Show Notes
In this episode of the Med Device Unleashed Podcast, I speak with Scott Walle the director of sales operations at Saluda medical, a spinal cord stimulator startup company. He shares the details of his career as a med device sales rep for many years.
Listen in to learn the importance of understanding your clients (doctors) pain points as a med device sales rep and then finding a solution to solve them. You will also learn how to make yourself irreplaceable in your clients’ eyes by being a real challenger.
“When you become indispensable in that way with your customers, you become very hard to replace.”- Scott Walle [
29:47]
“Winning business is one thing, putting walls up around your business that is impenetrable, that’s a different conversation.”- Scott Walle [
33:37]
Top Takeaways:
· Learning to leverage all your strengths and weaknesses as a sales rep in the med device industry.
· The importance of an MBA in furthering your career.
· The power of being resilient as a med device sales rep to succeed.
· What separates the real challenger and the farmer-type rep in the industry.
· The importance of having a good foundation in sales and objectives that lead you.
· How to make sure that you’re not easily replaceable by understanding your customers’ struggles and finding the fix for it.
Episode Timeline:
· [
1:34] How spinal cord stimulation devices are designed to alleviate chronic pain in patients and return them to normal while in the hands of the right doctor.
· [
2:31] What it means to be a smokejumper in the medical device world.
· [
4:18] The importance of understanding how to leverage your strengths and weakness as a rep in any territory.
· [
6:32] He explains the functions of the Prosellus tool that he came up with and the impacts it had.
· [
8:57] The questions that should drive you to get a master’s degree even when you’re a successful sales rep in the med device industry.
· [
13:20] How to look at the glass half full and see every opportunity as a way to grow.
· [
18:11] He describes his incredible experience working for Johnson& Johnson with their training program.
· [
21:40] How to define the value you offer to the doctors by understanding their struggle and then offering the solution.
· [
30:20] How to understand your doctor’s pain point to help solidify their business.
· [
35:54] How to avoid making mistakes that could cost your reputation as a med device sales rep.
· [
37:18] He talks about the success and the purpose of the blog he wrote that won him an award.
· [
40:23] He shares his craziest OR story.