There was a lot to learn at AdvaMed, and the CEOs Unplugged panels did not disappoint. The US President of Siemens Healthineers, David Pacitti, talked about how COVID pushed them to new strategies where Siemens Healthineers is working with the hospital C-Suite to sell medical imaging equipment such as fluoroscopy equipment, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound and CT scanners. The Siemens Healthineers 10-year plan focuses “less on the box,” the big iron, and more on the customer journey.
Less focus on the box, more on the customer journey
This caught my attention because it's unusual to hear about the C-Suite being focused on the type of capital equipment being sold beyond exercising veto power to make sure that the capital budget is not overextended in any given year. David discussed the team approach that the Siemens Healthineers sales force is using. His sales team does lead generation and have formed internal enterprise partnerships to bring in the next level of Siemens solutions partners, all former consultants with clinical training. The Siemens solutions partners jobs are to form long term strategic partnerships at the executive level and with the C-Suite at hospitals and to provide flexible, complete solutions that reduce costs, improve clinical outcomes and enhance the patient experience. Siemens solutions partners provide technology leadership with deep know-how in clinical consulting and workflow optimization that creates value beyond the Siemens Healthineers product business for individual healthcare institutions.
Is it Working?
Yes.
Siemens Healthineers is meeting their long-term sales goals and they currently have 25 of these partnerships in place. They do 5 to 7 partnerships per year. These have very different goals and KPIs and it took a long time for the management team at Siemens Healthineers to recognize these differences and adjust compensation and expectations appropriately.
“Trust is paramount,” said David. For example, they are sure to tell customers four to six weeks before a back order, to inform, not to confess. “Make your customers KPIs your KPIs.”
To be a true partner, Siemens Healthineers looks for opportunities to help their hospital partners with real issues like staffing. Staffing issues have been a critical issue in many radiology departments across the US and David said that Siemens Healthineers has become a resource by hiring 400 radiology technicians and deploying them at hospitals so they can use the equipment that Siemens Healthineers has supplied. This helps their hospital partners get new radiology technicians trained and working on imaging equipment and provides a much needed resource. In addition, Siemens Healthineers is operating MRIs and CTs remotely from their headquarters which allows them to collect and use an enormous amount of data. What better way to perform voice of the customer?
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