Mike McGoldrick is loyal to customers, manufacturers, colleagues…and the New York Jets
Mike McGoldrick
He says he’s no whiz-bang. In fact, he probably is. The thing about Mike McGoldrick is, he keeps things simple. No ostentation, no uber-aggressiveness. Just honesty, loyalty and hard work. In return, he earns the trust of his customers and manufacturer partners, and plenty of business.
Mike McGoldrick — or Mike McJet, as many people call him (he’s a fanatic New York Jets fan) – is territory manager in Connecticut for Henry Schein, and the recipient of this year’s Excellence in Sales Award for a distributor.
“Mike has core values that make him successful professionally,” says Arthur Lubniewski, district manager, New England, Upstate New York, eastern Canada, for Integra/Miltex. “He holds himself accountable in making sure every minute with a vendor is utilized appropriately. His level of respect toward his professional network is above and beyond most. Finally, his high level of integrity is what sets him above everyone else and helps him build loyalty with his customers and peers.”
Garett Roberts, sales representative for Midmark Corp. in southern New England, says, “Mike is just a solid person all the way around. He prides himself on not doing anything too fancy. He simply puts his head down and works hard. His customers have the utmost respect for him, and they know they can count on him to always deliver. Most important, Mike is a family man — husband, father of four. He has his priorities perfectly aligned.”
Mike McGoldrick is the type of guy who, given the choice between lobster tail or beef stew, would probably go for the stew, says Frank Rivas, Northeast Zone general manager, Henry Schein. “He’s funny as hell, but at the same time, a little reserved in crowds. His demeanor is not that of an aggressive salesperson. It’s more like, ‘I’m here to help you and your practice.’ And people see that.”
Two life choices
Born and raised in Connecticut, McGoldrick made two important life choices by the age of 17. The first was his commitment to the New York Jets, made in Shea Stadium at his first Jets game – with Namath quarterbacking – when he was in second grade. The second was his decision, at the age of 17, to enlist in the Navy rather than go straight to college after high school.
“Right out of high school, I didn’t have the grades, the money or the maturity to have any sort of college future,” he says. (That’s his honesty speaking.) “Enlisting in the Navy was almost an easy decision to make. It would provide me a safe place and time to mature. And we all know that serving your country is an honorable thing to do.”
While serving, he took advantage of a Navy program that contributed two dollars for every dollar the enlisted person set aside for an education fund. Upon his discharge, he enrolled at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Yes, it was a little strange sharing class with fellow freshmen 17 years of age. But McGoldrick set his own course.
He worked his schedule so that in his sophomore, junior and senior years, he would go to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am to 8 pm, then work (at a landscape company) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “I wasn’t the greatest student, but I did well enough to earn money and pay rent. And after four years, I walked out with a business degree.”
After graduation, he took a full-time job with the landscaper and became the company’s first outside salesperson. “We targeted a lot of corporate properties around our area,” including golf courses, he recalls. He learned a lot, calling on superintendents of golf courses, talking about redoing bunkers. “One of the downsides to that job was that once we would sell a bunch of work, I would end up in the field with a pick and shovel in my hand. That was not what I wanted to do.”
After a year or two of selling and digging, he took a sales position with Caligor Physician and Hospital Supply (now Henry Schein Medical) in 1993. “The medical field was always of interest to me,” he says. “Both of my sisters were nurses, and I knew some friends who had taken jobs in the medical field.”
Learning from the best
McGoldrick says he was fortunate to learn from a Connecticut sales legend, Harry Glass, who retired from Caligor a few years after McGoldrick began his career there.
But he credits much of his success in sales to Frank Rivas. He had first met Rivas when Rivas was a manufacturer rep for Boehringer Mannheim. Shortly thereafter, Rivas joined Caligor and became McGoldrick’s sales manager.
“He’s one of the best people I know in the business and in life in general,” says McGoldrick, speaking of Rivas. “He always treats everybody equally, whether he’s talking to the checkout person in the convenience store or [Henry Schein Chairman and CEO] Stan Bergman.” Rivas modernized Caligor’s sales organization, and he also helped McGoldrick navigate his early years in medical sales. “Here I am, 25 years later, thanking my lucky stars to be part of distribution.” Here’s why:
- First, supplying physician practices with all they need to care for patients is gratifying, he says. When he finds a product or process that one customer is implementing with success, he shares the story with others, so they can benefit too.
- Second, “in medical distribution sales, the relationships you build with your customers can last decades,” he continues. “You live and work in the same area, and you put down roots.”
- Third, “the opportunity to work amongst medical professionals and healthcare executives provides for a challenging and stimulating workplace. This allows for continual learning, as new technologies and treatments emerge.”
- Fourth, “the medical industry is of utmost importance in our society, affecting all of us equally,” he continues. “We operate in a very meaningful and impactful environment.
- And fifth, “given its importance to our quality of life, medicine sees constant investment and innovation, thus providing ample opportunity for establishing a lucrative career in sales.”
Manufacturers are important allies for successful sales, adds McGoldrick. He believes reps should make every effort to break away from the daily routine and customer demands, and meet with and learn from manufacturer reps. “By affording manufacturers the opportunity to present their products and/or solutions to our customers, we build camaraderie, which can lead to mutually beneficial relationships,” he says.
“Working with Mike as a vendor was always awesome,” says Rivas, referring to Rivas’ years at Boehringer Mannheim (now Roche Diagnostics). “Mike gave you accessibility. And he is such a down-to-earth person. He never had a big ego, which can get in the way of working together. I was new in sales, so for me, it was, ‘This guy is giving me a chance.’ And you don’t forget people like that.”
Nor has McGoldrick changed his approach with manufacturers over the years, adds Rivas. “He’s open-minded; he doesn’t pre-judge products. He gives manufacturer reps an opportunity to visit his accounts, to make a day of it.”
Loyalty counts
Says Arthur Lubniewski, “Mike’s customers genuinely trust him because of his loyalty to them, and vice versa. This makes it a pleasure to meet with them from a vendor’s standpoint, as they are all ears to hear how we can help streamline their procedures and at the same time provide better patient care and revenue.” (Lubniewski himself was a distributor sales rep with McKesson Medical-Surgical/Moore Medical prior to joining Integra in October 2013.)
“Mike bundles meetings and inservices to make sure the day is full. Even if an appointment gets canceled or pushed back, he has a plan up his sleeve to prospect or visit another customer.”
Garett Roberts of Midmark says, “Mike has great relationships with his customers because he is an honest, dependable, and caring business partner. He realizes that relationships alone will not secure long-term loyalty from his customers, nor will they – by themselves — exceed the growth expectations that we all have in sales. Thus, Mike’s ability to understand today’s changing market, and how these changes are impacting his customers, puts him in position to adapt his sales approach to best benefit his customer and to secure that very loyalty we all look to acquire.
“As a manufacturing partner, one of my goals is to collaborate with our distribution channel in order to increase sales and help our mutual customers provide better care,” continues Roberts. “McJet embraces this and includes his manufacturer reps in his sales process.
“We are always looking for ways to differentiate ourselves in the market. Some focus on price, some on relationships. Mike is focused on utilizing his partners, like Midmark, to teach customers new ways to improve their work. By focusing on the end user and their objectives, Mike shifts his customers’ perception of him away from being a supplier of products, to a trusted advisor who provides market insights, navigates alternative solutions, and ultimately improves their ability to provide quality healthcare.”
One more thing about McGoldrick, says Roberts: “He is as loyal as they come. The fact that he has stuck by his New York Jets through the Richard Todd [quarterback] era, the butt fumble [referring to a disastrous Thanksgiving 2012 fumble, when quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into the rear end of teammate Brandon Moore], many 4-12 seasons along with so many heartbreaking losses, continues to prove how loyal he is. He never gives up on his team.”
Speaking of teams, McGoldrick’s loyalty lie not only with the Jets, but with all things UConn, as well as the Pirates, which is the men’s hockey league team on which he plays. (About playing hockey he says, “It’s a ton of fun. The games typically start at 8:30 to 10:30 at night, so the only thing you give up is sleep.”) And he tries his best to attend any and all events in which his children are participating.
McGoldrick and his wife, Julie, have four children.