Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Marcus West, CEO of 60seconds.com. Marcus brings a wealth of experience and insight into the critical role of coaching for sales and medical representatives in the Life Sciences sector. Through his extensive work in leveraging technology to address industry challenges, Marcus offers unique perspectives on the importance of coaching and its impact on sales effectiveness and HCP engagement.
Karsten:
Thank you for joining us, Marcus. Your journey from drama studies to leading a coaching-focused company is intriguing. Could you delve into specific aspects of your background in drama that directly influenced the development of your coaching tool? How did your experiences in drama shape your approach to coaching in the Life Sciences sector?
Marcus:
Thanks for having me. Essentially around content and delivery: Every presenter must carefully consider what they are saying and how it is constructed. This is precisely the same as great dramatic writing – good structure, a clear character and then a suitable turn of phrase. Then there’s the matter of audience engagement – the two key aspects here are voice and body language. There is an enormous amount of detail in each of these points. William Shakespeare said that "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." A lot about acting and performance is 100% applicable to corporate and political engagement. What a person says, their choice of words and the stories they convey. Their voice and how they command the audience's attention and what their body language says about them - gesture and posture. All these core elements of drama correspond to the "real world" and the same approaches to performance enhancement can be applied to both.
I have also coached TV presenting skills for the past 20 years having worked with more than 150 presenters across six different networks. Some skills around presenting to camera are now increasingly important with the rise of remote meetings post-Covid.
Karsten:
In your experience, what are some common challenges that sales and medical representatives face when it comes to coaching in Life Sciences?
Marcus:
Being succinct and learning the art of listening. Field medical operatives have a limited time to interact with HCPs. This means they need to be better at interacting. This requires skill development. And large teams need a way to make this training a reality. Event-based training is the way to start but it’s crucial to follow up and embed.
KAMs and MSLs must have the highest level of communication skills. They are dealing in human health – it matters. This requires processes, commitment and organizational change.
As the vast majority of field reps struggle to secure a lot of time with a busy HCP, they must have sharp communication skills. If reps are too busy "presenting solutions," they will miss the opportunity to ask searching questions and understand the doctor's thinking more closely. Of course, straight after asking searching questions you must be careful to listen carefully to the HCP's response, their tone, their enthusiasm, the detail of their response. Good reps are never distracted by thoughts of what they must say or ask next, they are always providing the HCP with their undivided attention. Great sales interactions are a bit like a date. You need to listen to the other person. And don't ignore the silences - lots of interesting stuff happens in the silences!
Karsten:
How do these challenges impact the effectiveness of sales and medical-scientific interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs)?
Marcus:
The more field medical people can practise and share their approaches to core messaging the better the outcome for patients. We’re not selling crisps here – we are talking about the best possible health outcomes for patients so ensuring detail is accurate and clearly delivered is the baseline.
People in the field do not receive adequate coaching around communication skills, nor do they have a clear rubric which allows them to transparently grasp the level of their ability.
Karsten:
What strategies or approaches have you observed in the industry for addressing these coaching challenges, and how effective have they been?
Marcus:
The focus on training people in pharma has always been excellent and well-supported. The follow-up is the issue. How do you “pull through” the training so that it “sticks” and you can observe and measure meaningful change?
You need to use technology and then you must deploy and sustain it effectively. This, again, is involved.
Karsten:
Can you elaborate further on the role of technology in improving coaching practices for sales and medical representatives in the Life Sciences sector?
Marcus:
People never change through workshops. Consider Herman Ebbinghaus’s “Forgetting Curve.”. The only real learning is continuous, and technology allows that to be measurable. The challenge is that most companies lack the ability to effectively embed technology to ensure change occurs. This is a great shame because a “soupcon” or small amount on leadership with these deployments ensure a substantively improved outcome.
Coaching apps allow for more coaching touchpoints for a manager with their team members. The key aspect is that they focus on helping a manager save time and measurably improve their people or have genuine impact as a coach. A lot of time can be wasted with role play between rep and manager when the rep should be practising solo! This self-directed learning frees up the manager and improves outcomes. The accrual of skills is incremental so learning must be continuous, feedback and reflection must happen regularly but in enjoyable bite-sized chunks.
Karsten:
Could you share examples or case studies of companies that have successfully embraced coaching as part of their corporate culture and the tangible benefits they have experienced?
Marcus:
Yes. We have a range of interactions we could explore and present in some detail with user stories and also some pretty compelling data points. I think the point you make in your question on corporate culture is a crucial one. Companies cannot believe that an app will work on its own – there is change management that must be dealt with along side it. All parties from field to managers and into the leadership team must be aligned and enthusiastic
Karsten:
How can companies embed coaching into their corporate culture?
Marcus:
These three steps are, for me, a crucial sequence over three years for how a company can actually realise coaching culture:
Mindset - the most important aspect of a successful technology deployment is managing stakeholders and helping them appreciate the benefits that will come to them when they commit and engage with the process in front of them. It is not enough for them to understand the workflow of a new piece of tech, they must appreciate "the why" because the purpose will drive and fire their motivation.
Process - you have to turn up. Technology is like a gym pass - you have to go to the gym to derive the benefits. You have to commit regular time to the endeavour. And companies need to create an environment expectation. There must be push and pull - an alignment on regular, light-touch usage and regular encouragement and positivity around engagement. Regularity and consistency is its own reward.
Reflection - systems need benchmarking, they require a matrix of potential levels of performance that they can strive for. And these performance levels must be entirely transparent to empower users, not a top-down management tool. This openness and accountability will help all involved to understand "where they are at."
Illustration: Realising Coaching Culture
Karsten:
Thank you, Marcus, for sharing your valuable insights on coaching in the Life Sciences sector. I think that your expertise offers actionable advice for professionals who want to explore innovative ways of coaching their sales and medical teams.
In summary, common challenges encountered by sales and medical representatives, such as time constraints and communication skills, necessitate the cultivation of succinctness, active listening, and skill development through event-based training and ongoing support. Technology serves a crucial role in enhancing coaching practices, emphasizing continuous learning and measurable progress, along with the imperative of effective deployment and sustained utilization to drive substantial change. Embedding coaching into corporate culture requires a structured three-step approach encompassing mindset, process, and reflection, underscoring the importance of stakeholder engagement, consistent dedication to coaching initiatives, and transparent performance assessment.
Xeleratio Consulting GmbH
We help Life Sciences executives improve sales performance with innovative best-in-class Business Excellence tools and methodologies . Expertise in Business Excellence has been gained with over 12 years of working in different global and regional roles in the Life Sciences industry.
Feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss this or any other topics related to Commercial Excellence. See all articles on Xeleratio Consulting Blog
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