Medical device sales is a challenging and competitive business. Are you making critical mistakes without even realizing it? Learn how to dodge the most common mistakes made in medical device sales and improve your strategy with HealthCare U.

Our unique training platform is the only one that helps new medical sales reps grow their abilities and accelerate their sales. Our courses offer hyper-relevant, on-demand sales training content specific to healthcare.

What are the key mistakes made in medical device sales? We’ve outlined the biggest offenders for you. Read on to find out how you can avoid these pitfalls and strengthen your sales meeting strategy.

1. Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience is a fundamental piece to any sales industry. You know your product, but do you know your physician? Before you begin a sales pitch, you need to consider the unique needs of the physician you are meeting. The entire presentation should be custom tailored to your audience.

2. Unrelated Material

Coming to a sales meeting unprepared is the first critical mistake you can make. Nothing will cut a sales meeting short like a prospect who feels as if their time is being wasted! If the material you bring is unrelated to the physician’s needs, then it holds absolutely no value for them. At that point, you have zero leverage to continue the conversation and make a sale.

3. Broad Generalizations

What sets exemplary medical device salespeople apart? It’s all in the details. Making broad generalizations is a big mistake because it makes you sound phony. You need to hone in on the physician’s specialization and what specific benefits your product can offer to their niche. Generalizations undercut your ability to make a connection with your prospect because the sales pitch feels canned. What’s more, you’ll seem disingenuous in the eyes of the physician.

4. In-Network vs. Out-of-Network

This seems simple, but knowing the network of the office you’re working with is important. If your product is out of network and won’t be covered by insurance, and you’ll be wasting everyone’s time by attempting a sales meeting. Do the physician the courtesy of finding out ahead of time if your product is in-network.

Check out this video from Healthcare U for more tips on knowing your audience and avoiding these key mistakes. Co-Founder Vick Tipnes outlines strategies for success in your medical device sales meeting.

5. Poor Planning

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Check your pre-call planning process to be sure you aren’t making these key mistakes.

6. Lack of Purpose

If you’re skipping pre-call planning, you’re committing a key mistake. The first part of planning involves generating a legitimate reason for making the sales call; after all, you’re interrupting the physician’s day. Have your unique sales proposition ready, but also prepare a specific reason for why your prospect needs to hear about it now. When you skip this pre-planning step there is no context for the sale, and the physician is left wondering why worry about this right now?

7. Missing Commitment Objective

Another crucial part of planning before the actual meeting involves developing a commitment objective. Many sales reps figure that the act of buying is the commitment. This is a mistake. You want to make your prospect an equal partner in what should feel like a business venture more than a sales transaction. This can be achieved by preparing a commitment objective that details action the physician should take.

For example, ask the physician to track successful results with the product. Or, ask for feedback on client satisfaction. These commitment objectives require a purchase and a reason have follow-up meetings. These objectives build a partnership that will keep the discussion (and sales) going.

8. Communication

In medical device sales, effective communication is everything. Your body language, tone of voice, and the confidence you project will all factor in to your overall success on the job. Avoid these key mistakes during your next sales meeting.

9. Apologies

Some people are apologetic by nature, feeling that their very presence is taking up others time or space. This attitude will quickly tank your sales meeting! You should never apologize for taking up a prospect’s time. Doing so implies that what you have to say and offer is not worth listening to or spending time on. Delete “I’m sorry for interrupting your morning” and “I apologize for taking up your time” from your vocabulary. Replace those phrases with positive messages like “Our meeting today will give you an exclusive opportunity to help your patients.” This phrase expresses value and time well spent.

10. Timing

The best way to show respect for the physician’s time is to have a tight and well-prepared sales pitch, complete with relevant material that will be of interest to the prospect. If the physician truly seems frantically busy, irritated, or rushed, simply suggest rescheduling the sales meeting. This respects their time and yours.

11. Low Confidence

If you don’t believe in yourself and your product, you can’t expect the prospect to either. Low confidence is one of the most critical mistakes in medical device sales as it has the power to undermine your authority and cause you to lose the sale. Common issues include speaking quietly or quickly without passion, lack of eye contact, and poor posture. People with poor confidence assume that physicians won’t be interested in their product. Therefore, they often fail to go into the full benefits the product has to offer.

Sales Coach

Don’t cut your sales meeting short by failing to believe your product’s value or your own value. First, find a coach: an experienced and successful medical device sales rep that can mentor you. With this person, work on determining your strength areas and building on them. Rehearse your sales presentation with your coach until you are completely comfortable with the entire sales process. Outline what you believe to be the best qualities of your product, features that you can expand upon with enthusiasm.

No connections? No problem. HealthCare U subscribers can gain access to monthly webinars, and even a semi-annual coaching call. The training acts as a coach itself!

Successful medical device sales reps are always learning from their mistakes and improving their craft. Take your skills to the next level with relevant, in-demand content from HealthCare U.