Remember the children’s storybook Goldilocks and the Three Bears? Goldilocks went for a walk in the forest and found a cabin. Her curiosity got the best of her, so she entered…
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Training sales reps at life sciences organizations has grown more complex than ever before. Despite geographically dispersed sales teams and shrinking budgets, there’s still an increased demand for performance coaching….
I have two awesome kids; Kyle is seven and Sophia is five. Our entire extended family lives out of town, so road trips are a common occurrence. Generally speaking, the…
Are you trying to redesign your sales training to prepare for a growing millennial workforce? Be careful what assumptions you make … because there’s more to this generation than meets…
For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, the definition of a signature barely changed. Individuals used a paintbrush, a pen or similar implement to uniquely apply their names to tablets,…
The pharma industry’s move toward patient centricity presents a number of challenges and opportunities. More often, sales reps, while having the patient “in mind,” are still largely driven by other…
Most life science and medical device sales professionals will tell you they are working within a new normal these days. The products they sell grow increasingly complicated. Customers are savvier…
Five minutes. That’s how much time your seller has in the waiting room before their next appointment. Have you trained your team to make the most of those five minutes?…
No one should be arguing against increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Strategically, ethically and financially it makes sense that organizations can benefit from being diverse. The return on…
If you’ve looked at this year’s 45th LTEN Annual Conference agenda, you may have been surprised to see a new training track designed for GxP, quality, R&D, medical affairs, regulatory and…
Most of the tests we give in the life sciences are mastery exams. We set a passing score and treat the learners' outcomes as either pass or fail. If they...
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Gotta Tell You… When creating training for Bayer’s new global selling approach, we piloted uncut versions with the training team. They provided feedback to make it more “real world” and have…
We’ve all been part of training sessions that were so boring we found ourselves checking the clock every five minutes and struggling to stay awake. So why would we put…
Stakeholder engagement is the foundation of any effective development process. Communicating and aligning with those who will participate and those who will benefit directly or indirectly enables you to build…
Choosing learning technologies for field-based training can quickly become a daunting task, so I put together a short list of my top picks (both electronic and non-electronic) to help you…
When the topic of sales training comes up in many training staff meetings, it can be a minefield. I know from my days directing training for a large orthopedic company…
The launch of a highly anticipated product is an exciting time for both the brand and the partner agency. But it is also, of course, a highly pressurized time where…
As trainers, you know the importance of diversity better than many business professionals. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a diverse, trained and cohesive…
The days of the pharmaceutical detail are over. Gone are the days of the hand shake, dropping off a few samples and pens, delivering a quick product message while a…
“The first step in helping another person’s ability to achieve is to help them believe they can.” —John Maxwell Successful leaders ask themselves two questions: • Am I developing my…
Sales managers in the life sciences industry are miles ahead of sales managers in any other industry because of the field visit process. Some industries don’t even have field rides…
Take a moment and think back on everything you’ve ever learned. Which lessons stick out in your mind? Chances are the most memorable are the lessons that you connect to…
The future success of life sciences companies depends on quality leaders with the knowledge of what it takes to bring new products to a heavily regulated global market. Unfortunately, many…
I spent 20 years as CEO of a testing company, so I had lots of opportunity to get a very good sense of how our life science clients were using...
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I met my daughter’s new teacher today. And in one minute I knew it was going to be a good year. It made me think, “What makes people like you…
“It used be the wild west in the beginning,” a friend and recently retired medical technology sales leader said when he described the early days of selling medical technologies. He…
The new indication for your product is launched! You have been living in a hotel for days, teaching and motivating your sales force. All but a handful passed their certification…
As we all know, over the past decade much of our training has transitioned from print to e-learning. And, to state the obvious, there are many advantages e-learning has over…
In order to continually improve our learning & development designs and deployments, we frequently look to successful participants, members of our team or the industry to try to understand what…
The rep-less medical device sales model has gotten a lot of focus recently. In recent years, numerous device manufactures have announced creating new rep-less models. A lot of the press…
In our experience, the most successful leaders share many of the same characteristics. They possess superior communication and organizational skills, confidence and an ability to delegate — strengths necessary to…
Learning and development (L&D) has the potential to significantly contribute to your organization’s results. What steps are you taking to maximize your impact? Here are four for your consideration. First,…
Very few of us work as individuals. For the most part we work as a part of formal or informal teams, with team members often changing based upon the particular...
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When LTEN members come together, the conversation is always interesting. At this year’s 44th LTEN Annual Conference, lively conversations centered around such leading-edge issues as onboarding and technology; managing social…
Since the big LTEN rebrand at last year’s conference (then known as the SPBT Annual Conference), LTEN Board of Directors, Advisory Council, Preferred Industry Partners and staff have looked for…
Do you remember the last time you started a new job? It was exciting and stressful. Trying to login to your computer, remember new names and understand what your job…
“Don’t be the book,” my mentor, colleague and former boss, Dick Scott, would always say at the beginning of a week-long, global leadership program that we would facilitate. This phrase…
I think the greatest challenge we face in the Learning & Development (L&D) world is whether the audience we design and deliver content for actually use the learning in the…
The basic principles required to build a Super Team apply equally in the world of sports and business. Professional baseball players have just begun their regular season. Are you ready…
These days, I find myself reflecting upon the early days of a 32-year career at Eli Lilly and Company. I recall my first weeks on the job after being hired…
When thinking of the importance of behavior change for sales representatives in life sciences, one quote comes to mind: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where…
Most managers realize the significance of engaging with their employees in development conversations, which hopefully occur throughout the year, and not only at the annual performance review. But which development…
You’ve no doubt heard this quote before: “Your network is your net worth.” It’s a true sentiment of the business world in general, and life sciences in particular. Connections with…
You’ve heard the mantra: Execution is the key to sales strategy. Sales reps are the face to healthcare providers, and the last mile to achieving your revenue targets and growth…
Life sciences companies do not do research & development like everyone else. With longer innovation cycles, several well-defined layers of regulatory approval and various global hurdles to overcome, patent volumes…
Training leaders are in the business of changing people’s minds. And while training professionals might know how to “train” leadership, they often struggle with the subtleties themselves. Case in point:…
