Implementing A Formal Selling Process Across Division of Smith & Nephew Sports Wins A Training Top 125 Award

OVERVIEW

Prior to 2017, the Smith & Nephew Sports Medicine division, with approximately 600 sales representatives, did not have a formal selling process. The combination of a complex orthopedic sales environment and a large, rapidly growing portfolio can cripple the productivity of a widely inexperienced sales force.

During an in-depth needs assessment, Smith & Nephew determined that a formalized sales process is pivotal for sustained growth by gaining and maintaining market share. The Sales Training team, along with senior sales leadership, identified Integrity Selling® as its universal sales process to up skill the front-line sales professionals and establish a common sales language for the business.

The Integrity Selling® certification process was executed for the 600 sales representatives. To gain support from sales leaders and promote a strong launch, the Sales Training team conducted pre-rollout events with managers, field support, and marketing. In these meetings, the team aligned participants on the most critical needs of the sales force through root cause discussion and identified the skills and behaviors of Smith & Nephew’s most successful reps. The team also provided an overview of the Integrity Selling® process and the training follow-up plan that would be critical for success.

The training was delivered through didactic classroom sessions and interactive practice. After the learners received education on the selling process, they were required to complete a role-play with a Training team member who used an electronic survey on an iPad to score the learner’s performance. Using the electronic survey allowed for quick viewing of results. Following the role-plays, the learners were required to complete an electronic test.

After successful completion of both parts, the sales representative was considered certified in the new process. For those who did not successfully complete both parts, remediation was provided in the form of additional education in the field. For everyone who completed the training, sales managers conducted six follow-up calls, one per week, with their sales teams to reinforce key Integrity Selling concepts. These calls were tracked by the Sales Training team.

As a result of this amazing work, in February 2018 Smith & Nephew was named to Training Magazine’s coveted Top 125 Training Organizations list.

Results

To measure the impact on sales revenue, an analysis was completed using the sales data from six months prior to the training and six months after the training. Improved customer satisfaction scores