Thermo Fisher Scientific is a multinational biotechnology and laboratory services company. It is the world’s largest provider of scientific instrumentation, reagents, software, and services used by pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and research laboratories.

The European sales teams were finding themselves increasingly engaging with procurement professionals across hospitals, laboratories and healthcare organisations. As procurement functions became more sophisticated and influential in buying decisions, Thermo Fisher recognised an opportunity to strengthen the team’s ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments and communicate value more effectively.

While the team had deep technical expertise and strong customer relationships, procurement was playing a larger role in purchasing decisions than ever before. Thermo Fisher wanted its salespeople to better understand how procurement thinks, broaden their influence beyond traditional contacts and develop strategies that would help them position value in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Natural Training worked closely with Thermo Fisher to tailor its Secrets of Selling to Procurement programme around the realities of the organisation’s sales environment, customer base and international audience. Rather than delivering an off-the-shelf programme, the learning journey was customised to reflect the challenges, opportunities and procurement dynamics faced by Thermo Fisher’s teams across Europe.

Delivered over several months, the programme combined virtual workshops, manager involvement, workplace assignments and coaching to create lasting behavioural change. Participants explored how procurement professionals are trained, how buying decisions are made, and how successful salespeople build influence across wider stakeholder groups long before formal procurement processes begin.

A highlight of the programme was a live interview with an experienced Procurement Director, providing participants with a rare opportunity to hear directly from the other side of the table.

The programme achieved the objectives Thermo Fisher had set at the outset.

Participants developed a more sophisticated understanding of procurement and began thinking differently about how buying decisions are really made. Rather than focusing solely on procurement contacts, they learned how to identify and influence a wider network of stakeholders across customer organisations.

The stakeholder mapping and influence tools proved particularly powerful, helping sellers identify new routes into customer organisations, engage a broader range of stakeholders and create greater commercial momentum within strategic accounts.

Feedback across the international sales community was consistently strong, with one participant describing it as:

“The best training in 36 years.”

The result was a sales team better equipped to navigate complex procurement environments, build broader stakeholder influence, communicate value more effectively and engage customers with greater confidence.