Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts will soon introduce legislation calling for a repeal of the 2.3% tax imposed on medical device manufacturers.
Read all about it here: http://fb.me/LXFxtvlb
I am so jealous of the modern student. Back in my day (which admittedly wasn’t too long ago), I had to lug around 4-5 heavy textbooks, all of which were exceeding boring and pointless as we only ever referenced maybe 10 percent of the material. If I were a student now, all I would need to carry to school is a laptop or a similar electronic device. On it I would have access to a world of knowledge. My teachers would guide me through interactive lessons designed to engage me fully in the topic at hand. I would download all the source material I needed in the form of games, online learning and applications. Continue reading →
By virtue of being salaried employees of the medical company for which they sell, direct sales reps offer certain advantages that the company’s executives will not necessarily receive from other sales approaches. These include the following:
- Direct reps devote 100% of their selling effort to a single company and its products.
- Since they are employees, maintaining control over direct sales reps is not an issue.
- Product knowledge is maximized when reps concentrate on a single line.
- Clearly representing a company rather than themselves, direct reps have high credibility among customers. Continue reading →
When a client asks you to create an e-learning course, I always ask myself, “Is training really the answer to the problem?” Of course, it might be. However, the initial meetings might uncover a process that is flawed. If we do find that e-learning is the answer, there are a few rules to remember about course development:
- State the objectives early; a learner wants to know why they need to comprehend the content.
- Be relevant to the issue; stay on task and pull from the learner’s past knowledge to create new pathways to learning.
- Make the navigation fun; use graphics that are consistent with your theme to pull the learner through sequences.
- Create ‘problems’ for the learner to solve; this creates engagement and continued interest.
- Add visual appeal that is sometimes a bit out of the ordinary; humor lightens the learning mode and adds some fun.
I have had many different kinds of jobs over the years, much like that guy on The Pretender. Not that I was raised in a quasi-government facility and trained to be a human weapon, although that would have been cool.
Anyway, each time I started a new job I was given a training manual to teach me the duties of my position. When the training period was over, and I felt that I had a good grasp of what was expected of me, I would toss the manual into the recycle bin. If there was one. If there wasn’t one, I would throw it into the regular trash. Continue reading →
Focus on the Winners, Weed Out the Duds
In the beginning, all distributors look great on paper. Unfortunately, not all of them will work out and you have to quickly determine who the winners are and focus all your attention on them. Just as important, you have to figure out who the duds are and quickly get rid of them.
Here’s how to spot the duds: They’ll demand heavy training and support upfront, but only deliver a half-hearted sales launch in their territory with a limited deployment of their team. When leads do materialize, they’ll call you to fly out and close the deal because they aren’t prepared. Those sales reps aren’t adding value and will waste your time. You have to get rid of them ASAP. Continue reading →
A medical device company I recently worked with released their e-learning program to a sales force of 240+. After reviewing it, it had the ability to put the learner to sleep in under 5 minutes! The backgrounds were pure white, filled with bullet points and hardly any graphics. What an insurance policy for a non-learning event! People who think that they can just load normal PowerPoint presentations are making a huge mistake if they want to ensure learning is taking place on-line.
Some points that should be followed are:
• Stay away from bullet points; the learner can read faster than the audio so the speaker is automatically disregarded Continue reading →
Company Name: Solta Medical
Location: Hayward, CA
Classification: Medical Device Manufacturer
Industry: Aesthetic Products, Procedures, and Services
Worldwide Sales Reps: Approx. 100
Distributors: Approx. 80
StarCast Solutions Utilized: StarCast Sales Portal, StarCast Physician Portal
Solta Medical is a worldwide leader in developing aesthetic products, procedures and services. The company has three primary products lines: Thermage, a skin tightening and body contouring procedure, Fraxel, a skin rejuvenation and skin resurfacing laser, and Isolaz, an acne treatment solution. Continue reading →
