Recruiting

Someone I spoke with recently told me that she’s heard that 90 percent of sales come after the sixth sales call, but most people stop long before that. There are many variations on this theme, but essentially in order to get what you want, be it a sale or a job, you have to be tenacious, focused and persistent.

A lot of people seem confused about what constitutes great follow-up. Some are worried about annoying others if they’re overly persistent. Others don’t seem to understand that they are rubbing people the wrong way. Striking the right balance can bring so many rewards that it’s worth figuring out the right way to go about it.

We all know this. I am not telling you anything new. So why it is so difficult for many people?

Last summer, I met a ConMed Electrosurgery sales representative at a local hospital. Raquel (not her real name) had been representing ConMed Electrosurgery for about a year. She had prior medical sales experience, including some O.R. sales experience. In her first quarter with the company, she catapulted her under-performing territory into the top echelon of the company.

When we originally began talking about this day, she said, “Everyone wants to be in the O.R.. That’s the glamorous part of this job. But there is a lot of work that goes into getting to that point. That’s what I really want to show you.” So she showed me just that — the cold-calling and prospecting that goes into uncovering opportunities.

I interviewed two great candidates who are currently in medical device sales. It made me think about some of the differences between medical device sales and a typical B2B sales position. When you move into medical device sales, it is definitely a step up in many ways — in responsibility, complexity and commitment.

Both candidates talked about their efforts to convert surgeons from competitive products. Their success resulted from ferocious determination, research and a sophisticated level of clinical knowledge about their own and competitors’ products. In one case, there were wight to 10 competitive plating systems on the market, yet the rep was able to identify five competitive differentiators in his product.

The other day I spoke to a sales trainer, who was a reference for a candidate. He talked about the difference between being a "pleaser" and an "adviser" to customers. The ultimate goal is for sales people to develop into advisers, someone whom customers look to for expert advice. It is an interesting and important distinction.

It led me to consider the ways medical device salespeople can achieve the role of adviser. It’s a combination of knowledge, commitment, work ethic and "paying it forward:"