Medical Devices sector and the selling skills gap

Why is it happening and what can sales leaders do to turn things round?

In 2018 Huthwaite International surveyed 300 sales leaders in the European Medical Devices sector. The aim was to identify the sales challenges they are facing and crucially the strategies they are putting in place to overcome them.

One key finding was that across Europe, there is a collective feeling that existing sales techniques simply aren’t as effective as they once were.

Respondents were asked what their own biggest challenges were when it comes to selling in the Medical Devices sector today and what the biggest challenges are likely to be in the next 10 years. Across both question tiers, the most pressing issue raised was not about being squeezed on price or struggling to keep up with advancing technology – though these issues did feature – but rather professionals’ existing selling skills not being as effective as they once were.

The selling skills gap

When examining the data on a country-by-country basis, we see some interesting trends emerging. The UK emerges top when it comes to the country most likely to rate ineffective selling skills as a challenge, closely followed by Belgium, and France. Conversely, the Netherlands – of all the countries questioned – is least likely to rate its selling skills as ineffective. However, when we examine forecasts over the next 10 years, it is Switzerland that comes above all other countries when it comes to lack of confidence in selling techniques, while France least likely to rate its selling skills as ineffective.

While the aforementioned issue tackles the effectiveness of existing selling skills, the sentiment is supported by a subsequent question in the study which explores the actual selling skills possessed by sales people in an organisation, specifically, whether sales teams have the relevant skills required to excel in the first place.

Relevant selling skills

The results present a mixed bag. While there is some confidence towards current skill sets -  24% strongly agreed they, and their teams had the necessary skills to address the challenges posed by today’s market – the vast majority (63%) – were less certain, somewhat agreeing or rating themselves as ‘unsure’ on the issue. Breaking the data down further on a country-by-country basis we see some interesting trends; with Belgium and Germany ranking most confident when it comes to possessing the required skills to excel. Conversely, France and the Netherlands emerge as least confident.

This perceived lack of relevant skills, as well as ineffectiveness of legacy selling skills comes with consequences, namely shrinking market share and lost revenue. Respondents were explicitly asked for their top reasons for sales failing. While pricing ranked highest, coming second was an inability to address a buyers’ concerns, followed by the seller’s inability to future proof their offering / adapt to changing market, and poor articulation of value to the DMU.

Addressing the selling skills gap

The majority of respondents admitted their organisation was actively addressing the challenges posed by the current market by first and foremost investing in sales training, followed by introducing more innovative commercial models, and finally, by focusing more proactively on addressing buyer’s concerns.

One thing is clear; the market is advancing at such a rate, that existing skill sets are struggling to keep up. This makes sense when you consider that sales teams – historically at least – have largely failed to train and upskill their teams. However, we are perhaps seeing a change in attitude as companies now recognise the need to invest in training in order to remain competitive into the future. Whether they invest in the right kind of training, however, remains to be seen.