By Devin Hughes

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:

1. 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.
2. 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 intern remind and guide the surgeons
   • Discuss application tips before the case in OR lounge or at the scrub sink
3. 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).
4. 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.
5. 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
6. Be in surgery (should be obvious):
   • 15 cases per week – minimum
   • Overachieve on effort from the start
7. Genuine interest in people. Average reps make a memorable first impression. Great reps usually do that, but they always wear well over time. Why? Their concern for customers is real, and it goes deeper than one case. Surgeons come to value the sales person as much and sometimes more than the device itself.
8. Context is King. You must find your advocates ASAP. Who is using your product? Why? On what cases? How long have they been a user? Which hospitals do they operate and on which days? Which hospitals have it stocked? Do I have access? Access is a major issue right now for most reps so the quicker you can find out where you have challenges the quicker you can ramp your business:
   • Ask your Advocates for assistance (critical for success)
   • Will they introduce you to others in their group, at the hospital and in your territory?
9. Take things personally. Average reps have a job. Great reps are passionate about their positions and it borders on an obsession. They eat, sleep, and drink conversations about their territory, that case, next week, this month, that new doc, this new study etc… They never sell enough, never know enough, and never work hard enough. They can always do more and will never be out worked. They don’t see rejection and internal resistance as a roadblock but rather a challenge.
10. Stay active. Stay focused on building your brand continuously (what makes you different), and your pipeline. Be in a hospital everyday by at least 7am. Eat breakfast in the hospital cafeteria. You may run into OR staff and “that prospect” who you have been unable to meet.
    • Let everyone know about your solution and why it is different and how it improves patient outcomes
    • Introduce yourself to surgeons if you can in between cases, in their offices, OR lounge or anywhere else in the hospital.

Devin Hughes is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at CONNECT, an independent non-profit organization servicing the San Diego region that links high technology and life sciences entrepreneurs with the resources that they need for success: Technology, money, markets, management, partners and support services. Springboard, CONNECT’s flagship program, is a business creation and development program. Innovators at all stages receive hands-on mentoring by successful business leaders in the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Program. He mentors for start-up pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics and medical device companies.