Eds. note: MassDevice.com blogger Lisa McCallister broke her leg in a skiing accident in April. On May 29, eight weeks into her recovery, she wrote this post.
My windows are open on this bright, cool morning. Outside, the breeze rustles the leaves of the aspens in my yard.
Eight weeks ago today, I fractured my tibia skiing. As I sit in my kitchen writing, my right leg is stretched out to the side, foot resting on another chair. I have a cold pack strapped to my knee. Someday soon, I hope to achieve a full range of motion again. This week, I will try to walk again.
My injury, surgery and recovery have given me an opportunity to cross over to the other side of the medical device industry, as a patient. The care I received throughout this time, from nurses, my surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the physician assistant at the emergency room and my physical therapist, has been nothing short of terrific. I have tremendous respect for their knowledge, skill and dedication to helping me recover.
I have been as diligent as possible about following their advice. I have learned a lot about my body’s ability to heal and need for movement. My desire to be healthy and active again is insatiable.
During this challenging experience, I’ve encountered first-hand products from many companies in the medical device industry. When I saw my surgeon for my six-week checkup, he looked at me in surprise when I asked him if the buttress plate screwed to my tibia was from Synthes. He said it was. I imagine, and frankly hope, that there was a company representative in the operating room when I had my surgery, someone well-trained and well-prepared with backups and alternatives, should they have been needed. This unknown person has also impacted the quality of care I’ve received.
The morning of my surgery, my surgeon stopped by to see me in pre-op. He was fresh from a good night’s sleep and clearly excited about operating. He had been planning and preparing for the different possibilities he might encounter. After all, surgery is what he had trained and worked so hard to do, through many years of medical school, residency and a fellowship. Medical device sales representatives, as well as those aspiring to the industry, often express a similar level of excitement about surgery.
I can appreciate enthusiasm for surgery, and I understand how such passion can contribute to a better surgical outcome, but these emotions are in stark contrast to my feelings at that time as a patient. Pain, fear — even despair — would be the best words to describe how I felt in those first days surrounding my accident and surgery.
During this time, and since then, there have been moments of compassion that have been as important to me as any medical intervention. In particular, I think back to the physician assistant in the emergency room, who rubbed my arm and reassured me after I began shaking when the shock and reality of surgery and a long recovery hit home.
Sales people are measured by their ability to grow business and to achieve and exceed a quota. Somewhere in this equation for success, there must be room for compassion. I think the best companies and sales representatives in the industry find a way to balance these two contrasting priorities. They live up to the full responsibility of their roles when they are thoroughly trained, current on the latest techniques and products, provide excellent service and support to their customers and are well-prepared for every surgery. The final element of exercising compassion as a medical device sales representative is never losing sight of the patient’s wellbeing. I hope that the sales representative who may have covered my surgery had this in mind.
One of the sales managers I’ve worked closely with over the last few years refers to this as “doing right by the customer,” and in turn, the patient. Although it is not a formal metric, at the end of the day it is how he judges whether a representative is successful or not. If a sales representative “does right,” growth will follow. A lot of business is won and lost based on the level of commitment sales representatives demonstrate toward their customers.
I suggest that compassion toward the patient should be one of the major reference points a salesperson uses to guide their decision-making and their behavior. Some salespeople I’ve spoken to in the industry use this question to remind themselves of this:
“What if the patient on the table was my parent, spouse or child?”
I think this question should be part of the criteria for every product developed, marketed and sold in the industry.
What would happen if companies found a way to measure the compassion their sales representatives demonstrated toward customers and their customers’ patients, in addition to measuring growth in revenue? What you can measure, you can improve. What would be the associated impact on the company’s bottom line? I’m betting they’d find as strong a correlation between compassion and results as any other metric they use. Although it may be hard to measure, compassion is an imperative for long-term success in medical device sales.
Lisa McCallister specializes in recruiting for medical device sales and marketing positions with an operating room focus, such as orthopedics, electrosurgery, endoscopy and a wide range of surgical specialties. She has recruited two Rookie of the Year award winners. Connect with her on LinkedIn or check out her blog, MyJobScope.com.