Senior Ambulatory Sales Representative
Welch Allyn/Hill-Rom
Rancho Santa Margarita (Orange County) California
Thirteen years in medical sales
Snapshot:
- Born/raised: Ukiah, California (Mendocino County)
- Undergraduate degree: BA, liberal studies with a concentration in natural and biological sciences, CSU Sacramento
- First “real” job: An event promotion company called EMP (Event Management and Promotions) out of Santa Monica.
- Favorite restaurant: Javier’s on the Newport Coast. Best high-end Mexican cuisine you can find. Carnitas is to die for.
- Family info: Married for 10 years to my beautiful wife, Rebecca. We have three children: stepson Aiden (14), daughter Aubrey (7), son Drew (4). We also have Benson, a very lively 12-year-old Jack Russell mix.
- Hobbies/activities: Our main hobbies center around our kids, like most people’s do, I suppose. But our main passion is to get out of town and go up to our property in the mountains to swim and fish and have a great time with our whole family. I love football, basketball and tennis, and am in two football fantasy leagues, which usually ruins my Sundays for the entire fall season.
Repertoire: What are the most important things you do for your distributor reps to enhance their sales?
Rose: Some of the main things I do on a regular basis are:
- Try to ask open-ended questions about their goals in specific areas of patient care, which can lead to more and bigger opportunities than we originally thought.
- Maintain deep knowledge of our product – which is key. My distributor reps often bring me in to answer the tough questions that they can’t handle.
- Truly partner with the rep who brought me in, and sell as if we are a true team at that point. I do everything I can to support the sale both pre- and post-.
- Make sure the customer knows that they can call me anytime, and that I will support them in any way I can.
Repertoire: Name some ways distributor reps help you add value to their accounts and increase sales.
Rose: My distributor reps set me up as the “expert” when it comes to our product lines. They make the customer aware that I am an extension of them and that I am there to support them on their purchase. Many times I have been told that because of my professionalism and how supportive I was on a particular sale, customers needing another piece of equipment specifically ask if Welch Allyn makes it, so I can be their rep. Any time I hear that, I am very happy and feel I have done my job to the best of my ability. I have also earned the respect of many reps to the point where they don’t even need to be with me anymore and they know that I will do everything I can to maximize the sale.
Repertoire: What is the biggest change you anticipate in medical products sales in the next five years?
Rose: I definitely see challenges ahead on how clinics order and what they order:
- With companies like Amazon making a bid to play in this market, competition for both the manufacturers and the distributors is only going to get more aggressive.
- Telemedicine will continue to grow, and companies that want to grow along with the industry will need to innovate at an even faster pace to keep up with that ever-changing landscape.
- Successful equipment companies in the future will need to offer patient solutions to not only hospitals and clinics, but to the patients themselves.
Repertoire: Ride-days with distributor reps: What do you like? What don’t you like?
Rose: Ride days are a tough one. Some reps don’t mind them, and other reps despise them. I am kind of neutral on them myself. If you have something exciting to talk about, and the distributor rep has set up interested clinics based on what you have to talk about, ride days can be very beneficial. If, however, you are simply along for the ride, with no prior heads-up given to the clinic, the day can be pretty brutal and a waste of time. The worst is when the rep finishes taking the order and then says, “Oh, here’s Andrew, and he wants to talk to you about some new stuff.”
Repertoire: Do you have a favorite ride-day story to share?
Rose: Many years ago, I was working with a rep and we were going around to all his accounts that were interested in getting new cardio equipment. We were driving near Universal City when all of a sudden he turned into the lot and we headed into the back lot area of the studio. The studio clinic needed new ECGs for all their physicals. Once we parked and started walking, I noticed recognizable faces, and without naming any names, I got to see quite a few celebrities close up on that day, which was kind of cool.