Step-by-Step Marketing Strategies for Every Stage of the RFP Process
Sales Alone Won’t Win the Deal Anymore
The medical device industry has changed. In the RFP-driven world, your sales team isn’t just pitching to a clinician —they’re pitching to a value analysis committee made up of clinical, operational, and financial stakeholders. Yet, most reps have deep relationships only with providers.
That leaves a two-thirds gap in the decision-making process—and that’s where marketing must step in.
Why the Sales-Marketing Divide Hurts RFP Wins
In most companies, sales and marketing work in silos. Marketing runs top-of-funnel awareness campaigns; sales tries to close. But in an RFP-driven environment, these efforts must be synchronized.
Let’s say a rep gets a clinical lead excited about a new technology. If the financial team has never heard of the vendor—or worse, doesn’t understand the value—there’s little chance of making it through the VAC.
Marketing must support sales not only with leads, but with well-timed campaigns that reach the people reps can’t.
Coordinating by Phase
- Education Phase: Marketing owns this. Reps shouldn’t be wasting time trying to generate opportunities in a system that’s mid-contract. Instead, marketing keeps the company top-of-mind, builds brand equity, and generates MQLs for nurturing.
- Go/No-Go Phase: Sales needs help here. Marketing can elevate the urgency of a switch through targeted content for clinical teams, helping them advocate internally.
- RFP Active Phase: Sales is doing the heavy lifting. Marketing runs interference: email campaigns to ops leaders, webinars for finance, and testimonials for the VAC. Standardize these campaigns so they’re ready to deploy system-wide.
- Post-Sale Phase: Reps celebrate the win. Marketing confirms the value. The work continues through email, testimonials, and content that keeps the broader organization engaged.
One Funnel, One Goal
It’s not about “marketing-sourced” vs. “sales-sourced” wins. Buyers don’t care where they first heard of you—they care whether you consistently deliver value. Sales and marketing must function as one unified revenue team, tracking MQLs early, win rates later, and collaborating throughout.
At Jairus, we help MedTech companies implement these integrated strategies that reflect the realities of today’s complex buying committees.
Let’s connect to align your sales and marketing for your next RFP cycle.
