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OnTarget - The Magazine for Healthcare sales and Marketing professionals

Ontarget Mag is the UK’s most comprehensive source of editorial for the healthcare sales industry. Via the Ontarget website, users are invited to create their own personal account, for which there is no cost. Be taking advantage of OnTarget membership, users gain access to a searchable database of over 5,000 articles. Subjects range from selling to the NHS and personal development, through to industry issues, company profiles and many more relevant topics. All material can be downloaded and used for personal or team development.

To subscribe to OnTarget Mag, please visit www.ontargetmag.com or call 0870 609 2834.
OnTarget Mag is owned and managed by Health Sector Publishing Ltd.

OnTarget Magazine articles

AllAboutMedicalSales.com has partnered with OnTarget Magazine to provide you with selected articles on a monthly basis.

Archive: 2005 | 2004

The leap from salesperson to sales manager
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 5, issue 1 2005)

Sales management has little to do with managing and everything to do with leading, teaching and coaching. Question from a reader: "What are your thoughts on taking the best salesperson and making him a sales manager?"

Cold calling. To cold call or not to cold call
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 5, issue 1 2005)

If marketing is not producing enough leads to achieve the target, cold calling in some form, becomes a necessity. Field sales people won’t make cold calls! I hear this statement or a variation on it from many managers. The reluctance seems to be universal. Even people, who have become experts at it, soon shrink from the duty if it ceases to be obligatory.

Get Inspired! 5 Steps for Building Up Your Motivation
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 5, issue 1 2005)

Ambition. Drive. Determination. Hunger. These are all words that describe why we do the things we do. There are always reasons or factors that cause us to behave in particular ways or to pursue certain activities rather than others. These underlying causes are collectively referred to as motivation: the thing that pushes us on toward a goal.

Managers & Leaders
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 5, issue 2 2005)

It is often difficult to understand the difference between managers and leaders. Do managers lead? Do leaders manage? To understand how these two concepts are distinct yet different, here are 7 ways to understand them. 1. Course and Steering. The word "leadership" comes from the Old English word "lad" for a "course". The word "management" comes from the Latin word "manus", the hand, from which we also get "maintenance" and "mainstay". Leadership guides by setting a ship's course. Management keeps a hand on the tiller.

Are you the winning kind of salesperson?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 5, issue 2 2005)

You've heard of the good, the bad and the ugly. In sales, it's the successful, the mediocre and the ne're-dowells. Not all people fit into a pigeonhole. But I believe it's important to identify your characteristics so you can improve them, as well as to understand what works. Take a look at the types of salespeople below. You'll see yourself. You'll also see salespeople like the ones you work with or compete with. Note: You may possess traits of several characters.

The Black Hole
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 9 2005)

Everyone knows that nothing escapes a black hole, no feed back, no phone calls, no orders, and no visibility. This is the black hole that yawns as you send off your proposal. All you can do is wait! A recent experience illustrates. The customer seemed clear about the purpose and was open to as much exploration as we were willing to conduct. It was a relatively small opportunity however; we invested a little time to get a fair understanding of the situation and needs. There was a clear budget and time table for reaching a decision. The response close date was driven by the holiday schedule of the people involved in the decision. One person returned from their vacation as the other departed for his. As it happened, the following week, I also took a holiday break. A week after my return, we received a polite note explaining that they had selected someone else.

What can coaching do for me?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 9 2005)

It’s a question that’s often asked. What exactly can coaching do for me? In the true tradition of coaching the answer can only arise from the question – What exactly do you want coaching to do for you? Having said that I think it’s useful to look at the benefits of coaching and to consider what we can expect to achieve.

Exhibiting Wizardry
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 9 2005)

Think ouside the box. It’s easy to only look at exhibiting from one perspective especially when you exhibit within one particular industry. Often, the best ideas come from cutting across different boundaries, for example, how could you integrate weird and wonderful potions, charms, giants, dragons, cauldrons, crystal balls and the like into a scientific or machine tool setting? Make a point of looking outside your particular situation for enchanting ideas.

Effective marketing with humour
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 8 2005)

Many of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to be funny. Advertisers use this strategy to attract customers to their product. Audiences like to be entertained, but not pitched. People will pay more attention to a humorous commercial than a factual or serious one, opening themselves up to be influenced. The key to funny advertising is assuring the humour is appropriate to both product and customer. The balance between funny and obnoxious can often be delicate; and a marketer must be certain the positive effects outweigh the negative before an advertisement can be introduced.

Listen to yourself
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 8 2005)

I believe most people are good and honest. I believe that most managers act in ways that are beneficial for their employers and their employees. I do not believe that most of us are driven to take from others regardless of the cost. Certainly there are unscrupulous people running businesses, but most managers are honest, scrupulous people.

The new way to get a referral from someone you don’t know
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 8 2005)

It is ‘who you know’ that makes a difference when it comes to the right introductions. It always has been easier to reach a person who you don’t know if someone he or she respects is prepared to make an introduction. You may have learnt that a smart networking approach is to list out all of your contacts and try to find out who they are all connected with, where their contacts work, and what they do. If you could do this, you might expand the number of people whom you can reach, through intermediaries, from a few hundred to tens or even hundreds of thousands. This is a great idea on the face of it.

Selling to current customers
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 7 2005)

Sometimes we all get so caught up in marketing our services to new customers that we forget about the easiest sell. I find myself often dwelling on how to reach new customers to broaden my customer base, when really that isn't always the best path. When you stop to think about the real goals of your company, increasing income is likely the highest. In most cases broadening your customer base is a way to get to that goal and should not be the goal itself. In this article I will show you the importance of marketing to your current and past customers.

Diagnosing performance problems
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 7 2005)

One of the toughest tasks for any manager is to determine the cause of a performance problem. Since decisions to remediate the problem will depend on the diagnosis, accurate assessment is crucial. In this article we will outline a model of factors influencing employee performance, so that you are less likely to ignore a possible source of performance deficit.

Did you know - that you had a role to play in the CE Marking of medical devices?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 7 2005)

You probably thought that the responsibility for complying with the UK Medical Device Regulations lay principally with your Company’s management through the activities of its’ Technical, Regulatory, Quality, Clinical and Production Departments. You are quite right in that understanding; however that is not the whole story. Would it surprise you to learn that you have an important role to play and a contribution to make in maintaining that compliance?

What's wrong with but?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 6 2005)

Language is one of the most important tools you have to influence someone. The most successful salespeople and persuaders use positive, active sales language that instills confidence in them and their capabilities. Here is one word that you'll want to avoid using as much as possible when you are selling and persuading.

MRSA – super bug or superstar?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 6 2005)

MRSA, or methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureusto give it its full name, has never been so popular! Working in the devices industry we may forget that we also have a part to play in controlling this evasive disease. A typical day could mean accessing clinical areas in as many as five hospitals. This has to increase the risk.

Strange job interview behaviour
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 6 2005)

Most managers have had experiences interviewing candidates for job openings. I'm sure each of you has, at one time or another, been baffled by interviewee behaviour, but we're betting you haven't faced some of the behaviours that we list below. Certainly head-scratchers, and amusing (at least to read about). Strange but true. Based on a survey published via the Internet, here are some of the odd things reported by interviewing managers:

The Risk of Being A Yes-Man
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 5 2005)

Sales is all about negotiating. You are negotiating from the first word out of your lips on a cold call, to the moment that you touch the contract with your customer's wet signature on it. Whenever you are listening to a prospect tell you about something that they want or complain about a problem that they want you to help solve, do not be too quick to agree.

NHS Performance Management - How Ready Are You?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 5 2005)

Are you confident that your staff, products and services are up to the mark, and what are you doing to ensure that in terms of risk management your company have prepared not only for today but also for a very competitive future? As the NHS (National Health Service) and health care in general has become more sophisticated, business systems to measure and evaluate performance have become part of everyday life. But how far will the health service go with the performance management process in order to improve practice and outcomes?

Managing a Sales Career
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 5 2005)

I can’t remember giving much thought to my career during the early years. All that seemed necessary was the need to do well. The benchmark that guided me was the choice and quality of the company car I got to drive. What ‘doing well’ meant didn’t seem to need explaining at the time. With the magic of hindsight, I could have managed my career better. Wherever you are in your sales career, perhaps you can benefit from the helicopter view that I have acquired.

The Extended Role of Company Representatives
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 4 2005)

Both Hospital Managers and Companies have duties under the legislation to be proactive in ensuring the safe provision and use of technology. Until the late eighties development in both Clinical/Surgical technology and instrumentation were incremental. However with the technology revolution, advances became transformational and the dependency on the companies for technical support much greater, resulting in Hospital Managers allowing medical device company representatives routine access to clinical areas in order to benefit from their expert knowledge and the product training that the companies can provide to contribute to successful patient outcomes.

Keep Kissing Frogs
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 4 2005)

Every entrepreneur worth his or her salt knows the only way to continue to expand a growing business is by identifying new growth opportunities. Yet according to a study by the Corporate Strategy Board, the failure rate of these new growth opportunities is greater than 90 percent.

Know when it's time to be tough
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 3 2005)

If you are the owner or managing director of a business, there are three steps you should take that can significantly improve the quality (and productivity) of your work force: The first is to clarify in writing what is expected of every employee. The second is to lead by example, demonstrating in everything you do that you are a person of integrity and honesty, and that you are driven to exceed the goals you set for others. [read article]

How will it go for you in 2005?
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 3 2005)

How will it go for you in 2005? Here are some predictions from my crystal ball, as well as from a bunch of people you think are hot prospects, a few irritated customers, a couple of tightwad buyers and a sales manager in a pear tree: Your phone calls won't get returned. The prospect who says "Call me Tuesday at 10 a.m. for the answer" won't be there when you call. The prospect for your most important sales meeting will call to reschedule - several months from now. [read article]

Understanding Google Adwords
(OnTarget Mag. Vol 4, issue 3 2005)

Despite being online using email since 1995, at the start of 2004 I had little idea what pay per click was and how to go about it. Days of research later, I learned that pay per click (also called ppc) was a type of search marketing where advertisers pay a set amount every time their ad was clicked by a prospect. This is known as a click thru, click through rate or ctr. The opportunity to place your ad directly in front of a prospect at the exact moment they are searching for your product or service is tremendous. Performance based advertising is not only cost efficient and effective, but it is track-able and user-friendly. The advertiser, you, in this scenario has control over the keywords that best represent your product.[read article]

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