Something's shifted in B2B sales over the past couple of years, and if you're in healthcare or engineering, you're probably feeling it more than most.
We've been talking to sales teams and marketing leaders in these industries, and the same themes keep coming up. Buyers who've already done most of their homework before the first conversation. Sales cycles that stretch out over a year with buying committees that seem to grow every month. Compliance requirements that turn every piece of content into a minor legal review.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Here's what we've been sharing and learning from the companies navigating this stuff.
The New Shape of B2B Healthcare & Engineering Buying
80% of B2B sales interactions now happen digitally.1
We've seen buying committees grow to 9 or more people—hospital administrators, clinicians, IT directors, procurement teams, finance managers. Each with their own concerns and approval requirements. Getting everyone aligned when you're not in the same room has become its own art form.2
Meanwhile, buyers are coming to conversations incredibly well-informed. They've already consumed a lot of content, compared multiple vendors, and formed opinions.3 The challenge isn't getting information to them—it's being part of their research process early enough to shape how they think about their problem.
Sales Enablement Strategies That Work in Healthcare & Engineering
Here's what we've seen make a difference for companies in similar situations.
Digital Tools: Enabling Workflow, Not Creating More Work
A lot of companies already have a CRM and a content library. The challenge is ensuring these tools integrate seamlessly to genuinely help reps, not just add administrative burden.
The healthcare companies we work with are finding value in platforms that do a few specific things well:
For managing the complexity: Digital sales rooms have been helpful when you're coordinating with large buying committees. Everyone can access materials, leave questions, review at their own pace. It keeps things organized when you're dealing with 9+ stakeholders across different departments.
For staying compliant: Content management systems with built-in version control and approval workflows. The goal is simple—make sure reps always have current, approved materials without having to guess or dig through folders.
For handling volume: AI-powered chatbots and qualification tools. Not to replace human interaction, but to handle the routine stuff so teams can focus on the conversations that matter.
Some engineering companies are going further with self-service portals where customers can configure products and see pricing in real-time. When done well, this doesn't reduce the sales team's role—it changes it into something more consultative.
Compliance That Keeps Teams Aligned
Here's what we hear a lot: " Compliance challenges often lead to reps wasting time tracking down materials, or worse, using outdated content. The key is removing the systemic friction that causes these costly errors. "
The companies handling this well have centralized everything in one platform with clear workflows. When materials get updated, old versions disappear automatically. When something needs approval, there's a clear path and timeline.
It's not glamorous work, but it removes a ton of friction. And in industries where one misstep can be expensive, that friction reduction is worth a lot.
Continuous Learning: Why Onboarding is Just the Start
We've noticed something interesting: companies that treat learning as ongoing (not just an onboarding event) see their reps get productive faster and stay longer.
Nearly half of companies still do onboarding as a one-time thing.4 But the companies seeing better results are building in continuous learning touchpoints:
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Regular product updates and compliance refreshers (not lengthy trainings, just what's changed)
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Role-play practice where reps can work through objections without the pressure
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Bite-sized modules they can access when they need them—like right before a call with a CFO
Getting Marketing and Sales to Actually Collaborate: Alignment That Drives Growth
This one's tough because everyone says they want alignment, but the day-to-day reality often looks different.
The stat that always gets people's attention: misalignment between sales and marketing costs businesses about $1 trillion annually in lost productivity.5 Companies that get alignment right see about 24% faster growth.6
What does "getting it right" actually look like? From what we've seen:
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Both teams sharing the same KPIs instead of optimizing for different metrics
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Regular meetings that aren't just status updates but actual collaboration on content, messaging, and strategy
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A real feedback loop where sales shares what they're hearing, and marketing acts on it
The companies where this works best treat it as a cultural thing, not a process thing.
How to Know If Your Enablement Strategy is Working
You need to measure this stuff, but not everything that's easy to measure matters.
Activity metrics (how much did we create?) are a starting point, but they don't tell you much about impact.
Quality feedback from your sales team matters a lot. If they're not using what you've built, something's off. Listen to why.
Adoption metrics show you what's actually being used. Which tools do reps open? Which content gets shared? This tells you where to invest more and what to rethink.
Impact metrics are where it gets real: Are sales cycles shortening? Win rates improving? Deal sizes growing? Is pipeline velocity increasing?
Also worth tracking: rep retention. With ramp-up times averaging 3+ months for SDRs and nearly 5 months for AEs, keeping good people is a lot more cost-effective than constantly recruiting and training new ones.7
Take the next step
The B2B buying process has fundamentally changed, especially in highly regulated sectors. The companies seeing success aren't doing anything revolutionary; they are prioritizing thoughtful, intentional systems that address their teams' needs.
Ready to Design a Compliance-First Sales Enablement Strategy?
If you're looking to reduce friction, shorten sales cycles, and increase win rates while navigating complex compliance rules, we can help.
Let's discuss your specific challenges in the healthcare or engineering space and identify 1-2 immediate, high-impact changes you can make this quarter.
Contact Anne-Mie 👉 anne-mie.vansteelant@livingstone.eu
References
1. Gartner. "Future of Sales 2025: Why B2B Sales Needs a Digital-First Approach." https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/future-of-sales-2025-why-b2b-sales-needs-a-digital-first-approach
2. Martal Group. "Healthcare Sales in 2025: Win B2B Medical Deals with Smart Outreach." https://martal.ca/b2b-healthcare-sales-lb/
3. G2. "70 Sales Enablement Statistics for 2025 That'll Blow Your Mind." https://learn.g2.com/sales-enablement-statistics
4. Sales Enablement Collective, cited in Federico Presicci. "Top 11 Sales Enablement Trends to Watch in 2025." https://federicopresicci.com/blog/sales-enablement/sales-enablement-trends/
5. G2. "70 Sales Enablement Statistics for 2025 That'll Blow Your Mind." https://learn.g2.com/sales-enablement-statistics
6. Forrester Research, cited in Mindtickle. "6 Steps to a Winning Sales Enablement Program for Med Device Reps." https://www.mindtickle.com/blog/6-steps-to-a-winning-sales-enablement-program-for-med-device-reps/
7. The Bridge Group, cited in Forecast. "The Ultimate Guide to B2B Sales Enablement in 2025." https://forecastio.ai/blog/sales-enablement-guide
