10 things you need to successfully sell a surgical robot in 2025

I often start with the things that will be the "Gotchas" for surgical robotics. But today I decided to give you 10 things you will need to have a succesful surgical robotics sale in 2025.

Let's dive right in and just go:

Number 1

You need a surgical robot that is fit for purpose to sell.

Seems obvious right... but... It needs to be capable of the procedures where you really wish to target - and have all of the instruments, end effectors and software (and be reliable) that allows you do those procedures with a 98% plus uptime in surgery. I don't care how good you are as a commercial organisation / sales team - you will not be selling many surgical robots if they are not fit for purpose. Sooner rather than later the users will be sending them back and sales will dry up. So ensure - that if you are out there for "Sales" or a certain number of placements - ensure that your system is fit for purpose, and at minimum can be slightly competitive to a da Vinci Xi. (at least close... if you are a mainframe.) Or so different if you are an advanced laparoscopy system.

Number 2

Commercial flexibility and cash to back it up.

Gone are the days of selling all the capital up front and lining your coffers with oodles of cash. Instead you are going to have to put systems out in hospital land, and then work out commercial models to recoup that cost - plus the cost of the consumables - and drapes - and support and servicing - and still make some money. That means lease deals, rental deals, pay per clic deals - some capital - no capital - servicing in or not in - managed services etc etc etc. And if you don't have the cash in the bank (maybe $10 million in cash) to get just enough systems out there with back ups and demonstrators and parts etc... then you may need a financing partner or flexible distributor to help.

Number 3

A good CRM.

Maybe a surprise to some that you need a good CRM to be able to handle the incredible complexity of the sale of a surgical robot or ten. There are litterally hundreds of touch points per deal over a span of 6 to 24 months. With mails and appointments galore that need to be accomplished to bring home a signature (if you're lucky enough to win.) And then manage the hundreds of post sales interactions to get the system up and running and a sustainable program off the ground. And that CRM better talk to your professional education - service teams - financial teams. Try to do this on spreadsheets at your peril.

Oh and as a kicker - you may need to customise this capital selling process as there is nothing like this process on earth aleady .loaded into Salesforce. It is "bespoke."

Number 4

If you are a company reading this - you need Expertise .

I rant and I rant and I rant that you need to have some hardcore people in your team that have done this. No not everyone - but a critical mass of people that know how to do 4 Box planning for surgical robots - that know the intricate commercial process - that know the costs and timings - that have a list of robotic surgeon contacts - that have failed at this and succeeded at this.

Surgical robotics is not for the novice to learn on the job. You need leadership and guidance by people that know this very specific space of surgical robots. You need to have people that can spread the tribal knowledge and make sure that everyone is on the same page.

And then you better F*ing listen to them.

I don't care how many med tech products you've sold and for how long - if you haven't sold a surgical robot in a few different hopsitals - different health systems - different countries. You don't know - period. Get people in that do know. Your arrogance can kill you very fast in this market place.

Number 5

You need a strong USP.

Unique Selling Proposition - and it needs to set you apart and you need to be able to articulate it at a marketing level and sales level in a concise few words.

"Why you should buy our robot and not another..." It needs to be punchy - differentiated - stand alone - simple to understand.

If it's "We're cheaper" - then you're dead - won't say why here today - but that is a bad bad bad argument and you will not make profit. There are no cheap surgical robotics programs. There's maybe more cost effective.... but not cheap.

Number 6

Strong specific targeting.

"We can do everything da Vinci does and more" is just dumb. If that's your targeting then pack up and go home. Instead you need to find a niche of entry - a tip of the spear - a beach head (whatever you want to call it.)

But go wide at this at your peril. You will crush under your own weight and the market will tell you where you are strong and where you are pathetically weak. And once they start telling you that - it may be to late to unwind. So do some homework and either as a company - or a sales rep - or a marketing team - I don't care. But someone needs to say - that in this site of care - with this specialty - in this procedure - we are the right solution: and then go and own it! The rest will take care of itself. And in different countries it may be a different target for different reasons.

If you can't all sit aorund the table and say "this is our sweet spot" and agree ! then you are going to struggle to pinpoint your resources in the market and get enough traction. In fighting will show up in the market place as confused messaging.

Number 7

A pipeline of product and features on the way.

Many systejms hitting the marjet are already 10 years out of date. Technologically - commercially - data wise - and thinking. Why? because all the planing was done ten years ago based on looking at an Xi; and the market has moved on in the last ten years. If you still have a few basic instruments, a standard 3D HD camera, an HD screen (or cockpit view), no advanced energy, no stapling, no automation, no guided set up, no app, no registry, no 5G connectivity etc etc. Then you are already off the pace - and you will be outgunned at every turn by several companies. In 2025 if you want to be succesful, you better have a cadence of new products and features and software updates lined up and ready to drop. The market is going to get furiously competitive in the next 3 years and "Amazon Basics" ain't going to cut it.

Number 8

Lots and lots of commercial budget.

Now unless you have been sleeping under a rock for the past 6 months - you will have seen the mastery of the launch of da Vinci 5. Oh and the launch in Eurpe of the SP. Oh and the upgraded communications of the entire Intuitive enterprise on every aspect of what they bring to the table. And it wasn't crappy paper leaflets scattered on a shoddy congress booth. Just saying. The might of Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson are in the markets - and I expect a reversal of their rather strange regression away from owning core conferences, media channels, events (That exploded them in the 1990s into global dominance in endo-mechanicals.). I expect they will be bringing a lot of resources to this market to try and catch up in part to Intuitive - but more so for the ongoing MDT - JNJ war. So the noise is going to be loud and constant from the big 3. If you want a hope in hell of even being heard as a small squeak - you better be bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to this gunfight. And be prepared to reload and keep firing for a decade. Brand recognition and brand share just got very hard in this space - and it's going to get harder as MDT and JNJ start to duke it out in the arena for second place.

You and your company think you spent a lot already on R&D and manufacturing right..... Oh well surprise - that is going to be nothing compared to real launch costs - setting up commercial infrastructure - advertising - congresses - post market clinicals - continued development - proctoring fees - KOL support fees - collaterals - videos - etc etc etc etc.

Number 9

A plan.

What - you think we don't have a plan?

Yep - I think you don't have a plan that will last. And what you think is your plan will go to shit within 6 months of being in the reality of the market. When you see you don't have all the features you need, the reliability you need, the infrastructure you need, the cash you need... it will all become a scramble of "Everybody just sell something anywhere."

I can't stress enough that getting a real and genuine strategic plan - built on the real true absolute reality of your product and company is critical. What are you really capable of?

"We'll sell 300 hundred in the first year and bring in this cash and these 30,000 cases..." is just horseshit.

Get a real plan - based on a ground up asessment of what can be done. And that may even start with "How many robots are actually going to be bought in my territory / state / country next year." If the total number of robots up for grabs is 10, and you have a dream of selling 12 --- then that is not a plan, it's an hallucination. Lot of hallucination out there.

Especially as the beast - Intuitive - is around every corner and knows where all 10 robots are up for grabs. And they are going after them all HARD !

If your plan means inventing a new sale of a robot to somewhere that never even thought to have a robot before - that can work - but it ain't 12 out of the gate. It will take time to build a new sector.

Not gonna cover planning today on this one - as that's a post all of its own.

But get a realistic plan - and agree on the plan - and then have that plan B ready for when plan A probably fails.

Number 10

Some luck.

If you think it is 100% about perfect planning and execution - you're a bit naive.

Just being in the right place at the right time can be the difference between a sale and not. So be in a lot of places a lot of the time. Be in the tenders all of the time.... and maybe something happens that says "you know what we'll take a chance here."

Funny how there also seems to be a lot of luck around a very few special individuals in this market.... those few experts have an amazing amount of luck... and an amazing - almost uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Strange that.

That luck can be a surgeon that just decided they want to be different than their colleagues.

It might just be a hospital that hit some funding that suits your offering perfectly.

It might be one user talks to another user at a congress and they happen to trust them and say.. "Okay worth a try." It can be timing....

It can be a surgeon, a nurse, a CEO or CFO conversation... It can be that you demo went well and the competition had a software bug that day... It could be they saw a youtube video or read a paper the day you bump into them.

It could be they just like you....

Bonus Number 11

You.

People buy from people - and you as the person interfacing with the user, the CEO, the CFO, or the nursing staff, can and will make the biggest difference. Of course the basics have to be there... but the one thing that will swing deals in 2025 - in many places will be the approach and the person behind that approach.

Think how many times you have bought something - even maybe the thing you didn't think you would - because the sales person "knew their shit..." or "They were so nice and convincing... I think they'll look after me if something goes wrong..." or "They were so professional..."

Whatever it is - that "You" is important - and in selling a surgical robot in 2025 - you need to be the most knowledgeable person on the planet in procedures, technology, digital architecture, commercial offerings, competition and features etc - all delivered in a professional and positive way that puts the patients - the surgeon - the nursing staff - the C suite - the hospital first in making a successful program.

Oh sorry - did I not say.... you don't sell a robot - you help to build a successful robotics program where your robot helps to make that happen.... more to come ;)

These are opinions of the author for educational purposes only.