Category: Medical Devices

Scott Burrows Pharmaceutical Sales Keynote Speaker

The Pandemic Might Have Changed Pharma Sales Forever – What About You?

 

As a pharma sales motivational speaker with a long-standing interest in healthcare, I followed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected our industry. There were profound changes – and it was much more than “business as usual.” The question is: “What about you? Are you ready to change with the changes?”

We are Innovation Champions

How can we not be proud of our industry? Seriously. According to a report by Deloitte Consulting (March 30, 2021), in 2020 the FDA “approved a near-record 53 novel drugs—up from 48 the prior year. These innovative therapies…offer new treatment options for patients who suffer from a wide range of illnesses including cancer, spinal muscular atrophy, and hereditary angioedema.”

What a great testament to a great industry! As a pharmaceutical sales speaker, I am amazed at the dedication of everyone involved.

However, this is not a time to rest on our laurels, in fact, the pandemic has exposed serious flaws that everyone involved in sales and marketing must be determined to address.

Brian Corvino and Candy Lurken, principal authors of the report appropriately named “The pandemic didn’t hinder drug launches but it has altered sales tactics”, noted that limited market access, inadequate understanding of marketing needs and poor product differentiation as being “the top reasons the drugs don’t live up to initial expectations.”

It’s about Sales and Marketing

Indeed, the new drug launches have not lived up to sales expectations. Companies have “revised or scaled back” and market response has been lackluster. Everyone is in agreement that the industry has struggled to convey the important sales messages as communication tactics have changed.

The Deloitte research has shown that in 2020:

  • Clinicians are seeing fewer patients and writing fewer prescriptions
  • Reps and clinicians have gotten used to virtual meetings
  • Information is being delivered through new channels

We know that, unfortunately, many patients have suffered due to a reduction in insurance benefits, and some practices cut back on admin people. And while we had no choice but to meet virtually, there may be a permanent move to hybrid situations, and while information has largely been conveyed digitally, it must be differentiated. What are you offering that is above and beyond, that exceeds expectation? What support do you offer that is surprising and shows effort and outstanding customer service?

Why it Matters

If you are in any aspect of pharma sales and marketing, then you are also aware of a simple but important truth as expressed by Corvino and Lurken: The pandemic has not reduced the demand for drugs that address unmet needs.

What you do as a pharma sales rep matters, to companies, clinicians and ultimately to patients. The year 2020 may have altered many things, but it did not affect the need for what you are offering and who it will ultimately help.

To succeed in this post-pandemic world will require your mindset, vision and the daily grit to make a difference. The challenges have never been greater, but neither have the rewards. Are you ready to make a difference?

 

 

Book Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Keynote Speaker for your next event, contact him today through this website or his office at: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Speaker on Resilience and Change

What is The Winning Script for Writing More Scripts in 2021?

 

“The landscape of pharma was radically altered by the pandemic…experts say that the industry will soon be taking stock of how it navigated the pandemic and what the sudden shifts in operations and regulations could mean in the long-term.” – Pharma Manufacturing, January 18, 2021

As a pharmaceutical keynote speaker, I know virtually every area of the industry will be undergoing changes this year including regulatory issues, manufacturing, storage and transport challenges, new vaccines, billing issues, a hybrid of teleconference and in-person presentations, and even controversial drug introductions. This is all in addition to major challenges for sales reps and their healthcare clients.

Collaboration and Teamwork Essential

As the industry projections for 2021 suggest, there will be a lot of “taking stock” this year. The landscape of pharma has been radically altered. With all of the changes and turbulence, teamwork will be more essential than ever. In my virtual pharma motivational sales presentations during 2020 and now, hopefully live and in-person, I stress that the winning script for writing more scripts distills down to three important points: Vision, Mindset and Grit. These points not only apply to the individual, but to the team, and the inter-dependence of teams.

Vision – Market research firm LSA Global conducted a study on the power of companies and teams that come together with a shared mission statement and found that they grew revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable while significantly outperforming their unaligned peers. I might add that the study was based on 410 companies. Alignment is another way of saying that teams have a common goal in working together, sharing information, committing to the highest levels of customer service, and essentially driving the sales process. It is a realization that the sum total of efforts, more important now than ever, will yield positive results.

Mindset – Business and sales performance writer Vivienne Dutton offered the top ways to develop a success-oriented mindset. Among the more important points for the creation of a strong team?  Promote problem solving; discuss ongoing challenges; encourage the sales process; endorse a culture of group development over individual genius; and most important, don’t just talk about a mindset, embrace it. Mindset can be very powerful if it is harnessed and put into action. It can also be just a collection of words unless teams truly come together.

Grit – Grit is having resilience and the strength of character to not give up or give in to the obstacles that stand in our way. For everyone involved in pharma sales last year, the concept of grit became ingrained into their thinking. As we go forward in 2021 and we encounter much change, unless teams and entire organizations have the grit to maintain vision and mindset, there will be little or no progress in the year ahead.

Ultimately, it all adds up to determination. Every sales rep of every sales team must have the determination to approach 2021 with vision, mindset and grit. There can’t be shortcuts because the stakes are too high to believe this year will be business as usual. If we are determined, this has the potential to rebound to being the best year ever.

 

 

To book Pharmaceutical Speaker Scott Burrows, contact him today through this website or his office at: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Speaker

Staying at Home Doesn’t Mean Stuck at Home

 

In my work as a motivational pharmaceutical sales speaker, one of the most often asked questions I hear these days is, “With all of this social distancing stuff, I’m stuck at home. How can I do my job?”

The answer is that the challenge isn’t one of distance, but of mindset.

Limiting Contact, Not Determination

We are in an unusual time, between vaccine availability and rising cases. Chances are your company is asking you to stay home. As well, many healthcare providers are not only overworked, they want to limit outside contacts.

The temporary new normal turns pharma sales into a major challenge especially if you are selling a new drug and need to provide samples, demonstrate, educate or provide safety information. If things were not tough enough, we all know that patients are fearful of office visits and have cut back on them. This affects prescriptions.

Pharmaceutical industry writer Jessica Merrill commenting on the impact of social distancing on sales stated (November 13, 2020) that:

“The impact of curbing sales reps and medical liaison interactions could be felt more heavily for drugs that rely on hospital-based physicians…many hospitals are limiting access, restricting the ability of company reps to enter the facilities. Primary care physicians too are fielding increased calls from concerned patients.” The sense of urgency to see patients has lessened as, obviously, are educational dinners, trade shows and the like.

If you are allowing tough times to discourage you, it is time to reset your thinking.

Drugs are still being launched. Education is still critical. Your competition is still out there. Are you determined to sell in tough times? Do you have the daily grit to see it through?

When One Road is Blocked, Find Another

Jessica Merrill talked about “Short-Term Triage, Long-Term Impact,” and she is correct. What you do now will impact on your success in the months and years to come. It is a matter of developing a vision of success.

Now, and certainly for the foreseeable future, most sales reps will have to rely on the virtual and digital space to communicate. According to industry statistics, during “normal times,” about 50 percent of the time healthcare providers are receptive to sales calls. However, in these times only 10 percent will open a sales email. That’s quite a drop. How do you get around it?

The key is creativity. Find more engaging approaches to communicate. Out-hustle the competition through committed customer support. Work at show-casing your products in a fresher way or with a more research-based approach or a more interactive method. The point is to be determined to set your company apart and above.

Keep in mind that virtual communication is largely in its infancy. We are on the verge of change. What is necessary now may become an accepted and permanent change in the years ahead.

The pharmaceutical industry has been looking for ways to lower costs and reach more customers for years. A mixture of innovative digital approaches combined with in-person calls could move the industry needle toward greater efficiency and impact.

Through vision, determination and the daily grit to rise above the obstacles that confront us, you and your sales team may well change the sales model forever. Staying at home doesn’t mean stuck at home, it means seeing possibilities from no matter where you sit.

 

Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Motivational Keynote Speaker is booking appointments for in-person and virtual meetings and events. Contact Scott today through this website today or call: (520) 548-1169

Scott Burrows, Medical Device Sales Speaker on Managing Change

Medical Device Sales Customers Need You, Are You Determined to ‘See’ Them?

 

How is your Medical Device Sales team managing change in these times of COVID-19? Are you succeeding or have you given up? Your customers need you more than ever, are you determined to see them? Or have you written them off?

“But I can’t ‘see’ them Scott, everything has changed.”

Have things really changed, or has your selling mindset changed? It is serious question every pharmaceutical salesperson can only answer for one person: themselves.

Change Does Not Mean Defeat

We are living in a time of change and upheaval. But as a pharmaceutical sales professional, you need to harness the negatives into positives. There is no choice. Do you have vision to see yourself succeed? If not, then why not?

Not long ago, inc. magazine published an insightful article entitled: “7 Reasons Sales Pros Fail.” You might be surprised at the observations; they aren’t reasons wrapped in technical jargon or mystery. The author found that failing sales people have no sense of urgency; they possess a negative attitude; have a poor work ethic and most disturbing, they don’t believe in themselves.

The pandemic, being forced to sell remotely or socially-distanced, is not the first-time Medical Device sales teams have faced adversity. The industry has succeeded during The Great Depression, worldwide conflicts, recessions, inflation, mergers, acquisitions, new technologies, natural disasters, man-made disasters and other tragedies.

If sales teams are fearful of their abilities, lack confidence, are disorganized or have negative attitudes, why would a purchasing agent, administrator, healthcare professional or office manager have confidence in the product or those behind it?

Change is hard and times are tough, but they are even tougher on your customers. They need you. Have that sense of urgency and all of the customer service that goes with it; out-hustle the competition; make a positive work ethic your daily mission; and believe in yourself.

Congratulate Yourself

No matter how defeated you may feel at the moment, congratulate yourself. Failure is a part of making progress. Failure means you haven’t given up.

Before my accident, I was a competitive martial artist and Division-I football player. I measured my progress not by wins and losses (that was later) but how my conditioning, speed, strength, reflexes and mental toughness were improving.

I did not win in the ring or will myself out of a hospital bed because I am super-human, but I had a vision of getting better every day, and I had the determination to succeed and the daily grit to see it through.

In this time of COVID-19, your customers need all of the support they can get. Go the extra mile to give them information beyond what they can read online. Be creative in how you reach out and meet their needs. They need you. Be there for them.

Engage your customers with all of the technology at your disposal and keep in mind that out-hustling the competition will pay dividends.

Change brings good times and bad to the Medical Device industry. The most successful salespeople are change-proof. And remember that with hard work, whatever you lack, you can gain.

 

 

To book Scott Burrows, International Medical Device Sales Speaker on Managing Change, for a virtual or in-person sales meeting, contact us through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Overcoming Healthcare Challenges Speaker

The Biggest Healthcare Challenges Are Found in Us

 

It is impossible to say how many times I’ve delivered keynote speeches on Healthcare Challenges when an audience member might ask, “Scott, have you ever seen a greater healthcare challenge than the one we face?” Invariably, they are referring to a specific disease or a set of government regulations.

While I’m as concerned as anyone else about a disease outbreak or a set of government regulations, those issues are transient and they will get solved. What is often the bane of a healthcare system are those who lack vision, the determination to correct problems and the grit to pull together each day, every day.

A Quick Review of Longstanding Challenges

To illustrate the point above, I will review the major healthcare challenges as outlined by three top-notch organizations. Managed Healthcare Executive magazine lists those challenges as: the need for costs and transparency; improving consumer experience; delivery system transformation; data and analysis; consumer data access; and holistic individual health. Healthcare Success lists the challenges as: changing consumer behaviors; HIPAA marketing limitations; underinvestment in the healthcare market; reviews of doctors from online sources; and the overall product. Finally, Becker’s Hospital Review lists: controlling hospital costs; healthcare regulatory challenges; medical and technological advancement challenges; training and education challenges; and ethical challenges.

When comparisons are made with these and many other sources I gathered, what strikes me are the similarities. In fact, each list of challenges can be easily condensed to five or six common items.

Those with vision should anticipate the need for transparency, changing consumer patterns, and training and education. Those who are determined to overcome healthcare challenges will get ahead of healthcare regulatory challenges, HIPAA marketing limitations, and streamlining data and analysis. Healthcare professionals who develop the grit to overcome what is ahead will confront ethical challenges, improving the overall product and improving customer service.

Nothing that Can’t Be Accomplished

When I was recovering from my terrible accident, relatives, friends, teammates and hospital staff routinely visited or offered care. I was grateful for every one of them. However, I quickly learned that their opinions ranged from “Scott, don’t expect too much” to “Scott, you’ll be playing professional football before you know it.”

I realized that opinions, no matter how well meaning, were external to my situation. It was in rehab where I developed my philosophy of vision, determination and grit. I bring up this point as illustration of the larger healthcare challenges our industry faces.

We can all opine at industry meetings about continuing staff training and educational challenges, or how marketing will be increasingly affected by HIPAA issues. But there must be a plan in place whether a large clinic, pharmaceutical company or major teaching hospital. More specifically, the plan must include a vision as to how the challenges will be met, a determined effort to implement every step to overcome those challenges, and the grit to get it done.

I recovered beyond expectations not because I am special, but because I realized to overcome challenges, we must strive to be exceptional. Healthcare’s biggest challenges are in us, but you would be amazed just how good we can be.

 

To book Scott Burrows, Motivational Healthcare Change Management Speaker for your next industry meeting contact us through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

 

Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Motivational & Marketing Speaker

The 2020 Changes are Here, Are You Ready?

As I frequently speak to groups in the pharmaceutical industry about the sales and marketing outlook for 2020 and beyond, a question I frequently ask attendees is if they have the determination to meet the challenges and the vision to see themselves as being successful. On top of those two factors, I ask are they willing to have the daily grit to reach their goals?

2020 Will Not Be Easy

The pharmaceutical industry is changing. Despite the fact that the economy is strong, some of the projected 2020 changes that pharmaceutical sales and marketing people will face must be fully understood but more than that, included in every organizational plan.

PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwC Global) recently released their outlook for the future of the industry. I would like to paraphrase or quote a number of important points, then view them in light of determination, vision and grit.

  • The experts warn that sales forces will be smaller, “agile,” and smarter. With that, “Companies will need to demonstrate that their brand adds value to patients and they will have to offer a package of products and health services that the market not only wants and needs but is willing to pay a premium for.”
  • “Healthcare policy makers and payers are increasingly mandating what doctors can prescribe.”
  • We can expect that government agencies around the world will expand their focus on disease prevention, with less focus on treatment.
  • We must acknowledge the “interdependence of the payer, provider and pharmaceutical value chains,” and to that end adopt more flexible pricing models, invest in medicines the market truly needs, and offer greater support services.
  • “Create cultures that are suitable for marketing specialist healthcare packages.”

These trends will “encourage” marketing and sales reps to become more knowledge-based, more professional and much more proactive in pushing for true innovation and value.

Business as Usual? Hardly.

European-based BlueNovius B.V., a healthcare education service, recently reviewed the many reasons why PCPs are now refusing to see pharmaceutical sales and marketing people. We have to understand that on an annual average, the average PCP is inundated with about 2,800 inquiries for presentations. It has been estimated that about 80 percent of the time PCPs can find what they need by going on-line. They feel no need to return to the traditional way of doing things.

Relating to the points that PwC addressed above, it is obvious that even with brands that truly add value, if the sales or marketing representative is not determined to make a difference, the most innovative products can fail.

States BlueNovius B.V., “The most effective way of ensuring your sales reps go through physicians’ doors is by offering physicians exactly what they need, instead of bombarding them with canned presentations offering the same data that they’re already aware about.”

Unless marketers and sales representatives offer real knowledge, greater support services and bring a culture of partnership rather than hype, the outcomes for the most promising of products could be lackluster.

Within that framework, who are you? Is your vision one of failure or success, and do you have the grit to ensure that you will make a difference?

 

To contact Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Motivational & Marketing Speaker, contact his office today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Change Management Speaker for the Healthcare Industry

Sweeping Changes Come to Healthcare in 2020: Is Your Practice Ready?

In my role as a healthcare change management speaker, I often speak about how the year 2020 foreshadows an acceleration of change to many group practices. I am particularly interested in the ACOs, or accountable care organizations.

In the strictest definition, “ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients.”

We all know it is much more than that. It reflects a commitment to greater synchronized care and avoidance of duplication of efforts. Ultimately the ACO reflects a determination to prevent medical errors.

In his look-ahead for the healthcare industry (“Top 10 Health Care Industry Predictions For The Year 2020”), Sachin Jain, Forbes magazine, May 2019, states: “The balance of power will begin to shift from hospital systems back to physician groups. All around the country, physician groups who face acquisition by hospital systems are looking for an alternative…within specific specialties, such as oncology and cardiology, private equity companies are beginning to roll up provider groups to drive performance, negotiate more favorable contracts, and leverage purchasing power.”

Naturally, the formation of ACOs, while ultimately enabling patients to receive high-quality care, are not without their challenges. Change brings new processes to the office along with new technologies. The use of contractors to create ACOs within practices is hardly done for free. The venture-backed companies demand a return on their investment in your practice as well.

The Broader Picture

The year ahead is obviously not about ACOs alone. We can all expect to see several other trends intensify this year. One important change is a continuing shift back to home-based care as an alternative to expensive hospital stays.

For example, Lauren Hardin, MSN, RN, writing for JAMA (August 13, 2019), talks of an expanded use of RNs, paramedics and EMTs to evaluate patients on an in-home demand-basis. Hardin illustrated this by offering an example in Louisiana:

“In Louisiana, for example, a new service…allows patients and their families to quickly request health care in their homes through the use of an app—much like an Uber app—that connects them to an on-demand network of nurses, EMTs, and paramedics. They also follow patients with complex health and social needs in their homes to prevent emergencies and hospitalizations.”

This shift, in turn, will force changes in the way responders are being reimbursed but overall the advantage is greater patient comfort and decreased anxiety. Overall, it lowers the burden on the medical system.

Experts also predict that in 2020, there will be an ever-greater interest on the part of the public to examine the behaviors of the healthcare industry. Certainly, the exposing of the practices in some of the more nefarious pricing behaviors of the pharmaceutical industry, plus the debates over the Affordable Care Act, clearly signaled a new era in healthcare consumerism.  There is a shift, though perhaps decades late, that is similar to the consumer shift from buyer beware to seller beware. Anyone who has ever used Amazon.com or Yelp.com will understand the new power of the consumer.

In 2020, it will take the determination of the healthcare industry to address the shifts in front of them and the vision to respond to the challenges. No organization, hospital or practice will be able to avoid the new trends. Those who have the daily grit to address the needed changes will be the major winners.

 

 

To hire Scott Burrows, Healthcare Industry Motivational and Change Management Speaker for your next meeting, connect with his office today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

 

Scott Burrows, Motivational Pharmaceutical Sales Speaker

Having the GRIT to Fight for Market Share in the Medical Device Market

 

After an automobile accident left me a quadriplegic, I was determined to overcome adversity and succeed despite the odds. After an intense period of overcoming my physical challenges, I put this same mindset and grit into action as I entered the Insurance and Financial Industry. Within five years, I was awarded membership in the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) as a top producer for commission-driven sales. From there I realized I could accomplish anything I had the vision to undertake. Today, I am honored to bring my message of vision, determination and grit around the globe as a motivational keynote sales speaker for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

Companies are like people

In its MedTech Dive report (December 14, 2018), Moody’s projected a positive 2019 outlook for the medical device industry. Moody’s estimates a growth of between 4.5% and 5.5% with sales in emerging markets expected to grow into the double digits.

In 2016, the medical device industry was valued at about $148 billion and has exploded to $173 billion this year. Of the 6,500 companies in the industry, about 80% have 50 or fewer employees. Does this growth mean that medical device companies can afford to be complacent? Hardly. Unless companies innovate quickly, they could get pushed aside.

Before I was involved in my accident, I was a martial artist and Division-1 football player. I took my health for granted. In an industry showing healthy growth, it is also easy to take continuing success as an unquestioned fact.

Despite the optimism, medical device industry experts point to several warning signs on the horizon. The experts warn that companies must anticipate new FDA regulations which demand greater accountability, higher performance standards, more complex rules for reimbursements, and an ever-increasing competitive outlook. In one way or another, every one of those 6,500 companies are out to take a piece of market share. It will take increasing determination for companies to separate themselves from their competition.

Does your company have the GRIT?

In February 2019, the Strategic Information Group, a medical consulting firm, reported on the medical device industry. The firm pointed out that the market dynamics of the industry are in constant change. Companies must strive to reduce costs and streamline operations.  There are device companies around the world constantly looking to capitalize on markets and leverage partnerships to their advantage.

Medical device companies must have the grit to innovate and to understand what makes them unique. They must overcome change and the adversity of competition, regulations and an ever-complex reimbursement structure.

However, companies aren’t just like people, they are people. Everyone on the team must rise up from complacency and never assume that the rules for success don’t apply to them.  Companies are exceptional because each employee on the team makes them exceptional.

Whether the medical device company has less than 50 employees or more than 5,000, the challenge is to possess a David versus Goliath mentality, to never give up, and to overcome the hidden challenges.

 

Contact Scott Burrows, Medical Device Industry Motivational Speaker through this website or call us at: (520) 548-1169

 

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