How We Think

So you've built an amazing website – one that will revolutionize the world, or at least your business. A mobile-ready website that will perpetually engage users across multiple devices while creating unique brand experiences, enabling distinct dialogues and fostering relationships with your audiences.

A new report on medtech says what we've been saying all along: Tell the bigger story.

Here on Day 2 of the government shutdown, it's hard to know whether government enforcement of The Sunshine Act will be eclipsed by a delayed implementation of the entire health care reform package. But what is becoming clearer – and this too was a topic in the corridors at AdvaMed – is that medtech manufacturers will need to be able to tell their customers not only how well their products work, but how they will help customers deal with government's hunger for data and transparency requirements.

For sales reps, it might sound something like this: "Yes, doctor, of course I'd like to tell you about our new product. But I'd also like to share with you how our company is handling The Sunshine Act." Here's how we're handling post-market surveillance. Here's how we're doing everything we can to help you focus on your patient and your practice of medicine. We understand your burden and we're doing something about it.

Even that old standby, the printed sales brochure, could and perhaps should address these issues. Compliance is part of the conversation. If the customer knows your data's okay, and that theirs will be, too, then everyone's okay. An idea so old it's new.

By Rob Kinslow, Senior Strategist, Brand Communication

We medical device marketers often ask ourselves, "If we could only do one thing to improve our presence/generate leads/build sales/increase customer loyalty, and so on … what would it be?"

There are many answers to that question and they depend on myriad factors: who your company is, what its market and financial positions are, who your customers are, what their purchasing patterns are, how good your device is, how strong your data is and how effective your marketing and sales efforts already are.

But if you pinned me to the floor like my kids used to do when they wanted to use my body for a trampoline, and forced me to pick one move that could apply to any company and any device, I'd say it's this:

Make sure your customers know how you make their lives easier.

The white life, as the medical profession is sometimes called, is complicated. Surgeons' lives are especially complicated. Perhaps more so than some other medical specialties, they are under tremendous pressure to balance performance, outcomes and cost – and many are performance-driven and exhibit perfectionist tendencies, according to psychological research. This pressure takes its toll: rates of depression and thoughts of suicide among surgeons are higher than for the population as a whole, particularly among surgeons who believe they have committed a medical error.

Scheduling cases and days off can be a nightmare. Getting to decide whose products and which products you use is, in this era of doc-as-employee, no longer a given. Third-party payers and other financially minded folks who did not endure 7-plus years of grueling specialty medical training second-guess the decisions you do make. A growing portion of the day is spent on paperwork.

Against this backdrop, in strolls the medical device sales representative. What can he or she do or say that convinces the surgeon your company is part of the solution and not the problem? I can think of at least three things that would give the surgeon reason to smile:

Offer stellar pre- and post-operative patient education. Does it strike anyone else as a recipe for disaster that today's patients arrive at office visits more informed – and thus with more questions than ever – while those visits are forcibly becoming shorter and shorter? Provide the means for the surgeon to be able to point the patient to excellent educational resources and still feel like a caring caregiver. I had a hip replacement 3 months ago but only recently discovered, on my own, that the hip manufacturer offers a pedometer-type app for my iPhone, which I promptly downloaded. While not educational, it will motivate me to take my new hip out for a walk more often. And had my surgeon pointed me to it, I know I would be even more motivated than I already am to recommend him to other hip patients.

Help solve little problems. They're really big problems. Example: Sometimes the device works smoothly but the packaging doesn't. OR nurses and techs get annoyed. The same surgeon sees this occur with different crews again and again, and suddenly he's annoyed. As our firm has done for several device companies, a simple laminated card listing clear instructions on opening the device packaging goes a long way.

Simplify, simplify. Are your products easy to order and inventory? Are your customer and technical support super-easy to get hold of? Are your forms simple and intuitive? (For one diagnostic laboratory client, whenever we launch a new test, we offer medical practices a guide detailing how to fill out the new test order form.) What can you simplify?

Last: What are you already doing to help surgeons navigate their busy professional lives? How are you reminding them that you do this? What makes you easy to work with? Talk about that.

By Judy Habib, President and CEO

Marketing (yawn)...who cares?

Okay, now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Judy Habib, President and CEO of KHJ Brand Activation. After two decades of helping people and organizations see and realize what's possible for themselves and the world around them, I figure I've earned enough stripes to come out, if you will, about what really matters. And trust me, it's not marketing.

Now this may sound odd given that KHJ was privileged to acquire the highly respected Seidler Bernstein organization this past year. In fact, their MassDevice blog was called "Marketing Mavens" featuring magical meanderings from the industry-seasoned Rob Kinslow and bold insights from the big-brand world of Tod Brubaker, along with contributions from principals Jo and Kathleen.

But here's the deal. What is marketing anyway? In a less-than-awake-and-alive state, it's about putting your stuff out there so people know about it. But in the most fully-conscious state, it's about engaging, motivating, and indeed inspiring people to think or act.

KHJ and the fine folks from SBI have had great conversations, and here's where we land... brand is to marketing what the genome project is to research. It's about getting to the DNA of who you are, why you are, what you bring to the table, and why it matters to whom.

We're beyond excited about this industry. Innovation abounds. And we love playing in the Mass Device space because it is the quintessential environment of authenticity. Proof positive of that was the CEO interviews conducted at the recent Big 100 event in Irvine. There's no secret to the success of Mike Mussallem of Edwards Lifesciences, Joe Kiani of Masimo, and Scott Huennekens of Volcano. In fact, it's quite the opposite. They are the bearers of the brand promise for their respective companies. That promise lives in their vision, their leadership, their authenticity. They engage, motivate, and inspire their teams to think, to act, and to care.

Well, here's to you for caring. Every day, in every way. Choose greatness!