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Lisa McCallister

A day-in-the-life of a medical device sales rep, Part Two

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Continued from Part One…

From the second endoscopy center, we drove down to a hospital where they rep had recently sold a Beamer system, an electrosurgical unit which can  be used to stop bleeding in the digestive track. Unlike surgeons, who love blood almost as much as vampires, the rep explained that the tension level in the endoscopy suite usually goes through the roof when there is a “bleeder”. He told me that some of the cautious G.I. doctors in rural areas will send their patients to urban hospitals at the first suspicion of blood.

A day-in-the-life of a medical device sales rep

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Part One…

A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday morning, I met up with the local sales rep for ConMed Endoscopic Technologies before 8:00 am. Like the rep, I was decked out in a pair of scrubs and a comfortable pair of running shoes.

It happened to be GI Nurses and Associates Day. Who knew there was such a holiday? Apparently, I had a lot to learn!

Our first stop was a nearby endoscopy center, where due to the festive occasion, we dropped off some bagels. One of the nurses invited us back to a large storage room. The walls were lined with products from different companies.

Medical device sales: How to balance work and life

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I spoke to a talented medical device saleswoman recently. Her dedication to her job is exceptional and she routinely works 90 hours a week. She is a single mom and is fortunate that her mother lives with her to help care for her children. The number of hours she works is definitely on the high end, but she finds great satisfaction in her job and knows her children are well-provided for.

Sales as an equal opportunity career for women

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International Women’s Day was first introduced to me by a close friend of mine who is from Russia. It is considered an important day for Russian men to honor women — not as wives or mothers — but as equal members of society.

There are marches and events in countries around the world this week calling for greater equality for women in all areas of life. One story on the radio yesterday was about a woman in China who wanted more opportunity to pursue her career.

Show me the money

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It’s often said that people don’t quit their jobs — they quit their bosses. But what people tell me most often is that they want to leave because they are not making as much money as they’d hoped. I’ve been trying to reconcile these two things in my mind lately. I think both may be true.

There comes a time in every interview process when potential first-year income must be discussed. It’s always tricky to predict in Year One what someone will make in a new sales position. There are so many variables: The condition of the territory and existing pipeline, the learning curve, work ethic, and sometimes just dumb luck.

A recruiter’s wish list for LinkedIn

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I joined LinkedIn back in June 2005, back when on-line social networking was still in its infancy. Back then, Facebook only had five million users.

It’s amazing how much has changed. Five years ago, LinkedIn was more of a curiosity than anything. When I used to ask people if they were on LinkedIn, they would ask, “What is that?” Frankly, I didn’t use it much back then and knew little about its functionality myself. A few thousand connections later, I’ve learned a thing or two about the site. These days, LinkedIn is as ubiquitous as Kleenex.

Sales growth opportunities are as real as you want them to be

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A few weeks ago, I saw a ranking of sales representatives according to percentage of quota. I was happy to see that a number of reps I recruited in the last couple of years were near the top of the rankings.

And then, of course, there were reps who were below quota, some significantly. In a year like 2010, it would be easy to think that making quota was difficult given the economy. And, yet there were those who trumped the prevailing logic and grew their business substantially.

Looking at it from a 30,000 foot perspective, I wondered, what is the difference? Certainly everyone wants to be over 100 percent. They want to maximize their income. They want to succeed. They have similar training and the same products, so why the broad disparity in outcome?

Breaking into medical device sales

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The medical device industry is less apparent to the general public than many other industries. Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, there is little direct-to-consumer advertising by device companies. Industry giants aside, the names of most medical device companies are not commonly known.

Ideally, going into college, you would know that medical device sales is something you want to pursue and plan your course of study accordingly. You would choose the best companies to gain the right type of sales experience, put up great numbers and three to five years into your sales career, you would get your big break in the industry and build your career from there.

Great learning resources for anatomy and medicine

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The foundation of many medical device sales positions, especially those that involve surgery, is a strong knowledge of anatomy. People who have studied anatomy and physiology, biomechanics and the like in college often have a significant advantage in developing their product knowledge over those who have not.

“Doing well by doing good” in medical device sales

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One of the biggest draws of medical device sales is feeling that you are contributing to the health and well-being of others through the products you represent. This is an important motivation for most people I interview who want to break into the industry, as well as one of the main reasons that people who are already part of the industry find it so rewarding.

Many trauma reps in particular derive a incredible satisfaction from providing the right products to assist a surgeon in putting someone back together after an accident. They love the immediacy and high stakes of getting everything right in order to achieve the best outcome for patients.