Shifts in MedTech Company Culture: Where to Make Concessions and Where to Draw the Line

As a company grows and matures, how should its culture change? Some think it shouldn’t change at all… and MedTech market development specialist Michael Waidler thinks they’re half right. Michael is a President’s Club winner and current area business director with Palette Life Sciences. And though the hustle-and-grind ethic of start-up culture courses through his veins, he understands change that is inevitable—and that every rep has a different threshold for it. Join us as we discuss what shifting company culture can reveal about you as a sales professional, how leaders can better prepare their teams for the realities of acquisition, and what a growth-driven culture looks like.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What it means to be folded into—and not steamrolled by—a larger organization
• How a team’s transition from “nothing to lose” to “everything to lose” impacts a rep’s mindset
• Why change isn’t scary at all (so long as your company has the right stop gaps in place)
• Warning signs that your culture might be changing for the worse
• How to use the Predictive Index to find appropriate fits as you scale (or start from scratch)

Plus, we touch on the necessity of self-awareness when charting a career path.

Seeing What Others Miss: Techniques for More Authentic Communication

Are your own mannerisms, body language, and tone working against you in high-stakes conversations? Almost certainly, says Shelly O’Donovan, communication expert and CEO of Authentic Influence Group. She’s coached scores of executives and sales teams in MedTech and Pharma on how to be more conscious of nonverbal communication, and we caught up with her to learn how MedTech reps can recognize dozens of subtle, largely subconscious behaviors to secure buy-in, preserve trust, and drive business. Join us as we discuss the prehistoric reason why you should never talk with your hands in your pockets, how learning to read micro-expressions will impact the questions you ask people, and simple ways you can practice ‘reading the room’ to better manage conversations.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to wean yourself off ‘blocking behaviors’ that can stunt dialogue 
• What your suprasternal notch is, and how it releases hormones that help you calm down
• Why handshakes are worth at least 3 hours of quality face time
• Why your phone calls go better when you’re looking at the person’s profile picture
• How your smart phone can inhibit an in-person conversation—even when you’re not using it

Plus, we talk about where (and when) you should be directing your eyes while speaking on Zoom calls.

Encore Episode: How to Position Yourself as a Partner vs a Sales Rep

Can you put a price on perspective? Believe it or not, it’s the most important thing you have to offer a physician. That’s why this week we’re revisiting our chat with Amy Smith, director of marketing at Neuros Medical, to shine a light once again on the strategic advantages sales reps can realize through practice observation and candid communication. As Amy puts it, MedTech reps can only level up their relationships when they learn to identify and convey the unique blind spots that threaten each medical practice’s business operations. In one of our very first (and most popular) episodes, you’ll learn the importance of building a 360-degree knowledge base of each medical practice and its key role, what to look for when it comes to patient experience and the patient flow throughout a practice, and how to ultimately become the outside eyes and ears that most physicians never knew they needed.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Proven strategies for practice observation
• How to share uncomfortable feedback with your physician clients
• Why you’re never as persuasive as when you commit to active listening
• The power of shadowing each team member in a medical practice for a day

Plus, we discuss why it’s so critical to dive deep into the complexities and truly understand how a medical practice operates as a business.  

Practical Tips for Retraining Your Brain, Overcoming Biases, and Cultivating a Growth Mindset

Are your brain’s hard-wired “survival shortcuts” hampering your success? It’s no secret that medical sales reps and sales team leaders have to endure rejection, redirection, misalignment, and countless external roadblocks—the chief culprit being other people’s behavior. But knowing what they can control saves them time, energy, and sanity. In this week’s special episode, we’re featuring TrackableMed CEO Zed Williamson’s recent guest appearance on the podcast “Your Best Day Yet,” hosted by Eric Guy of the Center for Victory. Eric and Zed discuss how little-known—yet deeply ingrained—psychological triggers can sabotage our opportunities and why it’s imperative to recognize our own biases. Join us to explore actionable ways you can start building habits that bring out the best in your brain.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why communication means taking ownership not of what you say, but what others hear you saying
• Why the human brain is built for shortcuts, and how those shortcuts can sometimes hurt us
• Why you don’t have to stifle or repress your emotions to control them
• The evolutionary origins of negativity bias and confirmation bias
• How neurological “shortcuts” help us—and hurt us—in our modern daily lives
• The power of applying the word “Why” to yourself—and not others

Plus, we explore why most people’s relationship with the word “If” is dangerous.

How to Cure “Commission Breath” with a Curious, Consultative Approach

If a physician chooses a competitor’s product over yours roughly 80% of the time, have they still earned your help? SPR Therapeutics Regional Sales Manager Mase Bowman always knew there was more to medical sales than carrying a bag and opening a box, but it wasn’t until he dared to take a more consultative approach that he discovered the only question worth asking: “What do I need to do so we can all win?” We invited him to share how he’s been implementing behavior change principles in the neuromodulation and interventional pain space, helping once-skeptical docs do more procedures. Discover why reps should work to uncover the dynamics of the C-suite in charge of value analysis, what it means to care for the end user, and when to do stuff that’s not necessarily in your (immediate) best interest.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why the greatest professional sin is a lack of a curiosity
• The post-meeting technique for keeping yourself honest
• How to mask your “commission breath” in conversations
• Simple ways to make better use of your “windshield time”
• How to build sturdier relationships with the mantra of “slow is fast”

Why physicians fall back on what’s comfortable, and how you can make sure they’re properly trained

Plus, we explore how Mase was able to turn a year-long dialogue into new business.