From clearance to contract: the first 90 days.

Why the first 90 days matter more than the next 90

Hospital buying is slow, so every week lost at the start is paid back later, usually in the middle of the next raise. Investors do not ask whether the product works. They ask which health systems are moving, and what happens next at each one.

The teams that come out of the first quarter strong did not send more email. They picked fewer accounts, reached more people inside each one, and kept the investor story and the hospital story the same.

Two sales, not one

Every hospital purchase is two decisions. The value analysis committee approves the spend: it wants cost, expected return and the evidence behind both. Clinicians then decide whether the product is used: they want to know it works on a busy Monday and makes their day easier.

A launch that wins the clinicians and ignores the committee ends with enthusiastic users and no purchase order. A launch that wins the committee and ignores the clinicians ends with a product on a shelf. Plan for both from week 1.

The checkpoints

What should exist at each point, and the sign that it does not.

• Week 1: 100 to 300 health systems ranked on clinical fit and buying signals. Warning sign: every hospital is a target.
• Week 3: named buying-committee members at the top 25 accounts, and a value story your team has approved. Warning sign: only clinicians on the list, nobody from supply chain or value analysis.
• Day 45: messages tested by specialty and role, and first meetings with committee members. Warning sign: one template sent to everyone.
• Day 90: meetings across several health systems, each with a defined next step. Warning sign: activity counts in the board deck, but no account-level story.

The five numbers we put in front of a board

Activity counts do not convince a board. These five show whether hospitals are actually moving.

1. Target accounts in play, out of the ranked list
2. Buying seats reached per account, not contacts per campaign
3. Meetings held with committee members, by role
4. Accounts with a defined next step: an evaluation, a pilot or a value analysis submission
5. Time from first touch to first meeting, which tells you whether the story is landing

What to do this week

1. Write down the 25 health systems you would most like to name at your next board meeting, and why each one.
2. For each, list who sits in the four seats: clinical champion, department or service line leader, supply chain, and value analysis.
3. Read your investor deck and your sales one-pager side by side. If they tell different stories, fix that before you send anything.