Medical Sales Rep

This site is truly meant to be a repository for my thoughts on the world of medical sales. I don’t always have time to post, but I encourage everyone to look through old posts. This site has quite a bit of content.

The easiest way to find other content would be to click through the categories section in the far right hand column. There is also a recent posts section for my latest additions.

My next post will be on book recommendations for medical sales reps, so stay tuned.

I was listening to some old podcasts today and I found a podcast by Jeb Blount, the person behind SalesGravy.com.

The podcast was about how someone should become an expert in their field as a key to wild success. He outlines five steps:

1) Take 30 mins a day to read a book. Jeb states that the average CEO reads 20 books per year and that this is a reason for being where they are.

2) Take advantage of free training. If your company offers free training at any time, you should jump on it.

3) Stay current. Subscribe to industry trade journals and contribute to them occasionally.

4) Turn off the radio. During the sales day, don’t listen to talk radio as you travel between sales calls. Listen to inspirational and informational podcasts, audiobooks, and seminars.

5) Take advantage of the free content available on the internet. Simply Googling “medical sales” or “sales” leads to a variety of great content.

I thought these were decent enough to mention. I encourage people to listen to sales podcasts available thought iTunes while they are on the treadmill or working out as I do. There is always some time to sharpen the saw.

People ask me all the time, which medical reps make the most money? In my opinion, you can make quite a bit of money in all of the different fields: ortho, spine, trauma, etc.

I do see one segment that stands out: cardio. Time and time again, I see cardio reps making 500k+ to START! To me, this is where the money is for medical sales reps.

But, tell me what you think in our forums.

This post assumes that you have the requisite experience and accomplishments to work for a medical device company as a sales rep.

You might find yourself at a crossroads in your career sometime in the future when you are presented with two opportunities: “Do I work for the big company or do I go to work for the startup?”

Let me help with the cost/benefit analysis:

Big Company

Pros:

• Strong R&D
• Well known brand name
• Know how to do business with proven systems in place
• Some companies still offer pensions (ex: JNJ after five years with the company)
• Normally have strong benefit programs

Cons:

• They normally do not pay top dollar
• If the organization is too large there is the ability to get lost in the sauce without strong leadership
  • Dealing with large bureaucracies without strong systems can be painful

•  Benefit programs do not offer stock options (normally)

Startup

Pros:

• Fast moving environment (this could be a con for some)
• They normally pay higher rates than settled companies
• Normally offer stock options which means you could cash in if the company goes public

Cons:

• Startups are normally based on one product or service leading to higher than normal risk
• R&D may not be very strong
• Customer service systems may be at the experimental level

Feel free to disagree with me or offer more suggestions in our comment section or forums.

My recommendation is for someone starting out to try their hardest to get into a respected large company, associate yourself with excellence, and you can lean on that experience all the way into the future. Once you have that foundation, then go looking for the money and you will most likely find it with startups.

Cheers!

I have made a post about company cars before where I recommended what to drive if you don’t get a company car. I find myself curious what everyone is driving? I have seen the lots of Impala’s recently, as well as the Dodge Charger and Buick Rendezvous.

Feel free to drop a comment off and let everyone know how good (or bad) they have it.

The competition for medical sales positions is as fierce as ever. More and more people are flocking to the industry to make large amounts of money and build a skillset they can use for life. All of the competition can lead to cheating and the medical sales industry is no different than the NFL (Spygate) in this regard.

Most reps will flat out deny embellishing or telling untruths on their resume. If they are caught, so be it, they’ll just move on. There is nearly no punishment for trying. Many reps will embellish numbers by fabricating Excel spreadsheets or saying they won awards that they did not.

I generally frown upon cheating, but it is the job of the hiring manager to do their due diligence properly. They should be able to spot red flags  and if they do not, then they need to be replaced by someone who does. They are the first line of defense for the company. Frankly, some do a good job and some do not.
I would like to say that cheating doesn’t exist and no one ever lies on their resume, but I don’t see that day coming anytime soon.

As sales reps you must learn how to conquer objection with truth, not lies. Your self respect and the respect of others who work with you are at risk. I wouldn’t take that gamble.

For those in the women’s healthcare market there is an intriguing conversation going on in the realm of minimally invasive permanent birth control. After speaking to a medical sales rep who works for Conceptus (forum) a few weeks ago and checking out some internet postings, I thought about writing this post.

Essure is a medical device marketed by Conceptus (CPTS) that has been FDA approved since 2002. It remains the only minimally invasive form of permanent birth control. The Essure procedure is a substitute for a tubal ligation where a patient has the procedure done in a hospital under general anethesia. The Essure procedure lasts about 15 minutes and can be done in a doctor’s office with local anesthetic.

Conceptus has seen tremendous growth and has been a darling in the silicon valley medical device world. Enter Adiana. Adiana is a product by Cytec, now Hologic (HOLX). Adiana is thought to be the biggest threat to Conceptus’ monopoly of the minimally invasive permanent birth control market. Cytec purchased Adiana some time ago with the idea of bundling it with their Novasure product for endometrial ablation. Novasure is a market leader and this combination could prove lethal for Conceptus.

However, Adiana is having trouble getting approval from the FDA. It seems there have been more than a few pregnancies in their initial trials. The result was a message from the FDA asking to examine three year results before it makes a decision. These results will not be available for another year and once submitted, the FDA has six months to approve or deny. This could mean June of 2009 will be the time the permanent birth control market either has another entrant or continues to be a one horse show.

If you are a Conceptus/Essure rep, I am sure you are quite happy with the recent decision. If you are a Novasure rep, your mouth has to be watering at the opportunity before you.

Of course, if Adiana does not get approval, Hologic (forum) does have the market cap to buy Conceptus outright. Currently, Hologic has a $7.8 Billion dollar market cap, while Conceptus has a $500 million dollar market cap.

If you are a medical sales rep with either company, you are in good shape, in my opinion. I agree with the Conceptus CEO. We both feel the market is large enough for two players

A recent Supreme Court ruling should be well recieved my makers of medical devices and their sales reps.

The case involved a man who was having an angioplasty and a balloon cathether made by Medtronic burst causing him health problems. The Supreme Court ruled that states could not impose more stringent standards than the FDA currently does. Presently, if a product is ruled safe for use by the FDA, there is a brand of immunity attached to the product.

This is good for medical device makers and reps because it keeps them from having to live up to different standards that would cause increased prices, longer approval periods, etc. The lone dissenting justice was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but anyone who follows the court would realize this isn’t much of a surprise.

So, it is a good day to be a Medtronic sales rep and a good day for all medical reps.

To discuss this, head on over to the Medtronic discussion board here.

For the full story, here is a link to the NYT.

Wright Medical (Nasdaq: WMGI) released numbers back on Friday for the previous quarter. Their revenue numbers beat Wall St. expectations, but their earnings still lagged due to restructuring and arbitrators.

The new CEO claims they are moving right along and due to their market position and status as a smaller company that have to be tremendously innovative. He even refers to Wright Medical as the Apple Computer of medical devices. It would be interesting to hear from any Wright Medical sales reps out there about how you think the company is doing.

Coverage here.

To me, I am predicting most companies will release good numbers from the last quarter of 2007. I do think Q1 of 2008 will be slower due to the overall economy slowing. However, if you have a great product, there is sure to be demand for it whether the economy is in good shape or bad. Still, if you are selling big capital equipment, you may have a rough time.

Feel free to discuss in our comments section or or forums here.

In other news, Ev3 (forums) is suing CSI (Cardiovascular Systems Inc.).

“Ev3 charges CSI has damaged its business by “raiding” its sales force, and that it is benefitting from confidential information some of the new hires might have taken with them.”

This case illustrates how valuable a salesforce can be and that keeping your people happy through pay, benefits, etc. should be provided at all costs. I know someone who formerly worked at Fox Hollow and has now moved on. He was one of the original employees and when they changed their comp plan many people felt they could do better elsewhere. This is part of the problem when smaller medical device companies seek to move from startup to industry heavyweight. Startups are forced to pay top dollar if they want to give their company the best chance for success. Once some success comes, those same reps are slightly more expendable in the company’s eyes and they reduce the pay plans, bene’s, and wonder why people leave for a better deal.

For the complete article: link 

I’ve just created a forums pages where you can discuss anything and everything about medical sales. I am hoping to generate some good discussion. To post, just create a username and you have the ability to get email notifications for each topic so you won’t miss a beat.

I encourage you to sign up and generate some good discussion. This forum is dedicated to medical sales.

Check it out here.

In the future you can find the link under the blogroll header in the far right sidebar.