By Laura Thill
His clinical background and sales experience give Frank Schambeck a broad perspective of the industry
Frank Schambeck
It turns out, respiratory therapy and consultative clinical sales have a lot in common. For Tri-anim account manager Frank Schambeck, who has experienced both sides of the healthcare industry, it comes down to communication and collaboration – two essential tools for efficiently managing disease.
Long before he entertained the notion of becoming a medical products sales rep, Schambeck had cardiopulmonary medicine and code blue on his mind. “I was always interested in the health care field,” he says. “I could not think of a better way to make a living, [let alone] being excited about helping others every day.
“I became interested in respiratory therapy while in high school,” Schambeck continues. While working part time in the physical therapy department at a local community hospital, and observing code blue patients, he became intrigued with cardiopulmonary medicine and the services provided by the respiratory therapy team. He became a certified technician in 1983, and by 1985, he was a registered respiratory therapist.
Schambeck’s 30+ years of experience providing respiratory therapy exposed him to multiple facets of clinical and administrative care roles, including general-floor care therapies, critical care, open heart, neonatal, pediatrics, adult, trauma care, air and ground transport and hyperbaric medicine. In addition, his various administrative positions have led to leadership roles not only in respiratory therapy, but also echocardiography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, exercise physiology, sleep medicine, seizure disorder, cardiology, neurology, acupuncture, massage therapy and bariatrics.
Perhaps the best part of working in clinical healthcare was “the direct interaction with patients and family,” notes Schambeck. He especially enjoyed “having the ability to select a method of care, implement it and see the results,” he recalls. “Hearing from a patient about how you have improved the way [he or she] feels – or that you have saved his life – was a real rush for me.”
An opportunity to grow
A desire to expand his knowledge of – and contribution to – healthcare delivery led Schambeck to explore new career opportunities, and in 2012, he joined Tri-Anim’s team as an account manager for their southeast and southwest Florida regions. “I am always seeking challenges and opportunities to grow personally and professionally,” he says. “My [various] healthcare roles [and] experiences led me to understand that I could contribute to a wider audience and touch more lives. I realized that the many and constant changes in healthcare have led to unrecognized needs and technologies, [which can] improve patient care, [as well as] have a positive impact [on] the providing facilities.”
From the start, Schambeck discovered a number of similarities between the sale of clinical products and his experience as a respiratory therapist. “Each day, as a specialty distributor, I [have found] myself seeking out problems and offering solutions to ultimately offer a better way to manage disease processes, and to do so with economic plausibility,” he says. “In order to discover ways to improve upon current standards, and to offer options to drive the desired results, both the respiratory therapist and the sales rep [must] be able to communicate and collaborate with all of the disciplines [within] the industry. Respiratory therapy is very similar to sales, in that consulting, listening, communicating, assessing, discovering, offering solutions, implementing, educating and [continually] learning how to improve upon what we do [are all very necessary to] improve or change a certain condition.”
That said, the transition to medical products sales came with its share of challenges as well. For starters, Schambeck had to get to know – and develop relationships with – his customers. “My two greatest challenges [were reaching out to] customers and establishing business partnerships with them.” As a result, he came to appreciate what it truly meant for an account manager to be successful in the field, he adds. “People are exceptionally busy today, and adding another meeting is the last thing they typically want.” The more value a rep can offer, the more likely it will be that customers welcome them into their practice, he notes.
But, Schambeck found that while saving a human life in the clinical setting is immediately gratifying, clinical and consultative sales is equally rewarding. Finding the right solutions for customers, and inevitably positioning them to care for patients and save lives is “a longer process,” he points out. “But it is much wider spread in term of the lives impacted.”
Staying connected
Being new to the medical products sales industry did not keep Schambeck from recognizing the value of keeping in close touch with his customers, as well as keeping them informed of industry news and continuous advances in products, technology and services. Within a few months of joining Tri-anim, he began “Keeping you in the Know’” a weekly newsletter designed to “keep an open line of communication” between him and his customers. “My customers are busy, [and at the same time], hungry for a quick means of staying informed,” he points out.
“I send out ‘Keeping you in the Know’ every Monday,” Schambeck says. “They [vary from week to week] and cover general medical articles, current medical events, new industry standards, new technology and local, national and online educational offerings. The newsletter also provides manufacturer updates and products we offer that are relevant to my customers’ clinical practice.” The more he learns about his customers’ challenges, the better he is able to address them in his newsletter, he notes. Maintaining his membership with various professional organizations helps him keep abreast of topics that are relevant and meaningful, he adds.
Schambeck admits that he misses the “direct interaction with patients and their families” that his former clinical career facilitated. Still, he wouldn’t trade the gratification that his new sales career has brought him. “The thing I most enjoy about selling is working with a geographically wide group of people, [who] will ultimately impact a broader group of patients’ lives,” he says. “It is extremely rewarding to effectively drive change in the industry, which ultimately [enables patients to] receive improved healthcare with our technologies. Being a change agent is a reward that pays back to many.”