Growing Customers’ Businesses Through Consultative Partnerships

Case Study

Growing Customers’ Businesses Through Consultative Partnerships

June 24, 2020

U.S. Division of a Global Medical Products Distributor

A medical products distributor achieved breakthrough growth by shifting from transactional to consultative selling.

COMPETITIVE CHALLENGES

Shrinking profit margins due to commoditization and competition for online sales
Decreasing sales opportunities due to medical practice consolidation and selection of single suppliers

STRATEGY

Supplement basic product sales with significant revenue growth from complex, higher-margin products, differentiated practice management consulting services, and technology solutions. This required:

Increased sales of basic products to current customers
Expanded sales of complex products and value-added services
Elevated sales force productivity with a larger customer database

BARRIERS TO DELIVER STRATEGY

Transactional sales model focused on taking product orders
Lack of differentiation among competitors
No shared accountability for growth beyond individual sales quotas
A multi-generational sales force operating in a fragmented and independent manner

SOLUTION

A senior East Coast sales leader selected the Breakthrough Course Online^® as the centerpiece of an initiative to change the sales culture into an environment capable of producing breakthrough results.

Sales leaders completed the course to accomplish three main objectives:

Shift from transactional, product-based sales to a consultative selling approach
Differentiate the company through consulting that helped customers grow their businesses
Change mindsets and sales practices from meeting individual product-based quotas to having individual and shared accountability for overall sales growth

THE RESULTS

The sales force achieved impressive results by building consultative client relationships and increasing accountability for overall sales growth:

Three zones generated best-in-class conversion rates with more than 1,200 referrals, 374 business reviews and 63 new consulting agreements
The new consulting agreements generated approximately $3.8 million in revenue (a 300 times ROI on the cost of the Breakthrough Course Online initiative). The agreements would not have happened without the new consultative mindset.
The East Coast sales leader was promoted to senior sales director. His role was expanded to oversee sales throughout the Eastern half of the U.S.

Based on this success, the company standardized the consultative mindset and sales approach to achieve breakthrough performance throughout its North American sales force.