For Jonathan Coombs, an open-minded approach to sales and a desire to work closely with his distributor rep partners has led to stronger relationships with his customers.
Jonathan Coombs
The hard work starts after the sale is complete, says 2015 Midmark Corp. Medical Rookie of the Year, Jonathan Coombs. A sale can go “perfectly well,” he points out. “But, if installation and the project management planning fails, you will have a very unhappy customer who will remember the negative experience far longer than the positive. Midmark has given me the tools, personnel and training to keep everything running smooth from start to finish.”
Learning the language
When Coombs joined the medical products industry in 2002, he brought with him several years of sales and project management expertise; but his experience was grounded in heavy equipment sales and large health system project management. “When I started in the medical industry, understanding the language of the field was the most difficult part for me,” he recalls. “Medical personnel spoke a different language than those in the construction industry I was used to dealing with, so it took time to acclimate.” Familiarizing himself with hospital processes and protocols was equally challenging, he says. “If I didn’t understand what took place in a cath lab, for example, how could I sell them a solution to their problem and become their trusted advisor?
“As the role developed early in my career, I would meet with different department heads while calling on their facility and ask them to walk me through an everyday process with their patients to better understand what went on, from start to finish.” And, by visiting the warehouses that stocked supplies for different hospitals, he learned how orders were placed, processed, shipped out and then received and stocked at the hospital. From this, he developed an understanding of patient billing and par level stocking/supply processes. “I think this was the quickest and best way for me to get my feet wet in the medical industry,” he says.
Coombs recalls being handed a customer list early on in his career. “This provided me with a great start,” he says. “From there, simple networking and daily interactions with customers helped my connection list grow.” Later, when he joined Midmark, he received “key” one-on-one training with his manager, who was an expert in the field, as well as with several factory engineers who brought a thorough understanding of the product. “Midmark has an outstanding Education Center that demonstrates how our equipment is used in different healthcare settings,” he explains. “In my opinion, there is not a better way to learn about products than when you are provided the means to see, touch and feel them in the healthcare environment.”
Distributor reps add value
One of the most important attributes any salesperson can bring to their role is a willingness to learn new strategies and processes, notes Coombs. No matter how many years of sales experience a rep has, it’s important to stay open to new methods of selling, he points out. “As competition grows, we must always be willing to change and adapt to find the perfect solution for our customers,” he says. And when there is a partnership between manufacturers and distributors, they can offer a broader perspective and greater experience, he adds.
“The Midmark and distribution partnerships have proven that the approach to offer excellent service and high value products do create lasting customer relationships,” he says. “The open communication channel that is shared with our distribution partners allows for the consistent flow of valuable information on new construction projects, client organizational structure, and health system initiates that can influence design and product specification. There is an important and significant history of our distribution partner’s belief and understanding in the Midmark family of products. This has created the trust that has been the key ingredient for the mutually achieved successes.”
The rep behind the sale
A devoted parent to his 4 1/2 –year-old son, Beckham, and engaged to be married, Midmark sales rep Jonathan Coombs is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, water skiing and snow skiing, hunting, scuba diving and boating. In fact, in the early 1990s, he was a four-year collegiate swimmer at Western Kentucky University. “After work hours, I’m usually in the gym trying to stay in shape,” he says. “I competed in the super heavy weight category in body building competitions in 1998 and 2014, placing 1st and 3rd in both competitions.
“I also enjoy flying single-engine Cessnas, and gliders,” Coombs says. Flying Cessnas cross-country can be challenging, because they offer limited seating and luggage space, he explains. Furthermore, they are expensive to rent and fuel.
Gliders are more affordable, but present their own set of challenges. For instance, the pilot depends on heat thermals (columns of rising air that are formed on the ground through the warming of the surface by sunlight) to stay airborne for long periods of time. “Without heat thermals, the glider will slowly descend throughout the flight,” says Coombs. “Flying gliders is one of the most peaceful and relaxing things one can do. You literally soar in the sky, without the sound of a propeller buzzing in the background.
“My father put me in a glider at age 14 (with an instructor) and I was hooked from then on,” he continues. “I soloed a glider at the age of 15, and flew a single-engine plane at 17. Those were very exciting, though nervous occasions.”