Okay, if you only read (or listen to) two of these, I would suggest, "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek and "The Challenger Sale" by Matthew Dixon. These titles will help you gain clarity around your passion for this industry, help you navigate the various seasons of your career while also developing a common selling style used amongst the most successful professionals in the space.
- "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek explores the idea that successful leaders and organizations communicate from the inside out, starting with their "why" or purpose, rather than focusing solely on "what" they do or "how" they do it. He argues that by understanding and articulating their underlying purpose, people and organizations can inspire others and achieve greater success. He uses examples from business, politics, and history to make his points and offers real world advice on how to identify and communicate one's "why." Overall, the book emphasizes the importance of clarity of purpose in driving motivation, innovation, and lasting success. I start here because, THIS INDUSTRY IS NOT EASY!!! There is a lot of upside, positive and exciting aspects of medical device. No bout about it. Those are the posts we often see on social media and the employee stories on the career pages. Rarely is the stress of sales performance, buying cycles, product backorders and contract negotiations talked about. Surviving and effectively navigating the valleys of your medical device career is a skill crucial to having a long lasting career. In my opinion, fully understanding your "why" makes the early mornings, late nights, frustrations and disappointments easier manage. Your "why" also helps create a healthy work-life balance.
- “SPIN Selling" by Neil Rackham: This book is a starting point for understanding effective sales techniques, particularly in complex sales environments like medical device. It emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions (you know how I feel about the art of asking questions) to uncover customer needs and facilitate successful sales interactions. The ability to leverage a natural curiosity and high level discovery questions is critical to uncovering pain points you can sell to.
- “To Sell Is Human" by Daniel H. Pink: Pink explores the art and science of selling in today's world, highlighting the importance of empathy, problem-solving, and persuasion. High level sales professionals can benefit from understanding the psychology behind selling and how to adapt to the changing dynamics of continuously evolving healthcare landscape. I would also suggest “Drive” by Pink for people leaders as it looks at what motivates each of us through a different lens.
- “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by Roger Fisher and William Ury: Negotiation skills are essential in medical device sales, whether it's negotiating contracts, pricing, or even for face to face time with busy healthcare providers. This book offers practical strategies for achieving mutually beneficial outcomes and building productive, long lasting relationships with customers.
- "The Challenger Sale" by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson: Most highly tenured leaders will name this book as a foundational text for every member of their sales teams. In this competitive industry, salespeople need to differentiate themselves and add value to every customer interaction - quickly. "The Challenger Sale" introduces a proactive, insights-driven approach to sales that can help sales professionals effectively engage with healthcare providers and consistently progress their business.? If you consider yourself a “relationship” based salesperson, consider reading this book as it will help you leverage an innate ability to connect with customers on a personal level to open the door to a provocative, behavior shifting, thought challenging sales process.
BONUS READ: “Medical Terminology Made Easy" by Jean Tennis Dennerll: This book serves as a guide designed to simplify the complex language of healthcare for industry professionals. The book covers medical terms, their prefixes, suffixes and roots while providing clear explanations. The book also shares techniques for easier memorization while also organizing the terminology by body system to bring the learnings all together. The ability to both understand and speak the "Love Language" of physicians will allow you to connect on a deeper level and sell more effectively. Don't wait until you are hired to dig into this type of information.
I could probably name 10 more titles that both tenured and aspiring sales professionals could read but this is a solid start.
What are some of your favorites? Comment below ???? with the title and your personal lesson learned.
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