In a 2019 podcast with Repertoire Publisher Scott Adams, Gary Keeler, president of sales and marketing, McKesson Medical-Surgical, talked about seizing teachable moments, but doing so with humility.
“I love riding with reps,” he said.
“When you ride with them every day, you see how we all look at our own businesses, how we look at what we do, how we rationalize why we do things. So after I ride with a rep, I get out of the car and ask myself, ‘What am I doing that’s like that?’ because when you look in the mirror, you say ‘You know what? I have the same challenges.’
“It helps you go back and be more realistic about your expectations as you ride with people and talk with people.”
Keeler was born and raised in Two Harbors, Minnesota, near the western tip of Lake Superior, about 100 miles south of the Canadian border. His father, Jim, was a high school physical education teacher and football coach. His mother, Lorraine, was an elementary school teacher.
Gary got a physical education degree from the University of Minnesota in Duluth. Deciding that there were few jobs in the field, he took a customer service job with Red Line, an extended-care distributor in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Nine months later, he became a field rep in Fargo, North Dakota, and then in Minnesota.
Loves selling
He loved being a rep. “I enjoyed the ability to influence our customers on products and solutions that could help them grow their business and provide better patient care,” he says. “I was making money while doing something I loved. And I appreciated the ability to directly affect my income based on how hard I worked.”
Later he became sales manager in the Upper Midwest for Red Line, and then regional vice president and senior vice president of sales and marketing. His years at Red Line were ones of growth, with sales rising from $14 million when he joined the company, to $530 million in 1998.
“We were one of the first companies to be fully focused on nursing homes, and we had a differentiated value proposition, especially with our billing business,” he says. “We solved problems for our customers before our competitors did. Many things that seem simple today were a big deal then, like low unit of measure and bar coding for improved tracking and charge capture.
“And we had a very good mix of sales reps. We had a lot of young people, who didn’t have bad habits to break. And it didn’t take long for our tenured reps to sell our broader solution either. People adapt pretty quickly if they’re winning.”
In 1998, McKessonHBOC – as it was then known – acquired Red Line to strengthen its position in the extended care market.
“One of the reasons I was absolutely excited about McKesson buying us was their relationships with IDNs,” Keeler told Repertoire in 2000. What’s more, McKesson Medical Group’s relationship with Premier Inc.’s Provider Select alternate-site purchasing program helped Red Line secure a role in that GPO’s long-term-care program.
In November 1999 he was named president of what was then called the Extended Care division of McKesson. He would go on to become president of McKesson Medical-Surgical’s primary care business, and ultimately, president of sales and marketing for the company.
Ingredients for sales success
Two things are necessary for sales success, he says: 1) engagement by the entire organization, and 2) confidence in the company’s offering. As companies grow, engaging hundreds of reps can become challenging. Technology can help, but only if it is used to enable – not displace – personal relationships.
Second, “If you have a sales force who believe that every day they go out, they have a better offering than the other guy, you will go very far,” he told Adams.
Customers always come first.
Red Line founder Herb Goldenberg – whom Keeler considers a mentor – routinely would ask his reps as they returned to the office on Fridays, “How happy were your customers this week?” says Keeler. Goldenberg made a point of asking that question even before discussing how much they had sold. The lesson stuck with Keeler throughout his career, first as a field rep, later as a manager and executive.
Another mentor was former boss Paul Julian, who, in January 2018, retired as executive vice president and group president of McKesson Corp. He was a “straight shooter,” Keeler told Adams. “I learned so much from him about the details of running a business, the importance of keeping your eye on the ball, and remembering that if you don’t take care of basic blocking and tackling, nothing else matters.”
Great opportunities are out there
Sales hasn’t gotten any easier over the years, he says. Products are more complex, customers are more complex. But the opportunities are still great.
“Thirty years ago, “fragmentation was our friend. Markets were not aggregated, making it much easier to focus. We took advantage of that and turned sales jobs into long careers.” Career paths were straightforward: First, you were a rep, then a manager, and later, perhaps an executive.
“In today’s world, there are a lot of variations. Younger people want to try new and different things more frequently. They are eager to keep learning – and that’s very positive. We as executives have to look at things differently. We have to find ways to create opportunities for people to learn and experience new things. Companies struggle with that, but it is an investment worth making.
“Young people should absolutely consider medical sales for a career,” he continues. “Healthcare is full of opportunity, and who wouldn’t want to be part of an exciting industry that continues to grow and change? My advice is to find a place to get in the game. Seek out opportunities to differentiate yourself – to your customers and your company. Be willing to try new and different things and be open to change. That definitely means meeting new and different people, because relationships go a long way. There are fantastic people throughout this industry who will help you professionally and become great friends.”
It is for that reason that Keeler believes he has two families.
“First and foremost, I have been blessed to have support from Debbie and my children, Ashley and Trevor. I have been traveling most weeks since 1991, and doing what we do takes a commitment from the whole family. This is a team sport, and my family has always been overly supportive of whatever I needed to do.”
The second family? “All of the fantastic people I’ve worked with at McKesson. So many of them have helped me become successful through all these years. These are lifelong friendships and relationships I will never forget.”