The Hidden Sales Team: How Leadership and Collaboration Fuel Site Growth
Everyone Sells Something
A few months ago, I was talking with the leader of a small research organization who said, “Sergio, we do have a sales team — but they’re struggling. They’re responsible for mining our CTMS to find the data they need for feasibilities, meeting with sponsor representatives, and keeping relationships alive between studies — all on their own. We’re all so busy, and they don’t get much help from the rest of the organization.”
That conversation stuck with me because I hear it often. Smaller organizations operate this way by necessity — everyone wears multiple hats. The problem isn’t that they don’t care about growth; it’s that they expect one or two people to carry the entire weight of sales while everyone else stays heads-down in operations. The result is predictable: sales teams get burned out, study awards lag, and revenue stalls.
It’s not a failure of effort — it’s a failure of alignment.
In clinical research, sales isn’t one team’s job — it’s everyone’s. Every feasibility response, CRA interaction, query resolution, and payment discussion tells a story about your organization. Whether you’re a research site, sponsor liaison, IRB, lab, patient-recruitment firm, or technology provider, every communication either builds or erodes trust.
Sales in this world isn’t about persuasion. It’s about trust, and trust is built through leadership and collaboration. When collaboration becomes part of the culture, your organization stops being seen as just another vendor. You become a partner — and partnerships are what people remember long after the study ends.
Leadership Redefined: Creating a Culture That Sells Without Selling
Let’s be honest — titles don’t make leaders. Behavior does. Some of the best leadership I’ve seen didn’t come from executives; it came from the project manager who kept a sponsor calm through a protocol amendment, or the CRA who helped a coordinator troubleshoot an issue when timelines were tight. Leadership is about influence, accountability, and consistency — not hierarchy.
When leaders model clear communication and shared ownership, teams follow their example. When silos come down, collaboration flows naturally — and growth follows close behind. Leaders who treat every sponsor interaction as a reflection of the entire organization create a feedback loop of trust. They don’t just manage studies; they manage impressions.
And leadership isn’t limited to the CEO. Heads of operations, business development, and project management all set the tone for how teams behave. When these leaders jump in to fix every issue themselves, they may solve the short-term problem — but they create a long-term one. They’re teaching their teams that someone else will always step in. True leadership means coaching people to think through problems, not rescuing them from accountability. I’ve seen this pattern play out at many organizations — both where I’ve worked and in client engagements — and it’s one of the fastest ways to stall growth and erode confidence.
A “sales culture” in clinical research isn’t about chasing contracts or polishing slides. It’s about showing reliability, responsiveness, and partnership every single day. The most successful organizations don’t necessarily have the biggest budgets or the most sophisticated tech stack. They have leaders who create clarity, set expectations, and make collaboration a habit. They understand that when people trust each other internally, it becomes easier for external partners to trust them too.
Brené Brown says that “clear is kind.” I think about that often in this industry, because the best leaders aren’t the ones who always have the answers — they’re the ones who are honest about what’s hard. When leaders create space for people to speak up, admit constraints, or ask for help without fear, collaboration stops being a buzzword and starts becoming part of how the team actually functions. That kind of clarity builds safety, and safety builds trust — the ultimate foundation for growth.
The Anatomy of a Collaborative Organization
Across the industry, the biggest obstacle to growth isn’t capability — it’s alignment. Sites commit to timelines operations can’t meet. Vendors launch new offerings without coordinating with the delivery teams who have to support them. Labs and IRBs are brought into planning too late. Every disconnect creates friction, and friction looks like risk to sponsors.
Collaboration bridges those gaps. It turns individual contributors into a unified experience.
I often use a simple framework with teams called C.L.A.R.E. It works whether you’re running a site, managing a project portfolio, or scaling a technology platform:
C — Communicate proactively
L — Listen across roles
A — Align on expectations
R — Respond quickly and clearly
E — Execute consistently
When collaboration becomes muscle memory, trust becomes your brand — and trust is what opens doors. When partners feel alignment, they lean in. When they sense disconnection, they step back. It’s that simple.
Leadership Checklist
How to Build a Collaborative Culture That Drives Growth
- Hold weekly “operational pulse” meetings between commercial and delivery teams.
- Involve key functions early in feasibility or proposal reviews.
- Encourage finance and contracts to share forecasting insights.
- Reinforce shared metrics: responsiveness, quality, audit readiness.
- Celebrate cross-team wins — success should never live in silos.
How Collaboration Translates Into Commercial Success
Every organization wants to grow, but more outreach doesn’t guarantee it. Growth comes from alignment — from creating an experience that’s easy for sponsors, partners, and collaborators to work with.
Think about what they value most: responsiveness, reliability, and partnership. Fast, clear communication builds confidence. Clean data, accurate budgets, and on-time deliverables speak louder than any slide deck. And perhaps most importantly, no one wants to chase information or navigate confusion.
“The most powerful sales pitch isn’t what you say in a capabilities deck — it’s what your data, your timelines, and your people have already said through consistent execution.”
Collaboration doesn’t just make operations run smoother — it creates commercial momentum. When your internal teams trust each other, external partners can feel it. That trust translates into faster feasibilities, smoother contracting, and repeat business. Every internal habit becomes an external signal — and those signals define your reputation.
One of my favorite books, The Challenger Sale, gets this exactly right. Traditional sales, as we knew it, is dead! It’s no longer about asking a long list of open-ended questions or trying to get prospects to do the talking. It’s about teaching — about bringing insight and perspective that help a client see their challenge differently.
When developing an account plan or shaping your messaging to a prospective or current client, it takes a team to figure out how your organization can best solve the incumbent problem — the issue your prospect may already have accepted as “just the way things are.” That’s where true collaboration and leadership intersect. Your team’s ability to think collectively, challenge assumptions, and communicate a better path forward is what separates transactional vendors from trusted partners.
Leadership in Action: Building a Collaborative Rhythm
Great collaboration doesn’t happen by accident; it’s designed into the rhythm of leadership. The most effective organizations build communication habits that keep everyone aligned.
I call this rhythm the Leadership Cadence — a structured flow of alignment that connects teams, reinforces accountability, and keeps growth on track.
It might look like this:
- Weekly alignment meetings between business development, operations, and delivery teams.
- Monthly executive touchpoints to anticipate capacity and resource needs.
- Quarterly partner feedback sessions to identify friction early and celebrate wins.
These aren’t “status meetings.” They’re intentional check-ins that strengthen connection and predictability.
Leaders who make this rhythm part of their operating DNA don’t have to chase collaboration — it’s built into how they work. They create teams that sponsors, partners, and colleagues trust instinctively.
The best leaders ask the right questions regularly: Where are we unintentionally creating friction for others? What story do our day-to-day actions tell about our organization? How can we make collaboration easier for our teams and partners?
When you build that kind of rhythm, you stop chasing growth — you start attracting it.
Turning Collaboration Into a Competitive Advantage
Jim Collins once wrote that “greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.” That idea has always resonated with me. The same is true in clinical research — success doesn’t come from luck or headcount. It comes from intentional leadership rhythms, clarity of roles, and the discipline to stay aligned when things get messy.
Earlier this year, I wrote “Breaking Down the Silos: Why Sales, Marketing, and Operations Must Align to Drive Sustainable Growth.” In it, I explored how many organizations approach sales, operations, and leadership as separate functions — when in reality, they’re inseparable. The same truth applies here: collaboration isn’t a department; it’s a discipline.
Whether you’re a site, IRB, recruitment firm, technology vendor, or sponsor, the organizations that win long-term are the ones that make it easy for partners to work with them again.
“Instead of asking how to win more studies, ask how to make it easier for partners to choose you again.”
That mindset changes everything. It turns collaboration into your greatest differentiator. It leads to more repeat partnerships, stronger referrals, fewer escalations, and higher team morale.
Collaboration doesn’t just benefit your external relationships — it strengthens your internal culture. It removes confusion, builds trust, and creates pride in execution. When your people see themselves as part of a shared mission, it transforms how they show up every day.
And that’s when growth becomes predictable — not because you’re pushing harder, but because everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
The Hidden Sales Team Manifesto
Five Beliefs That Define Growth-Minded Organizations
- Integrity fuels every partnership — through communication, responsiveness, and reliability.
- Leadership is a behavior, not a title.
- Collaboration is the bridge between operational excellence and growth.
- The easiest partner to work with wins.
- Trust is the most valuable currency in research partnerships.
Conclusion: The New Face of Sales
Sales in clinical research isn’t about convincing — it’s about connecting. It’s about trust, and trust comes from the small, consistent actions that people experience every day.
Every person in your organization, from the front-line coordinator to the executive suite, plays a role in shaping how others perceive your reliability and integrity. The organizations that thrive are the ones that treat leadership and collaboration as their sales strategy. They understand that reputation is built on follow-through, not follow-ups.
As someone who has always worked to become a better leader myself, I’ve been drawn to thinkers who focus on purpose and people. I’m a huge fan of Simon Sinek’s work — I’ve read all his books — and one line of his has always stayed with me: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”
That line sums up everything I believe about growth in clinical research. The best organizations don’t grow because they sell harder — they grow because they lead better. They create environments where collaboration thrives, where teams trust each other, and where every person sees themselves as part of the same mission.
Like Brené Brown reminds us, clear is kind. Like Jim Collins teaches, discipline drives greatness. And like Simon Sinek says, leadership is about taking care of those in your charge. The organizations that embrace those truths don’t just grow — they transform.
“The best organizations don’t have salespeople — they have teams that lead, collaborate, and deliver. And that’s what keeps partners coming back.”
When everyone in the organization sees themselves as part of the growth story, sales stops being a department. It becomes the culture.
In the end, growth doesn’t come from more outreach or louder messaging. It comes from alignment — from making it easier for partners to trust, choose, and work with you again.
And that’s the hidden sales team — not a job title, but a mindset. One that unites people across clinical research to work smarter, lead stronger, and build partnerships that last.
About the Author
Sergio Armani is the Founder and CEO of ACG-Clinical. With more than 20 years of experience across the sponsor and site landscape, he serves as a fractional commercial leader and advisor to emerging organizations in clinical research.
About ACG-Clinical
ACG-Clinical partners with research sites, site networks, technology providers, IRBs, labs, and patient-recruitment organizations to strengthen commercial strategy, business-development effectiveness, and leadership alignment. The firm helps growth-stage organizations turn complex sales challenges into repeatable, scalable success.
Referenced Works
- The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
- Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
