What do you do if your medical sales team has members with different skill sets?

Based on my expereince, the first things to do is to assess clearly the skills of each individuals. The second one is to define what you need for your organisation and objectives. Based on this, it is possible to put in place an adapted action plan, on the strenght one the ones for developing by drawing on the skills of some to develop others, while at the same time highlighting the value of those who contribute. Obviously, if critical skills are lacking, training can be a solution, and so can recruiting new staff by including these skills in the specifications.

For me, this one is easy. You embrace it and leverage the strengths of your sellers so that they can get the most return for their time investment. When you are hiring a sales rep, it’s crucial that you understand where they are in the trajectory of their sales careers. You must also know their existing strengths that they will bring with them so that you can get an overall snapshot of how to best utilize them in their roles of growing the business. Embrace, educate ongoing and continue being fluid in your ability to accommodate changes when needed.

It is a wonderful thing to have diverse skill sets in a team. The first thing that I would do is to identify the strength cohorts and encourage them to sharpen them. I would also arrange for regular meetings / idea exchanges among the cohorts to enable learning and mutual respect. If possible, I would assign tasks to the people which can use their skill sets. The core idea is to encourage cross pollination of skills

Embracing the diversity of skill sets within a medical sales team is key to leveraging its full potential. Recognize and appreciate the unique strengths each member contributes, whether in scientific knowledge, relationship-building, or technological proficiency. Tailor task assignments to align with individual strengths, enhancing productivity and job satisfaction. This approach cultivates a culture of mutual respect and collaboration, where team members value each other's diverse capabilities, ultimately driving success in medical sales.

In today’s environment, it’s important to be well rounded. In the first year, a rep that is educated in one segment will need to continue honing his skills in the ones in which he is deficient. Some people can get by with working with solely with their strengths but over time, the need to be well rounded will become essential. You are always adapting in sales!

He tenido la experiencia de tener en mi equipo de trabajo personas que no son de la misma industria pero tienen excelentes destrezas de venta. El adiestramiento es clave, y este por su parte apoya y ayuda al individuo a dominar la nueva materia.

Customizing training according to individual needs is vital for a cohesive medical sales team. Identify areas where each member excels and where improvement is needed. Provide targeted training sessions, focusing on areas such as sales techniques, product knowledge, or clinical aspects, based on each member's requirements. This approach ensures that all team members are competent in various areas, enhancing adaptability and overall team performance in the dynamic medical sales environment.

Setting clear roles within your medical sales team is essential for efficiency and clarity. Assign responsibilities based on each member's expertise, allowing them to excel in their areas of strength. For instance, assign data analysis tasks to someone skilled in analytics and client presentations to a persuasive communicator. This strategic delegation optimizes individual performance and enhances teamwork, as everyone understands their role and its contribution to the team's success.

All teams have different skill sets. This is what makes them so successful. If we share how we promote products in our different ways, then we can learn from each other, adding value to our calls. This leads to better engaged HCPs and results in better managed patients.

This is the key to long term retention. Sales people by nature are incentive driven. If a sales person say they’re not, they are probably in the long line of work. Fostering growth with healthy goals and incentive driven commission will always be at the forefront. However, giving public acknowledgement for jobs well done and saying how much someone is appreciated will go a long ways with your reps and your employees in general.

Personally, what I do is tailor training and coaching and try to align this need to members on the team with best skills with those who need help. I also spend a lot of time on the needs development portion of an Annual Performance Review and really try and tailor (books, outside training, internal training, experiences) to the needs of the individual. It all begins with a two-way (the team member has to be bought in) mindset of personalized improvement helps the individual and the team achieve or exceed goals.