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Commercial excellence is a trendy term in sales, but what does it really mean? Put simply, it’s a strategic framework that aligns people, processes, and technology across the entire commercial organization to streamline the sales process.
For many companies, particularly those growing quickly, commercial excellence can be the difference between accelerating growth or stalling out. The complexity of MedTech sales cycle - with its long timelines, purchasing decisions influenced by diverse stakeholders, and compliance issues - make it even more important.
In an AcuityMD webinar, Tim Dutton, Senior Director of Commercial Excellence and Corporate Affairs at Intellijoint Surgical, Taryn Sacchitella, Senior Manager, Enablement Programs at Route 92 Medical, and Nick Smith, Director of Growth Sales at AcuityMD, shared lessons that any organization can use to pursue a commercial excellence strategy.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from the conversation, each one a building block for success in MedTech sales.
One thing the panel made clear is that commercial excellence is a team effort. Marketing, operations, inventory management, and even IT must work together to support the field, and a sales rep's success often depends on the infrastructure behind them.
Route 92 uses regular leadership calls to build bridges across departments and create shared terminology, such as what enablement actually meant. Sacchitella explained, “We have dedicated time on commercial calls to align on how we support the team.”
Intellijioint is applying commercial excellence principles across every part of the company in a holistic shift. “What about customer service? How about our actual hiring practices?” Dutton highlighted, showing how broadly this approach can be used.
Commercial excellence requires a strong company culture. As Dutton put it, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Culture also heavily influences how a team will adopt new practices. Veterans may initially resist new tools or processes, especially if they’ve achieved personal success. Clear communication and regular feedback loops go a long way toward addressing these concerns.
Intellijoint went as far as bringing in consultants to audit their processes and align strategy to their culture. This helped them create an operational discipline that still respected sales autonomy, laying the groundwork for faster growth.
Sacchitella and the Route 92 team revamped their onboarding process to emphasize commercial excellence from day one. By introducing tools and expectations early, new reps adopt best practices faster, while more experienced reps are gradually guided to see the value through wins and peer-led rollouts. Peer-to-peer influence is a strong culture builder in any organization.
Data is at the heart of commercial excellence. If a rep gets bad or outdated information, credibility is lost. The goal is to seamlessly deliver insights that help salespeople plan their day, respond to sudden schedule changes, and drive impactful conversations.
Mobile-friendly, AI-enhanced platforms are especially beneficial. AcuityMD’s mobile features, including referral pattern analysis and peer network insights, are changing how sales reps prepare for conversations and manage their pipelines.
“All of the reps have said how easy it is for them to be waiting to talk to a doctor and pull up their phone and update their pipeline in two seconds,” Sacchitella noted.
Smith added, “Your day-to-day is going to be in the field. These tools have to be curated in a way that they’re at the sales team's fingertips.”
Rolling out commercial excellence initiatives can feel like adding weight to an already heavy workload. That’s why change management is crucial. Building trust means starting small, showing early wins, and always explaining the why for each change. As Smith shared, “You have to slow down to speed up.”
Route 92’s approach was to map out a quarterly roadmap starting with education, followed by feature rollouts, then optimization. They also focused on language, framing tools as support systems, not mandates. “We’re not being directive, but giving encouragement…this is a guide for you,” Sacchitella explained. Quick wins, like creating a consistent value analysis committee pitch deck, also helped establish credibility and build momentum.
“One of the first things that our team tackled was onboarding of 1099s. We centralized that within the commercial excellence team,” Dutton pointed out. By tackling pain points first and consulting with sales leaders on timing for new initiatives, the Intellijoint commercial excellence team was able to demonstrate they are there to remove friction, not create it.
Ultimately, commercial excellence isn’t just about internal performance metrics. It directly influences sales cycles, the customer journey, and even employee retention. For organizations scaling quickly, like Route 92, setting these expectations from day one is key to building a cohesive, high-performing team.
Intellijoint has seen back-to-back record sales quarters in the United States, which Dutton partly credits to removing administrative burdens, centralizing approvals, and letting reps focus on selling. While they’re still early in implementing their commercial excellence strategy, initial signs suggest this approach is making reps’ lives easier and increasing satisfaction.
As the MedTech landscape grows more complex - with diverse stakeholders, long sales cycles, and intricate VAC requirements - achieving commercial excellence is no longer optional. It’s essential.
From aligning teams around a shared vision, to investing in the right data infrastructure, to empowering sales reps with mobile-first, AI-driven tools, the path to success is clearer than ever. And, as our speakers explained, it doesn’t require a full organizational overhaul. Just intentional, incremental progress.
Whether you're leading a small MedTech startup or driving transformation at an established MedTech brand, take a page from this playbook: start with your people, arm them with data, and clearly explain the benefits of planned changes. Commercial excellence isn’t just a strategy - it’s your competitive edge in the future of MedTech.
Click here to watch the full webinar, How to Win in MedTech: Strategies for Achieving Commercial Excellence, and learn how your company can start eliminating barriers to sales today.
