Healthcare sales and marketing executives and managers are increasingly finding themselves carrying a wider and deeper bag. Within the bag may be a mix of disposable, lower priced reusable, capital purchases, and service contracts. More and more of us are finding ourselves responsible for the success of a product line where the individual components of the line have different decision makers, decision influencers, and are purchased within the context of very different customer decision making strategies.

This results in a nightmare for all those from the newest salesperson to the most seasoned senior manager.

As a result, the following concerns are commonly heard:

[Read more →]

The next time you see an English barrister on a TV newscast or fictional program look carefully at the back of the robe. You may see a pocket. The purpose of this pocket in days gone by was to receive payment from clients. It was located on the back of the robe so that the barrister would not debase his professional ethic by seeing or touching money. An assistant would remove the cash for him. The reality of legal payment has changed, but the anachronistic pocket still remains.

As sales and marketing professionals in the healthcare industry we are living in too competitive a world to carry anachronisms on our back or in the way we interact with prospects and customers. Yet, much like today�s barristers in yesterday�s robes, if we look objectively at the way we do business, we may be doing just that.

[Read more →]

All of those involved in the hiring and management of new sales representatives have seen unexpected failures among those expected to succeed. There are many causes, and this brief article does not intend to address all of them. It does address two issues that we at Resource Management International, Inc. have seen frequently in our experience both as corporate managers and consultants.

The rate of success in onboarding new representation can be improved by challenging two logical assumptions and adapting the onboarding process accordingly.

[Read more →]