Book excerpt: Salespeople and commercial leaders face a significant challenge and big opportunity. Purchasing in healthcare is undergoing a fundamental shift. Buying decisions, once driven by individual clinicians, are increasingly being made by data-driven committees, cost-driven administrators, and sophisticated buyers. The hospital supply chain and purchasing organization is growing into a powerful force, and is deploying sourcing tactics to gain unprecedented discounts and bring clearer transparency to value. Selling in this new healthcare market in the same old way is a recipe for price erosion, declining margins, frustrated salespeople, and dissatisfied customers. Based on extensive experience and research, this is a practical guide that provides salespeople and commercial teams with the insights to approach economic buyers with renewed confidence. It provides proven strategies and tools to educate customers, sell your value, and defend your value against tough buyers. This book will prove to be an invaluable source of ideas, strategies and tools for healthcare sales professionals, marketing teams, and executives responsible for leading winning commercial organizations.