Bob Poznanovich: Harnessing Change for Business Growth

What if you had a roadmap to guide you through the intricate maze of sales, leadership, and business growth? How about if you could get that advice straight from a top industry expert? That's exactly what you'll get from our conversation with Bob Poznanovich, Chief Business Growth Officer at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Bob reveals the secrets of his success, blending ambition and sales acumen with a deep understanding of customer psychology. It's a compelling story of metamorphosis, from his role as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development to a leader who shapes organic growth and sees challenges as entrepreneurial opportunities.

Transitioning from salesperson to sales manager and eventually, a leader, isn't a stroll in the park. This week, we unlock the strategies that helped Bob successfully navigate this journey. Sharing his experience in anticipating market trends and implementing creative go-to-market strategies, Bob gives listeners invaluable insights on maximizing current capacity, while also exploring new revenue opportunities. He also candidly discusses the challenges of aligning an organization and cultivating a growth mindset, with plenty of practical tips on how to transform strategic goals into actionable successes. 

The final segment brings a riveting discussion on healthcare innovation. Bob delves into his experience of product development from the PC era to the launch of a virtual care product in 2020. He gives a glimpse into the future as he talks about his collaboration with Apple, the potential of AI and wearables in healthcare, and how patient feedback can shape better outcomes. With his deep understanding of customer needs and strategies to overcome their resistance to change, it's a goldmine of knowledge for anyone interested in sales, business growth, and healthcare innovation. Join us this week for an episode packed with professional insights, personal experiences, and inspiring leadership lessons.

As the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's chief business growth officer, Bob Poznanovich is responsible for bridging the gap between product development, marketing and sales to help the nonprofit reach more people with its lifesaving substance use and mental health care and resources. Prior to joining Hazelden Betty Ford, Poznanovich co-founded and served as the CEO of AiR Healthcare—a behavioral health organization that provides solutions to individuals, families and employers dealing with behavioral health issues. Before that, he spent over 20 years as a senior business development executive in the technology industry. He is co-author of the Hazelden Publishing title, It Is Not Okay to be a Cannibal: How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive. 

Quotes:

"I've done a lot of work not only perfecting the sales perspective, but also the buying perspective" 

"Not many people talk about selling as a buyer, as opposed to selling as a salesman… there is there is a psychological buying process that people go through when they're making a decision." 

"I think if you look at that way to being innovative in the area of growth, of selling to more, which is looking at products and services that we don't have. So part of this vision was that we've got to create x number of millions of dollars in growth over the next year for products and services that don't exist while we're also selling and maximizing the capacity of what we currently have and then looking for ways to get more value so we could sell for more."

"And when you go to customer one, he goes, I got this problem. Go to customer two, I say, I got this problem. I could say to customer two, what about customer one's example, right? Do you have that problem, too, right? Now, when I go to see a third guy, I got three problems tee up, right, his plus the previous two. And I could start this dialogue where I get smarter in every sales call I get to see that the patterns and opportunities exist."

"I think in any sales job, no matter what you're selling, your biggest competitor is always willingness to change."

"We need to invest in more personalization of healthcare. So the tools that allow us to personalize care, to personalize the initiative, to deliver care personalized, to use real feedback from wearables, I think, is the next area, I think, to get past some of this denial."

Links:

LinkedIn
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s LinkedIn 
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation