YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=AK4DGleTiI4
When you have contracts across multiple product categories, a single agreement is rarely enough to drive meaningful growth. The real opportunity lies in portfolio selling, bringing your full range of products into a unified conversation with GPOs and IDNs. But the path to portfolio success requires strategic thinking, careful relationship management, and a deep understanding of how healthcare purchasing actually works.
In this episode, Dan Toomey sits down with Wes Scruggs, VP of Corporate Accounts at Ambu, to explore the complexities of portfolio selling, from navigating GPO dynamics to building executive relationships at the IDN level.
Why Portfolio Selling Is Hard at the GPO Level
GPOs are designed to create competitive friction. That is how they extract value for their members. When you try to bundle everything together as a supplier, you are asking them to give up leverage across multiple categories simultaneously.
From the GPO perspective, keeping categories separate gives them more negotiating power. Bringing it all together limits their ability to play vendors against each other. There are also operational risks. If a GPO commits heavily to one supplier across multiple categories and that supplier cannot deliver, the membership suffers.
This does not mean portfolio selling is impossible at the GPO level. It means you need to approach it strategically rather than demanding it upfront.
"Portfolio selling on the GPO is really, really hard because they're designed to create competitive friction. When you're bringing and giving someone an advantage across an entire portfolio, you're lessening your competitive friction category by category." - Wes Scruggs
Getting the Right People in the Room
The strategy for advancing portfolio conversations starts with something simple: getting everyone together. If you have contracts across multiple business lines, each managed by a different contract manager, schedule a full portfolio review at least once a year.
When you get multiple contract managers in one room to discuss your entire portfolio, something interesting happens. Leadership wants to be there. A meeting that spans three or four business lines naturally attracts director and VP level attention.
Now you have the right audience. Whether or not the GPO agrees to formal portfolio terms, you have positioned yourself as a strategic partner rather than just another vendor in a single category. Leadership sees your organization as a unified whole, not disconnected contracts.
Elevating Relationships at the IDN Level
IDNs offer greater opportunity for portfolio selling than GPOs. The path to executive conversations follows a similar playbook: use your best relationship to facilitate bringing the group together.
Start with the contract manager you know best. Explain that you have products across multiple categories and would like to tell the complete story. Ask if they can facilitate a meeting with their peers who manage your other products. Then suggest that their manager, who oversees all of these areas, might benefit from participating.
This approach puts your contact in a position to shine. You are helping them elevate the type of discussions they have with leadership. If they have aspirations to move up, you are creating an opportunity for them to demonstrate strategic thinking.
"Be transparent with it. Say, 'I'd love to help you shine. How do we do that? I've got a full portfolio. Can you facilitate? Would that put you in a good position inside the organization?' You'll see that come together." - Wes Scruggs
Once you secure that meeting, set the rules of engagement. Present your full portfolio story. Explain how you can drive SKU standardization, supplier consolidation, and operational efficiency. If you get buy-in, establish your lead contact for the program. Now you have someone invested in your success who can champion your portfolio internally.
The Four Pillars of IDN Conversations
Every IDN portfolio conversation should address four key areas. Rank these based on what you learn about each system's priorities, then structure your discussion accordingly:
- SKU standardization: More SKUs mean more complexity, more risk, and higher operational costs. Show how consolidating around your portfolio reduces that burden.
- Cost savings: Document the direct financial impact of working with a single supplier across multiple categories.
- Supply chain continuity: Demonstrate your ability to guarantee safety stock and reliable delivery across your entire portfolio.
- Contract compliance: Explain how a unified portfolio approach simplifies compliance tracking and administration.
Think about the gaps you are leaving them. If your portfolio does not cover everything, proactively identify complementary suppliers who can serve as secondary options. This shows you are thinking about their complete needs, not just your sales targets.
Building Launch Playbooks for Your Field Team
When contracts launch, your field team needs more than a PDF attachment. They need a playbook tailored to their specific territory and accounts.
The foundational elements include contract numbers, tier structures, pricing, key terms, and contact information for both internal GPO support and external GPO representatives. But the real value comes from customization.
Break down information by territory. Do not give reps the entire field rep list from the GPO. Give them the specific contacts covering their zip codes. Identify which competitors are on contract and where you are positioned well versus where you face challenges. Provide talking points for clinical conversations and separate talking points for supply chain conversations.
Help reps navigate the complexity. A hospital might be a Premier member that also participates in Capstone, Yankee Alliance, and a local aggregation group. What does the rep say? How do they avoid putting any of those relationships at risk? Your playbook should walk them through specific scenarios they will encounter.
The Contract Squeeze
Dan calls it the contract squeeze. It is the coordinated pressure from top down and bottom up that drives compliance and growth.
Your IDN team works at the corporate level. Your GPO team works through the national organization and subgroups. Your field reps work with clinicians and local supply chain. When all three levels align, you create momentum that is difficult for competitors to stop.
But here is the critical point: compliance takes time. A hospital might fully support your committed contract but lack the resources to convert immediately. They might be in the middle of implementing a new ERP system or managing a major service line expansion. Demanding immediate compliance only creates friction.
Work methodically. If you have five accounts that should be part of a committed agreement, do not forecast that you will capture all the business immediately. Expect 10% upfront, another 20% within a month, 30% more over three months, and the rest over a year. Stay present. Keep showing up. Show them you understand their constraints while maintaining momentum toward compliance.
"Corporate accounts is the offensive lineman of healthcare. If you do your job well, you're really not noticed. The stars shine. Your quarterback's completing passes. Your running back's getting long runs. You're helping everybody shine when you're doing your job correctly." - Wes Scruggs
Working External Resources Effectively
Once your contract is in place, leverage your GPO field team strategically. But do not hand them your entire target list and ask for help. That approach fails because it ignores their time constraints and business model.
Instead, identify five to ten key targets where non-contracted business could convert to contracted business. Propose working those specific accounts together. Your field team engages from one side while the GPO field team engages from theirs. After two months, assess results. Win two or three, then move to the next batch.
This works because you are thinking about their business model. GPOs are paid off contracted volume. Converting a few large accounts creates real value for them. Chasing a hundred small opportunities with minimal revenue does not justify their time investment.
Navigating Consolidation and Change
The healthcare landscape constantly shifts. Health systems consolidate. GPO affiliations change. What works today may need adjustment in six months.
When you learn about a merger or acquisition, pick up the phone immediately. Ask what this means for your contracts. Offer to bridge pricing by giving both organizations the best terms from either side for 180 days while everyone figures out the long-term direction.
This positions you as a partner rather than a problem. You are not demanding clarity they cannot yet provide. You are creating space for a strategic conversation while protecting them from administrative chaos.
The same principle applies to GPO transitions. When membership shifts from one GPO to another, proactively reach out. Ask about timelines. Understand when they come off one contract cycle and onto another. Make sure nobody ends up at list price because you failed to plan the transition.
Key Takeaways
- GPOs resist portfolio bundling by design. They maintain leverage through competitive friction across categories. Approach portfolio selling as a long-term strategy, not an immediate demand.
- Annual full-portfolio reviews attract leadership attention. Get all your contract managers in one room, and executives will want to participate.
- IDNs offer better portfolio opportunities than GPOs. Use your strongest relationship to facilitate executive-level conversations about your complete offering.
- Structure IDN conversations around four pillars: SKU standardization, cost savings, supply chain continuity, and contract compliance.
- Customize launch playbooks by territory. Give reps only the contacts, accounts, and scenarios relevant to their specific geography.
- Compliance takes time. Forecast realistically and work methodically rather than demanding immediate conversion.
- Target external resources strategically. Work five to ten accounts at a time with GPO field teams rather than overwhelming them with full lists.
- Think about their business model. GPOs, IDNs, and distribution partners all have different incentives. Align your requests with what creates value for them.
Ready to develop a portfolio selling strategy? Contact MedBridge Advisors to discuss how to bring your full product range into unified GPO and IDN conversations.
You might also find these episodes valuable:
- Episode 24: The Role of the GPO Client Executive - Understanding how GPO field teams work is essential when you are coordinating portfolio-level engagement.
- Episode 3: The Contract Squeeze - The top-down, bottom-up framework that Wes references as the engine for driving compliance.
- Episode 21: From Acute to Ambulatory - When your portfolio spans acute and non-acute settings, pricing protection becomes critical.