8 Skills You Need to Become a Medical Device Sales Rep
Whether you are just curious about the medical device field or polishing up your resume for an upcoming interview, there are important skills to have to become a successful medical device sales rep. Medical device sales is a competitive and somewhat cut-throat industry, requiring sales reps to be on top of their game constantly. The job requires both hard and soft skills to be successful as you navigate hospitals, have conversations with doctors, and do business planning for reaching your quota.
Here are 8 skills you need to become a successful medical sales rep.
Skill 1: Communication
If you aren’t good at talking to people — especially strangers — then becoming a sales rep may not be for you! A large part of the job is communicating with the staff and faculty inside of hospitals to get what you need.
It’s also not just about being able to have a conversation, but being able to engage different types of audiences in conversation. The way you communicate with surgeons will be different than how you speak with administration or even the c-suite executives.
Part of this skill set for a successful medical sales rep is being able to listen. This is probably the most important part of your conversation with customers and therefore, you need to be a great listener to understand what they need and how you can help.
Skill 2: Problem-solving
As a salesperson, the product or service that you are selling is inherently solving a problem. You are the problem-solver in the hospital, clinic, or operating room. When you’re a medical device rep, the device that you are selling is a solution to a challenge that surgeons or doctors have.
Problem-solving comes into play in a variety of scenarios. When you meet doctors for the first time, you have to listen to problems they may have with their current products and offer them a better solution with your own product. In the operating room, problems may arise with the surgery where you have to come up with immediate solutions to overcome those challenges.
Skill 3: Ability to work under pressure
To be a successful medical sales rep, it’s critical you can keep your cool in high-stakes situations. A doctor can lose their business with one slip up in the operating room. Can you handle that type of pressure?
In medical device sales, you will likely be in the operating room during surgery to assist with the procedure. While you’re not the one performing the actual surgery, doctors rely on your expertise of your product to help them make game-time decisions. They may ask your opinion of which screw or plate they should use, or how to best approach the surgery altogether. Can you answer those questions with confidence in the middle of surgery?
Skill 4: Confidence
As medical sales reps expand their territory to new areas or even start new jobs, they are entering completely new terrain. This is where confidence comes in as an important skill to have. You may be entering new hospitals and meeting new people of whom you have to ask questions or favors to get the job done. Each one of those individuals has a key to your success and you can’t be too shy to approach them.
You also have to have confidence in the product and the knowledge of the product that you’re selling. If a doctor asks you a question about how to use the device, you can’t respond with, “I’m not sure…” You have to provide options with confidence (even if you’re not 100% sure!).
The moral of the story: get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Skill 5: Critical thinking
As you enter the medical sales world, you will be expected to know the product you’re selling from front to back. Therefore, you will need to dust off your studying skills to read product manuals and watch training videos. That’s why you need to have critical thinking skills to be a successful medical device sales rep — the more you know about your product, the better you can answer questions and improve patient outcomes.
You will need to become the master of your product and represent that product in the best way possible. With a patient on the line, your ability to think logically to solve problems is key.
Skill 6: Self-motivation
While you may have teammates or a partner in your territory, one of the most important skills in medical sales is self-motivation and drive. In this industry, you’re a shark in a vast ocean, trying to make a sale. There won’t be any hand-holding, and you’re responsible for making quota for your company.
Your motivation is what will drive you to show up every day, go to early or late cases, and have those uncomfortable conversations with hospital staff to get you closer to a sale.
Skill 7: Thick skin
Medical sales is a tough and competitive industry — it’s not made for everyone. Just like any sales job, you’re going to get way more no’s than yeses. And sometimes that rejection can be rude or downright insulting. Surgeons can give you a hard time or you make mistakes that you have to be able to own up to.
That’s why medical device reps typically have thick skin so they can get back up the next morning and do it all over again; they don’t let rejections or hard conversations get in the way of their success.
Skill 8: Accountability
The last skill you need to succeed as a medical sales rep is accountability. This is more of a soft skill to add to your resume as you are expected to tackle administrative tasks after the day at the office (or hospital).
You will likely have a few hours of computer work a week where you enter leads and sales information into a system like Salesforce or prepare presentations to explain projections to your team. Being a medical device salesperson is an exciting and hands-on job, but there are definitely times when you have to be accountable for the admin work.
