As major changes within the healthcare market emerge, sellers must also adapt. A change in the market means a change in competencies and practice.

1. SPI INSIGHT:
TAKING THE PULSE
OF BIG CHANGES IN
HEALTHCARE SALES

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TAKING THE PULSE OF BIG CHANGES
IN HEALTHCARE SALES
01: DEVELOPING LIFE SCIENCES SALES TEAMS
Adapting ForEmerging Sales Competencies: A Golden Opportunity ForLife
Sciences Trainers
(Pages 3-4)
02: ALIGNING SALES TEAMS WITH HEALTHCARE BUYERS
How To Align With How Healthcare Organizations Buy Today
(Pages 5-6)
03: HOW LIFE SCIENCES SELLERS MUST ADAPT
Five Best Practices ForSales Success In The Age Of Evidence-Based
Medicine
(Pages 7-8)

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
DEVELOPING LIFE SCIENCES
SALES TEAMS
ADAPTING FOR EMERGING SALES COMPETENCIES: A
GOLDENOPPORTUNITYFORLIFESCIENCESTRAINERS
By Brad Ansley, Director, SPI Life Sciences Industry Practice
I recently had the privilege of attending the 2015 Life Sciences Trainers
and Educators Network (LTEN) conference in Phoenix, AZ. The conference was
attended by over 700 learning leaders and practitioners across the pharmaceutical,
biotech, medical device, and diagnostic industries.
In the course of three days, I had over 100 conversations with conference
attendees. From what I heard, it is clear that more organizations now feel increasing
urgency to take action on recent changes in the healthcare market. The iconic
driver of these changes in the US is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – however, most,
if not all, countries in the world are facing similar changes. Unfortunately, there is
still so much uncertainty around how to adapt to these changes, especially in sales
organizations.
Identifying the emerging new competencies required for sales success
is especially challenging. This is because the changes driven by the ACA are so
significant that examining lagging indicators simply doesn’t work. Your current and
past high performers will not necessarily be your future high performers. During the
conference, I got the impression that training managers are looking to sales leaders
to tell them the behaviors and development their teams need. But so far, sales can’t
explain to training professionals what new behaviors are needed, because they
haven’t yet figured them out. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
Savvy learning and development professionals should look at this situation
as an opportunity to get a seat at the table as a strategic business partner. This
starts by being proactive and going to sales with an informed point of view.
Here are some ideas to get you started. Understanding required sales
competencies starts with recognizing the changes in buying dynamics that are
being driven by market changes. Although the specific competencies required will
be unique to each company for their product, clientele, and stage of market, these
three are important ones that we see emerging as a result of the recent changes in
the healthcare industry.
1. Incorporating evidence into sales discussions
The ACA ties a large percentage of reimbursements to patient outcomes.
In fact, many of the new business models (i.e., Accountable Care
Organizations) require proof of an evidence-based practice in order to
participate in the shared savings programs. Representatives that can’t
leverage the principles of evidence-based medicine to prove that their
product or solution either lowers costs or improves patient outcomes,
probably won’t be successful. In contrast, representatives who know how
to critically appraise clinical data and understand what clinical question the
data answers, can discuss products in the context of validity, significance,
and clinical relevance. In other words, those representatives can deliver a
clinically relevant solution for a specific physician and for a specific type of
patient.
2. Speaking the language of different decision makers
Increasingly, physicians will be employees of healthcare systems, and as
a result, they will have less influence over buying decisions. Life Sciences
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sales have shifted far beyond simply detailing drugs or demonstrating
devices, and now require much more knowledge, skill, and business
acumen. Decisions are now being made by committees at the integrated
delivery network, managed care, or the accountable care organization
level. These committees do not only have clinical representatives, but also
from finance, operations, procurement, compliance, and other functional
areas. Your sellers must be able to formulate and position solutions that
meet the needs of the various committee stakeholders, and persuade
these individuals to consider and select your product or solution.
3. Executing a business-to-business style sales process
This point is related to the preceding one. Not only do sellers need to
speak the language of different decision makers, they must also manage a
complex buying process. This requires them to understand the difference
between a call model and a sales process. Traditionally, pharmaceutical
companies had call models such as “Open, create interest, handle
obstacles, and close” to guide reps through individual interactions with
physicians. A complex sale requires another level of process to guide reps
through identifying stakeholders, assessing their power and influence,
gaining access to power, and covering your bases. It requires knowing
how decisions are made in an organization and aligning your sales process
accordingly. Executing a complex sale requires a high degree of patience,
discipline, and skill. There are many lessons to be learned from other
industries, such as technology and capital equipment, where this buying
and selling dynamic has been the case for years.
If you are proactive, you will be rewarded. Bring a rationale for why emerging
sales competencies are the ones that require training. Then, bring a plan to monitor
progress every six-to-twelve months to demonstrate increases in proficiency level,
end results, and ROI. You will add more value to the sales leadership and earn a seat
at the table as a valued strategic partner.
Download a free white paper to learn more about preparing your sales force to
succeed in the era of the Affordable Care Act.

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
ALIGNING SALES TEAMS
WITH HEALTHCARE BUYERS
HOW TO ALIGN WITH HOW HEALTHCARE
ORGANIZATIONS BUY TODAY
By Brad Ansley, Director, SPI Life Sciences Industry Practice
All over the world, there is a growing middle class that expects better
health care, and an aging population that requires increasing medical attention.
Governments are taking action to control healthcare expenditures as a percentage
of GDP. These are significant demographic and policy shifts that will dramatically
affectsuppliersofpharmaceuticalproducts,medicaldevicesandcapitalequipment.
To survive, they must understand these changes and adapt accordingly.
In the United States, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is forcing healthcare
providers to change their business and practice models. In order to reinforce the
mandate to decrease the cost of care and improve outcomes, the Department of
HealthandHumanServices,forthefirsttimeever,hassettargetsforthepercentage
of Medicare reimbursement that are tied to either value or outcome. For example,
in 2016, they expect 85% of all Medicare fees for service reimbursement to be
tied to value or outcome, with the target increasing to 90% by 2017. This is driving
healthcare providers to adopt more efficient and collaborative business practices.
Asifthatisn’tenough,accountablecareorganizationsandotherintegrated
delivery models are decreasing the decision making power of individual physicians.
Surgeons used to be able to say, “I want a particulardevice in my OR every time I’m in
there, or else I’m leaving.” Now, “value committees” consisting of clinicians, nurses,
administrators,operations,andfinancepeopleareevaluatingthosedecisions.Sales
representatives have to deal with both clinical and administrative decision-makers.
To be successful, life sciences marketers and salespeople must get aligned
with how healthcare systems are buying today, and they must understand the
factors currently influencing buyers’ decisions. If they push marketing messages
that don’t emphasize driving outcomes and value, then they will be left out in the
cold. Even if the product costs more, if they can prove that it prevents patients from
being readmitted to the hospital or shortens the hospital stay, then they can still win
business.
HOW TO ALIGN
To align with today’s buyers, life sciences salespeople must be able to solve
problems and position the value of solutions in terms of cost management and
outcome improvement. How sales reps gain access, how they prepare for a call,
how they manage the complexity of the buying process, and how they continue
to demonstrate value and look for growth opportunities inside the account are all
changing. The life sciences sales role will start to look more like what we see today in
the technology industry – a more complex sales environment.
Conversations with buyers are changing. Traditionally, a pharmaceutical
sales rep might come in and say:
“Dr. Davis, I’m here to talk to you today about our antihypertensive
medication. Here’s a study that we published in New England Journal and what it
says is that we lower blood pressure ten millimeters of mercury better than our
competitor.”
Thisisacannedpitchthatdoesn’trequirethereptoconsiderifthephysician
has a high population of patients with high blood pressure, and if so, if that problem
was relevant to the physician.
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A consultative, solution-based sales conversation plays out differently:
“When I have spoken with other clinicians that appear to have practices
similar to yours, they have a large hypertensive patient population that has a
significantimpactonthequalitymeasuresforthepractice. I’dbeinterestedtoknow
how this patient population impacts your practice…
I’ve also found that their top clinical concerns are decreasing adverse
experiences due to the use of multiple antihypertensives while targeting at least a
decreaseof10mmofmercuryormoretoreachtheirbloodpressuregoals. Canyou
help me understand what your targets and goals are for your hypertensive patients
and the tools you use to get there?”
After gaining an understanding of the critical practice issues, the
representative can then begin to position their solution in context. For instance,
they could reach into their arsenal of clinical studies and say, “That being the case,
I’ve critically appraised a clinical study that was recently published in the New
England Journal of Medicine and thought that it might be of interest to you. I’d like to
hear your thoughts on how these results from the trial could impact your practice.”
A consultative, evidence-based and solution-focused approach helps the
sales rep uncover issues and priorities that will enable her to either help propose a
value-enhancing solution, or to shift to another product in the portfolio if there isn’t
a current, compelling need for her initial solution. This is the kind of sales behavior
that is now required to succeed in the new healthcare environment.
Download a free white paper on how buying is changing in healthcare systems and
how your sales organization should adapt to this new reality.

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
HOW LIFE SCIENCES
SELLERS MUST ADAPT
FIVE BEST PRACTICES FOR SALES SUCCESS IN THE
AGE OF EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE
By Brad Ansley, Director, SPI Life Sciences Industry Practice
Changes in government healthcare policies are having a profound
impact on how healthcare products, services, and solutions are being bought.
Reimbursements to healthcare providers are increasingly based on the value
or outcome of their care and not the volume of care. This leads them to favor
treatments that either decrease costs, improve patient outcomes, or both.
Increasingly, therapeutic decisions to meet these criteria are based on evidence
from well-designed and conducted research.
As these changes cascade, life sciences companies must also change how
they engage with healthcare buyers in order to drive business results. Below are five
best practices to help life sciences salespeople achieve greater success in this new
era of evidence-based medicine.
1. Adopt a solution-centric sales approach
Your sales reps must learn to have solution-centric instead of product-
centric discussions. They must understand the clinician’s practice and
patient population, and how a solution creates value by lowering costs or
improving outcomes. Solution-centric discussions require new skills, such
as discovery, collaboration, and solution development.
2. Develop strategic account management discipline
As the sun sets on the era of independent physicians with great autonomy,
and gives way to the dawning of widespread physician employment and
multi-stakeholder decision making, representatives must develop a new
skill set. They must focus on solving those critical practice issues that
may impact not just an individual physician, but their whole organization.
Selling strategically requires sales reps to identify stakeholders and their
critical business/practice issues, gain access to the right stakeholders and
create a vision of a solution by establishing links between brand value and
stakeholders’ critical business/practice issues.
3. Develop your evidence-based medicine (EBM) skills and vocabulary
Understand and leverage the principles of evidence-based medicine and
know how to speak the language. Many of today’s regulatory changes
are focused on the use of EBM to ensure that treatments are based on
the best available evidence. Additionally, regulators now require medical
schools to teach five levels of competency in EBM. This approach is
influencing physicians’ perception of your sales reps. Research shows that
EBM holds the strongest customer buying influence, and over 90 percent
of physicians want reps to make more use of clinical studies and EBM in
their conversations. Thus, representatives must know how to critically
appraise clinical data, like the way that physicians are taught, and how to
use that information to establish the validity, statistical significance, and
clinical relevance of the data.
4. Speak both the clinical and business language fluently
Representatives must not only have the ability to speak the language of
evidence-based medicine that physicians are expecting, but must also
havetheskilltoaddresstheobjectivesandconcernsofkeystakeholders.In
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the morning, a rep might be speaking about clinical data with the physician
representative on the Value Analysis committee of an accountable care
organization (ACO). In the afternoon, he or she may be speaking with a
finance executive that’s interested in patient outcomes and the impact it
will have on the bottom line.
5. Advocate for your customer
Your reps may not have all the answers at their fingertips that they need,
and will need to access subject matter experts in your organization. They
should think of themselves as the quarterback while looking for those
solutions for the individual physician or healthcare organization. They must
learn to pull from all resources in your company, and at times, across the
industry. Healthcare organizations and individuals expect you to provide
information that will help them solve critical issues or practice issues. Rally
the right expertise and resources.
The one constant in life is change, and massive change is rocking the
healthcare industry worldwide. Respond to change and you will reap the rewards.
Ignore change, and you’ll certainly face some less than desirable consequences.
For more insight regarding your sales team and on their readiness to sell in the age
of EBM, we invite you to download our Evidence-based Solution Selling skills gap
identifier.

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
WHERE TO DOWNLOAD ASSETS?
01: FREE WHITE PAPER
Learn How To Prepare Your Sales Force To Succeed In The Era Of The
Affordable Care Act.
http://global.spisales.com/life-sciences-sales-talent
02: FREE WHITE PAPER
See How Life Science Sellers Can Align And Win With How Healthcare
Systems Are Buying Today.
http://global.spisales.com/align-sales-with-healthcare-buyers
03: FREE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY SELECTOR
The New Age Of Evidence-Based Medicine Is Upon Us. Is Your Sales Team
Ready?
http://global.spisales.com/life-sciences-success
ABOUT SPI
Sales Performance International (SPI) is a global sales performance improvement
firm. We help the world’s leading companies drive predictable revenue and
profitability growth by optimizing sales organization performance.
Founded in 1988, SPI has been the leader in helping global companies apply process
and methodologies to transition from selling products to marketing and selling
high-value, customer-focused solutions.
Our extensive sales performance expertise, deep industry knowledge, global
resources, and verified results uniquely position SPI as the go-to firm for
organizations seeking to gain a competitive edge by how they sell.
SPI has assisted over 1,500,000 sales and management professionals in more
than 55 countries and 15 languages to achieve higher levels of sales effectiveness.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With over two decades of experience in the life sciences industry
as a microbiologist, pharmaceutical sales and marketing leader,
and sales training consultant, Brad Ansley leads SPI’s healthcare
industry practice. He is a principal developer of SPI’s Evidence-
Based Solution Selling methodology, and has helped dozens of
companies to improve their ability to sell life sciences industry
solutions to their customers.

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