Medical device sales is simply different. In many ways, sales is the least important duty among the role's many core functions. The customer base is full of the best and brightest (literal brain surgeons in some cases). Performance isn't simply measured by hitting quota. It can directly impact the long-term health outcomes of patients. But the rewards are immense, both in terms of job satisfaction and compensation.
This playbook covers everything medical device sales reps and teams need to know to hit their potential (and higher numbers). We’ll cover fundamentals and tactics. We'll then get into how masters operate and how to measure success, along with the tools that can facilitate it.
This is the ultimate guide to medical device sales.
Medical device sales encompasses selling medical equipment to providers. It's a business-to-business, field sales-based industry. At a high level, reps and companies generally fall into two broad categories: capital equipment sales and disposable (also called consumable) product sales.
Capital equipment: This refers to high-ticket, long-term investments. These products range from a high-field 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine that costs $3.5MM or more (with potential maintenance contracts in excess of $10,000/month) or Intuitive's Da Vinci Xi robotic surgery system with a price tag of more than $2MM to vital sign monitoring equipment that costs $2,000.
Disposable equipment: These are essentially one-time use products, think surgical gloves or syringes. But don't think that means these are low-stakes sales. A typical surgical center might go through 1,000 boxes of surgical gloves and 50,000 syringes annually. Both of these can be $25,000 line items.
Implants and diagnostics fall into their own, more specialized categories. Implants include products like surgical screws and artificial joints. Diagnostics include point-of-care testing kits, lab materials, and other products. A hospital might do 250 knee replacements per year and pay $3,500 per artificial knee joint. That's $875,000 in sales. A hospital could do around 10,000 Influenza A/B rapid tests annually. At about $15 per test, sales would be around $150,000.
Medical device sales reps serve providers, aiming to provide them with the tools needed to create better healthcare outcomes. They typically work directly for manufacturers or for regional distributors. They meet face-to-face at hospitals, clinics, surgical centers, and other healthcare facilities. Their duties vary depending on the product they sell, but they all ultimately demo what they’re selling and help providers understand how it improves patient outcomes. Here’s a quick breakdown for the different types of sales.
Implant reps typically make one or two sales calls daily. They often sell orthopedic, spine, cardiovascular, or neuro implants, e.g., artificial knees, spinal screws, or heart valves. This is a very highly technical role, to the point that they scrub into the operating room to guide surgeons and staff during procedures. Each case can take several hours so implant reps usually only see one or two providers per day. These reps offer high-value services that are critical to patient outcomes.
Capital reps sell the big-ticket, durable systems that easily cross into seven-figure price tags. The sales cycles take time. They involve long demos and presentations to hospital committees. A single meeting can take half a day, so capital equipment reps typically only meet with one or two providers daily. This field requires long-term relationship building and a consultant’s mindset to help guide complex purchase decisions.
Diagnostics reps handle point-of-care testing platforms and lab analyzers, which use both capital devices and disposable cartridges. They meet with lab directors, clinicians, and purchasing teams. These reps focus on educating providers on topics like test accuracy and ongoing reagent supply. Their meetings are longer than a quick drop-in, but shorter than a surgery, so they usually average three to six visits per day.
These reps sell high-volume, recurring-use products like syringes, catheters, gloves, wound dressings, and surgical drapes. Disposables reps maintain relationships with materials managers and procurement teams (and often nurses). They make sure supplies remain stocked and that competitors don’t gain a foothold with their customers. Because these conversations are shorter and transactional, disposables reps often see five to ten providers per day, covering a broad territory.
Regardless of area, medical device sales reps do much more than simply push product. They become partners with their providers. They train staff. They provide ongoing support long after the sale is complete. A great rep often becomes a trusted source of information for their providers. The rep is often the first call a doctor makes when considering new devices or solutions to specific healthcare issues.
Healthcare providers depend on sales reps for medical devices because the tech constantly changes. New approaches and technologies get approved that could make significant improvements on patient outcomes. Clinicians fill their time with patient appointments and don’t have always (sometimes ever) have the space to research every new industry update. Medical device salespeople fill that gap. They represent their manufacturer(s), but they are also ambassadors for new technology.
Beyond industry knowledge, providers rely on reps for their technical expertise in the complex products they represent. Medical device reps serve as the bridge between medtech companies and frontline healthcare.
Medical sales reps need to master foundational core skills and habits to see sustainable success. These basics carry reps through tough days and into prosperous ones. Let’s break down those fundamentals.
Know your product intimately. This sounds obvious, but it’s where many new reps stumble. If you can’t confidently answer every question a provider throws at you about your device, you’ll look like every other salesperson. You’ll look forgettable. The top reps go beyond memorizing features and specs. Top reps understand exactly how their product works. How it fits into the clinical experience. They know how it compares to competitors and what separates it from other products.
This applies whether you’re selling multi-million-dollar capital equipment or surgical gloves. It goes without saying why complete product knowledge is a basic requisite if you’re selling surgical platforms, but disposables like gloves come in dozens of iterations. If you can’t answer why a clinic should choose nitrile over neoprene or if it’s rated against cytotoxic drugs, you will lose credibility and a potential sale.
It’s also not enough to know what your device does and how it does it. You need to know why it matters to the end user. How does it improve patient care or make the provider’s job easier? Use stats to back up your claims, such as this device improves patient outcomes by X% compared to the competitor’s alternative or the alternative treatment. How does it create fewer complications or shorter hospital stays? Understand what matters to providers and to patients and be the person who has the best solutions to their problems.
Great reps are product experts who understand the environment in which their devices operate. They study how it integrates with existing hospital systems and treatment protocols. They know the common procedures or cases where these devices get used. The more context you have, the more credibly you can discuss your device. And if you don’t know an answer, be honest and say you’ll find out. It might seem like showing weakness, but it is exactly the opposite. People with high EQ (emotional quotient) do this. Credibility is everything, especially so when patients’ health is on the line.
Relationships make up the foundation of field sales. They’re arguably more important in the medical device world than in other industries. A medical device sale isn’t a one-and-done transaction. It takes multiple positive interactions to create a sale. After that point, it’s the start of (hopefully) a years-long partnership. Success depends on repeat business and referrals. Be the rep whom providers actually want to hear from. You build that kind of trust the same way you build any relationship. Consistency, honesty, and a genuine commitment to the best interest of the other party.
Consistency means you always follow up when you say you will. It means you show up on time (or better yet, early) and that you keep showing up regularly. Many reps have a habit of disappearing after a deal closes. This is bad for two reasons. Firstly, it makes you look like you only cared about the sale. Secondly, you’ll surely miss out on unexpected opportunities. You don’t see or hear about the new issues they’re facing and cannot see if you have solutions for them. You cannot expect your customer to always think of you when a problem pops up. They will associate you with the initial problem you solved. You do that enough times and they’ll start seeing you as a general problem solver and a person they can go to in a pinch. Keep checking in (without being a pest) and continue adding value. Share a new study if you think it can be of interest. Ask how their most recent cases with your product went.
Transparency is another major key. If your product has a limitation or a drawback, don’t try to hide it or spin it. Providers are razor sharp. Procurement managers deal with salespeople all day. They will see through that. More than that, it’s the right thing to do. Be upfront about the learning curve. If their case isn’t the best fit for your device, be honest about it. Honesty will win you loyalty. That translates into getting the first call when they need something.
Real commitment shows you actually care about providers’ challenges and not just hitting your quota. Healthcare folks can quickly tell if you’re just there to hit your sales target versus genuinely interested in solving their problems. Your interactions will be superficial. Your conversations will lack depth. It makes people feel as if they’re being used. If you’re only in it for a sale, that’s exactly what’s happening. The first step is to listen more than you talk. Take notes. Understand what your providers really need and focus on helping them.
Healthcare transactions are not simple affairs that hit the finish line after one conversation. 80% of sales take at least five follow-ups, yet 44% of reps quit after only one, according to the Brevet Group. Hospitals and clinics have complex buying groups. They’re ecosystems complete with multiple stakeholders across both clinical and administrative roles. A major part of the job is learning how to navigate them. A surgeon and a hospital administrator have different priorities. If you need buy-in from both, the same pitch is likely to fail on at least one of them.
You’ve also got to speak each stakeholder’s language. With providers, focus on patient outcomes and clinical data. You might emphasize how a device improves surgical outcomes or reduces complication rates. With a procurement or value analysis committee, cost-effectiveness is likely a better approach to take. Show how the device might save money in the long run by reducing readmittance. With hospital administrators or C-suite folks, you might zoom out even further. Pitch how the technology aligns with their strategic goals and improves market position. Perhaps it enables a new service line that attracts more patients, or it’s a differentiator against competing hospitals. Tailored messages are far more likely to be remembered.
Never underestimate the gatekeepers. Nurse managers, clinic coordinators, or receptionists control access to busy providers and administrators. These people can be your allies. If you don’t treat them with respect, they’re far more likely to become an adversary. Often, staff members will pass along messages or even advocate internally for you if you’ve earned their respect. Introduce yourself to the front desk or bring coffee for the nursing station. These little gestures make big impressions.
Be genuine and patient. Sometimes you’ll have to work the account from multiple angles. Take the time to map out accounts. Know who has influence, who has final sign-off, and how to get to them. Then you can earn each person’s support.
Medical devices operate in one of the most regulated environments of any industry. As a sales rep, you don’t need to be an attorney, but you absolutely do need to know the key regulations that govern your products. This isn’t just bureaucratic box-checking as knowing the environment can make or break deals. It’s also a huge trust-builder. When you can address questions about FDA approvals, HIPAA considerations, or safety standards, you show expertise. You foster credibility.
Make it a point to stay up-to-date on the regulatory landscape. At the very least, have a contact on your legal or compliance team you can run things by. Know the hurdles and how to leap past them. If you’re selling an implantable device, know the FDA classification and approval status, and any reporting requirements. Knowledge in this area gives you instant credibility with hospitals and clinics that live in a strict world of high compliance.
Ethics go hand-in-hand with regulations. Healthcare providers are held to high ethical standards, and they expect the same of those with whom they do business. Always follow the letter and spirit of laws like the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Sunshine Act (which, for example, means you can’t provide lavish gifts or unprofessional incentives to providers). Beyond legalities, it’s about doing right by the patient and the provider. If a device isn’t truly right for a provider’s, and ultimately the patient’s, needs, pushing a sale is bad business. You’ll burn the relationship and could harm patient care. In the long run, integrity is profitable. Reps who put patients first build a reputation that opens more doors than any sales gimmick ever could.
Life in the field is chaotic. Medical sales reps can cover huge territories. They work out of their cars and have calendars that look like Tetris. To thrive, reps need serious self-discipline and organizational skills. The freedom of being out in the field means the boss isn’t looking over their shoulder. The onus is on reps to structure their days and stay productive.
Start with time management. Territory planning and route optimization key success here. Group visits geographically to minimize driving. Too many reps waste their afternoons crisscrossing town. Route planning apps make this easy. By only cutting down travel time, reps create more sales opportunities.
Reps also need high attention to detail. They need to know customer preferences and track follow-up tasks religiously. This can range from a simple pen and paper to a medical CRM. Forgetting to follow up with a provider is more than embarrassing. It’s a sales leak. Immediately after a meeting, the best reps jot down key points from the visit. They also go deeper than ‘follow-up on Tuesday.’ They’re specific and actionable. ‘Dr. Smith’s interest was piqued by Feature X and wants a quote by Tuesday afternoon’.
Finally, following through is how closed deals get made. Many sales fizzle out not because the rep dropped the ball somewhere. Maybe they didn’t respond quickly enough to a question. Perhaps they failed to check in while the provider was trialing the device. It doesn’t matter what it is, just that reps keep their word.
Successful medical device sales requires multiple touches. Disposables might require at least five visits, but capital equipment might mean twenty or more. Every one of these touch points is a chance for something to go wrong if you’re not on top of it. Preparation helps ensure everything goes right. Each follow-up is a building block in establishing trust. So few people execute follow-through consistently that if you can, you’ll automatically stand out.
The basics build the foundation for real success. Going from a solid rep to a top-performer takes another level of performance. This is how reps elevate their game.
Providers are often data-driven and expect reps to bring. That means numbers. And numbers help sell. To take sales to the next level, top reps wield data with scalpel-like accuracy. They come armed with clinical studies and trial results. They might have cost-benefit analyses. Walking into a meeting with a peer-reviewed study showing a device boosted an outcome by 30% instantly bolsters credibility far more than ‘trust me’ every can. Better yet, have data from real customer cases. Numbers like this stick in decision-makers’ minds.
Being data-driven goes beyond external metrics. It means looking internally at your own performance metrics. Top reps aren’t afraid to look in the mirror and certainly aren’t afraid to see bad numbers. What they see is an opportunity to improve. They see extra motivation.
They don’t shy away from using data tools and CRM analytics when they’re available. They lean on them. They identify which types of accounts have the shortest sales cycles and which product features get linked to closed deals. That intel refines focus and messaging. They replace guesswork with insight. Top performers still have great people skills, but they augment them with a strategist’s mindset. They use data to decide where to spend their time and how to tailor their approach for maximum impact.
Great medical device sales professionals don’t sell features or specs. They sell solutions, and even if they don’t consciously realize it, do so through stories. The human mind evolved to remember stories. Take these two versions of the same truth, just spun differently, as an example.
Example 1
“Dr. Jackson runs a practice over on Fifth Street. He invested everything in owning his own practice. It was his dream. More than two-thirds of his revenue came from joint replacements, but his MIPS performance had been trending negatively. His most recent MIPS adjustment of -9% wiped out his entire profit margin for the current year. Quality was the main culprit behind the practice’s poor scores so last year he decided to switch to my implants. Every quality measure has since improved and for the first he is projecting for a positive 8% MIPS adjustment.”
Example 2
“Orthopedic surgery practices that switch to my brand improve their quality measures. One local orthopedist recently increased revenue 17 percentage points. Quality measures are up across the board.”
The first example immediately humanizes the impact of the product. It places a peer in a difficult situation that a provider could easily empathize with. The story puts a name, even paints a mental image and face, behind the story. It then positions the new implant brand as the hero. It also uses direct, concrete numbers to back its claim.
While the second story also uses numbers, it doesn’t feature them as effectively. It simply describes faceless practices in a straightforward sales pitch. It’s easily forgettable. But the provider being told the story has probably driven down Fifth Street multiple times and can clearly picture it in their mind. It’s anchored to memory. Perhaps they even know the practice that’s mentioned.
Stories aren't mere anecdotes. They create emotional connections and make clinical benefits memorable in a way that charts and data alone can’t match.
Stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone, according to Stanford University research. They activate multiple areas of the brain, including regions linked with sensory experiences, memory, and emotional resonance. This makes them far more engaging and easier to recall than the same old sales pitch everyone else is spinning.
Neuroscience has also taught us that stories can release oxytocin, which is a hormone associated with empathy and trust building. Done effectively, storytelling can create a memory that unleashes the “love hormone” when a provider thinks about you. It builds an emotional bond and trust that competitors will fail to match.
New technologies, new research, even new regulations consistently pop up that affect the medical device industry. Many of the best reps commit to constant learning. They read industry journals and attend conferences. They follow thought leaders on LinkedIn. They’re eager to be the first to know about any emerging trends that can be turned into sales strategies. They immediately think about how their products fit into new trends, about how they can be positioned at the cutting-edge of movements. Staying current allows them to have deeper conversations with providers and positions them as valuable consultants who offer timely insights, not just products to sell.
Adaptability plays a large role in their success as well. Top reps embrace feedback and don’t stay married to approaches that might no longer work. They often remove ego from the equation. This is powerful because it untethers them from the noise that has no bearing on success and focuses their minds only on what improves performance.
Circumstances change. Constantly. Things will always be outside of their control, and rather than letting potential negatives hurt their mindsets, they think of ways to adjust to accommodate a new reality. Maybe a big account suddenly slashes budget.
Good, as motivational speaker and retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink would say. A mediocre rep would just lament the lost sale. A next-level rep regroups and finds an angle to attack the issue. Perhaps they emphasize the cost-saving aspects of their device. Maybe they find alternative devices that still solve most of the provider’s needs at a lower cost. It doesn’t matter what the hurdle is. There will always be another. What matters is the mindset. The reps with the right one are the reps who remain top performers year after year, even as the market shifts.
Tops reps are smart enough to know they don’t know everything. So they find others who they can learn from. They seek mentorship or look at their peers to learn new tactics or strategies.
“You can do anything but not everything,” as David Allen put it.
High-performing teams often build a culture of sharing rather than one that has each rep guarding their “secret sauce.” Leaders can foster this by having reps present their biggest win (or loss) of the quarter and what they learned. They can have reps do ride-alongs with each other. Put a lower performing rep with a high performer. A new rep with a seasoned rep. New ideas can stem from anyone. Steal shamelessly from others’ experience, as long as it’s ethical, of course.
A rep should not think of themselves as a salesperson. They need to embrace the mindset that they are strategic partners to their providers. What does that mean? Understanding the bigger picture of the healthcare business in which providers operate. Top reps can look like an extension of a practice or hospital’s strategy team. They’re attuned to the levers that drive growth, like reimbursement trends or patient satisfaction metrics. They frame their sales in terms of solving broader problems, not just providing a piece of equipment.
They then align products with the overarching goals of their providers’ organizations. They know how products can impact cost savings or increase efficiency. They understand and articulate how their products create better patient outcomes. This transforms reps from salespeople to trusted advisors.
There isn’t an easy shortcut here. Reps need to do homework on the business side of each major account and prospect. Look at annual reports or press releases for hospitals. They often mention strategic initiatives around which you can frame your products. They think about how their devices could support these goals. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes datasets, such as MIPS scores, reps can use to personalize pitches. Doctors and executives appreciate a rep who understands the pressures they face and isn’t just there to make a commission.
Next-level performance doesn’t come from doing the same, comfortable thing. It comes from pushing beyond what feels comfortable. Many top medical device sales reps have embraced discomfort so well that they don’t even realize they’re using it to improve.
You can forgive field sales reps for this. It’s a tough gig and it’s easy to stick to a routine. Call on the same familiar accounts. Drop prospecting when a customer has any need, no matter the urgency, because who likes getting told no right to their face when they can instead feel like they’re being helpful? Use the same pitch when prospecting. Repeat.
But growth happens when reps stretch beyond comfort. The number one thing to do is call on more new prospects. The average rep dedicates 18% of sales calls to prospecting. Less than one in five visits. They also average five visits per day, so they’re only making room for about five new business opportunities weekly. This can be remedied by simply looking at an upcoming sales route and finding prospects on your route or near existing stops.
One visit very rarely results in a sale. But five? Now you’re getting somewhere. The first one might be painful, but each follow-up should be less so. Many prospects appreciate the determination. It shows that you care enough about their business to try.
It might mean improving a weakness, like public speaking, so you can present confidently at a department meeting or in front of a buying committee. Or it might be embracing new tools and ways of selling (virtual demos, anyone?) even if you’re used to old-school methods.
Never get complacent. If you catch yourself saying, “This is how I always do it,” that’s a major red flag. It destroys progress. The best salespeople in any industry always evolve. They solicit feedback. They ask customers how they can be most useful, how they can provide better service. They try new tactics. Not everything will work, but failure is only practice for success. It’s impossible to discover next-level strategies without trying new things..
The next level of success might be closer than you think. It’s even formulaic. Use data. Tell stories. Learn. Be a partner. Push boundaries. It’s how good reps become great and how good teams turn into perennial top performers.
Here’s the big secret: there isn’t one. The consistent President’s Club winner who smashes their quota doesn’t harbor a rare gift. What they do have are simple habits and mindsets executed exceptionally well.
None of these “secrets” includes slick closing lines or gimmicks. Mindset. Consistency. Character. Things anyone can cultivate. Success doesn’t require anyone to be a natural-born salesperson. It comes from committing to excellence in the right places.
Medical device sales is a numbers game. Knowing and measuring the right numbers breeds success. That comes from consistent, collective performance and growth. Here’s what they measure
Medical device reps build relationships. They call on the same providers over and over. What better way to measure the success of a relationship than its continuation? If you need more convincing, consider this. It costs up to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. A strong goal is to aim for an 80% customer retention rate. Push 90%+, and you’re in rarified air.
The most straightforward metrics in sales (and the most important). The number of deals closed and the net sales amount. This is the ultimate bottom-line indicator. Most medical device sales teams have quotas/targets. But savvy leaders look beyond if they hit a number or not. They dig into the numbers to see what’s sustainable, where there’s room to grow. They examine the mix of deals. They look at the new customers won. Repeat business provides a foundation, but new business builds on top of it. A healthy team has a balance of new wins and expansions in existing accounts.
Not all deals are equal. Are most of your team’s wins small one-off purchases, or are they securing larger contract sizes? Tracking the average deal value lets you prioritize how success gets realized and how to best deploy resources. If your average deal size is low, you might need to encourage the team to bundle more offerings or target larger prospects. Leaders also need to manage the product mix. Measure how the full portfolio is being sold and create targets for each product. A team that only sells the easiest thing can easily leave money on the table and unrealized gains, well, unrealized.
Output (deals, revenue) is a lagging indicator. This means that by the time you see a shortfall, it’s likely too late. Sales teams need to measure leading indicators too. Figure out what sales activities correlate with success. It could be territory coverage. It might be that after X number of visits, prospects are very likely to close. Measure new prospect visits at the top of the funnel, product demos in the middle, proposals in the bottom, and conversion rates for each, for example. Monitoring the sales pipeline lets you know how many opportunities are in play, the qualified business being worked, and how your current coverage relates to quota.
Beyond raw activity, quality matters. Track conversion rates across the team and each individual. Use it to uncover best practices or training needs. It’s also critical to systematically capture win/loss reasons. If all your lost deals cite “price” as the reason, maybe your value proposition isn’t being articulated strongly enough (it’s rarely just the price). If many losses cite a competitor’s feature that you lack, that’s valuable feedback to relay to product development. Your team’s performance in an engine. Tune it and remove points of friction with these metrics.
Too often this gets overlooked in sales. Some leaders simply want the best salespeople and to churn out low performers. But this doesn’t foster a healthy team culture. Strong culture is tied to a 24% improvement in seller success, according to Gartner. A team that shares knowledge and improves collectively is likely to sustain success. Measure employee retention. Invest in an employee engagement tool and send out quarterly surveys. Measure peer-to-peer coaching and trainings completed. It may not be as concrete as a sales figure, but a well-trained, motivated team is an investment that pays off in the long run.
Now let’s zoom in on the individual rep. Every rep in medical device sales usually has a quota or a target amount to sell in a given period. But quota alone doesn’t tell the entire story. Let’s unpack the key metrics and indicators for individual success.
Hitting your sales target is number one, of course. Top reps don’t expect to hit quota, they expect to exceed it. They raise the bar every quarter. Look at year-over-year growth in your territory. Also, consider the composition of your sales. Is it a healthy mix or did most of your quota come from one huge deal? Successful reps usually have a healthy spread of existing account revenue and new wins fueling growth.
An individual rep’s activity levels are telling. How many providers are you visiting each week? How many product demonstrations or lunch-and-learns did you conduct? Keeping a full pipeline is a great leading indicator of success. Always know your pipeline coverage. A good rule of thumb is to have about 3X to 4X of your quota in potential deals at the start of the quarter, depending on your usual close rate. Successful reps are usually fanatic about feeding the funnel. They find opportunities to prospect. They network and ask for referrals. And they track their follow-ups like a bloodhound. They don’t leave leads hanging.
How effective are you with the opportunities you get? Leads are only good if they can realistically be closed. Start with looking at each stage of the funnel independently. How many visits until you get a meeting? The percentage of initial meetings that lead to a demo. How many demos go to a proposal? Proposal to new business? Perhaps your sales cycle is much simpler than that. What percent of sales calls turn into a new order? Measure this by both existing customers and prospects. These ratios can illuminate your strengths and weaknesses. You might be great at getting to demos but not at turning those into sales. Good. That’s an opportunity to grow. Improving even a single conversion metric can make a huge difference in your final sales number.
Territory coverage generally refers to how many customers and prospects exist in a territory and the rate at which they get visited. It can also refer to how many potential accounts exist in a given territory and the percentage of those in a rep’s book. Many reps have little more than a gut feeling regarding if they have good territory coverage or not. But these aren’t qualitative measures. These are hard numbers and there’s no excuse for not knowing them intimately. Start with this. How many total accounts you currently manage (customers and prospects). How many of them have received a visit this quarter? That’s your first measure: accounts with a visit / total accounts. Then break it down by customers and prospects. That’s your macro-level territory coverage. Next is micro-level, which is each account’s coverage. What’s the average number of visits each account has received? All accounts shouldn’t be measured the same, of course. Segment your book between high, medium, and low-priority accounts. Members in each segment should have a target number of visits each quarter. For example, high-priority accounts might need to be visited once every two weeks, medium-priority accounts once a month, and low-priority once a quarter. Measure the total visits to each segment compared against the total number of planned visits to each segment. Measure each account’s number of visits vs. the planned number of visits, and if you project to hit it, to get your micro-level territory coverage.
Download: Free Territory Coverage Report
Ultimately, individual success in medical device sales comes down to a blend of hitting targets and growing your skills and reputation. If you’re a rep, use these metrics to self-diagnose. Don’t wait for your annual review to find out how you’re doing. Keep track of your own performance indicators weekly or monthly. Take pride in your stats. Own them. Grow them. They are a reflection of your professionalism and your success. Sales is one of the few jobs where you can directly measure virtually everything you do. Embrace that.
You could measure success with spreadsheets. That would take a massive amount of time. A better alternative exists and virtually every top-performing medical sales team uses it. Field sales software. These come in a few forms, but the best combine a mobile app with a web platform. Think of them like a customer relationship management (CRM) platform merged with a sales route planner and activity tracker. Here’s how they help medical device reps:
Medical device sales reps and teams have numerous options in the field sales software and app market. Here’s why many of them choose RepMove.
1. It’s built for field sales. A common gripe with generic CRM systems is that they’re designed for inside sales or other industries. They were made by people who haven’t lived the grind on the road. But RepMove is different. Its founder worked in field sales for more than a decade. It was built initially to help him organize his days and visit more customers. RepMove’s features and interface are geared toward what actually happens day-to-day: mapping routes and logging visits and notes quickly between sales calls.
2. Route planning + CRM in one app. Many top reps juggle multiple tools. They have a route planner. They have a note tracker. They have a CRM. RepMove combines all this and more. Medical device sales reps love this because it makes their lives easier. It only takes a swipe or a tap to go from a sales route to a new note that’s already associated with the right account. It’s all connected. And it can all happen in the time it takes you to reach your car after shaking a provider’s hand. This ease of updating records in real-time means no backlog of admin work at week’s end. The CRM gets updated in real-time every time a note gets added or a visit gets logged. There’s no need to dump everything in later. That translates to more accurate data and less headaches.
3. Medical sales-specific features (NPI lookup, satellite locations). Medical device sales has quirks that general sales tools don’t address. One example: doctors often work at multiple locations (hospitals, clinics, surgery centers). RepMove has a satellite locations feature that lets you link a single provider to several offices or facilities. That way you don’t have providers duplicated five times in your system. You have record with all the activities across locations tracked. RepMove also has a built-in NPI lookup tool. This allows reps to search for providers by name and add their NPI to their contact record right in the app.
4. Real-time team visibility and easy adoption. From a leadership perspective, RepMove provides a live window into the field. Managers can see on a dashboard how many visits each rep has done, what activities are completed, and so on. It lets them coach in real time and celebrate wins as they happen. Teams pick RepMove because reps actually use it. Adoption is the bane of many CRM rollouts. Salespeople, especially those in the field, ignore tools they find cumbersome. RepMove doesn’t get in the way. It does the opposite. It makes life easier.
5. Tangible performance improvements. At the end of the day, a sales tool is only as good as its results. RepMove users generate more provider visits and more closed deals quarter after quarter. For example, the medical device sales team at Rainier Surgical in Washington State increased sales visits by 30% with RepMove. They increased sales. They also increased new reps’ time to success by 400%. The team at Rainier Surgical was able to completely transfer an old rep’s entire territory, complete with all notes and saved routes, to a new rep with a couple taps.
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If you’re a rep looking to simplify your chaotic days or a sales leader aiming to improve team results, RepMove is worth a look. Start a free trial or chat with our sales team today.
