A Little Arrogance May Be Okay in Medical Sales
Call it what you will confidence, conviction or just over-the-top-enthusiasm, in medical sales it is important to demonstrate a positive level of passion toward your products or services. Your clients expect strong presentations and so does your employer, so don’t fail to deliver passion in your next presentation!
In most medical sales positions, as with any other type of professional sales role, confidence, conviction and enthusiasm are important. These components can help you gain credibility as a medical sales representative and provide you the healthy bit of arrogance you may desire. Defining these elements is simple. Confidence generally shows that you have “mastery” of your subject matter. Conviction demonstrates that you sincerely believe what you are conveying and want the physician or prescriber to believe it too. As far as enthusiasm goes, that just means you jumped out of bed that morning ready and excited to yell about your medical product or service! (No diving back under the covers—The world awaits you!)
So, the real pitfall comes with medical sales representatives that demonstrate an “unfounded arrogance”. Who are these folks? They are the ones that have not earned bragging rights by projecting the necessary confidence, conviction and enthusiasm, thereby falling flat or stumbling through their presentations. Maybe they don’t know their product information well enough? Maybe they’re just plain boring? Do they lack confidence? Whatever, the most tenured sales representatives know that it takes time, practice, patience and experience to get the elements balanced to master a professional sales presentation. Yes, there is a place for practicing, but I just can’t make myself call it role-playing.
If you think about it, you may have heard in the medical sales field that a competitor is “arrogant”. Your client may say, “I don’t like representative so-and-so because he’s so cocky.” Interestingly, that representative may very well be a top performer. It seems like it just works out that way. Their arrogance may contain just the correct level of confidence, conviction and enthusiasm necessary to move business.
Obviously, you don’t want to be an industry jerk, but a little bit of arrogance can move your career forward. It might even make you a lot more money? Think about it. Then think about showing maybe a bit more passion or enthusiasm for your products, services and company. In our new book, HIRE with FIRE, we discuss how enthusiasm is one of the key traits that managers look for when interviewing candidates. Whether you are just starting with your company or have been working there for many years, managers enjoy people who are engaged and passionate about their work.