Over the past three decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with over a hundred sales organizations in life sciences and medical devices. One truth has become clear: medical sales is getting tougher. Access is harder, buying committees are larger, and the stakes are higher. And selling strategies for medical sales aren’t keeping up.

What hasn’t changed is the need for salespeople to move beyond activity for activity’s sake. To succeed, we have to sell smarter.

I recently had the chance to sit down with Samuel Adeyinka on The Medical Sales Podcast for a two-part conversation about what “smart selling” really looks like today. Those discussions inspired me to share some key strategies here—practical approaches that go beyond traditional tactics and help medical sales professionals win in this increasingly competitive environment.

Selling Beyond the Obvious Decision-Maker

Too often, deals stall because reps assume the most visible champion is the person who is willing to meet with them.  I’ve seen it countless times: a physician is supportive, the rep feels confident, but then the opportunity dies quietly in the background.

For example, I worked with a rep who built a great relationship with a surgeon who loved their product. On paper, the deal looked certain. But senior-level influencers stepped in late and chose a lower-cost competitor. Why? Because no one had taken the time to more fully engage the hospital’s value analysis committee, which had the final say. Instead, they met with only those people they knew on the VAC committee. That deal didn’t fall apart because of the surgeon—it fell apart because hidden influencers weren’t identified early.

Why? Because economic buyers, administrators, procurement officers, and sometimes outside consultants are making or heavily shaping the decision. If we don’t identify and engage them, our “champion” isn’t really a champion at all.

The best selling strategies for medical sales involve probing deeper. Ask:

  • “Who else will weigh in on this decision?”
  • What are the clinical, operational, or financial metrics these other decision makers care about?
  • “What other departments will feel the impact if this solution moves forward?”
  • “When decisions like this are made, who typically has final approval?”

This isn’t just about collecting names. It’s about understanding what matters to each influencer—whether it’s reducing costs, increasing efficiencies, or improving outcomes. Once you map that landscape, you can align your strategy and messages to address each priority. That’s how you create momentum instead of surprises.

Rethinking Access and Account Growth

Another challenge I see everywhere is access. It’s no longer just about getting the first meeting—it’s about being relevant enough to earn the second, the third, and the chance to expand utilization within an account.

Access comes when you demonstrate that you understand the organization’s bigger goals and the metrics that matter most to them now. It’s not enough to talk about clinical benefits. We need to connect our solutions to business outcomes: cost control, staffing efficiency, patient satisfaction, and reimbursement.

When salespeople can tie their product to those priorities, they stop being seen as vendors and start being seen as partners. And when you’re viewed as a partner, you open the door to more conversations across more departments, which is how you expand utilization and grow accounts. How often have you found that the hospital is excited about the new solution you’re providing, only to find utilization drops quicker than a lead balloon from a ten-story building?  This is far less likely to happen when we engage the right stakeholders and demonstrate how our value drives the metrics that matter most to them.

Coaching with Pipeline Discipline

Even when access is gained and influencers are mapped, deals can still stall without the right pipeline discipline. I’ve reviewed too many pipelines filled with opportunities labeled “late stage” that haven’t seen meaningful customer action in weeks—or months.

The problem is that most organizations define pipeline stages by what the rep has done, not by what the customer has done. “Proposal sent” or “demo complete” doesn’t tell you anything about real progress.

I encourage leaders to coach around strategic milestones—clear, observable customer actions that show momentum. For example:

  • Agreement on decision criteria
  • Action taken by our champion to neutralize adversaries
  • Customer validation of key clinical metrics
  • Confirmation of budget allocation

When you coach to milestones rather than stages, you can spot stalled deals earlier and redirect reps before it’s too late. And coaching needs to happen early in the sales cycle—not just when a big deal is already in trouble. Managers who ask “what’s next?” rather than “what just happened?” build healthier, faster-moving pipelines.

Think about it this way: a rep marks an opportunity as “late stage” because a proposal has been sent. But when asked what the customer has actually done to move forward, the answer is silence. Contrast that with another rep who defines “late stage” as: budget confirmed, criteria agreed upon, and customer validation of key clinical metrics confirmed. Which of those deals has a higher likelihood of closing? The difference is pipeline discipline.

Smarter Use of AI in Medical Sales

One of the most exciting—and sometimes misunderstood—shifts in selling strategies for medical sales today is the role of artificial intelligence.

I don’t believe AI will replace sales reps. But I DO believe reps who use it wisely will have a clear edge. AI can help identify likely decision-makers, suggest relevant decision criteria, and analyze data to prioritize accounts. It can accelerate insights in ways that would take a human hours or days.

But here’s the caution: AI is only as good as how we use it. Hallucinations are real, and data always needs to be validated. The real opportunity is in combining AI-generated insights with human judgment, emotional intelligence, and authentic customer engagement. That’s what will set the best reps apart in the next era of medical sales.

I recently saw a team use AI to scan account data and identify which hospitals were underutilizing a diagnostic tool compared to peer institutions. That insight gave reps a starting point for conversations about cost savings and patient outcomes—conversations they wouldn’t have had without AI. But the reps still had to validate the data and build the relationships. AI provided the lead, but human selling closed the gap.

Putting It All Together

To me, the most effective selling strategies for medical sales boil down to four things:

  • Uncover hidden influencers. Don’t assume your champion is enough.
  • Expand access by being relevant. Tie your solutions to the clinical, operational and financial metrics.
  • Coach with pipeline discipline. Anchor progress to customer actions, not activity labels.
  • Leverage AI intelligently. Use it to speed insights, but always validate through real conversations.

These aren’t just incremental improvements—they’re shifts in how we think about selling. And in a market where access is harder, regulations and reimbursement changes are constant, and stakes are higher, those shifts make all the difference.

If you’d like to go deeper, I encourage you to listen to my two-part conversation with Samuel Adeyinka on The Medical Sales Podcast (Part One and Part Two).

And if you’re interested in tools to help your team uncover hidden stakeholders and avoid costly assumptions, take a look at our Influencer Snapshot.

Steve Gielda is co-founder and Managing Partner of Ignite Selling. He is the co-author of Ignite Your Sales Strategy: A Field Guide to Accelerating Your Pipeline. Follow and connect with Steve on LinkedIn.