Vying for Value in 2015 Installment 2

Customers are feeling the squeeze of reform and they’re passing the hurt along to you, their supplier…

Most commercial organizations are full of very smart people. Say what you will about “group-thinking”, or “drinking Kool-Aid”, there are talented and motivated people working on improving the performance of today’s healthcare supplier companies.

As customers take a more aggressive tone, and they challenge the price, challenge the value, and challenge the evidence, responses are invariably generated. The organization pushes back…

Pushing back against the price threat

Many sales and marketing teams are doubling down on their former “best practices”. Unfortunately, most of these responses have been old tactics and me-too strategies. Here’s what we’ve been seeing lately and how these actions can unravel your opportunities:

Strategy 1: Develop a new product. Everyone hopes that a new product launch will push sales higher, but today more and more targets are being missed as customers dismiss the value of a new innovation.
Strategy fails in execution when salespeople hear customers say, “…give me that new one, but at the price we pay for the old one… and we will give you “more business” as we grow.”

Strategy 2: Influence the prescriber. Most sales organizations are still focusing on Doctors, trying to get them to advocate for the newer solution. Today, Doctors have evolving incentives and many are sitting beside purchasing managers, hammering your reps for lower pricing.
Strategy fails in execution when salespeople hear customers say, “…we have a good, long-term relationship with your company, and it’s time you step up and support us, like we’ve supported you.”

Strategy 3: Become a challenger. All suppliers are considering expanding software, extending services, and promoting enhanced features. To show the customer how they can benefit from this added value, salespeople are directed to challenge their customers, which creates a new level of adversity with that customer. The new reality?…today it’s the supplier and salesperson that is being challenged. The customer has become the challenger, as the squeeze of reform tightens down and limits their options to survive, and to be successful.
Strategy fails in execution when salespeople hear customers say, “we understand our business very well thank you. Do you understand it? And, since you and your company appear to be so confident that we’re doing something wrong, we’re sure you will guarantee the improved business results we are targeting, right?”

You may want to consider a new approach:

To successfully engage and earn today’s customer’s attention and commitment, you need to be able to integrate the changes in the marketplace into all levels of your company, resulting in more effective messaging, internally and externally. The result will be value-based solutions that are aligned with the customer’s issues and problems. That’s the emerging requirement, and in the coming posts we will explain how to do just that.

Join the conversation… 

What are you doing to adapt to the value-based demands of your customers? 

By:
Gunter F. Wessels, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Total Innovation Group Inc., Practice Principal, Partner
and
Sam O’Rear
Total Innovation Group Inc., Senior Partner