This page is for all Medical Device Product Specialists (MDPS) looking to hone the selling skills and also to serve as a guide for the MDPS fraternity. We love to hear your comments on these posts.
- Becoming successful in medical device sales.
Selling anything is tough, but selling medical devices is especially brutal when you consider that learning the massive volumes of anatomy and procedural data is actually the easy part of the job.
The tricky part of medical device sales is applying everything that you learned in training to the operating room, at the same time as your learning how to add value to surgeons, staff while helping to improve patient outcomes. I have compiled a collection of proven tactics that have helped numerous sales reps stand out in the crowd. These ten tips for success in medical device sales are kind of my Medical Device Sales 101 class:
- Be prepared for some “pushback” about your company, product(s), the last sales rep, your manager and any other random objection you might hear from surgeon or staff. Wear your emotional bullet proof vest to work.
- Make application easy. Surgeons won’t use it if they don’t know how and or it is perceived as too difficult. More importantly, it is critical that you know the case and are able to articulate both the how and the why for product usage and placement:
- Have the residents help. They can teach the surgeons and remind them
- Teach the scrub technicians and they will remind and guide the surgeons
- Discuss application tips before the case in OR lounge or at the scrub sink
- Get your product on surgeon preference cards (product is in room on every case) Ask the surgeon for permission to inform the circulating nurse to add your product(s).
- Be prepared to have difficult conversations. With many devices, you are not always in the room when they use it so you often have no idea as to whether they are using your product when you are not around. Prospects will tell you all kinds of stories about how much they use and often, etc.
- Work the night shift occasionally (especially in the beginning):
- 1-2 times per week
- Establish credibility with staff and surgeons
- Differentiate yourself from other reps
- Be in surgery (should be obvious):
- 15 cases per week – minimum
- Overachieve on effort from the start
- Is it Possible to have Job Happiness?
Only a few, lucky people can say that they are doing exactly what they love to do. In the real world, there is just a greater number of folks who make the most of their work because there is no choice. Let’s face it, especially in these uncertain times, having a stable job is a boon. Who has the time or the option to get that stable job that one loves as well?
Well, some say that job happiness is a matter of choice and perspective. If you are in a sales job, it is easy to get bogged down. This kind of work requires a lot of patience and perseverance and energy. But one way to get happiness from a sales job is to tap on the parts of you that every sales person needs: maybe liking people, shopping, closing a deal? Find one or a few things in you that really connect with your sales job and magnify that. Sales job happiness is something that can be achieved.
If you are someone who likes to talk to people, like to convince people about anything, then a career in sales may be the path for you. Sales people are often considered great talkers, able to convince any person to buy a rock when not needed. Aside from the possible high commissions often attached to sales positions, your skills in negotiation and in dealing with people will be greatly enhanced, a skill you can use in other aspects of life as well.
Looking at a career in sales can be the best path for you so take the time to see if this is something you want to do.
ASIAMED 