The Equipment Salesperson

Selling equipment requires a very particular set of skills

“A highly effective distributor equipment salesperson must be easily accessible, a good problem-solver, have strong communication skills, and above all else have the ability to take work off the clients’ desk,” says K.C. Meleski, national sales manager, Claflin Medical Equipment.

“You have to have empathy for your customer; relate to them; talk to them; listen to them; ask questions; get along with them,” says Randy Reichenbauch, vice president of sales, Medical Resources. “They have to like you, and you have to like them. The next thing is, you have to be committed to learning. When you’re selling equipment, you’re constantly learning new technology.”

Equipment sales is different from selling supplies, says Cindy Juhas, chief strategy officer, Hospital Associates, a division of Claflin Medical Equipment. “The sales cycle is longer and more complicated. The decision-maker might be different than the person who buys supplies, which can complicate these types of sales. The follow-up after the sale is key to a happy customer.” The successful distributor equipment salespeople must have “outstanding product knowledge, great relationships with key manufacturer reps, a good working relationship with operations within their own organization, the ability to sell to various levels within the customer, great attention to detail, good organizational skills, good problem-solving and interviewing skills, tenacity, creativity, flexibility and exceptional follow-up.”

“It’s both challenging and fun, but it takes tremendous preparation and effort to be successful,” says Matt Bourne, vice president, medical sales, Midmark.

Repertoire asked distributors, manufacturers and manufacturer reps to identify the very particular set of skills exercised by the most effective distributor equipment salespeople. In addition to Meleski, Reichenbauch, Juhas and Bourne, they were: Larry Dawson, western U.S. regional sales manager, Bovie Medical; Ben Binegar, Ben Binegar & Associates, Tampa, Fla.; Darryl Lustig, vice president, distributor relations, Mortara Instrument; Rob Saron, president, Bovie Medical; and Mike Mulligan, national account manager, public access/alternate care, Physio-Control.

They identified eight very particular skills, many of them intertwined with one another:

1. Willingness and ability to identify the decision-maker(s)
2. Great communication skills
3. Willingness to do their homework
4. Problem-solving
5. Confidence, bordering on fearlessness
6. Willingness and ability to work with manufacturers
7. Time management and organizational skills
8. Follow-up

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Very Particular Skill No. 1: Willingness and ability to identify the decision-maker(s)

Identifying the decision-maker can be difficult in today’s environment, especially given the consolidation going on, says Cindy Juhas. “Even if you think you know who is making an equipment decision, you probably don’t. It is almost never the actual purchasing agent. It could be the physician (less and less these days), an inside or outside equipment planner, facilities manager, project manager, hospital purchasing manager, etc. One must get to know everyone involved in the purchasing process and continue to ask questions regarding who is making the decisions.”

Larry Dawson says, “A really high quality equipment person knows everyone,” including the gatekeepers and the biomed people, who are crucial in helping customers make repair-vs.-replace decisions.

“The really good ones are on a first-name basis with the doctors,” he continues. “They have incredible relationships with the person making the buying decision, whether it’s the doctor, the head purchasing people, etc. The price of the product is very important in today’s arena, but, in my opinion, it’s still a relationship business.”

Bourne says that it is their network that differentiates successful distributor equipment salespeople. “They aren’t just dealing with one person,” he says. “They have built a network of advocates over time – all the way from the CEO to a nurse manager. It’s across the board, and everywhere in between, because you never know from one facility to the next which persons will influence the decision.”

The successful equipment salesperson develops trust among his or her customers, adds Reichenbach of Medical Resources, a supplier of new, used and refurbished medical equipment and supplies. “In years past, you would call on the physician’s office and make the sale. Today, 65 percent of physicians are working for a hospital system, so your sales pattern is different. You’re calling on the purchasing agent. They have to trust you; they have to know you will follow through with what you say; and they have to trust you to the point where you can call on the doctors by yourself and then report back to [the purchasing agent].

“That’s the way you develop long-term relationships,” he says. “You have to be able to work with the customer to maximize the clinical outcomes for the practice, as well as the financial viewpoint.”

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Very Particular Skill No. 2: Great communication skills

Ben Binegar, an independent manufacturers rep with 39 years of medical sales experience, draws on a recent sale in Florida in which he and a distributor rep closed a sale on some Bovie equipment. “He is a good example of how a professional distributor sales rep handles himself,” says Binegar.

“He wanted me to talk to his client,” says Binegar. That in itself demonstrates the rep’s willingness to blend Binegar’s knowledge of the product line with the rep’s relationship with the customer. “I had a conversation with the customer, he followed up, copying me all the way, making sure his customer was confident in the unit and offering an inservice after the sale. There was a high level of communication all the way through.”

Absent that communication, the distributor can lose a sale to a competitor, says Binegar. “As long as he’s communicating and taking care of his customer, and he knows what I’m communicating to the customer, that customer has no reason to look around [at a competitor].”

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Very Particular Skill No. 3: Willingness to do their homework

The best equipment reps know what’s coming up in their customers’ budgets, that is, what the organization has planned insofar as equipment purchases are concerned, says Dawson.

Says Bourne, distributor reps have every right to discuss equipment with their customers, so long as they have made an effort to understand what the customers’ needs are. “I read somewhere that you can’t just go in and ask your customers what keeps them up at night,” he says. “You have to walk in knowing what keeps them up at night, and have a plan as to what you’re going to do about it.”

Standing in front of a committee of decision-makers is way too late to do your probing or prospecting, he says. “All that research has to be done in the weeks leading up to the presentation.” Effective distributor reps interview key players and figure out how to articulate the value of their equipment long before the value analysis meeting.

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Very Particular Skill No. 4: Problem-solving

“Knowing how to uncover hidden problems and providing solutions is key to selling equipment,” says Juhas. Many customers don’t even know they have a problem. Asking questions and knowing how to sell solutions to potential problems is the only way to sell equipment.

“You need to know the customer’s goals when trying to uncover their problems, so the sales rep has to be knowledgeable about the customer,” she says. For example, some accounts may be more focused on patient satisfaction than others. The successful equipment salesperson knows which products in his or her bag will help them meet their goals. “That’s where good interviewing skills cross with great product knowledge.”

K.C. Meleski says, “The act of procuring equipment is complex, and as a customer, you will naturally gravitate to salespeople who can lessen that complexity for you. As our clients continue to consolidate, they are facing unique challenges with both the purchasing and deployment of their medical equipment. Our clients are concerned with maintaining system clinical standards, following their organizations’ branding strategies, adhering to contractual obligations, and the logistics of how their equipment will be installed.” The effective equipment salesperson can help his or her clients with all these concerns.

Equipment sales reps can bring additional value to clients by understanding how the equipment purchase may affect clinical outcomes as well as patients’ perceptions of the practice (as measured by the HCAHPS survey, or Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems), he says.

“You must be able to take on a consultative role with your clients and help them identify and specify products that will aid them with their long-term financial goals,” says Meleski. “When a health system partners with a distributor equipment salesperson, they typically choose to do so because of the variety of products and solutions that they can offer. As such, it is imperative that you maintain a firm understanding of the benefits and features of the product lines you carry, so you can provide advice and guidance to your customer.”

Successful distributor equipment reps are more like consultants than salespeople, says Dawson. “The doctor tells the consultant, ‘This is what I do, this is how I practice, this is what I need,’ and the equipment rep says, ‘This will probably work best to fit your needs, this is the company, and this is the reason why you want to work with this company.’”

Just as consumers look to knowledgeable, confident experts for guidance when making significant purchasing decisions, so too do doctors look to their sales reps for guidance on equipment decisions, continues Dawson. “The dealer rep can look that doctor in the eye and say, ‘Doctor, I’ve worked with this vendor before; we’ve sold their products for many years; if there’s an issue, you will be taken care of.’”

Says Bourne, it is a rep’s ability to solve their customers’ problems that separates the high achievers from the rest of the pack. “They think in a way that allows their customers to invest in products and services that are going to benefit their environment – the caregivers, the patients and the bottom line.

“To sell equipment in today’s healthcare, you can’t just present features and benefits,” he continues. “You can’t just present equipment in terms of return on investment. You need to learn as much as you can about your customer’s objectives; you must understand it deeply; you have to be embedded in what they’re going to need to do in the next three to five years to drive the measures they have put in place.

“A ‘deep dive’ has to take place to understand the customer’s environment before presenting solutions,” says Bourne. Things are changing so rapidly, that if the equipment salesperson asks his or her customers to articulate their challenges and needs, “by the time you present, things could have changed.”

He puts his comments in context. In some instances, the distributor will be asked by the customer to present several alternatives for a piece of equipment to put out to bid. “It’s easy for the distributor to say, ‘No problem; here are your A, B and C companies and the different price points,’ then walk away and hopefully pick the order up at a later date.

“It’s much more difficult to say, ‘We can do that, but let’s bring these manufacturers together so you can experience how they are different and are going to enhance your environment based on how I understand the organizational vision to be.’” By asking the customer to pause and then offering a different perspective, the sales rep challenges the status quo and looks to become a problem-solver.

Says Reichenbauch, “You have to understand what the particular physician does or is trying to do. You have to understand clinical outcomes. You have to figure out his problem and whether you have a solution for it.

“In the past, you would say, ‘This is the CPT code, and you’ll make this amount of money [with the equipment], and this is how it will benefit you,’” he says. “But today, it’s a matter of, ‘How will this affect that customer on a long-term basis? Will it have the impact on the practice they want, with accountable care networks?’” Customers are also looking at the impact of equipment on patient satisfaction, he adds.

Says Rob Saron, “The most effective question that I’ve heard is, ‘Doctor, if you could replace one piece of equipment in your office, what would it be?’” He cites the example of one rep who asked that question of every OB/GYN professional on which he called. The consistent answer was “my colposcope.” Having gotten that question answered, the rep would continue, “Are you happy with your LEEP system? Is it up to today’s standards? Is it safe? Reliable? And if it breaks, what happens then?”’” A logical line of questioning results in sales, he says.

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Very Particular Skill No. 5: Confidence, bordering on fearlessness

Successful equipment salespeople have no reservations when it comes to selling equipment, says Darryl Lustig. “They feel well-armed and confident in their ability to accomplish the sale.”

Some distributor reps are concerned that their equipment product knowledge is lacking, causing them to shy away from equipment and focus instead on supplies, says Lustig, who has both manufacturer and distributor sales experience. In the process, they leave many dollars on the table.

“The equipment-oriented rep who feels confident in his/her knowledge believes that he or she has a right to be in the account,” he says. “While they are selling and spending considerable time supporting the customer team through installation, training and so on, they are also gleaning information about the supplies being used. This approach allows the distributor rep to take advantage of the total selling opportunity in a given account, giving them an advantage over their competitive counterparts.”

Says Dawson, “The really good equipment reps are confident; they’re not scared of big deals. In fact, big deals excite them.” Other reps may be worried they may fumble a big potential sale, and they may come across as hesitant, cautious and wishy-washy.

“Reps who are confident really know their stuff,” he says. Prior to entering the customer’s office, the distributor makes his target price clear to the manufacturer rep. Once inside, the manufacturer gives his presentation, then hands it off to the distributor, who attempts to close the sale. “Everyone knows the rules before going in.”

And when the subject of price comes up, there’s no hesitation on the distributor’s part, he continues. It’s a much different experience if that distributor rep isn’t confident in equipment sales. In that case, when the customer asks about price, an awkward silence ensues, as the distributor looks at the manufacturer, who returns the look. “An excellent dealer equipment rep will never let that happen,” says Dawson.

Mike Mulligan of Physio-Control points out that selling an ECG or life-saving defibrillator can be challenging, but also very rewarding for a distributor rep. “Unless he or she has been selling capital equipment for many years, they may not know the first thing about them,” he says. “Maybe they don’t know the manufacturer rep. They may not know what the customer wants. They may be concerned about being perceived as pushy by asking the doctor about equipment.” To avoid all the uncertainty, they may simply decide to bypass the discussion about equipment.

The problem with that approach is, customers will get that equipment from someone, he says. “The first one in, usually wins. So the distributor rep needs to take a consultative approach with the doctor.” Further, they can and should take advantage of all the tools provided by the distributor and equipment manufacturer, which can help the rep demonstrate the return on investment of the equipment, superior clinical outcomes, and, depending on the equipment, the fact that the doctor can keep the patient in-house rather than referring him or her elsewhere.

Reps selling equipment in the hospital setting may face their own set of anxieties, says Reichenbauch. “Some salespeople feel uncomfortable calling on the hospital. It’s ‘I have to deal with a purchasing agent, where I have been used to calling on the doctor and the doctor’s spouse.’” The role of the group purchasing organization is another question. “They have to overcome some obstacles,” he says.

Successful equipment reps look at those obstacles as opportunities. They appreciate the fact that rather than cultivating relationships in multiple doctors’ offices, they can make an impressive presentation to the purchasing agent and land a lot of business at once.

The successful – and fearless – equipment salesperson leaves nothing on the table, says Dawson. “If he or she sells one of our generators, the next question is, ‘Doctor, what are you doing for a light?’ If they’re buying a light, how about a power table? A stool? They leave nothing to chance.

“The rep has everything laid out, so that if the doctor is buying one piece of equipment, the rep knows he has to buy something else,” he says. A colposcope purchase, for example, may lead to a generator, smoke evacuator, light, etc. “A good equipment rep knows the entire package and what to present.”

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Very Particular Skill No. 6: Willingness and ability to work with manufacturers

The most successful distributor equipment salespeople network with and make use of their manufacturer reps, says Binegar. “I have worked in Florida since 1987; the most successful people are those who use manufacturer reps. They don’t even have to be experienced with a product line. In fact, I could name names where the rep was very new, but smart enough to know how to use manufacturer reps. And the more they do that, the more successful they become.”

Says Juhas, “The best distributor equipment reps nurture their good manufacturer reps.” In turn, those manufacturer reps pass on the best leads.

Lustig points out, “It is natural for a distributor rep to feel overwhelmed and under-qualified when starting out in healthcare equipment sales. Oftentimes, there is a fear of the unknown, which is certainly understandable, given that the distributor rep has limited knowledge and experience with the equipment. By working closely with an equipment manufacturer rep, they can overcome these insecurities and open the door to a new level of sales success.

“The biggest obstacle to overcome is taking the first step and reaching out to the manufacturer rep,” he continues. “Rest assured, they [manufacturer reps] will be happy to hear from you and to share their knowledge and expertise.”

Distributor reps carry far too many products, services and solutions to be the experts on each and every one, says Lustig. “Today, it is even more important to utilize the knowledge and experience of the equipment manufacturer salesperson. The distributor salesperson should pay close attention to the type of questions asked by the equipment salesperson. These open-ended questions oftentimes lead to new opportunities.”

Sometimes those opportunities are sales, sometimes they are newfound skills or knowledge, he says. “[Distributor reps] will build on their overall knowledge, which may prove applicable across other equipment categories.” Examples of knowledge gained might include a better understanding of CPT codes, return-on-investment calculations, financing, freight costs and delivery logistics, EMR interoperability and inservicing equipment.

Says Meleski, the effective distributor equipment rep brings value to his or her manufacturer partners. “Just as it is important to understand the objectives of your customers, it is also important to understand the goals and go-to-market strategies of the manufacturers you represent,” he says. “A good equipment distributor rep should be able to help their manufacturing partners by driving specifications with their clients, brokering meetings with key end users, and alleviating the logistical challenges many manufacturers face.”

According to Bourne, the manufacturer has to earn the right to spend time with the distributor and to explain the manufacturer’s go-to-market plan, and how it equals value for the distributor partner and customer.

Mulligan says, “The most effective distributor rep is one who uses all the tools supplied to him or her by the manufacturer and the distributor they work for.” Distributors have built a plethora of ROI models, which can help the rep present to the customer the benefits of buying a particular piece of equipment. “I’ve found that distributor reps who use these models and take a more consultative approach are much more successful than those who run a milk route asking, ‘What do you need today?’”

Manufacturers offer their own set of tools to distributors, most prominently, their field sales force, continues Mulligan. “Distributors carry thousands of different product lines; they can’t be expected to drive the sale [of equipment] without some support. So why not engage with the manufacturer reps to get help with the product demos and sales tools?”

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Very Particular Skill No. 7: Time management and organizational skills

“Organizational skills are key,” says Juhas. “Too many reps get sidetracked with day-to-day issues. Equipment sales is all about prioritizing the opportunities, making a plan of attack and executing the plan.”

Says Dawson, the most effective equipment reps know how to coordinate all the players, including manufacturers. For example, the rep may ask one manufacturer to demo a LEEP system and another to demo exam tables.

“He is kind of like a football coach, and we are his players,” says Dawson. “Each of us knows our position. We get in there, do what we’re supposed to do, and then get out. But he’s the guy who’s directing us on what he needs and what he wants us to accomplish.

“He sets it up. When you get [to the customer’s site], all the decision-makers are there. You’re not going back two, three, four times because we missed someone. And probably within a week, you know if you got the order or not, while he moves on to the next deal.”

Says Bourne, the successful distributor rep coordinates meetings, gathers all the players, and acts as liaison between manufacturers and customer. “He or she has created more work for themselves, but in the long run, that’s part of the value they bring to their customers.”

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Very Particular Skill No. 8: Follow-up

Equipment sales takes more follow-up than supply sales, says Juhas. “A piece of equipment might not be working properly, the customer might need training, they might need help assembling the product. Many things come into play after they buy the equipment.” The sales rep has to stay in close touch with the customer until the equipment is functioning to the customer’s satisfaction.

Says Reichenbauch, “If you’re in the business of selling equipment, you don’t want to just sell one piece and never go back. So you have to be able to service. I don’t mean repair; I mean inservice the staff so they can maximize their utilization of that product. That’s very important, especially in the physician’s office, because there’s so much turnover.”