The global medical technology company uses Allego to cost-effectively train its sales reps as well as boost message consistency in the field. This case study is from a presentation at LTEN 2018 titled “Changing the Learning Culture at Becton Dickinson with Mobile Video Technology” by Joe Baker, Sales Development and Training Manager for Becton Dickinson.

September 2016 was the best of times and the most challenging of times for Joe Baker of Becton Dickinson.

On the plus side, Baker’s business unit was enjoying rapid growth and gearing up for two new product launches. On the minus side, “Our capabilities and support were really stretched thin,” said Baker. “At the time, it was just me and six managers supporting 55 people in the field. We were asking ourselves, ‘Are we getting the most [training] bang for our buck? How do we increase the efficiency of our training and reinforcement?’”

With these questions in mind, Baker and his team tested Allego’s sales learning and coaching platform. “We started with 80 users. We were the pilot business unit. Since then, BD’s use of Allego has grown exponentially.”

A Tale of Two Launches

But, to understand the implications of this, we’ll journey back to the first of the two new product launches when Baker and his team hadn’t yet adopted Allego.

“So we did the traditional things. We did the two-day meetings on site. We did the classroom training, with extensive role play and scoring and quizzes.”

After those two days, however, Baker and his team lacked confidence that reps were ready to sell. They questioned whether everyone digested the information and could position the product effectively. “So we blitzed. About six to eight of us went into the field for about two months to coach people for two or three day stretches. It was the right thing to do, but … it was very taxing [and expensive].”

When it came time for the second product launch, Baker and his team took a very different tack. This time, they employed a strategy of continuous sales learning and reinforcement instead of relying solely on a single classroom event supplemented by ad hoc coaching in the field.

Supported by Allego, the sales force received ongoing just-in-time access to training videos, best practice videos and AI-powered reinforcement exercises (Flash Drills) whenever and wherever they needed them.

‘We Knew They Could Articulate the Message’

“It all changed for us after we adopted Allego,” said Baker.

“We put together certification videos for our folks and sent them out, and they recertified themselves…. This time around, we knew they could articulate the message. They had the value proposition down. If they needed practice, they could do a two-minute AI Flash Drill on the knowledge and then practice in the system on video. But they had it down – and we had the metrics to prove it.

“We did Flash Drills each day to build proficiency. The team eventually achieved mastery because they had questions coming at them every day from topic areas they showed a lack of proficiency in, and we were measuring what they knew. And that’s what we needed. If I ask you about clinical evidence or anything else regarding the value prop, your response has to be as automatic as stating your birth date. These are things you want instilled in your people in order to be really impactful.”

Crowdsourced Objection Handling

Baker’s team also used Allego to develop fast and effective responses to customer objections.

“While you do anticipate some roadblocks, new ones often come up that you didn’t expect. Using Allego, we sent objections to the reps and said, ‘All right, here’s an objection. How do you handle this? Get back to us with a video.’ Leveraging this crowdsourcing technique, Baker and his team quickly developed responses that could be instantly disseminated throughout the entire sales force.

And just as Allego helped Baker speed development and transmission of objection handling, it also promotes faster and more effective communication of best practices throughout BD’s field force.

“When someone gets a close and they tell the story in a video, it’s incredible. It’s much better than a long email at the end of the day. When you’re in the field, you get a ton of email every day. It’s a much better learning experience to get best practice videos.”

In addition, “Great sales reps are constantly getting calls asking, ‘How did you do this? How did you do that?’ We’ve found that if they do a video, those calls don’t come in as often. They can say, ‘Go watch this video. It’ll tell you everything you need to know.’”

This saves them the hassle of having to talk with everyone individually, and lets them focus on doing what they do best.

‘The Quickest Math I Ever Did’

In terms of the ROI that Allego drove for Becton Dickinson, “It was the quickest math I ever did. We no longer had to go out into the field to reinforce the training, so the math was very easy.”

“Allego basically paid for itself in the first year,” said Baker.

Becton Dickinson now possesses a powerful tool to drive greater message consistency in the field at lower cost. Allego gives sales reps the means to practice in private on video before getting in front of customers so they internalize the messaging and thus enjoy freedom to remain present in the conversation at hand. Baker and his team now coach and train reps on a one-to-one basis without having to battle with scheduling and travel.