“How to Get IntoMedical Sales Webinar”

With Moderator Carl Chapman

Peggy McKeeCEO of Career Confidential LLC

Peggy McKee

• CEO of Career Confidential.

• Owner of and senior recruiter forPHC Consulting, a nationally-recognized medical sales recruitingfirm.

Peggy is known all overthe country as The

Medical Sales Recruiter.

Peggy is going to be packinga lot of information into arelatively short time, so…

Eliminate anypotential distractions.

Peggy’s going to take us through…

The 6 Critical Steps

That everyone must take in orderto make a successful transition

into medical sales.

Let me start by giving you a little of mybackground.

• Involved in medical sales forabout 20 years.

• Started off as a sales rep in theclinical laboratory field.

• Moved up to regional salesmanager and national accountsmanager.

• Worked in marketing.

• Started my own recruitingbusiness for medical sales in1999.

I’ve worked with hundreds ofhiring managers and placedthousands of candidates inevery section of medical sales:LaboratoryClinicalMedical DevicePharmaceuticalSoftware ImagingPathology

I’ve worked with hundreds ofhiring managers and placedthousands of candidates inevery section of medical sales:LaboratoryClinicalMedical DevicePharmaceuticalSoftware ImagingPathology

Medical sales is a very competitive field.

• The best of the best sales reps arefighting for jobs here…for all kindsof reasons:– It’s fascinating work.– It’s one of the best-paying sales jobs

you can find.– You get the latest gadgets.– You’re on the cutting edge of new

technology.

Everybody wants in and it is verydifficult to break into.

I started to really look at my candidates.

• I was able to pick out a fewcritical factors that they all hadin common that helped themtransition successfully into themedical sales field.

• I distilled that down into 6 criticalsteps that everyone must do toland a medical sales job…

And that’s what we’re goingto talk about today.

They’ve all had a wide range ofpersonalities and backgrounds.

• Duracell battery rep with abusiness degree.

• Lexus car sales person with abiology degree.

• Hill’s Pet Food sales rep.

• Guy in management at UnionPacific Railroad.

• Medical technologists.

The only thing they really had in commonwas that they all had Bachelor’s degrees.

• From all kinds of companies:– Coca Cola– UPS– FedEx– Express Personnel Services– Hormel Food– ADP– Enterprise Rent a Car

• From all kinds of companies:– Coca Cola– UPS– FedEx– Express Personnel Services– Hormel Food– ADP– Enterprise Rent a Car

What are the 6 steps?1

2

3

4

5

6

Demonstrate that they understand the job.

Communicate that they can do the job.

Proved that they will do the job.

Assured the hiring manager that they posed no risk tohis own continued employment.

Closed for the job.

Followed up in the right way.

Just because these steps are simple,doesn’t mean they aren’t hard work.

• They are… but this is the hard workthat’s going to get you results.

• These are the things that are goingto separate you from the rest ofyour competition.

When the hiring manager compares you tothose people who haven’t done these steps,

you’re going to look like the star.

• How do you show someone thatyou understand the job whenyou’ve never done it?

• The key is to get creative.

• What can you do to get even asmall amount of experience?

1 Demonstrate that they understand the job.

The answer is:PreceptorshipsJob ShadowsRide-Alongs

Allow you to understand moreabout the overall industry.

Why does that help you?

• Good medical sales companies arrangethose kinds of experiences for candidatesbefore they accept the offer.

• If they’re looking at two otherwise equalcandidates and one has already taken theinitiative and done a job shadow, and theother one hasn’t, which one do you thinkthey’re going to be more impressed with?

The one who’s done thejob shadow.

They help you have a better interviewconversation.

• You’ve spent at least a day out in thefield… you’re picking up the vernacular.

• Terms, buzzwords, mindsets andapproaches are different in –– Radiology

– Surgical

– Laboratory

You’ll have a more intelligentinterview conversation.

Industry organizations and regionalgroups on LinkedIn.

• Find out about the groups inyour chosen field, in yourgeographical area, and see ifyou can go to those meetings.

• There are groups for:– Medical Advice– Medical Practice– Medical Sales– Laboratory– Biomedical

Informational interviews help you in thesame way.

• Informational interviews are justmeetings you set up with someonewho works in that industry.

• Ask them questions about the field:– How did you get your job?– What advice would you give me?– What do you like most about your job?– What do you like least?– Would you get into this field again?– What’s a good path to getting a job in this

field?

Do a lot of self-education.

• Study the companies you’reinterested in.

• Study their products.• Read the medical or scientific

literature in that field.• Research online.

I have a blog with hundreds ofarticles about medical sales at -www.phcconsulting.com/WordPress.

The thing that’s really going to put you atthe top of the stack is the preceptorship.

• Preceptorships can keep you from making acareer mistake.

• It’s important for you to go get a taste of itto see what it’s really like before you put allthat effort and energy into getting yourselfinto something you might not like.

• You need to do these things so you knowfor sure what you like.

You will be a stronger candidate.

2 Communicate that they can do the job.

• Communicating that you can dothe job means being able toshow the hiring manager whatskills you have developed inother situations in your life thatwill transfer to this job.

The best way to do this is to tell stories.

Talk about situations you’ve encounteredin the past …

• That would be similar to situationsthat you would encounter in thisjob and tell the story of –

– What the challenge was.

– How you met it.

– What the results were.

Behavioral Event Interviewing

• In a medical salesinterview, you are going toget questions thatencourage these stories.

• It’s a style of interviewingcalled Behavioral EventInterviewing.

Some behavioral interviewquestions…

Will ask about past situationsyou’ve encountered and how

you reacted to them,

and some will focus more on“what would you do” in a

given situation.

Some behavioral interviewquestions…

Will ask about past situationsyou’ve encountered and how

you reacted to them,

and some will focus more on“what would you do” in a

given situation.

One of the questions I hit people with…

“What if you go to see the doctor for the first time and he won’tsee you and you go back the second week and he still won’t seeyou and on the third week, his office manager says, ‘Why do youkeep coming?’ What would you do?”

• If you’ve been in a sales role before, you maybe had someonewho didn’t want to see you, and you were able to changethat situation through either persistence or creativity orthrough a particular strategy.

So you tell me that story.

Think about those kinds of stories…

• Figure out how to describe themtalking about –– The situation you faced.– The action you took.– The result you achieved.

• Even if the hiring manager doesn’task these questions, you want towork a few of these stories in…

Because they illustrate that point for you:That you CAN do the job.

What if you don’t have any salesexperience?

• Tell me things thatshow your:– Intelligence

– Drive

– Desire

– Persistence

– Communication

– Persuasion

– Organization

• Maybe you can show yourhigh grade point average fromcollege.

• Maybe you had a job whereyou were especially strategic…tell me something thatdemonstrates your strategicthought process and your skillat organizing a plan andcarrying it out.

• Maybe you can show yourhigh grade point average fromcollege.

• Maybe you had a job whereyou were especially strategic…tell me something thatdemonstrates your strategicthought process and your skillat organizing a plan andcarrying it out.

The very best way…

• To show the hiring manager that you cando the job is by putting together a 30-60-90-day sales plan –– A written outline of what tasks you will focus

on during your first 3 months on the job.

• The key point of the 30-60-90-day planis that it lets the hiring manager seeyou as if you were already in the job.

The 30-60-90-day plan helps putyou in that over-prepared state.

I just talked to a candidate recently whoforgot a small, basic thing.

• At the end of our conversation, I ask him,“Hey, do you have a pen and paper?”– He said, “Umm, I don’t have a pen and paper,

because I just took time off my lunch to callyou.”

• All I could think was, “This is how he’sgoing to be with customers. He’s goingto approach them and not be prepared.”

And right then, I didn’t wantto move forward with him.

Bring your “A” game.

• You’ve got to attend to even thesmallest details.

• That company is about to spend$50,000 on you, plus your yearlysalary.

• At that level, the details matter a lot.• You have to prove and communicate

that you can do the job…

And that means with your wordsAND with your actions.

3 Proved that they will do the job.

• In sales management across allindustries, sales managers have run intopeople who can talk the talk, but don’twalk the walk.

• They excel in the interview—they have agreat conversation, they know all theright things to say…

But for whatever reason,they don’t execute in the job.

The most significant indicator of futurebehavior is past behavior.

• Even Dr. Phil says it: Past behaviorpredicts future behavior.

• There are two different ways you canprove to the hiring manager that youwill do the job:1. A Brag Book

2. Your References

Brag Book

• The brag book is a historical look atwhat you have done.

• It’s basically just a collection of –– “Attaboy” Notes– Performance Reviews– Sales Rankings– Pictures of Awards You’ve Won– Proposals You’ve Put Together– Reference Letters– PowerPoint Presentations– Complimentary Letters from Customers

Those things reallyhelp demonstratefor him that you willdo the job.

Good references do the same thing.

• If your references can talk about –– How you’ve done X, Y, and Z.

– How you were overwhelming in yourresponse.

– How you executed to an extent that no oneelse did.

– That they would hire you again if they could.

All those things tell a hiring manager thatyou will do the job that well for them, too.

• Brag book pages and referencesthat are specifically sales-relatedwill help you the most, but anythingthat shows your:– Work ethic– Energy– Drive– Determination– Strategic Thinking Skills– Passion

Is all going to speak verystrongly in your favor.

The 30-60-90-day plan can help you withthis step, too.

• Remember, a 30-60-90-day planis a written outline of what youwill do in your first 3 months onthe job.

• They will see that you have thatwork ethic required to do thisjob, just from you puttingtogether one of these plans.

Anytime you writedown a goal, you aremore likely to hit it.

4 Assuring the hiring manager that you pose no risk tohis own continued employment.

• Every time a medical sales managerhires someone, his or her ownreputation and job is on the line.

• If he can’t put together a successfulteam, then he won’t be successfuland the company won’t keep him inthat role.

That’s why they like to hirepeople with experience.

What do you do if you don’t have theexperience they’re looking for?

• Use your selling skills.

• The job interview itself isreally a sales process –– You are the product for sale.

– Your customer is the hiringmanager.

Get to know your customer, anddemonstrate some emotional intelligence.

Ask questions.

• Ask about their last hire:– “Tell me about the last person you hired

for a position like this.”

• Either they’re going to give youinsight into what they really wantto see in you, or they might say, “I’venever hired one before.”

You have to help them understand thatyou’re not going to let them down.

When I was a brand-new sales managerout in San Francisco…

• I needed to hire someone but ourbase salary wasn’t high enough toget someone with real experience.

• Finally, a guy from Duracell showedup.

• I just couldn’t pull the triggerbecause I was scared aboutmaking a bad decision.

I could get fired if this guyturned out to be a lemon.

Give that hiring manager reasons to pullthe trigger.

• Tell them about how you’ve beeninterested in science your whole life.

• Tell them about how you tookscience courses as electives incollege.

• Talk about how your dad’s a doctoror your sister’s a nurse.

Think about what will help vanquish their fearthat they might get fired for hiring you.

5 Closing for the job.

• Closing is a sales term that meansasking for the business.

• Remember that a job interview ofany kind is a sales process.

• You’re the product, the hiringmanager is the customer, andyou’re also the sales rep for theproduct - that is YOU.

In an interview, closing isasking for the next step.

If You’re in the 2nd or3rd Interview

In a Face-to-FaceInterview

In a Phone Interview

If you can’t close for yourself, why should theybelieve that you’ll close for their product?

The next step is the face-to-faceinterview.

The next step is very oftenanother interview.

The next step is the offer.

What does that look like in practice?

In a phone interview, toward the end of the conversation, yousay something like, “Hey, Peggy this job sounds fantastic to meand I know I can do it because of X, Y, and Z. When can we meetto talk more about this? How about next week?”

In the face-to-face interview… say: “Hey Jim, I know that at theend of the day, you guys are all going to get together in a huddleand Doug’s going to say thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Can I counton a thumbs-up?” And then stop talking.

What if you’re not getting the answer youwant?

• They’re telling you that they’renot completely sold on you.

• They are harboring someobjections to hiring you, andyour new immediate and criticaljob is to find out what thoseobjections are.

People who close boost their chancesof getting the offer by 30%-40%.

Why is it so effective?

• If you find out what the problem is, you have a chance ofaddressing it and maybe even correcting it before you leave.

• You might not even get a good answer, but they will notice –– That you asked.– That you tried to close them.– How you went about doing that.

Asking those questions to get a feel for whatyour customer is thinking all the way through

the interview is really very important.

6 Follow up.

• Every time you interview withsomeone, send an email to thankthem within 24 hours.

• Send it even if you speak to peoplewho aren’t the hiring manager…

If you’re speaking to them,they have influence.

• All you have to do is say, “Hey,Joe, what’s your email address?”

• And then you send the email.

• How strong a candidate will yoube if you copied the boss on thatemail, and then you emailedthat boss separately.

You’re massaging the sale along tothe endpoint, where you either getthe objection or you get the close.

When you follow up, do it appropriately.

• Follow up with this company likeyou’d follow up with a customer:– Politely– Enthusiastically– In a Timely Manner– With an Appropriate Response

How you handle this situation will tell themhow you’re going to handle their customers.

1

2

3

4

5

6

They demonstrated that they understood the job.

They communicated that they could do the job.

They proved that they would do the job.

They assured the hiring manager that they posed norisk to his own continued employment.

They closed for the job.

They followed up in an appropriate and timely manner.

It worked for them. It can work for you, too.

Q & A

?

?

??

?

Thank you for attending!