Recently at an internal company event, I had the opportunity to hear a keynote speech from Sarah Furness, a former combat helicopter pilot for the British army.
Her presentation was very impressive, and there were a lot of takeaways to think about. One that resonated with me especially was in a crisis in the pilot’s seat, she talked about “…just flying the plane…” which was a message around in times of stress and anxiety- focusing on the most basic important operation you can do, and are trained to do.
While there is a lot to unpack personally around this concept, I believe that applying that in our industry, it means with all the noise of channel management, digital, consolidation and so on, it still comes down to the relationship between a veterinarian and a company, and more specifically the salesperson managing that relationship to its best outcome.
Our research at Brakke on sales force effectiveness demonstrates that ‘trust’ is the most important aspect when choosing a supplier.
In my view, ‘just fly the plane” means just manage the basic relationship with veterinarians in a good way, and good things will happen.
Paul Casady, Senior Consultant
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