How to Get into Medical Device Sales

If you want to break into Medical Device Sales Career, here is a complete breakdown

Step 1: Why Medical Device Sales

Step 2. Your Journey ….

Step 3. Obtaining a Medical Device Sales Job

Step 4. Prepare for the Interview – WIN Your Medical Device Sales Job

Step 5. Understand Call Points and Medical Device Product Types

a) Unlimited Growth Potential

As hardcore sales reps, when you’re entering that big next step of your sales career you don’t want to be capped on anything (especially income and growth) and you want to know the potential to grow is there, and the medical device sales industry provides unlimited growth to every rep that enters in.

b) Flexible Schedule/Hours

A lot of reps I’ve placed in my time being a medical sales recruiter value the medical device industry because of the flexibility it gives them with their jobs.

It’s important to remember that in hardcore medical device sales jobs; there might not be a local office you’re checking into every day. This implies you, as a sales rep, will have more flexibility to make your own hours and handle your business.

c) Clients/Relationships

A lot of medical device reps enjoy the clients in the industry that turn into customers and the relationships they build with these customers.

There’s a healthy amount of the doctors, nurses, HR staff, and C-level decision-makers that will wind up meeting you, buying from you, recommending you/your product service, and then using your product/service on patients in a hospital or the desired call point that you’re calling on as a sales rep.

d) Territory Management

One of the first answers I usually get from sales reps when I ask them why they want to break into medical sales is “I want a bigger/ sexier territory than the 5-10 zip codes I have at my outside B2B sales job now.”

In my opinion, running a big territory, or managing and growing a multi-state territory like California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Utah is a huge selling point. It is a big perk to the job.

In a way, when you have a territory that big, you get an opportunity to become the “mayor of your territory” and you become the boss.

e) Money

Obviously money and the income potential you can make as a hardcore medical device sale rep is important when you’re trying to break into medical device sales.

A lot of reps I’ve placed in the medical device sales industry notice that in a medical device the cliché is true: “The harder I work the more money I earn.”

In 2016, a report from medreps.com (A medical device job board which I highly recommend using by the way) noted that the average income for a medical device sales rep was right around $137K, with a base around $73K.

f) Making a Difference

Okay, so this might not be the “top reason” to get into medical device sales, some people might list a better paycheck or company car plus a gas card, but it certainly is a big reason why a lot of people want to break into medical device sales and why the industry is so popular.

Think about this for a second; if you break into the medical device industry, you might get the opportunity to sell devices/medical services that change or even save lives daily. This is that one industry where there is a potential of this happening every day of your workweek.

It is a big deal because you’re saving someone’s life and you’re making a huge difference.

I think it’s important to note that there’s a sense of pride that comes with selling these medical devices/ services too and it’s something you can be proud of knowing you’re making a difference as a medical device sales rep in the years to come.

g) U.S. Market is the Best Market for Medical Device Sales Reps

The U.S. is the market and innovative leader in many things including the medical device/life sciences space and has been it for quite some time now.

As a potential medical device sales rep, there’s no better market to sell into than the U.S. market because you’re working in an industry and a country with an exponential growth rate year over year.

This milestone marks your entry into this field. There is no better way to embark on your journey than to land a B2B sales job.

What indicates your chances of being successful in your first ever B2B interview that you undertake?

We have seen numerous salespeople with vast experience, but only a handful of them actually make it to their final destination. The rest fail because of a lack of B2B experience.

Training plays a very important role in achieving this first milestone. You will undergo on-the-job sales training and will also be asked to role-play in addition to learning cold calling techniques, call protocols, territory management, etc.

The trainers or the coach will help you tune your existing skills and develop crucial new ones.

All hiring managers in the medical area expect you to have these skills so that you can better concentrate on learning more about the technical products.

In the beginning, you will be required to meet certain targets every month. You will be expected to educate customers about the product you are selling and motivate them to increase the usage if they have already been using your product.

You will provide demos and teach the customers about how to use the product. This way, you will unravel your own opportunities and grow.

Remember, becoming a medical device sales rep is not easy, and it will be tough to get yourself selected for a job, as there is a lot of competition. You need to be highly passionate and knowledgeable about work ethics.

You need to have the ability to sell yourself to employers and then sell their products to the clients.

In addition, you will be facing tough competition with your peers on a daily basis, and the criteria will, of course, be the number of sales each one of you makes. The manager will only hire the person who beats at least 95% of the other sales reps involved.

Online job boards charge you a small monthly fee, but they can end your subscription just when you get a job. Keep checking the job postings on these forums that say ‘entry-level’ or look for employers who are willing to hire fresh people.

LinkedInLinkedIn allows you to make a resume-like profile that is visible to everyone. It is not a forum where you can upload a family photo or a casual picture on the beach as your profile picture. Instead, put up a plain, decent, and professional one.

Spend enough time making and building your profile by adding all the skills, qualifications, and experiences that you have. Look at some professional medical sales rep profiles to get a better idea of how it should be done. Apply for any relevant jobs you come across and ensure adding a warm covering message to have the hiring manager notice you. This will increase your odds of landing a job.

Facebook and Twitter

While the probability of getting a job through Facebook or Twitter is low, the likelihood of losing a job/opportunity through these platforms is pretty high. Surprised? Well, this is absolutely true!

Social media accounts filled with bogus content and images or other types of ‘warning signs’ can avert employers from hiring you. If you are a true professional, present yourself as one on every platform. Also, refrain from sharing your political views whenever possible!

Medical Device Sales College

There are diplomas and other qualifications being offered by colleges, which you should consider pursuing to increase your chances of getting a job. I will, however, caution candidates to consider this a low priority option; these colleges can be expensive, they over promise and hype success rates, while you end up with thousands of dollars out of your pocket.

When you have the required experience, your profile is updated, and the employers have begun to notice you, it is time to prepare for the meetups.
As you must be aware, the medical field has a very slow hiring process. This is absolutely something that needs to be changed, but for now, you have to learn to cope up. Learn how to take over this process.

Build a Close Connection with Your Recruiter

Use your recruiter as much as you can if you are working with one. While the recruiters work for their own companies and serve the clients, they can only perform their jobs nicely and earn well by filling up vacant positions quickly.

A recruiter is working for the company making the hire, NOT FOR YOU! If you appear to be a good candidate for a medical device sales rep position, you will be further sold to the hiring manager.

So, ensure connecting closely with the recruiter to improve your chances of success.

By doing so, you will come to know about the so-called secret pieces of information including:

• Open positions
• Target candidates
• Skills/abilities and qualifications needed for a job
• Types of questions in the interview
• Mandatory personality traits that you will be checked for
• Average employment tenure of medical reps in a company, etc.
• Get to know the employer

This is extremely important because that is the first thing you will be asked about after introducing yourself. This tells the interviewers why you want to join their company. Imagine yourself not being able to answer “What do you know about us?” Wouldn’t it be very embarrassing?

This is extremely important because that is the first thing you will be asked about after introducing yourself. This tells the interviewers why you want to join their company. Imagine yourself not being able to answer “What do you know about us?” Wouldn’t it be very embarrassing?

Visit the employer’s website before you go for an interview and get to know as much as you can to avoid such situations.

Use the S.T.A.R. Method

You don’t want to stutter during interviews, and the interviewers don’t want to hear you ramble.

Use the S.T.A.R approach to answer every question you are asked.

S refers to situations,

T to tasks,

A to the action

R to results.

If you are asked about a scenario where you were able to deal with an objection, answer the S.T.A.R way.

Explain the situation first (situation), tell them about the task you were projected with (task), what you did to complete it (action), and what the final outcome (result) was.

Interview Closing

Don’t end the interview by turning down the opportunity to ask questions. You need to make a strong impression and end on a good note.

The best way to close a medical device sales representative interview is to get the interviewers to agree to a few ideas that you share.

Share some past experience in a way that you can brag about your qualities without making it too obvious, and share a few ideas/concepts you have in your mind or have used previously to achieve something. Make the conversation, constructive and fruitful.

Create a Brag Book and 30/60/90 Day Plan, and Share Them

Sharing your brag book or a 30/60/90 plan with the interviewers is another thing you can do to close an interview smartly.

Having these with you will display how hard you are trying to get into this field and your willingness to go a few extra miles to achieve things. Include your prominent achievements, including congratulatory emails from companies on successful jobs or accomplishments of targets.

Having a 30/60/90 Day plan will also leave a lasting impression. It will show how planned and organized you are. Don’t go frantic; make your own plan using PowerPoint and get it printed to place it in front of the interviewers.

Before we get into the specifics of the medical device products, it’s a great idea to understand your call points to successfully sell medical devices.

Call Points

The ever-changing landscape of the healthcare sector has made it increasingly difficult to navigate into the field. Initially, a medical equipment sales rep could go into a hospital, pitch his products and the hospital could accept them or reject them based on their merit.

However, now hospitals fall under a large network of a hospital system, which are bound by the Group Purchasing Organizations or contracts which value standardization.

Keeping this in mind, a medical sales rep should build up the portfolio that allows him to call on a hospital as well as independent medical business owners, like private clinics. This can provide you quick, monthly sales while you wait for your bigger hospital deals to fall through.

Medical Device Product Types

Capital Equipment

Capital equipment refers to X-rays, CT scanners, EEG systems, beds, and surgical robots. Selling medical devices can be a daunting yet lucrative task.

These products are a part of different hospitals’ “Capital Budgeting Cycle”. This implies that if a hospital needs a product like that, it will have it planned at least a year before.

You are most probably not going to reap the rewards for at least 6-12 months for the quote you turn in for budgeting purposes. So, if you’re just starting out with a new company that sells capital equipment, it’s highly probable that you won’t make your first sale for a very long time.

When going through an interview process for this type of sale, discuss a potential “guarantee” that will give you something to live on over the first 6 months while you build a pipeline.

If your portfolio only consists of a CT scan or X-ray equipment, be prepared to survive on a single paycheck for a long time until the time it is finally diversified.

Apart from this, you could also be selling disposable surgical components. These also come under the head of capital equipment, but they can be bought every now and then. They include Endoscopic Vein Harvesters, robotics, balloon pumps, robotics, and more.

If you deal in both long-term and disposable capital equipment, your portfolio will almost have a 50/50 ratio between the two.

This enables you to earn more through commission on disposables as you pitch your long-term medical device sales.

Surgical Devices

By surgical devices, we mean those that are used in surgical settings to perform operations. These are NOT capital equipment. Most procedures will have things that go along with the patient; for example, knee implants, etc.

Some items are definitely not going to be used ever again, unlike surgical components that can be used a number of times before they are finally disposed of. These sales are more consistent.

The only thing you have to focus on as a medical device sales rep is that your product does what it is supposed to and allows the surgeons to lead through the procedures smoothly.

You may be asked a few questions before a purchase is made, so be prepared to answer those.

Consumables

Consumables include those items that are used on a day to day basis in bulk. These usually include gauze, drapes, cannulas, and needles. While these may not account for large profits, you will ultimately be able to hit the mark every month because you will probably be selling them every day and in bulk.

The cost of these items barely differs and yet the person who is buying them, usually the department head, will ensure they are getting the best price and saving some money. If the Gynecology department uses around 12,000 units of a device every year and you can save them $1 per unit, you can definitely make them buy for you.

Software

Medical software is any software that assists with diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, is an accessory to a medical device or is used in the design, production, and testing of medical equipment. Unfortunately, although the software is available in the market, its implementation is sorely lacking in the medical sector.

A medical devices salesperson can grab this opportunity to pitch his/her contacts about the importance of medical software. CRM platforms that have the ability to interface with the hospital’s Electronic Medical Record in a HIPAA-compliant manner are the future.

This gives patients the option of consulting their physicians from the luxury of their homes. Some healthcare institutes can create apps so that patients can check their tests results online. One of the most important things that software can regulate is transferring patient overflow to another sister hospital to improve efficiency and ROI.

With so many advancements in the medical software, a medical device sales rep has a lot of opportunities to dip his toes in the industry.

Conclusion

All the above-given details and the step-by-step guide to becoming a medical device sales rep or breaking into medical device sales will help you kick start your journey.

Here’s the bottom line: you need to be very passionate and committed to effectively break into medical sales. As a medical device sales rep, you will have a highly lucrative career, but you need to earn it. You will need to be resourceful, creative, proactive and learn everything you can about medical sales. You will also need to sell yourself, not just to your employers, but also to your prospective clients.

But if you are willing to take up the challenge, it is possible to start making a name for yourself in the industry almost immediately.

While the landscape of the healthcare industry is continuously changing, there is no shortage of opportunities for you because of technological developments. Start today!

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