How Mindray Prepares its On-the-Go Sales Team During the Pandemic

Challenge:

For the sales team at Mindray, a medical device provider, keeping sellers up to date on the latest product information and providing easy access to snackable training and content are huge priorities. Not only do reps typically spend most of their time on the road or in waiting rooms, but the COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasized the need to deliver quick, accurate information out to the field.

Previously, Mindray didn’t have a consistent process for creating content and relied heavily on in-person onboarding and training sessions several times throughout the year. The trainings were not only costly from a travel perspective, but they didn’t include comprehensive follow-up or effective ways to reinforce learning for reps. And for any other training or content that was created outside of these sessions, Mindray had no insight into how many reps actually reviewed it or whether they understood the material and could apply it properly.

Maher Elhihi, director of marketing for Mindray’s ultrasound division, said the changing nature of reps’ routines, plus the need for insight into sales readiness, led him and his team to seek a technology solution that could better engage and prepare the entire sales force.  

Solution:

Elhihi had used Brainshark at a previous company and chose the platform for Mindray, highlighting its ease of use and single point of access for all reps’ needs.

He and his team use Brainshark to quickly create ‘shark bites;’ 3-5-minute training videos that break down complicated medical topics into consumable information. They’ve now built a library of shark bites in Brainshark, including product how-to’s, key sales messaging, sales demo information, marketing communications, customer-facing content and more.

Reps no longer have to dig through files in multiple locations; they can quickly pull up content or a training course while they’re on the road via Brainshark’s mobile app or Salesforce integration and brush up on the latest product information

The Brainshark Advantage:

Due to the pandemic, Mindray accelerated its move from in-person onboarding to a virtual approach. With the help of Brainshark, they now record and pre-assign training courses to new hires, which has helped reduce onboarding from a week to a 3-day virtual session. Elhihi and his team refer to Brainshark to validate that reps are completing and retaining the material as they should.

While Mindray reps were prohibited from visiting hospitals and healthcare centers during the crisis, they still had to figure out a way to communicate with and support customers. Elhihi and his team also relied on Brainshark to create content for customers (i.e., best practices for using Mindray products) and training videos for reps (i.e., how to demo products with customers virtually).

Moving forward, Mindray is using Brainshark to create and distribute external training for customers as well as sales training for upcoming product launches.

Readiness Triggers:

• Not producing enough sales training; relied heavily on costly, infrequent, in-person sessions
• No consistent process for creating content