In the Repertoire questionnaire, readers were asked, “If you had your career to do over, would you choose to be a medical sales rep?” Eighty-one percent said “yes.” Why do you choose to be a medical sales rep?
Sam Marshall: My job is unique due to the fact that I’m able to work as a clinician [air EMS technician] and salesman together. The jobs complement each other and provide positive results. As a clinician, I continue to keep my skills and exposure to patient care current, and my sales experience brings another level of training and understanding of the healthcare environment. I not only see healthcare from the clinical standpoint, but also see what makes a healthcare system work from the purchasing/product side. I choose to be a medical sales rep because I know my company makes a difference in patient outcomes. Patient care is not just placing your hands on a patient. Patient care comes in many forms, and medical sales reps improve patient care from many aspects from the products they provide.
Dan Hilton: First, I am a 5th generation medical supply rep, so I guess it is in my blood. Really, I enjoy the relationships most of all – getting out meeting customers, not being stuck to a desk or cubicle, understanding their needs and being a reliable resource for them. As I’ve gotten older, I am not “selling” my customers as much as I am consulting with them. Much of my selling is done through a consultative process, and that is very fulfilling to me. Second, I have a very healthy life balance. I am able to work hard, get paid well, and enjoy freedoms many industries just can’t afford me. I don’t recall ever missing a single event of my kids or not being able to coach one of their teams. I have my whole life to make money, but a very limited time to raise my kids. That is a benefit of this industry that cannot be valued. Summary: fulfilling relationships, generous compensation, life balance.
Amy Annis: It is interesting; there are always medical advances. Medical is an ethical and necessary industry, both of which fit well with my personal beliefs. No sleazy vaporware sales here. It is stable. It is flexible: Who wants to work in an office?? The pay is good, if you work hard at it and have an aptitude for it. I have 25 years in; it is easier to stick with this than it is to change industries and swallow the inevitable pay slide.
Jack Moran: I would definitely choose to be a medical sales rep if I had to do it over again. It is a great industry that is made up of an ever-changing selling environment and a lot of great people.
Rich Bilz: I choose to be in medical sales because it is an industry where new and innovative products are coming out and being invented all the time, and there will always be an increasing need for them – not a cyclical need driven, for the most part, by the current economy.
Chris Lord: As a distributor sales rep, I find this a challenging position, and every day brings a different opportunity to help my company and my customers to become better partners.