Congratulations, You Won a New Contract. Now What?

YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=SZbaTZcRWuM

Winning a GPO or IDN contract takes months of work. Paperwork, questions, negotiations, internal resources. When the award finally comes through, the temptation is to celebrate and move on. But here is the reality: the contract is just the beginning.

In this episode, Dan Toomey breaks down what happens after you win. The internal alignment, the communication cadence, and the GPO engagement strategy that separates companies who capitalize on their contracts from those who let them collect dust.

The Contract Is Just the Beginning

A signed contract does not automatically generate business. Health systems will not start calling you just because your name is on a piece of paper. You need a deliberate go-to-market strategy, and it starts with an honest question: Is your organization structured to support this contract?

"Once you did all that work to get a piece of paper, it doesn't mean that you go out and the customers are going to start calling you." - Dan Toomey

This means examining whether your sales team and national accounts team are aligned. Do both teams exist? If so, are they speaking the same language about pricing, value-adds, tier structures, and contract terms? If your field reps are promising one thing while your IDN team is negotiating another, you have a problem brewing.

Aligning Your Sales and National Accounts Teams

The most common failure point is misalignment between field sales and national accounts. Dan has seen it play out repeatedly: a rep promises a customer tier four pricing while the IDN team is negotiating tier two at the system level. Now you have conflicting commitments, and someone has to deliver bad news.

The solution starts with leadership buy-in. Your VP of Sales, regional directors, and IDN leadership need to agree that the national accounts team has the lead on contract implementation. This does not mean national accounts controls everything. It means they coordinate the high-level conversations while field reps drive clinical engagement.

Compensation structure matters here too. If your IDN team and field reps are paid differently or have conflicting incentives, territorial behavior follows. Reps start protecting their accounts from what feels like an internal competitor. The fix is total alignment on commissions, quotas, and goals so that everyone wins together.

Building Trust Through Early Collaboration

How do you build the trust that makes collaboration work? Dan's approach is practical: bring the field rep to your first meeting with the health system.

"One of the things I've always done is my very first meeting with the health systems, I bring the rep with me. I want the rep there at the table with the contracting team." - Dan Toomey

This accomplishes several things at once. The rep learns how conversations work at the business level, not just the clinical level. The contracting team can set their rules of engagement directly. No samples without calling first. No showing up unannounced. Everyone hears it together, at the same time, from the same source.

After that meeting, you plot out your approach together. Which facilities to target, which departments to engage, what the next steps should be. You are building a partnership from day one rather than trying to coordinate separate efforts later.

The Communication Cadence That Prevents Costly Mistakes

Once the contract is in place, how often should your teams be talking? More than you might think.

At the leadership level, your IDN director and regional sales directors should connect monthly at minimum, bi-weekly when actively implementing. These conversations cover where engagement is happening, which IDNs are showing traction, and where you are hitting obstacles.

At the field level, communication should happen constantly. Pre-call planning before hospital visits. Immediate debriefs after meetings. The rep discovers valuable information during clinical conversations. That intelligence needs to flow upward to the IDN director, who can use it at the supply chain and GPO level.

When the national accounts director and field rep are not talking frequently, you have risk. Someone promises something the other did not know about. Conflicting messages reach the customer. The health system starts asking questions you cannot answer cleanly. Regular communication is the insurance policy against these scenarios.

Structuring Your IDN Coverage

How should your national accounts team be organized? Dan has seen different models work, but offers guidelines for determining which accounts need dedicated IDN coverage.

Look for accounts with three or more facilities, accounts that cross territory lines, and accounts where multiple reps are calling on the same system. These are the situations where a single point of contact creates clarity for the health system and prevents internal confusion.

You can also look at bed size and surgical volume depending on your product category. The key principle is minimizing how many people from your company are touching the same account. Health systems want one point of contact with concise, consistent communication. Your IDN director facilitates out to the team from there.

Working the GPO Relationship Beyond Contracting

Your role with the GPO changes after the contract award. You are no longer selling to get on contract. You are now implementing, and that opens new opportunities.

Meet with your GPO contact monthly if possible. In-person meetings build relationships that email cannot replicate. You can ask questions they might not answer in front of others. You learn about programs and resources you did not know existed.

"The GPO always loves to hear that you're doing well with the contract. They gave you an award. They want you to succeed." - Dan Toomey

Share your wins. Which members are adopting? Where are relationships strong? GPOs want to hear that their contract awards are generating value. But also bring your challenges. Where are you hitting roadblocks? Who is buying off-contract and giving you different answers than expected?

Your GPO can be leverage. They collect fees and have interest in contract compliance. It is acceptable to ask for help getting in front of members who are not responding or are using off-contract products. Creative co-promotions, introductions, clinical resources, and data to support your value proposition are all available if you ask.

Beyond your contract manager, explore other GPO departments. Marketing teams, clinical committees, value analysis groups, field engagement reps. Every new relationship is another angle for promoting your contract. Every contract update or engagement triggers communication back out to members.

Need help turning your new contract into real results? Contact MedBridge Advisors to discuss your post-award strategy.

You might also find these episodes valuable:

• Episode 17: A 4-Step Playbook for Flawless Product Roll-outs - The tactical implementation framework that picks up where this episode leaves off.
• Episode 18: 5 Back Office Essentials Before Launching a GPO Contract - Make sure your internal operations are ready before you go live.
• Episode 3: The Contract Squeeze - Dan's framework for coordinating top-down and bottom-up engagement at IDNs.