Sales evaluation program for Pharmaceutical

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[Music] hello and welcome to the medical sales podcast and i am your host samuel in this podcast i interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire country and it doesn't matter what medical sales industry from medical device to pharmaceutical to genetic testing to diagnostic lab you name it you will learn how to either break into the industry be a top five percent performer within your role in sales or climb the corporate ladder welcome to the medical sales podcast hello and welcome to the medical sales podcast i'm your host samuel and today we have with us another special guest this is eric knotts now what makes him unique is he was actually someone that wanted to get into the pharmaceutical sales industry and he found our podcast which led him to what we do here at evolver success he took one of our programs he got into the position of his dreams and then came back again to take our sales training and now he's truly living his best life last week we had brett with us and brett was a medical device sales rep that wanted to get into a better position and he found the program eric was someone that was outside of the industry he was in sales but he was outside of the industry he wanted to get into pharmaceutical sales specifically and he was able to make that happen through our program so i want to have him on and just tell his story because it's a it's so nice to see someone that started and this was back in 2021 so this is at the very top january 2021 that's when he started um he got the position he found us he got the position in january 2021 and now i mean a year and what three or four months later he's living a completely different life and he's still working with us in our sales training program so it's a beautiful thing to see uh his evolution has been amazing to see and and it's something that i believe should be shared so people can hear what's being experienced out there and they can get their own insights on what this industry means from a couple different perspectives so i am not going to spoil it i will say no more as always thank you listen to the medical sales podcast and i really do hope you enjoy this interview hey eric how are we doing today good how are you doing samuel no complaints no complaints i'm glad to have you on the show today because you actually went through uh our programs you went to some of our programs with all your success you and i you know we've we've literally become friends through all the work we've done together and uh i thought it's good that people get to hear your experience what it's led to where you are today so with with no more of me spoiling it why don't you tell everybody who you are and what you do my name is eric knotts um currently i am a pharmaceutical sales rep in the mental health space so for cns or the antipsychotics won't get into too much details but um it's a very rewarding career and um i got to where i want to be you know partly indeed in part because of you because i was kind of hitting a dead end in the interview process i was getting to the point where i would get interview and not even hear anything back and then i would get to the second and third round of interviews and then again not just just not hearing anything back um and my resume was great but i knew there was something missing and so i literally read every book i could find i listened to every podcast i could find which was only one at the time i think now there's a few more but uh yours was the only one at the time so um and i think when i was listening to it i could just tell that um you knew what you were talking about and a lot of the points you were making it really hit home and for me i knew that one of my weaknesses was confidence and really having that ability to get through the interview itself um because i was selling myself on paper if i was getting those interviews but there was something lacking in the in the actual interview itself so um and i remember giving you the call um went to a restaurant celebrated that night it was awesome but it feels like uh so long ago now i know i know that yeah yeah yeah um you know it's funny because you know when was that how long ago was that that was 20 21 so last year it would have been january january of last year wow yeah beginning of january i think yeah i mean and now now as a as a pharmaceutical sales professional i mean you feel like you've been locked in for a minute right it doesn't feel new at all no no and i and you know what the weird the weird thing is that that same thing that i was working on in the interview it's it's butt up in different places because now that i got comfortable with the interview process now it's like i'm getting comfortable with the actual job itself you've seen me you've seen me evolve um but you know that's what i really like about the program is you're really able to pinpoint kind of the things the areas where you really need the work done and that's what the value of both of your programs provide um i know it's quite a bit different than when i took the program but i would highly recommend the at least the program to get you the job and you know samuel and his team are awesome they'll be able to guide you through and not only get you the job but get you to excel after getting a job so we still got work to do though you know that's that's that's why i like i like you being on the show today because you you started you got to experience the program uh in its earlier stages you know now it's so much more built out and we have such a larger team and so many people are working with us to ensure that everybody that comes to our table gets success but what i love is that you you use our program to get into the position and then you're still with us with our sales training and and it's and like you said you've been experiencing uh a rapid fire understanding of how to perform at your highest level in in this position and you're doing it talk to us a little bit about what the experience has been like i mean you had a perception when we were working on your interview and you had a perception of what the industry would be like now you're in it now we're working together what's what's it like talk to us a little bit about it uh i guess uh it's kind of like a two-part question uh my perception of the industry first of all has uh definitely been changed um just i think it was a really interesting time to join from the pharmaceutical sales industry for multiple reasons uh everything's kind of in flux with covid and a lot of the you know medical environment has changed over time but it changed within a few years rapidly and it feels like things are somewhat getting back to normal but i i still hear to this day like you know oh two years ago if you were here would have been a lot different um so but you know i think that's kind of forced me to become more creative and a better rep because i have to get through access barriers that i weren't presently there i have to get a little bit more creative without how i approach my customers uh i think everyone's a little bit cautious now so it keeps me grounded and focused on you know strategy rather than just the daily messaging that a lot of reps i think get used to and your program has really helped me kind of pinpoint um where i need to strategize and maybe brainstorm ideas of how i can penetrate some of those barriers that are now present with the pandemic with um just in general actually um with myself you know i as as i once stated um i think at least for you and i um you had kind of found that it was a confidence thing with myself and i have 10 times the confidence i had before but i still think there's you know room for growth so right and yeah and you know what you know and i actually want you to speak on that um you know there's people listening right now that they might be someone that's been wanting the medical sales industry and they heard about medical device they heard about pharmaceutical um and they're not sure what it really means where they really should go what they should really be doing why would you say that it's it's necessary to have something like a service that can really get you into a position what what would you say to someone that's listening right now um a lot of the advice that's out there is really cookie cutter um it's gonna be basic services uh as i said i've read tons of books even before i uh got a put onto your podcast and i i just noticed that some of the advice was very generic uh repetitive and i think that's where you really separate from everyone else or every other program at least that i had looked at at the time um not to say there's no good books or anything like that but i would say that's the differentiating factor is that um you were able to you and your team you know were able to really fine tune exactly what it is that i needed um versus just like oh here's a general approach that works for everybody um and because it's such a rapid changing industry the things that used to work for everybody don't work necessarily work today there are some things like networking obviously that's important there are some principles that always hold true but with things shifting to the internet and zoom and virtual it's really changed a lot so i and i think you've seen that in your own career i've seen it in mine um and i think we're gonna continue to see that so yeah you know and you're you're first of all you nailed it um it's shifting fast and because of kovat everything that we all experienced it's really uh it's been a catalyst for the direction we're all headed anyway i talk about it all the time that we were headed towards this virtual world everybody was not just you know in medical sales but because of covid medical cells realized that hey we got to catch up too and now it's just trying to make sense of it and hoping that it works um you know one thing i want to know and again share with the audience you you see value in in getting services as you progress through your career you know there are people out there right now that are in the field they're listening to this in their cars as we speak what would you say to them about why it's why it's helpful to have a resource outside of your organization that can give you an added education to how you can be how you can perform better in the field and be and move further along in your career in the medical sales world to me that's a really really easy question actually it kind of goes back to if you want to keep continuing getting the results that you're getting then continue doing exactly what you've been doing and if you want to change those results you need to change that up and um i think more than anything samuel you have you and your team you guys have uh such a wide like 10 000 foot view of everything because you see the medical sales industry as a whole whereas i'm only able to see what's you know my narrow sector or this narrow sector of my company and the way that they provide training and i even learn from you know people from other companies and it's it's true because everyone has a different style and i think the moment that you commit yourself to continually learn and grow that's the moment when you're going to start to see things that you you know you wouldn't ever have imagined a few years ago even so that's something and and i'm seeing it already i'm seeing things happen i could already imagine myself promoting in a year or two and i was just trying to get the job before so it was a whole different battle you know right yeah exactly but that takes growth and i think um there are some people that maybe have that that continual dedication and they're willing to learn on their own but but it's hard to learn if you don't have that feedback from others that's what i would say yeah no that's beautiful that's that's 100 correct as well it's hard to learn if you don't get that feedback from others you know one thing i want to also get from you eric is i want to again i want you to speak to those people that haven't made the move yet into medical sales and they're just thinking about it or they're wanting to do it or they're trying to do it what would you tell them to look out for after they get into the position not not so much you know what they what they need to do to get the interview but more so when they're actually in the role what do they need to look out for um i think it just goes back to and this is just the way i think um it's not for everybody but i would say just don't become complacent don't get comfortable with the way things are being done as i've said things are rapidly changing uh the industry is changing itself individual companies are changing uh they're doing a lot of restructuring right now with my company in particular and i know a lot of other companies are too sometimes especially in pharmaceutical sales or in the pharmaceutical industry smaller companies get bought out by larger ones so the moment you become complacent um i think you can kind of just get left in the dust so just commit yourself and also commit yourself to the fact that things will change but you can adapt to it and that's exactly what i've been doing with you uh in a one-on-one basis and i know you also have like a whole team behind you um that you can get workshops and really fine-tune exactly what it is that you need to work on because everyone is going to adapt differently to to change some people freak out by it some people uh they run away from it some people attack it head-on but i think it's really good to see those kind of flaws in yourself and not necessarily flaws but those things that you need to work on to get to the next level because as i said it's it's it's not only competitive but it's rapidly changing and that's not to scare anybody off you know that's more just to say okay well prepare yourself for what you're you know what you're gonna go through it can be stressful but it's very rewarding at the same time at the end of the day you're helping out patients and i don't see how there can be many jobs aside from being a doctor itself or you know there's a few other jobs i'm sure that are more purpose focused and kind of patient-centric where you're actually the impact can be seen literally a few weeks out from when you were there with those doctors talking to them and you're helping people and that's at the end of the day what gets you through the change part doesn't matter it's it's the patient and you got to stay you know focused on your why and your purpose and i think that's why a lot of people stay in it got it got it and you know that that actually segues right into my next question i was gonna and you kind of already answered it but i was gonna ask you why shouldn't someone get into pharmaceutical sales if you're getting into it uh for the money that's obviously a bad reason um it's it's something there i think there are easier jobs to pursue if you're if you're gonna just go in it for the the money itself um if you are getting into it for any other reason other than to challenge yourself and also to kind of fulfill that that calling that i was talking about at the end of the day you're helping out that patient i think the doctors that you call on will really see through the ones that are there to help the patients and the ones that are there just to sell and when they pick that up on you um the one that makes the sell or the sale believe it or not is the one that is there for the patient i mean it makes sense but you would think it's those hard closers and nope that is not that is not how it works in the medical sales field i mean you're talking to highly educated people who i would say for the most part are in it for the patient uh as well so and they will see through that so that's what what my advice would be um if you are considering anything yeah it's if you're in sales and you think oh this is kind of the pinnacle of sales and makes the best money there are those that i think can do well but if they're really competitive but like i said at the end of the day it's got to be about that focus because that's what's going to get you through i love it the money will come and go you know you'll you'll make it'll just be a byproduct of you focus focusing on that purpose and just you know fine-tuning your weaknesses like i said it's a lot to know you've got to know sales you got to know the disease states you got to know uh about the patients you got to know about the industry you got to know about insurance plans i mean you got to know a lot of stuff so um but yeah the more you work on it the the doctors will see that your customers will see that and at the end of the day the patients will benefit the most from that so i like it i like it i got one more question for you eric and you know this is this is answer it the best you can but i want to know from your end because even though it feels like you've been doing this for a minute you you are relatively new i mean you got into the game of medical sales that in 2021 and we are only in 2022 but you've already experienced so much but you know for those listening that want to get into the industry you know what should they when it comes to what field they come from right because we we we've helped people from all kinds of field teachers customer service people sales people any people what would you tell them you know people that are hung up on well i don't have the i don't have the science or or i don't have the sales what would you say it's really about from your experience as far as getting into into a role like yours um it's not about what you know when you get in it's it's your dedication to being willing to learn those things uh you may not know those things you can get good at sales is a skill like anything else it can be learned medicine and learning the medical terminology and the disease states and becoming comfortable with it it just takes practice and i would say no matter where you are um i i was kind of someone that had the science background and maybe that's why i was a little bit more comfortable with the science and a little bit less comfortable with uh the sales side of things even though i did have a sales background um i would say no matter where you are anything can be learned it's a skill and as long as it's a skill somebody has been in their same place before and done it and and excelled at it so um i sometimes think that the best advice comes from my teammates and my pod partners that are really from a different background because i think people from a science background are going to look at it from a science way of looking at things you know they're going to look at it from a microscope and dissect it and say okay what are the what is the disease state and what are the symptoms and they want to learn all the intricacies intricacies of things but then there's some people that have you know higher eq um and then there's some people that like to teach you were talking about teachers so um but you also have to remember to be a student too because doctors also love to teach and i think you have to be just adaptable no matter what and and be willing to learn if there's one skill that you gotta have it's just have that one lit willingness and that hunger and desire to learn because if you do there's nothing that's going to stop you absolutely nothing i've been at the bottom i've been at the top you know and it took it took dedication and took perseverance but more than anything it took me taking that chip off my shoulder and say you know what i don't know everything i gotta i gotta stand back and assess what my weaknesses are and what i what i need to work on and that took you know that will willingness to learn and that hunger so that's awesome that's awesome eric eric you know it's it's an amazing thing to watch you grow man the fact that you started where you started with us and you're still here and you're still doing things you're still making things happen and you're literally evolving uh as we very firmly believe in involving your success you are literally living that so uh i'm so glad you'll speak with us today yeah you too samuel and uh appreciate you having me on the show definitely definitely and that was eric knotts cool guy right uh i love that story because eric is truly an example of evolving your success he wanted something he found the resource he made it happen he wanted more he found the resource again and he's making it happen i mean that's what it's all about right that's what this life's all about evolving your success to have a bigger impact on the people around you whether it be the patients whether it be your family whether it be the people in your inner circle you want to have an impact and you want to do something good for them and so you're consistently evolving and and you're reaping the rewards they're reaping the rewards everybody is winning you know for anyone that's in the medical sales industry i i find it hard-pressed to not see that they care about impacting significantly impacting people i mean yes you're impacting patients you're impacting doctors providers you're impacting the staff you're impacting administrators you're impacting a lot of people in this industry but at the end of it at the core of it you're impacting the patient and it's hard to give it your all every day if you do not care about doing that and and most of the people that i've met care about doing that and and that's exciting it's exciting to be a part of it's exciting to help people become a part of it it's exciting to help people thrive in it because we're all doing something that's so impactful health your health is so important and to be a part of that mission it's a wonderful thing so maybe you're listening to this episode and you're someone that wants to get into the industry you've been thinking you know i really want to make this happen i'm not sure what to do or you've you've put your hat your name out there and you've gotten a few interviews but nothing's really happening or you've got a number of interviews and you just can't get to an offer then i want you to go to evolveyoursuccess.com and select attain a medical sales role and get in touch with someone that can help you and have a conversation and get to the bottom of what you need to do and how you can make that happen if you're someone out there that's in the field and you're saying you know what i want this year to be my most amazing year i am ready to be the ultimate resource i am ready to impact the patients that i that i somehow touch at the highest level then again visit evolversuccess.com select improve sales performance and get in contact with someone from the team and have a conversation and learn what you can do to show up in a completely different new and impactful way why do we do this because we care we care about the growth of individuals we care about the growth of of professionals and we care about of course what's happening to the patient so why not be a part of be a part of the the thing that happens when good talented people want to put their career focus and energy into doing better for patients that's what we're all about it's all about evolving your success and that continues right you can get the job and then you can succeed in the job and then you can get into leadership and then you can succeed within leadership and then you can take things to entirely new heights you're consistently evolving and and that's what we care about so as always thank you for listening to the medical sales podcast make sure you tune in next week for another episode and have yourself an amazing week [Music] i hope you enjoyed today's episode and remember i have a couple programs to show you exactly how to break into the medical sales industry become a top performing medical sales professional and also how to masterfully navigate your career to executive level leadership check out these programs and learn more at evolverysuccess.com stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews