note: illustration AI generated

For decades, the commercial model in MedTech was relatively straightforward.
A sales representative identified a potential customer, secured an appointment, presented the product, provided information, answered questions, prepared an offer and, ideally, closed the sale. This is called the „Milkman“ Model (1).
This is not only a high-cost model, but it also no longer corresponds with customer behaviour.

 ⚡️„67% of B2B buyers now say they prefer a rep-free buying experience.“ (2)
⚡️„Buyers are almost 70% through their purchasing process before engaging with sellers.“ (3)

Of course, I’m now expecting to hear, ‘But it’s different in MedTech.’ Really?

⚡️„81% of physicians prefer to use more than one channel when engaging with MedTech companies.“ (4)
⚡️„60 percent of HCPs prefer digital or remote engagement when researching unfamiliar technologies, requesting proposals, and purchasing products. (5)

That creates a customer journey very different from the traditional sales funnel.
Before researching products, customers research solutions. And Sales increasingly enters during validation.

😊 „HCPs still value in-person interactions for certain purposes. During product trials, for example, they rely on medtech representatives to provide product and clinical expertise and to serve as thought partners, and HCPs also appreciate in-person interactions for training and high-acuity case support.“ (5)

The rep who finally gets the meeting should therefore not assume that the customer is starting from Zero.
✅ The customer may already know your technology.
✅ They may know your competitors.
✅ They may have watched procedures.
✅ They may have spoken to another physician.
✅ They may already have an opinion about pricing.
✅ They may even have developed a preference.

The purpose of the conversation is consequently no longer simply to inform. It is increasingly to discover what has already happened. 

👉🏻 The salesperson is moving from information provider toward validator, interpreter and decision facilitator.

👉🏻 The sales rep is not becoming less important, the role is becoming more sophisticated.

👉🏻 Your sales rep is no longer the customer journey. Your sales rep is one part of it.

❓Is your sales team perfectly trained for a customer who no longer exists? 

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(1) BCG 
(2) Gartner 
(3) 6sense.com
(4) McKinsey
(5) McKinsey