Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Perspective from a Senior Rep

Today one of our experienced reps gave me a call and I took the opportunity to ask him his opinion about what it takes to succeed in medical device sales. In his opinion, success comes down to the ability to develop strong, solid relationships.

In his day, he's seen companies hire according to two basic models. Companies look for "achievers" who know how to sell and have a strong track record of accomplishment to show for their efforts. Folks from this background need to be inquisitive and must have a willingness to learn, constantly, about medical products and procedures.

The other model, one which I think is falling by the wayside, is to hire surgical techs who already a strong knowledge of surgical procedures and teach them to sell. I say it's falling by the wayside because it has been observed that surgical techs may be successful managing an existing account base but aren't necessarily driven to grow the business. While there certainly are exceptions out there, it may be because someone from this background may not as competitive as a career salesperson.


So, to recap, essential qualities according to one of our "frontline" reps, are...
1.Willingness to learn, continually, constantly, about your own products and everyone else's. He says his customer's call asking his advice about products that have nothing to do with Linvatec's product line. He uses his time in the OR to learn a little bit about everything, anethesiology, bracing, patient outcomes, and the surgeons appreciate his inquisitiveness.
2. Competitiveness, a desire to win. Pretty self-explanatory, so I won't elaborate any further.
3. Ability to Develop Relationships The ability to make connections frequently, easily, sincerely is pretty much essential. Without it, the other two don't matter too much in this business.