Building Competitive Immunity

Failure to understand healthcare issues from a broad perspective. In surveys we ve done over the past ten years, customers consistently identify this as the main weakness of sales and marketing professionals.
Not only do customers want sales professionals to be expert in their area of clinical focus, they want them to understand relevant issues at a higher level. So what is this higher level something? Strategy. Strategy is that something you rely on to meet your objectives and achieve your goals. Technological advances and especially the Internet allow both the clinician and non-clinical influencer easy access to product features, benefits, core messages and technical performance information. E-Details and Key Opinion Leader testimonials are routinely included on company and product-specific websites. This is the new reality in it customers are looking for something more from the sales call, something they cannot get anywhere else: expertise and guidance that only the sales professional can provide.
Personal interaction with customers is changing dramatically and sales professionals need to know how to change with it. Customers want to interact with professionals who demonstrate a larger understanding of their world and who can apply this perspective to topics relevant to their customer. In today s marketplace, sales and marketing professionals must become more relevant resources for their customers. Doing so will gain them greater access to both current customers and to higher levels of influence in their accounts. This in turn will allow them to build immunity against their competition.
How does all this happen? By being willing to stop using a purely tactical approach in sales and embrace strategy instead. How do you get there? The goal of this book is to show you this larger understanding always offers more opportunities for building a robust strategy. Chapters One through Five illustrate our approach to Building Competitive Immunity and teach you what the strategic process is and how to begin to use it. The remaining chapters introduce and apply the teachings of Sun Tzu s The Art of War. Understanding this classic and revered text on strategy will move you to an advanced level of positioning products and services strategically in the healthcare marketplace. Our intent is to be provocative in our more strategic, customer-relevant approach while also giving you ways to use it.

Tom Stovall is a founder and President of Stovall Grainger & Modleski, Inc. He spent 20 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry working in retail pharmacy, and in field sales, hospital specialty sales, as a district sales manager, and Director of Sales Training with Hoechst Pharmaceuticals (now, Sanofi Aventis). For the past 20 years, Tom has focused on training and consulting in the area of Strategic Positioning.
Tom has developed and written extensively in the area of strategy. His consulting and speaking assignments include work with the US Air Force at the Air Staff Command College, the War College, and with the Space Command Group. Tom was also invited to participate at the National Security Forum (NSF). The purpose of the NSF is to expose influential American civilians to the United States Armed Forces in order to gain an appreciation for each other's perspectives. The primary objective of the NSF is a frank and candid exchange of views on national security matters among our invited guests, Air War College students, and senior military and civilian leaders. The week is devoted to exploring the many issues that affect the current and future security of our country.
Tom has also worked outside of the healthcare arena with American Express Global Corporate Accounts, PSE&G Energy, General Electric, Xerox, Pepsi-Cola, Kodak, and has spoken at Auburn University. Tom s area of expertise reflected in his work with several healthcare provider organizations, as well as pharmaceutical, medical and diagnostic equipment, and biotech companies. His key areas of focus are in sales and marketing strategic positioning, and strategic leadership development.
Tom has written and published numerous articles on the evolution of the sales process to more of a strategic and consultative approach.
Dustin Grainger: Co-founder and Vice President of Stovall Grainger & Modleski, Inc., Dusty works and consults collaboratively on executive, general management, marketing, sales, and professional development initiatives for clients.
Dusty s experience in the healthcare sales and marketing arena is extensive. He has 25 years of leadership and accomplishment including 13 years with one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world. Dusty s experience includes retail and institutional sales, retail and institutional sales management, corporate training and development as well as Managed Care marketing.
The Managed Care, Legislative and Regulatory arenas currently drive much of the massive changes in healthcare sales and marketing. Dusty rounds out his experience with leadership positions in these important areas.
Dusty is also an alumnus of the National Security Forum at the Air War College in Montgomery. This is a one-time honor that is given to approximately 130 guests from leadership positions in the fields of business, the clergy, education, government, the law, media, and medicine.
Dusty believes strongly that resolute marketing efforts as well as the individual salesperson will continue to be vital links to the success of even the largest, most powerful companies in the marketplace. However, Dusty knows that professionals who clearly understand their customer s Critical Success Factors will achieve greater competitive advantage. With this in mind, Dusty is committed to providing consultation and developmental programs that transcend traditional, relationship based clinical features and benefits marketing and selling.