Sales success seems easy enough to define. Close the deal, meet the quota, and hit the goal. And that’s all true. Sales numbers can be a great indicator of short term success. However, the most successful salespeople think beyond the next deal or even sales season. They look for ways to grow in their career.
One great way to strengthen your sales skills and advance your career is through medical sales coaching. Coaches often work as consultants, sometimes available via your organization and, other times, outside of them — and their whole job is to help you shine. Their work generally falls into two main buckets: sales advice and career growth. With both areas combined, the recipe for success is hard to beat.
Sales Advice
A medical sales coach can start with any immediate needs you might have related to the sales process. Before your first meeting, take a minute to think about where you need the most guidance. What would help your sales skyrocket?
It’s okay if you don’t have the perfect answers, as your coach will ask questions to help you identify these areas of growth. However, a bit of early brainstorming can really enable you to maximize your time together. And the overall conversation will help you get used to receiving and incorporating feedback to improve your process.
A medical sales coach has worked through every stage of the sales process, both personally and with other sales reps. They guide by asking you questions around your process. Be honest and open with them, as they’re not here to judge, just to help.
- Prospecting and Setting the Appointment: Coaches can help you analyze where you’re getting your leads and how to increase that flow. Additionally, they’ll be able to guide you on ways to get folks to say yes to a meeting, giving you the opportunity to sell.
- Closing the Sale + Overcoming Objections: There are common sales objections that you can definitely practice overcoming on your own. A coach will role play with you and allow you to practice and refine your language. Even if you’ve been successful selling to date, fine-tuning your process can help speed up your sales and increase your close rate.
- Getting the Referral: Physicians and hospital employees talk to other hospital professionals. Neighboring hospitals usually have a good understanding of one another. Building your referral network will increase your sales prospects without additional outbound work or cold-calling. A medical sales coach guides you through how to ask for a referral, so it feels comfortable and natural.
Career Growth
Your current sales role might not be where you see yourself in five or ten years. But to get to the next role or company, you’ll need a plan. Medical sales coaching extends beyond the now and can build up a runway for your future.
- Resume: The initial building block for your future runway will be a strong resume, which should showcase your history and your top skills. Recruiters get inundated with resumes, so you need to stand out against the other candidates. Your medical sales coach will help you start (or revise) your resume to be up-to-date and use whenever opportunities arise.
- Networking: “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Being in multiple social circles and connecting yourself with the right people elevates your chances of knowing about new opportunities, such as new sales or new roles. Wearing a nametag at a mixer and handing out business cards isn’t going to cut it anymore. Work with your medical sales coach to practice making effective small talk to come across as engaging and memorable.
- Choosing the Right Companies: Different companies offer different advantages. Larger companies that have been around longer might allow for more job stability or already have a customer base built for you. Smaller, newer companies tend to allow for more job flexibility and sometimes better incentives for employees taking a chance on them. Both can help advance your career, and a medical sales coach will help you identify companies that will best fit with your long-term goals and plans.
- Career Moves to Make: If you don’t have a long term goal already, your medical sales coach can help with that too! If medical sales management is your goal, they can identify ways to get more leadership experience. If you want to break into another division of sales (inbound v. outbound sales), they can help identify the stepping stones there too.
Medical sales coaching is an investment that can have immediate gains in your current sales season and long-term effects on your overall career journey. Learning to incorporate and adapt to constructive criticism is a strong character trait that can only work to advance your personal and professional growth.
