Jeramy Shaver on the day-to-day of working for Henry Schein as a sales rep in the Hawaiian Island Territory.
Jeramy Shaver broke into the med/surg industry right out of college, landing his first job at the age of 22.
When he graduated from university, his aunt’s neighbor at the time was employed as the hiring manager for AstraZeneca. After a lucky interview with her, Shaver began working in the company’s diabetes division in Hawaii.
Shaver went on to work in pharmaceutical sales, and later in a sales position at a national distributor. Now, post-pandemic, he works for Henry Schein, and can recall the many changes that have taken place in the industry since he started out.
“The impact of the pandemic has been very territory-specific because every region in the country has a unique expectation as to how they want reps to perform, and how reps are expected to move forward from the health crisis,” said Shaver. “During the pandemic, what made reps stand out was their ability to reach out to customers and to keep working through challenges. Overall, it brought me closer to our customers. The pandemic was an emotional and stressful time for everyone. By continuing to be there as someone health care professionals can rely on, our relationships deepened.”
Shaver’s sales territory at Henry Schein covers the entire state of Hawaii. In between flights to and from the islands and windshield time, Shaver experiences a wide variety of climates, elevations, and rural areas as he travels among hospitals and outpatient centers for work. These factors, including the large geographical distance between some of his customers, present logistical considerations for sales reps in Hawaii that greatly differ from reps on the mainland.
“In Hawaii, the three largest IDNs are currently taking over healthcare spaces such as urgent care and surgery centers, and their needs are very fluid,” said Shaver. “For example, I help streamline orders for surgery centers and urgent care centers, while also supporting the build out of reference labs and new facilities.”
Grit and resilience within sales
Managing a med/surg sales portfolio in an extensive island territory undoubtedly presents obstacles, and Shaver is no stranger to them.
Shaver believes that it takes grit and resilience from leadership teams to ensure sales reps have what they need to succeed. He explains that there are times within the industry when everything is working well and teams are crushing sales, but that there are also times when sales reps must dig deep to get through difficult situations. With that in mind, Shaver believes that a good leader should have the ability to help sales teams through all the highs and lows within the industry.
To learn and develop his sales skills, Shaver “consults people both inside and outside of the industry for advice,” he says. “I’m very lucky to have a circle of friends and family who have been very successful in different areas of sales, and I always bounce new ideas off of Brandon Young (a top sales rep at Henry Schein), trying to understand how he’s getting better and what’s working for him.”
“I feel like I’ve always had the humility to ask people for help and advice, and then I’ve always tried to apply it into my craft of sales and see what works and what doesn’t,” said Shaver.
Home-grown
Shaver was raised in Hawaii and has now been able to start his family and develop his career on the island. He and his wife recently had their first son, and right now, he desires to stay living and working on the Hawaiian Island.
On his current position at Henry Schein and plans for the future, Shaver says, “I feel completely empowered and entrusted in my territory. Henry Schein has been 110 percent behind me for whatever I need in my career, and I plan to be with the Company for as long as I can.”
Shaver believes Henry Schein is overwhelmingly supportive with any issues that may arise upstream or downstream in the supply chain, and he rarely faces logistical obstacles, despite being located on the Hawaiian Islands.
“I’m very fortunate that Henry Schein absolutely excels in its distribution,” said Shaver.
No two workdays for Shaver look the same. Some days, he has several appointments around Oahu, and other days he travels between the airport to the Big Island for business for sales meetings.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to move back to my home state, where I can raise my family and work for a supportive company doing what I love,” said Shaver.