From CRM to AI: How Sales Effectiveness Has Evolved in MedTech, Life Sciences and Biotech Since 2022
Four years ago, I wrote an article following a conversation with my friend and colleague Greg Walsh about sales effectiveness and how the same principles could be applied throughout a business. The article focused on sales efficiency ratios, customer understanding, effective processes, training and measurement, all of which remain highly relevant today.
Last week, Greg and I met for lunch and found ourselves revisiting the subject. Not for the first time, discussing what has changed since that article was written and, perhaps more importantly, what has not. The conclusion was clear: the fundamentals of sales effectiveness remain largely unchanged, but the environment in which commercial teams operate has evolved dramatically.
The Fundamentals Still Win - In our original discussion, we highlighted several core principles including customer understanding, segmentation, repeatable sales processes, goal setting, coaching, recruitment and effective use of CRM systems. These remain the foundation of commercial success.
The organisations that consistently outperform their competitors in MedTech, biotech and life sciences are those that develop a deeper understanding of their customers, prioritise opportunities effectively, coach their teams consistently, use data to guide decision-making, recruit and nurture high-performing talent, and create strong alignment between sales, marketing and leadership.
The difference is that these activities are now being executed at a much higher level of sophistication.
The Rise of Data-Driven Commercial Excellence
In 2022 many organisations were still focused on CRM adoption.
In 2026 the discussion is increasingly around CRM intelligence.
Having data is no longer enough. High-performing organisations are extracting actionable insights from multiple sources including:
CRM platforms
Marketing automation systems
Customer engagement tools
Market access data
Territory analytics
Healthcare utilisation data
Customer behaviour metrics
The question has shifted from:
"Are we recording the activity?"
to:
"What is the activity telling us?" (You can hear more on this in my recent podcast with Marc Ramaer )
Commercial leaders today are expected to identify patterns, predict opportunities and allocate resources more effectively than ever before.
AI Has Changed the Game - Perhaps the biggest shift since our original article is the emergence of practical Artificial Intelligence. For many sales teams, AI has moved beyond experimentation and into daily use.
Leading commercial organisations are now using AI to:
Identify buying signals
Prioritise accounts
Analyse customer interactions
Generate territory insights
Support sales coaching
Improve forecasting accuracy
Reduce administrative burden
Importantly, AI has not replaced salespeople. Instead, it has increased the value of truly effective sales professionals by allowing them to spend more time on high-value customer interactions and less time on administration. The best salespeople still build relationships, influence decisions and create trust. AI simply enables them to do so more efficiently.
The Customer Buying Journey Has Become More Complex
