Why Medtech Commercial Strategies Stall and How to Fix Them

One of the most common and costly mistakes in medtech commercialization is confusing clinical buy-in with commercial buy-in. 

A surgeon who loves your device, peer-reviewed data supporting it, and a field rep with a 20-year relationship can all be in place, and the deal can still stall out completely. Why? Because the doctor is not the buyer.

I sit down with Todd Laderach, a medtech commercial strategy veteran with over two decades of experience across sales, marketing, and go-to-market leadership. Todd now runs his own firm helping device companies get life-saving products off the shelf and into the hands of clinicians, and he brings a clarity to the commercial realities of medical device selling that I think will resonate well beyond the device world.

We dig into why clinical validation is necessary but not sufficient, how to map a hospital buying committee and figure out who actually holds the yes, and how to arm your clinical champion to sell internally to stakeholders you will likely never get in front of directly. We also get into where commercial revenue gets stuck in mid to large device companies, how ABM applies in a world of complex IDN accounts, and where AI is genuinely moving the needle on account prioritization versus where it is mostly hype.

If you work in medtech or want to better understand the device commercial landscape, this one is worth your time.

Key Topics:

• "(00:00:00)" Introduction
• "(00:03:00)" Todd's background
• "(00:04:00)" The biggest shift in go-to-market
• "(00:05:00)" Why "the doctor said he'd use it tomorrow" is one of the most dangerous things to hear
• "(00:06:00)" Linking clinical benefit to economic outcome
• "(00:07:00)" Following the money
• "(00:08:00)" Arming the clinical champion
• "(00:09:00)" Anatomy of a hospital buying committee
• "(00:10:00)" Journey mapping stakeholders
• "(00:11:00)" Best practices for gathering actionable insights from sales teams and market research
• "(00:12:00)" ABM in med devices
• "(00:13:00)" The critical role of sales and marketing alignment
• "(00:15:00)" Is the field-rep-dominant model still fit for purpose?
• "(00:17:00)" Where commercial revenue actually gets stuck
• "(00:18:00)" Account prioritization
• "(00:19:00)" Breadth versus depth
• "(00:21:00)" AI in medtech commercialization
• "(00:22:00)" Using AI to make existing data actionable
• "(00:24:00)" Unlocking non-traditional data sources
• "(00:25:00)" What separates companies getting commercial strategy right
• "(00:26:00)" Four key takeaways from the conversation

If you are interested in discussing this or any other topic, let's have a chat.  Reach out to me directly to schedule a no-obligation discussion. This isn't a sales call, but rather an opportunity to talk through your questions and challenges.

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