Want to Sell Something, Just Use the Words Best in Class

Recently, there has been an onslaught of press releases ranging from new executives being hired to companies achieving PMA milestones, to launching "new me too" products (isn't that an oxymoron), to surgeons promoting clinical results. None of this news has been truly earth shattering, nor is it going to create a major shift in spine care, nor, is this going to change some of the challenges that these early-growth stage companies face. What TSB finds interesting is the common buzz words that all these press releases contain, "best in class."

Many years ago, as more and more graduate school business executives started to infiltrate our industry, it seems the use of the description "best in class" became more the norm than the exception. It's almost like using the word "love" endlessly. It loses its meaning. So we thought that we would do a bit of investigative work to identify just what does it mean to be "best in class." When utilized does this mean that the product that someone is describing exhibits the highest current performance level in the industry? Maybe, but usually its your word against mine unless you have the revenue to prove it. What happens if there are only three or four products? Would that truly constitute using the word "best in class." Would four products even qualify as a class? What happens if someone is attempting to use these words to set a standard or benchmark, and that individual is not an authority? Would that be deception or marketing?

You have to love when someone hires a new VP of Sales, and that person is quoted as saying, "I look forward to working with the sales management team to build a best-in class sales organization as we grow our market penetration in minimally invasive surgery." Huh? Wasn't the sales team that you inherited best in class? Or, is the company calling a timeout and looking towards free agency to rebuild the organization? Is this the NBA? LeBron is available for the right price. Or, when launching a new product someone is quoted as saying, "the company's mission is only to provide best in class products." Does that mean that it hasn't been launching best in class products? Does anyone have anything interesting to say anymore? How canned can some of these comments be? Is there any creativity or artistry to our speech?

In closing, our research shows that the term "best-in-class" is given to the dog who has been judged the best specimen of its particular class at a confirmation show probably like the Westminster Dog Show. So TSB must ask the question, is it the dog, or is it best-in-class? We probably won't know until this years Spine Technology Awards ceremony in Orlando, until then keep doing your homework because you never know when someone will call you the best-in class.