Getting into Medical Device Sales: My Story – Warren Howell

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After a happy and successful career in medical services section of the UK Military, I decided to pursue a career in ‘civvy street’ but what was I to do in the world outside of HM Forces?

I was accustomed to the regimented life in a Royal Marines Unit and could get around an assault course or a 9 mile speed march with ease and was not fazed by patrolling the jungles of Brunei or the streets of Northern Ireland but the thought of what I would do outside of the mob, started to fill me with unease and excitement in even measures.

I attended the usual resettlement interviews and started to attend resettlement seminars, with the aim of identifying which career path I would choose to follow, in the next phase of my career.

After some deliberation I decided I would look for a route into a career in the Medical Device or Pharmaceutical Industry. Well it made sense with my background – didn’t it?

35 Applications later, rejection after rejection, knock back after knock back, I finally got an interview in Central Birmingham; new suit & tie purchased, shoes buffed and off I went to the interview with the HR Manager of a well- known Medical Device company.

Well I got through the interview somehow, as I had no real clue of what the job involved or how to sell. I tried to be enthusiastic and answered all the questions with my can do ‘hat on’ and unbelievably I was offered a role as a ‘Trainee Sales Representative Central Region’

(It also helped that the HR Manager was a Captain in the Territorial Army and could see past my commercial inexperience!!)

So from that point I became an overnight success and broke all sales records? Well not quite…

You see I had no real idea of what the real job involved, of course I was inducted into the company and was given product training and my knowledge of Anatomy & Physiology helped a little.

The hard reality was that I had learnt how to sell on the job, occasionally my Regional Manager travelled with me for a day and the coaching given then helped but it was far too little and too infrequent.

We were expected to call on 8 customers a day, ideally in one large teaching hospital. In those days 2 fixed appointments and 6 cold calls were the norm’ – so off I would go every day with my shiny new briefcase, brochures and samples.

Welcome to the world of rejection and doors shut in your face 5-6 times a day, it got to the point where I would take refuge in my car in the hospital car, trying to motivate myself for the afternoon calls. What was happening to me? I had been through all the rigors of military training and I was losing the battle with myself every day, in the commercial world.

You see unlike the military, I had received no real training to prepare me for the day to day aspects of a role selling to customers. In the military we attended courses/training sessions and went through real life scenarios day in day out. We were well drilled and sub consciously competent.

In sales I was none of the above, my approach to customers was wrong, I was nervous and unsure, I did not know the buying processes or who held the power to place orders or block them. At one point I actually quit mentally and started the process of re-entering the military.

In the end I did not go back in to HM Forces, I decided to seek help from my Regional Manager and set about the process of becoming a ‘Sales Rep’ in the Medical Device Industry

Fast forward 29 years and I am still in the industry, and I can honestly say after that first painful year, I have thoroughly enjoyed the ride (winning awards along the way) travelling worldwide and meeting many great customers and colleagues.

If I had been able to attend a Med Sales Academy type course, it could have been so different, at least I would have:

1)       Had a basic knowledge of what the job entailed.

2)      Been given an overview of the complexities of selling to the NHS & Private Healthcare Markets.

3)      Had an insight, from seasoned professionals and learned how they had failed and then ultimately succeeded in becoming market leaders.

4)      Learnt the basic vocabulary for the medical world.

5)      Gained a basic understanding of how to sell to Health Care Professionals.

6)      Met real customers.

7)      Prepared a suitable CV.

 

From this, my personal experience, the course ‘Introduction to Medical Device Sales’ was developed.  Teaching this course, and helping people find jobs within medical device sales is my mission.  Why not give yourself a head start in the Medical Sales Field and attend our course?

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