Episode 38 - Brook West, Chief Commercial Officer at Carrum

Welcome back for episode 38 of the Digital Health Heavyweights Podcast.

In this episode, Norm interviews Brook West, CCO of Carrum Health. They discuss Brook's background in digital health, her experiences at 98.6, and her decision to join Carrum. They also talk about the challenges and accomplishments at Carrum, as well as advice for commercial leaders trying to create a market category and generate buzz for their company. In this conversation, Norm and Brook discuss her experience in scaling sales organizations and creating high-performing teams. They discuss the importance of relentless improvement in hiring, removing bias from the hiring process, and the key traits of successful salespeople in the benefits market. They also explore the onboarding process for new employers using Carrum as well as future plans for the company. Brook shares her advice for those starting a career in sales and makes bold predictions for the future of digital health. Lastly, she talks about the importance of self-care and shares her quick and healthy recipe ideas.

Takeaways

🏥 Brook West entered the healthcare market and discovered the purpose of selling products and services that impact human lives. 

📈 At 98.6, Brook experienced rapid growth by implementing a playbook of direct sales, consulting partnerships, and health plan collaborations. 

💼 When building a sales team, Brook looks for traits like passion, drive, coachability, and organization. 

🌟 Brook’s greatest accomplishment at Carrum is building a team that is aligned with the mission and delivers impactful services to patients and employers. 

🚀 To create a market category and generate buzz, it is important to have a differentiated product with a hard ROI, invest in product marketing and sales enablement, and have a brand and thought leadership strategy. 

🔍 Quality is the foundation of everything at Carrum, from the product to how they behave and deliver services. Relentless improvement is key to creating a team of A players. Continuously adapt the hiring profile and learn from each interview to find the right fit. 

🎯 Removing bias from the hiring process is crucial. Use a hiring matrix to ensure the right questions are asked and the appropriate weighting is given to each category. 

🔄 The onboarding process for new employees using Carrum is simple and plug-and-play. 

🛡️ Successful salespeople in the benefits market need traits like resilience, drive, thick skin, and belief in what they do. Empathy and understanding the challenges of benefits leaders are also important. 

📊 Carrum's plans for the future include doubling down on cancer care and expanding in the behavioral health and women's health categories. The focus is on delivering quality care and addressing top spend and concern areas. 

💻 In the digital health space, virtual care and in-person care will blend seamlessly, and digital health will become the status quo. Digital health will tackle inefficiencies and reduce waste in healthcare. 

😌 In a stressful job, it's important to participate in wellness and reduce stress. Taking mini vacations and finding moments to escape and relax can help. 

🥗 Quick and healthy recipe ideas include pan sheet meals with vegetables, chicken, or salmon cooked in advance for the week. 

📞 Advice for those starting a career in sales: be aggressive, confident, and find a mentor. Preparation and excitement are key to successful sales calls. 

🔮 Bold predictions for the future of digital health include the blending of virtual and in-person care, the fading out of the term 'digital hea

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