Their first step would be to identify and isolate their own group of Stars – the top 10 percent of sales performers – and determine what and how these performers do what they do. Individual interviews would unlock the special techniques each uses to win over the docs they visit.

After a while it would become clear that the Stars rely to a large extent on individual personality traits in building trust and confidence among their customers. But when these personal human characteristics are set aside, there almost always remains a batch of little tricks of the trade that can be brought out by additional probing.

A Star might explain, for example, a special technique she always uses to get past steely-eyed gatekeepers. Another might reveal that he has spent an unusual amount of time logging questions asked by doctors so he could spend his first few minutes with the customer discussing answers to those pertinent questions. Still another might show how to accumulate and present evidence to doctors and their staffs about how the rep’s information has been applied beneficially in the past.

Good questioning and analysis of interview results produce a wealth of field-proven ways that are used by the Stars to help them become and remain successful. Once this information has been accumulated, it can be formulated into a set of best behaviors and practices that can be taught, practiced, and reinforced to everyone. It is very likely that the production of the Middle Group will improve dramatically.

While much of this process is directed toward improving the performance of the Middle Group, techniques involving ways to explain product strengths and capabilities also will be immensely valuable to reps in other divisions who eventually might be selling that product. In an environment of change such as that existing at Szemsted, for example, this process of obtaining and communicating best behaviors and practices should be an essential element of the change management task.

Management must be engaged early in this task and should create systems for distributing knowledge effectively to employees. This will give employees the tools they need to amplify positive messages and thus build understanding and encourage customer support of the event.

It is essential to the success of this effort that the whole process and its purpose be communicated clearly to the sales reps. They need to understand and be convinced of its validity and its value. They need to know how it fits into the bigger picture of the newly merged companies.