Nail the sale: Expert advice on how to secure a deal

Huthwaite International is a global provider of sales, negotiation and communication skills development. The company’s David Freedman, director at sales, explains five ways to help secure a sale.

It’s no secret that the medical devices sector is undergoing rapid change. As governments and health insurers look to control costs, hospitals and healthcare providers must maintain service levels with smaller budgets. These measures are transforming the purchasing process which in turn is changing the way that medical products are bought and sold.

Purchase decisions that used to be the sole responsibility of doctors are now also made by regulators, procurement teams, hospital administrators, and other non-clinicians. This shift has been met with both a mix of reservation and appreciation. On one hand it takes the hassle out of purchasing equipment for a clinician, on the other it means that sellers must now address a multidisciplinary group of purchase influencers with differing objectives.

This broader mix of influencers means that selling medical devices is now an increasingly complex process. Where once the salesperson would rely on technical language and detailed feature knowledge to sell to a clinician, who naturally understands the product in question, now that same salesperson must sell to a range of stakeholders - including savvy negotiators, trained in the art of striking a deal, without perhaps the same level of technical knowledge as their predecessors.

The result? A radically different sales approach is needed and an acknowledgement that we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore. The days of one on one feature selling are over. Salespeople must get to know their buying decision making unit; know who’s in it, what their individual goals are from the purchase, what level of influence do they have and then address each accordingly.

David Freedman, director at sales and negotiation specialists, Huthwaite International, the team behind SPIN Selling, and sales trainer to some of the biggest med device companies in the world, outlines five of the major steps that can help to secure that tricky medical devices sale, using the methodology applied by 30% of the UK’s Forbes 100 companies.

Despite the changes in the selling landscape in the medical devices sector, the fundamentals of selling universally remain unchanged; ‘I want you to buy what I have to sell’. The trickier element is convincing the individual that they not only want your product, but they need it. Historically for the sector this was in some ways an easy task. Clinician’s knew what they needed, where to purchase and who to place an order with to strike a good deal. Medical device sales staff spoke the same language as their customers – with technical terminology often used as common place.

With a new, more diverse audience to now convince to purchase, medical device salespeople need to adopt a new approach.

The problem is, the medical device sector is now selling to, amongst others, negotiation professionals – a notoriously tough bunch to crack. Whilst the sales professionals themselves may be proficient in technical product knowledge, buyers often boast heavy weight negotiation experience that can price sellers out of the market looking to undercut on deals and place mass orders.

So, what does this mean for sellers? Drawing on the SPIN Selling technique, sales people in the medical devices sector can learn valuable lessons when it comes to appealing to their audience – primarily that their customer isn’t interested in a product, they’re interested in their own problem and finding a solution to it. In short; my clinician requires this device, they understand its benefits because of x, y and z and have a good insight into how much investment is required into said product. Today it’s a very different story – not everyone in the DMU understands the technical terminology around specific devices, nor do they always fully appreciate the advantages of a device’s specific features. They are focused on a wider set of attributes including price, logistics, ease and quality of product. Once a core sales technique, technical details and features are proportionally far less important.

With this in mind, it is essential that sales professionals take a more strategic approach to selling. Below are five critical techniques and considerations that can help to create a more effective sales environment:

Ask questions and apply your research

By asking questions that open discussion around the challenges the client is facing, you can position yourself as a helpful adviser and problem solver. In this case it’s important to understand the brief the procurement team has been given. Are they looking to buy in bulk, what are the key features, how can you communicate this in a straight forward way? This also helps you to steer the conversation – meaning you can apply your research findings and start to build a valuable rapport with the client, in turn this will help to differentiate you from those still adopting the more old-school approach to sales in the sector.

Find the answers you need

While asking clients questions is better than simply talking ‘at’ them about your device’s features, our research shows successful salespeople ask more of certain types of questions. Situation questions are used to uncover the facts and background of the customer’s existing situation, for example, the type of patients a device needs to serve, or what locations they are based in. Problem questions are about customer’s problems, difficulties and dissatisfactions. They identify whether or not something is a problem and should also be used to clarify that problem, for example, how satisfied are they with their present equipment? Or where does the problem happen?

Listen to your customer

Our YouGov research found 85% of business decision makers believe a good buying experience involves a salesperson listening carefully to their requirements. This shows a desire on the customer’s behalf to be heard by the salesperson. And if salespeople aren’t listening, it means they’re talking; usually about the equipment or device they are looking to sell. This is a real danger as it’s a missed opportunity to discover how you could help your customer. Sellers must be careful not to be caught up in the excitement of talking about the bells and whistles of their device.

Agree a meaningful next step

In a major sale, clients are seldom likely to order something or decide ‘no sale’ immediately; next steps are likely to be what we call Advances or Continuations. An Advance is when a customer commits to take action that moves the sale forward by providing access to a new, meaningful resource. A continuation, on the other hand, is when the customer doesn’t commit to doing anything, but the seller may have to do a lot. We consider Advances to be successful, but Continuations not to be. Successful sellers look for the highest realistic commitment they can get from each interaction to continue in the sales cycle.

Don’t immediately make a counterproposal

Negotiating terms is standard in any sale, but it can be a potential minefield. A finding from our research is that skilled negotiators are less likely to make a counterproposal than the average negotiator. Responding with an immediate alternative to the one proposed by the client often gives the impression that you aren’t listening to your customer’s needs. Successful negotiators concentrate on exploring the underlying causes for the client making their proposal, so that they can discover their customer’s true objections.