Is Sales Training Really Needed in the Lab Industry?

For those in upper management who are responsible for the organic growth of their lab, an interesting question to ask is, “Do you think your sales staff should undergo occasional sales training?” One could say that without trained salespeople, business growth devolves to serendipity. Additionally, lack of continuous training could potentially jeopardize the lab’s reputation in the community.

The above training question has yielded diverse answers. Some managers and lab owners understand the importance of having periodic sales “tune-ups.” But on the other side of the coin comes a grumbling comment Ebenezer Scrooge might well have said: “Bah-humbug. My reps had sales training with their previous employer. Once is sufficient.” Or, “They have lots of industry experience. They know what they’re doing. There’s no need to spend precious time and money on instruction.”

Experience isn’t everything

Of the many commercial labs and hospital lab outreach supervisors spoken to over the past 15 years, a few said they occasionally provide some type of sales training to sharpen their reps’ tools. The other responses are something akin to Mr. Scrooge’s comments (minus the “bah-humbug” colloquialism). Undeniably, industry familiarity remains helpful when marketing lab services, but it raises the question: Does experience equal aptitude? Not universally. To this point, John Wooden, the well-known UCLA basketball coach, once said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

What sort of training do you need and when?

Let’s assume lab management recognizes the significance of ongoing sales development. It’s necessary to first define the term “sales development,” because it crosses divergent paths:

1. Industry-related (e.g., addition of new tests to the menu, methodology changes, transport supplies, billing, connectivity updates, medical society announcements, compliance, competition review, etc.).
2. Sales-related (e.g., sales strategy, solution selling, insight selling, closing, how to build effective client relationships, overcoming objections, territory management, etc.).

Labs give an orientation to new employees in the first few days of employment. Contrary to this onboarding education, management may either ignore strategic and tactical sales instruction or delay its implementation. After all, doesn’t this new employee already arrive with golden, hard-wired sales techniques? Some lab leaders, however, understand the value of providing an important sales curriculum. Such instruction immediately sets sales behavior expectations, which could be different from the new sales rep’s former modus operandi.

As far as frequency of training, nationally regarded sales experts recommend annual strategy and tactics review. Additional subjects incorporate updated competitive strengths and weaknesses, how to maximize client relationships, objection handling, and territory management.

Today, many professions—financial planners, lawyers, healthcare providers, etc.—have mandatory continuing education. In these fields, it became obvious that, without such ongoing education, people grew “rusty,” and lacked the necessary information to maintain their professional status. Why should the sales profession be treated any differently? Advancing representative skills equates to an ongoing process. One cannot expect perfection by attending a single class or having a quick discussion. It’s far better to practice with peers in a safe environment as opposed to inelegantly fumbling around in front of prospects.

Who should perform sales training for the lab?

Large commercial labs usually have their own training department due to the number of salespeople in their organization. However, many smaller labs and hospitals with active lab outreach programs, understandably, do not. Unfortunately, they expect their representatives to intuitively discover improved sales techniques on their own using trial and error.

Lab vendors (reagent and analyzer manufacturers, IT connectivity companies, etc.) may be a resource for educating on certain industry topics. For sales instruction, a qualified employee or manager can accept the training responsibility, or the lab can seek an outside consultant familiar with the industry.

It needs mentioning that well-known national sales training programs offer very good selling concepts; however, the instructors (typically) are unfamiliar with lab intricacies, the important strategic background questions to ask, and lab nomenclature. Lab reps force themselves to contextualize the material within their own framework. This difficulty of information transfer is why a generic trainer tends to make learning more challenging. If an instructor understands the testing referral business and shares relatable real-life experiences, the listener can easily follow and appreciate the discussions more efficiently.

The importance of coaching

To produce lasting gains in sales performance, there’s no substitute for practice, repetition, and reinforcement. But practice does not equal excellence unless someone gives appropriate feedback. If you hit golf balls on a practice course for an hour, there stands a strong likelihood you could do something a little better with your stance, grip, or swing. The trouble is, we can’t see ourselves, and, even if we could, we may not be knowledgeable enough to diagnose what’s happening. When selling lab services, having an experienced manager occasionally co-ride with a rep is an excellent solution. If your situation offers no internal coaching resource, hiring an outside expert for co-rides (or, at a minimum, to supply consultative phone calls) can provide invaluable feedback. Without it, management simply hopes and expects their field staff will progress on their own. However, hope does little to gain market superiority and is the antithesis of developing a superior sales strategy. 

It is no secret that education costs money—but ignorance can cost a lot more. Most lab managers agree that sales training is a good investment opportunity. When done properly, even stingy Mr. Scrooge would not need three ghosts to convince him that tutoring salespeople capitalizes on a company’s greatest hidden asset: The untapped potential of its sales force.