Unlocking Potential: Empowering Market Access Teams in the Specialty Care Sector

In my role as Head of Account Management at Sanofi Specialty Care Market Access (SCMA) West, I am responsible for access across different channels both at a National and Regional level including Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal.?

One of my key learnings from over 25 years in the industry is that building individual skills, empowering team development, and fostering relationships with different audiences is an essential ingredient for success in the market access environment.?

While adopting digital innovation and AI technology is a huge priority for SCMA – and rightly so - we will never de-prioritize investing in our teams to unlock their career potential and deliver the best service and experience for our customers. There are several ways in which I, and other leaders within Sanofi, foster a culture that empowers market access teams in the Specialty Care Sector:?

Emphasizing two-way engagement with customers

Within SCMA accounts, all team members are encouraged to engage with internal and external customers gaining a deep understanding of their business, priorities, and how we can best serve the patients that benefit from our therapies.?

We encourage team members to not focus solely on the immediate task at hand, but to consider the wider objectives our customers are working towards, and how our science, data, and solutions can support them.?

Over time, this builds trust with the client based on the understanding that we know their business objectives, actively listen to their needs, and adapt to meet them. The old adage goes that ‘trust is hard earned but easily lost’, so we never rest on our laurels, even with regard to our longest standing and closest relationships.?

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Fostering improvement through constructive feedback and skills development

At Sanofi, I am really proud of the way we approach team, and individual, evaluation and the manner in which we have instilled an ethos and a process that encourages constructive, honest feedback.

This is underpinned by our ‘Play to Win’ philosophy which keeps us focused on high performance and continued professional development. As part of our drive to be better for customers, and the people we serve, we understand that high performance doesn’t happen in a vacuum or simply by throwing metrics at an issue.?

Instead, across SCMA we identify ‘what good looks like’, and the behaviors and skills that help us to get there. We understand that these skills may not be inherent to everyone, and that they all require some degree of cultivation, which is why our process starts with a self-evaluation followed by feedback from co-workers. The collective understanding that any area or issue identified for improvement is an opportunity for growth helps us proactively drive forward our personal and team action plans.?

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Working sustainably and prioritizing team wellness

The COVID pandemic was a seismic period for so many reasons, including a significant adjustment in how we work together and deliver outputs.

Sanofi has embraced positive changes such as improved efficiency, and ability to work remotely through technology, while being aware of the challenges that this can also bring, such as less frequent connection between teams or screen burnout and fatigue. While wellbeing has always been important, we have accelerated this through extensive resources, and by making it a priority during regular check-ins.?

I have personally developed several habits to better manage my time and workload, so that I can invest in the activities that recharge me outside of work, like making the most of the California outdoors with an early morning walk, cooking with family, or an occasional round of golf.

An important aspect of leadership, that I do not overlook, is to showcase the behavior that we encourage others to adopt. This is why I take the time to share examples – demonstrating that these behaviors are not just abstract principles, or ‘nice to haves’, but rather fundamental habits to delivering a sustainable, high-quality offer.