Innovation—it’s not always an easy sell

Innovation makes life easier, but that doesn’t mean it’s always an easy sell. With newness often comes skepticism or uncertainty, which was exactly the challenge Medtronic was facing with their GI Genius, AI technology that helps clinicians easily identify polyps during colonoscopies. With this in mind, we set to work figuring out how we could help Medtronic build trust in their new technology and demonstrate the value it would provide. We knew that GI Genius would meaningfully improve clinicians’ abilities to perform effective colonoscopies, but we had to convince those clinicians that this was true.

We started by focusing on trade shows. Our aim was to empower reps so they could effectively demonstrate the value of GI Genius to clinicians. The best way to do that was to create an app that allowed reps to show clinicians a side-by-side view of a colonoscopy being performed with the naked eye identifying polyps versus GI Genius identifying polyps. This way, the technology could speak for itself and the innovation of GI Genius was undeniable.

Different modes for different environments

Though we started with trade shows, we knew these weren’t the only environments reps would be demoing GI Genius technology in. That’s where phase two came in—adding a sales mode to the app. The sales mode wasn’t designed just to train sales reps, but it was also meant to help them demo as they sold in hospitals and clinical environments. This meant adding sales-enablement features, like a collateral library and an ROI calculator.

Initially, this sales mode acted as a tool to teach reps about GI Genius and how to demo it, but its long-term use is as a sales aid. Basically, it’s a one-stop-shop where reps can capture notes, review information about the technology, facilitate demos, and calculate ROI to effectively explain and market GI Genius to purchasing agents and end users. With the addition of the sales mode, reps now have a singular tool that easily adapted from trade shows to hospitals—one app, two modes, endless learning possibilities.

The best way to sell is to educate

Though our audience consisted of sales reps, surgeons, healthcare professionals, and hospital purchasing agents, they were all really just learners. On one hand, reps were learning about GI Genius and how to communicate its value to surgeons and other clinicians. On the other hand, purchasing agents were learning about GI Genius, its value, and how it can be used to better the current care model. And though the features we incorporated to educate this two-pronged audience were different, the intent for both audiences was the same: to teach them about and build belief in this innovative technology.

Accordingly, we created an app that was both a marketing and a learning tool, meant for consumer and learner education. We knew that if we could build the right learning tool to educate our audience on the value GI Genius brings, the technology would sell itself.

The ROI is off the charts

In the same way that it’s possible to identify polyps without the help of GI Genius, it’s possible to calculate ROI without our ROI calculator. But just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean it’s easy, user-friendly, or time-effective. So even though it was clear that the return for using GI Genius was meaningful, we wanted a better way to quickly show, with real numbers, that GI Genius was a worthwhile investment.

That’s why we developed an in-app ROI calculator that was significantly more efficient than the previous practice of manually calculating ROI in Excel. Plus, the calculator can be used to easily download and export PDFs, and it features a simple, user-friendly interface. In fact, the ROI calculator is so beloved by sales reps that it’s frequently used to calculate the ROI for a variety of other GI products that aren’t GI Genius. It’s that good.

But GI Genius and the ROI calculator aren’t the only things with a solid return on investment. Our app is the number one tool creating immediate belief in GI Genius. Reps love the app because it’s no longer an uphill battle to build trust in the new technology, and clinicians love the app because they can see for themselves the benefits of utilizing GI Genius. And based on user data, we frequently update the app to finetune the UXD and enhance in-app features to make sure users are getting the best experience possible. Because in the same way that we built trust in the value of GI Genius, we want our clients to trust the value of our innovative, effective solutions.