Podcast — AoS #9: Creating a Family-Like Atmosphere with Bryan Stewart
Bryan explains how mentorship, trust and accountability form the foundation of great organizations that treat employees like family.
This podcast is an excellent listen for anyone who:
- Wonders how to create a work environment that “feels like family”.
- Believes that mentorship and trust are crucial to success.
- Wants to create better sales/marketing alignment.
- Understands that leadership sets the tone for success or failure.
- Wants to learn more about how healthcare sales works.
- Is looking for new ideas on how to motivate remote workers.
In this episode of The Art of Sales Podcast, we chat with Bryan Stewart, an Executive Healthcare Strategy Consultant at Sage Growth Partners, about how to create a work environment that feels like family… and about all the benefits that come with that.
(1:51) How Bryan made the switch from military to marketing and sales
- Leveraging mentorship to find success.
- The benefits of having equal career experience in both marketing and sales.
- How sales and marketing have evolved and changed over time.
- Discussion shifting trends in technology.
“The fundamentals are the same but the art and practice are evolving rapidly.”
(08:27) Keeping up with the changing trends in sales and marketing
- Personality types and how they relate to learning.
- Leveraging the resources of the internet to learn anything you want.
(09:58) The intersection of sales and marketing
- #1 Establish a personal relationship to determine what people are trying to accomplish.
- #2 Determine how to align these personal goals with corporate goals.
- Getting sales and marketing teams to understand each other.
“I’ve seen a lot more examples of poor sales/marketing alignment than good, and that’s often a direct reflection of leadership and culture.”
- Being purpose-driven to provide solutions.
(13:45) Relationship management is all about building trust
“People want to know how much you care before they care how much you know.”
- Wanting to invest in trust is easy to say but hard to do because everyone feels that the other people don’t know what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes.
- Looking at how the “corporate bubble” can have an effect on all of the outside offices. In other words, people in HQ office often forget to see things from perspectives of all the other employees around the globe.
(16:22) An inside look at healthcare sales
- It’s all about being #1 a professional salesperson and a lifelong student #2 an expert in your field (as much as possible) and #3 being more of a consultant than a salesperson.
“Building trust and credibility while getting to the point with a message that provides value is key.”
- Understanding the psychology of who you are talking to plays a big role.
- Selling happens outside of the OR (Operating Room)… it’s about proving your professionalism and expertise daily.
- It’s about supporting the surgeons or doctors… not about selling.
- The approach to explaining why people should switch form one product to another, especially when it may be at higher cost.
- Strategic sales vs. tactic sales or support.
- It all comes down to trust.
(26:24) Bryan’s experience both starting sales teams from scratch and leading large sales teams of 50+
- Looking at the building blocks for success.
- Hiring regional management and knowing what to look for.
- Managing geographically diverse sales teams.
- Why Bryan prefers building and leading teams.
(29:56) Sales motivation techniques and building strong culture
- The importance of building personal connections, especially with geographically diverse sales teams.
- Lessons on making people feel like a part of the team. Personal connections are very important.
- Why flexibility and remote work are the future of sales… and how to build strong connections despite the remote work atmosphere.
“It’s not just about us here in the corporate office, it’s about everyone else.”
- Leadership sets the tone for the culture of an organization.
“The culture of a company should be like a family. I firmly believe that culture rises or falls on the heartbeat of the leader and if you ignore your culture, it will catch up to you.”
- How to create a warm, fun, vibrant atmosphere.
- Taking ownership and accountability are hugely important to culture.
(41:02) The importance of having a moral compass in life
- We discussed the book True North, by Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic.
- Bryan discusses his experiences of working at Medtronic and what he appreciated most about the culture there.
- The “Medallion Ceremony” which brought in new employees and introduced them to the company’s mission/values.
- Servant leadership and paying it forward.
(46:00) Dealing with difficult employees, poor performers or bad apples
- A few views: 1) hire slow and fire quickly 2) understand that there may be deeper issues at home or elsewhere that are impacting life and perhaps they just need some help or guidance 3) counsel/encourage/train 4) ultimately only as a last resort, fire.
“If more leaders looked at organizations as a family, it would have a huge impact on the way people perceive their place in the company.”
(50:16) Mentorship and its importance in growth
- We discussed Veterati, an organization which connects transitioning military veterans with excellent mentorship and resources. Check it out and consider signing up.
- Mentorship is a 2-way street both in terms of the benefits it provides and in the responsibility to deliver.
(54:15) Closing round
- What motivates Bryan in life?
- What Brian loves about working in marketing and sales.
- Bryan’s tips for building family-like culture in organizations.
- Bryan’s top takeaways from our podcast.
Background
Leadership. Character. Results.
Bryan Stewart began his career proudly serving as a US Marine Corps infantry officer for nearly seven years. He has over two decades of health care experience and has served in commercial leadership roles in both start-up and well-established healthcare companies including Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, Biomet, Healogics, AmeriPath, and Humana.
He brings both domestic and international experience in product development and commercialization, sales, marketing and operations across diagnostics, medical devices, and healthcare services.
Bryan recently served as the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for a health services company and has now transitioned into serving as an executive healthcare strategy consultant helping healthcare companies develop, implement and sustain winning growth strategies.
Bryan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University, an MBA from Webster University, and has also completed several executive education programs from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is passionate about his family, his faith and in “paying it forward” to help others along their journey.
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