Jonathan Overbey has always cared about the people and the products.
By Daniel Beaird
Growing up in western Kentucky, Jonathan Overbey thought he was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps in the family business, a small-town law firm. His grandfather had founded the Overbey law firm in Murray, Kentucky, and his father had given it its legs.
Overbey set off to Emory University in Atlanta as a political science major and was set on law school. But after working for a large law firm in college, he began selling copiers and fax machines for Harris 3M Lanier after graduation.
“I enjoyed it, and I was really good at it,” he said. “I started making some money, but I was selling fax machines, so once the customer bought one, they didn’t need me anymore. I had to get a new book of business almost every month or find new customers.”
He thought if he was going to do sales, he needed to be in the medical field. “Everybody thought they wanted to be a pharmaceutical rep at the time and that’s really what drove it,” he said. “I didn’t get to work with a pharma company, but I was lucky enough to get an interview with Scott McGowan, who was the regional manager for Quidel.”
That was Overbey’s start in January 1990. He became the Quidel rep for Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and some of South Carolina.
“They were very small. We were selling a little allergy product, and it was all direct,” he said. “I had a wonderful time and ran a territory, and it went from there.”
Overbey says lab sales were like the wild west back then. Doctors and offices could use any kit or test they thought would be helpful to diagnose a condition or help treatment. There was no such thing as CLIA or controls that regulated the kits.
“All the companies I worked for made quality and accurate tests, but others certainly sold on financial considerations,” he said. “There’s better quality, better compliance and more accurate lab tests today, and molecular testing and bigger labs.”
Scott Glenn, the former CEO of Quidel, took Overbey under his wing and showed him the ins and outs of the industry. Glenn was one of the youngest CEOs or presidents of a company at the time and he took Overbey to some Young Presidents meetings and introduced him.
“Scott was probably barely 40 years old himself or maybe younger, and he took little 24-year-old me to those meetings,” Overbey said. “I’ve been lucky to have so many mentors and people that took an interest in my career and my personal life.”
Mentors, friends and funny stories
Overbey lists Brad Connett, John Sasen, Brian Taylor, Rob Saron, Rick Frey and others as mentors he looked up to.
“I haven’t been in many other industries, but I’ve talked to people in them, and I can’t say it enough, this is a tight knit one, a close one,” he said. “People really care. It’s not just a job. It’s building a business and having ownership of that business and a passion for what we do.”
That passion for the job has always led to some fruitful – and fun – ride-alongs with sales reps in the healthcare industry. Overbey has plenty of memorable stories, of course. Some can be shared, and others can’t.
“In my younger days, and maybe even in my older days, I’ve let a few choice non-PC words fly on calls when talking about competitors,” he said. “I was a little feistier in my younger days and being young and stupid I let some of those type of words fly to a guy that was a deacon in his church. I was told not to come back.”
Overbey says he took that lesson to heart and learned from it. When you’re young and still learning, he says, accounts will help guide you. They like to talk about themselves, so let them discuss their pain points, what they’re missing and where they would like to see your product.
There are always funny stories working with sales reps. Overbey says you might embarrass yourself sometimes, but it’s always been a joy to work with great people like Gary Etheridge, Don Lovre and Steven Sepulveda, to name just a few.
“Gary was working for me and making calls a while ago in Virginia and we would walk in and I’d hear all of this whispering,” Overbey recalled. “All the women were whispering under their breath, ‘Gary’s here, Gary’s here.’ Every single nurse, med tech came running up to see Gary, and I’m thinking, ‘hey, am I chopped liver?’
“He is a great guy and a man’s man,” Overbey continued. “He’s a handsome guy and that story sticks with me every time I walk in somewhere with all the praise coming for Gary.”
Sepulveda, meanwhile, lived in the U.S. his entire life but had a little bit of Puerto Rican lingo growing up in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. Overbey remembers a time when Sepulveda was talking to an account about a product. Overbey thought he was saying, ‘Quidel’s got cats.’ Overbey said, ‘got cats?’ Steven said, ‘I meant to say they have the cache of these products.’
Overbey just rolled over laughing, he said, and told him Sepulveda he thought he had said cats.
Lovre, meanwhile, was affectionately known as ‘Dancing Don’ for his skills on the dance floor during national sales meetings and wearing his pink jacket, which he would call salmon or corral but not pink.
“He and I had our share of dance offs at those meetings,” Overbey said. “So many good times.”
Another memorable ride-along occurred in the early ’90s with a Columbia Diagnostics rep (now Henry Schein). The rep was working in an underserved part of inner-city Baltimore. In those days, the reps all wore suits and ties to call on accounts. “We were riding around in an early ’90s sedan (i.e., it looked like an undercover police car),” Overbey recalled. “He was a Black man, and I being a white guy, we fit the part of a police detective team working in the ‘Wire’ (the series was set in Baltimore).
At a minimum, every account we went to was looking at us as if we were cops. Several times we were approached in the car and asked to leave the area or at least questioned as to our presence in the neighborhood. We were jeered at on the streets. Being young and wanting to close accounts because we were doing a sales blitz/contest that day, we were undeterred and made all the calls we had that day.
We even closed several accounts. We had a huge laugh back at the restaurant with the other reps to total up the sales that day.”
Selling value proposition
Today, Overbey is the head of corporate alliances and channel management for Sekisui Diagnostics in Nashville, Tennessee. He says value proposition is important for both manufacturers and distributors. “We must sell value and how we make the healthcare system and industry more efficient, effective and safer,” he added.
He still rides along with Sekisui reps because he loves seeing the accounts. He wants to see their customers using their products and hear what they have to say about their products and what their needs and pain points are. That all starts with the distribution reps.
“Distribution reps bring access, first and foremost, and product knowledge,” Overbey explained. “They know so many products and are so well versed in them, and they know exactly when to talk about a product and where it fits in a practice. Some have done it for a long time and the account will ask what they recommend.”
That sums up their value. Being passionate about their territory and their customers.
“Always bring that value and don’t take it for granted,” he said. “We must always go back to our own value prop as a distributor as well as a manufacturer. Obviously, price is going to be a part of the conversation, but it needs to be the third or fourth thing you talk about. Talk about what works for the workflow, what does it mean to the account, what’s the sensitivity and specificity in our product. Talk about the product first and foremost.”
He says product education that helps clinicians do their jobs more efficiently and effectively is the most important value that reps bring to the healthcare supply chain.
Passion for the products and the people
That education goes back to passion. Overbey says he wouldn’t ask anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself. Bringing that passion and energy makes the job fun.
“It’s fun but it’s still work,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I always felt like I got something accomplished. Either I sold something or moved closer to the account or landed a new account.”
Overbey has worked for two companies with great products – Quidel and Sekisui. Products he could stand behind and people who cared about them and what they made.
“I think people would say I cared,” he added. “Have the fun where you can because there’s nothing wrong with having fun, but have fun being serious.”
He tells that to his reps. Each change in his career has come with more opportunities and more challenges from getting his first job in healthcare at Quidel to working at Genzyme to Genzyme selling its business to Sekisui.
“There’s never been a dull moment,” he said. “There’s always been such good, smart people to work with. Our industry is a small, close group that we all know and work together, even within a competitive marketplace.”
Overbey has learned from them all and taught many others to treat their customers right and do right by their business.
“I hope that I’ve provided products and services that impacted the health of patients and their families to some small degree,” he concluded. “Healthcare is a great industry and in a small way we’re selling things that impact people’s lives, health and wellness.”
Quotes about Overbey
Jonathan is a force of nature like no other! A great partner as he has in-depth knowledge about diagnostics and the industry at large that comes with a personality that is beyond engaging and transparent. No matter how animated a conversation can be, you are not ending the discussion without side-splitting laughter! I have known J.O. for many years and consider him not only as a great business partner, but a friend. Congratulations J.O. – so well deserved!
— Cindy Gorman, Henry Schein Medical, North American Distribution Group
Congratulations J.O.! It has been a pleasure to work with you throughout my time in the medical distribution industry. You have been a great partner in furthering the success of our shared goals and I am thankful for all the industry knowledge you have shared with me throughout the years. Well deserved and congratulations!
— Hayden White, McKesson Medical-Surgical
I cannot begin to express my excitement for J.O.’s induction into the Medical Distribution Hall of Fame. The industry’s recognition is a testament to J.O.’s lifelong dedication to the profession of sales, where he has always demonstrated a passion for building meaningful relationships and delivering exceptional customer experiences. To J.O., everyone is a customer – from the C-suite executive to the first yearrep – and he has spent his career treating each individual with the same level of respect, empathy, and professionalism.
Throughout the last 23 years I have had the pleasure of knowing and working alongside J.O., he has developed a vast network of relationships that transcend mere business relations. His personal brand, built on a foundation of integrity, trust, and authenticity – not to mention FUN – is just as strong as the brand he represents to the industry. As a result, he has earned the admiration and respect of his peers, colleagues, and customers alike. This induction into the Medical Distribution Hall of Fame is a fitting tribute to J.O.’s remarkable achievements and his enduring impact on the industry.
Congratulations My Friend, the Industry will NEVER see another one like you.
— Ty Ford, Henry Schein Medical, North American Distribution Group