Originally Published MX May/June 2004

ADVERTISING, DISTRIBUTION, & SALES

Medtech sales executives can get ahead by building solutions that are tailored to meet buyers' needs.

Steve Gielda

Just 30 years ago, medical device product sales managers followed a simple formula: sell advanced technical products to physicians and sell all other products—essentially commodities—to the hospital's purchasing arm. With the emergence of managed-care organizations, sales managers are noting that many purchases formerly made by individual physicians are instead being made by managed-care buyers or purchasing panels.

To succeed at selling to the managed-care buyer or its panel, medical account executives need to understand—and tap into—the new decision-making processes used by such entities. In this era of managed care, the decision to buy or not to buy a particular medical device is often determined as much by business concerns as by client-care concerns. Specifically, hospitals are experiencing enormous pressure to simultaneously reduce risk, lower costs, and increase revenues (see sidebar).