Your success in sales isn’t determined by what you sell, but how you connect. In this episode, we have Sales Coach and Founder of MMS Consulting Katie Mullen to reveal the secrets to becoming a better sales professional. Katie walks us through her journey, from her early days in the industry to becoming a sought-after sales trainer. As the episode progresses, Katie dissects the different categories of medical sales and explains the lifestyle implications of each. She also shares pro tips for getting through the gatekeepers and reaching the decision-makers. Tune in now and equip yourself with the knowledge and strategies that can transform your career. Your next sale might be just a click away!
Photofeeler – https://www.photofeeler.com/
Samuel’s Personality Test Result – ‘Analytical’ followed by ‘Driver’
Katie’s Published Book Title – The Sales Tightrope: A Research Based Guide to Not Annoying Customers, and Still Being a Top Performer.
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Becoming A Better Sales Professional With Katie Mullen
Transcript:
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Katie, how are you doing?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Good. How are you?
Thanks for having me.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I am fantastic. We’re glad to have you.
Why don’t you tell the audience who you are and what you do?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
My name is Katie Mullen, and I am a sales trainer, consultant, and author in the works.
I typically train sales teams on how to be better salespeople.
There are a lot of different things that I teach, but what I’m really trying to do is teach people how to get out there and get new customers.
So often in sales, people are either hunters or farmers. A lot of times, what we end up doing is becoming order takers. We wait for the phone to ring and wait for existing customers to order from us.
There’s no way to build your funnel appropriately if you’re just doing that.
A lot of what I do is teach people how to get out there and find those customers using new techniques, but also traditional techniques like the phone and email.
I use a lot of data and research in my sales training to teach people how to do those effectively so they can make the best use of their time.
I also get into things like presentations, LinkedIn, and newer tools like video messaging.
It’s all across the board.
Typically, I go into a sales team when they’re having their yearly sales meeting or their every six months sales meeting, whatever it is.
I go in and do a full day of training with the whole sales team.
We do a lot of interactive work, as well as learning and absorbing all the data and research that I have.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Do you do this for your own organization?
Do you work for an organization?
How do you do this?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It’s all me.
I did a lot of sales in my career.
I started in sales at an early age, and I loved sales.
I ended up getting into medical device sales when I was about 25. I did that for about ten years.
The whole time I was doing that, I was always this de facto sales trainer.
They would say, “Somebody new is starting. Call Katie Mullen and she’ll get them sorted out.”
Eventually, I came up with my own sales and training materials because it was easier and quicker for me to do that when I was already doing so much training for people.
As I was doing that, I realized I enjoyed it.
I enjoy teaching people how to do sales and how to be the best salesperson they can be.
My husband is a physician. When we moved to Denver when I was 35, I had to give up my sales territory.
I was doing Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
I had to give that up when I moved, and I decided, “I’m going to do this. I’m going to become a sales trainer and sales consultant.”
I started doing that, and companies started hiring me to do it.
I’ve been doing it ever since.
I work for myself. I have my own company, and I do all the training myself.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Let’s talk about who you serve.
Is it primarily medical device sales?
Is it any type of healthcare sales?
Is it beyond healthcare?
Talk to us a little bit about the type of companies you typically work with.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
My niche is medical device sales.
It’s what I know best.
I have done sales in all kinds of different industries.
When I first started my company, I intended to be just medical sales.
As time has gone on, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten some interest from people outside the medical community, because sales translates to every industry.
My niche is still medical device sales and medical sales in general.
That’s probably about 80 percent of my business, but I still do quite a bit in that other 20 percent as well.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I want the audience to get the gravity of who I’m talking to.
I’m going to highlight something that you did.
Katie Mullen is an influencer on LinkedIn, and she had a post where she garnered 40,000 reactions on the LinkedIn platform talking about an element of selling.
That is a feat within itself.
Katie, talk to us about how you made that happen and what it’s done for you.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
That post has almost 5 million views too, which was crazy high.
Ever since I started, I’ve had a pretty healthy audience on LinkedIn, but that one was over the top.
I hit a nerve within the LinkedIn community.
The LinkedIn algorithm likes a little bit of controversy.
One of the reasons that post did so well is not everyone agreed with me.
The topic of the post was, “Nobody is interested in your company’s history. No one cares what year you were invented.”
That was based on a lot of research I had done with customers.
I had gone out and asked customers, “What are your pet peeves when somebody comes in and tries to give you a presentation?”
A lot of customers said, “I hate it when they come in and do a bunch of slides about how they were invented in 1972 and how great they’ve been since then.”
It was very consistent.
Customers don’t like this.
For some reason, particularly in the medical space, companies often start with this. It’s the first three slides of every presentation.
It’s what everyone does.
I don’t think people realize that customers hate it so much.
When I posted about it, probably 90 percent of people agreed with me, but maybe 10 percent adamantly disagreed.
They said, “It’s so important for people to know us and know who we are and know that we’re trustworthy. Our history is so rich, and we need to tell them this.”
There was a lot of discussion within the LinkedIn community about who was right, who was wrong, and what we should do instead.
That’s why it hit such a nerve.
There was disagreement, and a lot of people didn’t want to give up what they had been holding onto for so long, which is the company history slides.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
How did you come up with the idea for it?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
When I first started my company, after I left the medical company I was at for so long, I asked myself, “How do I make myself different as a sales trainer?”
There are so many sales trainers out there.
In my opinion, it wasn’t enough to have been successful.
So I went out and did all this research.
I picked up the phone and found hundreds of customers across the country to ask questions.
When I come up with my content on LinkedIn, a lot of what I’m doing is going back to the research I’ve done and pulling content from that.
That post came directly from my customer research.
That was from the mouth of customers.
It was one of their top five pet peeves when people come in and do a sales presentation.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
5 million views and 40,000 reactions on one post.
What has it done for you as far as business?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
One of the main things it has done is create a lot of open doors.
I got calls from several publishers.
They said, “You have all this great content. You have all this training. Have you ever thought about writing a book?”
I had thought about it before, but I hadn’t prioritized it.
I ended up signing a contract to write a book.
I love to write.
It’s been fun because I already have all this content.
I deliver eight hours’ worth of sales training in a day.
I’ve been taking my content and putting it into the book, along with some additional things.
I only have so much time when I give sales trainings to get into the customer data and research I’ve done.
It has been fun because I’ve been able to get into that even more in the book and really dig in and share all of it.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
This is an interview, and I have an interview question.
Ever since you decided to go this route, start your own business, and provide this amazing sales service, what would you say your proudest moment has been as an entrepreneur selling sales improvement services?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
My proudest moment would be when I got a message after one of the very first trainings I did from a very established sales rep.
One of the problems with going in and doing this is you have a lot of sales reps who have been in the industry for many years, and they’re like, “Another sales training. I have to sit through another one.”
This sales rep was pretty established and had been around for a long time.
She wrote me a message saying, “I wanted you to know that I’ve been through tons of these trainings, and yours was by far the best I’ve ever been through. I learned so many things, and I’m excited to get out and use some of the techniques that you taught us.”
That meant a lot coming from someone who had been through this before and was very established.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Let’s get into it.
We’re not going to get eight hours of training in our time here.
Let’s talk about access.
You mentioned access earlier.
There are a lot of medical sales professionals listening to this episode.
Give us the top three things you would advise sales reps to do in the field when they’re trying to get access to their customers.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
The top one is to pick up the phone.
Many sales reps don’t want to pick up the phone.
It can be uncomfortable.
There’s a thing called call reluctance, and it is real.
There’s research from SalesLoft showing that if you stick with one method, like email, you’re going to be 77 percent less effective.
If you stick with the phone only, you’re going to be 95 percent less effective.
You have to combine different ways to get to the customer.
And what is often forgotten is truly the phone.
What sales reps will do is email.
Research from SalesLoft also shows that often they stop after a try or two.
I’m a big fan of what I call polite persistence.
We have to keep trying, and we never say, “It’s been so hard to get ahold of you,” and act annoyed.
We keep politely trying over and over again.
But you have to pick up the phone.
You’re so much more likely to get a meeting and information from the customer if you pick up the phone and catch them, rather than just emailing.
They’re busy.
They’re going to blow you off on email most of the time.
So one of the main things I would say is don’t be afraid to pick up the phone.
One of the research data points I found interesting was when I asked customers, “What advice would you give to salespeople?”
If their niece or nephew was going into medical device sales and asked, “Uncle Steve, I know you deal with a lot of sales reps. What advice would you give me?”
I had 56 percent of customers give me the same phrase, which was shocking because it was an open-ended question.
The phrase was, “Be friendly.”
They went on to explain that often sales reps come in rushed, assume the customer can meet when they happen to be coming through town, or demand to know when they’re budgeting for something.
Customers said, “The main thing they need to do is be friendly and make my life easier.”
Every interaction you have with customers, whether it’s phone, email, voicemail, conversation, or presentation, should focus on being friendly.
Smile.
Force yourself to smile even when you might not feel like smiling.
When you’re talking on the phone, look in the mirror and smile at yourself.
Your voice will sound so much warmer than if you’re not smiling.
Sometimes it’s nerves.
A lot of times people don’t act friendly because they’re nervous, particularly newer sales reps.
Force yourself to always be thinking about being friendly.
The last general piece of advice is to remember that customers don’t care about you.
They care about themselves.
One of the things I do in my training is put up a slide with everybody’s photo from LinkedIn.
I ask, “Where did your eyes go?”
Somebody always says, “I went to myself.”
That’s true because we care about ourselves.
That’s why customers don’t like it when we talk about our job history or our company history.
They don’t care about us.
They care about themselves.
Keep it focused on them.
You can ask, “How was your weekend?” There’s a time and place for that.
But the real focus should be getting into their pain points, what their day-to-day life is like, avoiding headaches, and solving problems.
That’s what they care about.
Always keep it about them, not about you.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Are you ready for more probing, Katie?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I’m ready.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
When it comes to medical sales reps, specifically field-based medical sales positions, case coverage, pharmaceutical, or biotech, what are the top two or three most common problems you see those reps making over and over again?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Depending on the space they’re in, a lot of times reps go in assuming somebody is going to be available to talk to them.
They drop in because they don’t want to pick up the phone and make appointments, or they feel like if they call, they won’t get the meeting.
That is one of the pet peeves.
Customers typically don’t like being dropped in on with, “Do you have a few minutes? I’m in the area.”
That’s one big problem for reps.
During COVID, it was fixed a lot because of the lack of access.
Now everything is starting to open up and get back completely to normal, and that’s still a big problem.
The second one is people not understanding customers well enough.
That’s hopefully what I can help them with, understanding customers and what they like and don’t like.
For instance, a lot of times people are taught that when you go in and sell to somebody, tell them you can save them money.
Everybody wants to save money.
If you can tell them their ROI is going to be better, they’ll love it.
But this came up as one of my big customer pet peeves.
I want to differentiate between opening with that versus getting into it deeper in the conversation.
If you open with it, customers think, “You have no idea how much I’m spending. How can you possibly know that you can save me money?”
They might think, “I’m the one who negotiated the first deal. If you’re saying you can save me money and the first deal is bad, you’re telling me I did a bad job.”
You’re not coming from a position of knowledge.
You know nothing about our industry and what we’re dealing with.
It’s all white noise.
Everybody tells me they can save me money.
It doesn’t differentiate you at all.
You can get into it later, but never start by saying, “I can save you money.”
That’s an example of people not knowing customers well enough.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Let’s flip it.
Let’s talk about the rock stars.
I’m sure you’ve done this long enough to see a pattern with people who do the right things and continue to attain success in sales.
What are the top three things those rock stars consistently do that, if anyone chose to do them consistently, they would see serious headway in their territory?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
One of the main things is being a good listener.
Being truly interested in the customer and wanting to get to the bottom of things.
Sometimes people ask a question, but you can tell they’re waiting to pounce and say, “That’s so great that you want that because we have this awesome feature.”
They start getting into all the things instead of sitting back, listening, and saying, “Let me make sure I’m understanding this. You’re saying this. What happens when this happens?”
Gather as much data as you possibly can from that customer so when it’s time to frame up your solution, you have all the information about what they need.
The first thing is being an awesome listener.
And it’s interesting, because when people think of a sales rep, they think of somebody charming, smooth, and able to talk to anyone.
That’s often not what it is.
I’ve known sales reps like that who weren’t very good because they interrupted and wanted to be the one doing all the talking.
I’ve also known sales reps who were very shy, where you’re like, “I can’t even believe you’re in sales because you’re so shy.”
Often, those are the best ones because they are great listeners and invite a lot of information their way.
The second thing is grit.
Be persistent.
There’s a great book called Grit by Angela Duckworth, and she talks about how talent is overrated.
What matters is heart, being willing to do the hard work, and having the grit to keep going day after day and do the mundane.
That is so important in sales.
Picking up the phone.
Setting a reminder.
“Every single week, I’m going to prospect for one hour for new customers.”
Even if I was the top sales rep or won the trip to Costa Rica or Puerto Rico, I’m still going to prospect because I want my funnel to keep growing week after week no matter what.
The third thing is being willing to try new things and being optimistic.
There’s data showing that the more optimistic we are, the more successful we are in any business, especially sales.
You are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be successful if you’re optimistic.
You’re willing to try new things, get out there, and keep going.
You don’t get down, and people are more willing to be around you.
Those are probably the top three.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Let’s switch gears.
Let’s talk about people who are entertaining going into sales.
With our program, we talk to a lot of professionals who are in one industry and thinking about changing industries completely.
Some come from very professional fields like physical therapy, chiropractic, and in some cases, even MDs who no longer want to practice medicine but want to be on the other side of the industry.
For these types of individuals, what do they need to ask themselves before they entertain medical sales?
What is that self-check of questions?
What should they be able to say yes to, and if they say no, maybe they have no business getting into medical sales?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
There are a couple of things.
The first is, how willing are you to pick up the phone?
Sometimes people who have been in those positions, like an MD or chiropractor, have a jaded view of sales reps because they’ve had annoying sales reps.
They think, “I don’t want to be that annoying person.”
Then when it comes time to pick up the phone, they think, “Maybe I’ll email them. I don’t want to bother them.”
If you have that view, I don’t think you’re going to be super successful.
There is no getting around the fact that you’re going to have to go out there and be that annoying sales rep sometimes.
There are things you can do to be less annoying, but at the end of the day, you’re still going to be the sales rep knocking on that door.
The next thing I would ask is, are you going to be internally motivated week after week?
It’s a different job.
When you do chiropractic work or something like that, you’re probably working for someone.
You probably have a fairly good salary, and you keep coming in, and somebody tells you where to go and what to do.
In sales, the harder you work, the more money you make.
If you’re worried that you won’t be able to stay internally motivated to work hard, your salary is going to be limited.
But the great side is that the harder you work, the more money you make.
If you’re willing to get in there, work hard, and be internally motivated, it’s a great career for you.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Talk to us a little bit about your family dynamic.
One thing I like to know about guests on the show is how you’re able to rock this amazing career, provide these services, and still conduct a family.
How do you make it work, Katie?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I’m lucky my kids are in school full time, which is helpful.
I talked to a woman who was in sales and had a nine-month-old and a four-year-old, and I thought, “That’s so hard.”
I tend to wake up early and try to work out and get in emails before my kids even get out of bed, particularly in the summer.
Summers are the hardest, in my opinion, for working moms because all of a sudden, instead of having your kids in school all day, you have to drive them places.
Even if they’re doing things, there is still a lot of, “Pick me up here. I need to do this.”
Then someone doesn’t wake up until 9:00 and suddenly needs breakfast in the middle of your workday.
I’ve sat in my car and done conference calls before.
I’ll drive down to the park, do my call, and then drive back home.
You have to make things work.
I did that even when my kids were little.
I would get them in the car and be on the phone while we were sitting in the car, or go to a coffee shop while they were at the babysitter.
You can make it work.
You have to be flexible and creative with how you do it.
It’s helpful for the kids to understand what you’re doing and why.
My daughter is off school right now as I’m doing this, and I explained to her what I was doing. She’s off doing her own thing.
It’s helpful for them to see mom doing something productive and important.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Our kids should know exactly what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
It’s very inspiring for them, and it helps them put things in context too.
You said earlier that your husband is a physician.
How much has this helped?
When you’re trying to figure out the best approach, do you bounce ideas off him, or does it not work that way?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It doesn’t always work that way.
He’s like, “Sales reps.”
Sometimes he’s willing to answer questions, which is very helpful.
But he’s also one person.
One of the things I talk about in my sales training is different personality styles.
There are four that have been identified.
Two scientists from the 70s or 80s, Merrill and Reid, identified four social styles that are super important in the sales world.
One is the driver.
That’s somebody who’s like, “Let’s get it done. Don’t bore me by asking about my weekend. Tell me what I need to know, and I’m going to give you five minutes.”
Then there’s the analytic, who is very different.
They’re like, “I need every chart. I need every piece of data. I need to think about it. I need a lot of time to make my decision.”
Then there’s the amiable, who is a people pleaser, nervous to make decisions, but wants you to like them.
Then there’s the expressive.
They’re very charming, the life of the party, but you may need to remind them 10,000 times to get you the data they said they would get you.
Once you identify those four social styles, you realize everyone is different.
Just because one person thinks one thing, you can’t assume everyone thinks the same way.
My husband is very much a driver.
If you ask him, “Do you like it when people ask how your weekend was?” he would say, “No, please don’t waste my time with that.”
But when I did my research, 75 percent of customers said, “Sure, small talk is fine in moderation once I get to know you.”
It’s important to remember that not everyone likes to be sold in the same way.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Which category do you fall under?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I’m also a driver.
Very much a driver.
I’ve softened a little as I’ve gotten older, but I’m still that way.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Can you meet someone and assess where they fall?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
There are clues, and I talk about this in my training.
Do they have a gatekeeper, secretary, or assistant?
What did that person say about them?
How does their voicemail sound?
Does it take a long time for them to get the voicemail across, or is it very short and sweet?
How do they answer their phone?
There are clues you can gather.
But everybody has a little bit of everything.
Some people are expressive drivers.
Some may be amiable analytics.
Everyone has a little bit of several things.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I have to ask then, did you assess me?
Where do you think I fall?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
My assessment of you would maybe be expressive.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I have to be reminded to stay on task. I can get with that.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
You seem like you’re the life of the party.
I would say you’re an expressive driver.
I have a questionnaire. I’ll send it to you.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I’ll take it.
I still want to ask you a few more questions around sales and what makes an amazing sales rep.
One theme I know exists is that sales reps who have been in the game longer tend to be reluctant to new strategies and new ways of doing things.
Oftentimes, if you can break that, once they see a new way, they’re amazed.
Speak a little bit about what you see in that space, and maybe give us one or two creative ideas that have helped a sales rep be more successful.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
One thing I’ve embraced is video messaging.
It’s like leaving a voicemail for someone, but you’re putting a face to the name.
People are very reluctant to do this because they don’t want to do their hair and find the right lighting.
It’s something new. It’s scary.
I have a 30-minute training session I do on this, and by the end, I can tell everybody is terrified, particularly older sales reps who have been around for a long time.
I say, “How’s everybody feeling now?”
Without fail, someone yells out, “Terrified,” “scared,” or “nervous.”
I remember one of the first texts I got from a guy after this.
He said, “You won’t believe it, but I was being ghosted by a customer. I had given them a budgetary quote, and it was a big rush. Then I didn’t hear back forever. I kept following up, but nothing.”
He said, “I figured, what do I have to lose? I sent him a video message over text, and I got a message back within seconds.”
The customer was laughing and said, “I’m so sorry. I’ve been avoiding you because of this and that.”
It was effective because it was polite, but it reminded them.
They were much more likely to get back to him.
After months of being ghosted, he finally knew what was going on.
That’s a great example of someone established, set in their ways, who tried something new and got a result.
It can be effective to try new things.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Did they take a video with their phone, or was it through a platform that allows them to make videos for audiences?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
There are a lot of different ways to do it.
My preferred way is through text.
You can’t do a super long one, but I don’t recommend a super long one anyway.
You can also do it through LinkedIn, but only if you are first-degree connected.
You can’t do it to a second or third-degree connection you’re trying to reach.
If you’re going to do it over email, you need to use a platform.
You can’t send it as an attachment because it will get blocked.
For platforms, you can use YouTube, which is free.
The problem with YouTube is sometimes institutions block YouTube entirely.
But I have found it to be pretty effective because you’re not sending it as an attachment.
When you use something like Vidyard, Loom, BombBomb, or similar tools, sometimes they suppress the images when it gets sent.
If it’s the first time you’ve sent an email, it might say, “Images have been suppressed for your safety,” or something like that.
Then they don’t get the video image.
For some reason, with YouTube it tends to go through because you use it as a screenshot instead of sending it through the platform as a GIF or embedded image.
What I recommend is to try YouTube first because it’s free and more likely to get through.
If it works well for you, then invest in another tool that costs money.
My favorite is SalesMail.
It’s very easy to use.
It’s a little more expensive than some of the other platforms, but if you’re willing to spend money on it and you’re going to do a bunch of them, it’s very effective and easy to use.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
If someone had the money and they were going to do a bunch, would you advise SalesMail over YouTube?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Yes, because it’s much faster.
With YouTube, it’s a process.
You have to upload the video like any other YouTube video.
You have to make sure it’s unlisted.
You don’t want to make it public because you don’t want a hospital-specific video public, but you also don’t want to make it private because then they need a password.
You make it unlisted so anyone with the link can access it.
That can be tricky.
You also have to take a screenshot of yourself while you’re talking and link that screenshot.
It’s a little clunky and takes a while.
With SalesMail, you open the app, press record, and send it through email.
It’s much faster.
If you’re going to use it a lot, it’s much more efficient.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
When you send these video emails, how do you prevent them from seeming like random solicitations that all of us get every day?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I never recommend sending it as a first reach-out.
I find it most effective when someone is getting ghosted.
If it’s somebody you’ve already interacted with and, for whatever reason, they stop responding, then it works well.
Another effective use is to get to the person above the contact.
Let’s say you’re talking to someone and they say, “Send me the information and I’ll give it to my boss.”
You can say, “I’ll get you the information you asked for, whether it’s a quote, brochure, or whatever it is. Also, I’m going to make a video for your boss. Is that okay? Will you send that to them too?”
Usually, they’ll say, “Sure.”
Then you find out the boss’s name and a little information.
When you send the video, you can say, “Samuel, I had a great time chatting with Rebecca today. She filled me in about your company and that you’re looking for X, Y, and Z. I’d love to set up a time to talk because we can offer that. Here are a couple of ways we can help. I’d love to chat with you if it makes sense to come in next week.”
I have found that to be a very effective way to reach the boss.
If they are only looking at a brochure or proposal, they often won’t get the gist.
With video, you can provide more information, put a face to the name, and make yourself feel like a real person.
That helps you get the meeting with the real decision-maker.
Those are the ways I think video messaging is most effective, not as a first reach-out.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
You’ve done a number with your profile and influence on LinkedIn.
You teach programs around how to do this, which is wonderful.
We do the same thing.
With your programs, who is LinkedIn best for?
Any medical sales professional?
Or a specific type of medical sales professional?
Speak to us about LinkedIn specifically and who you’ve found it to be most useful for when you’re training.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
The first thing I would say about LinkedIn is, if you’re going to use LinkedIn, you need to identify whether you’re trying to appeal more to recruiters or to customers.
If you’re established and happy with your company, then you may be trying to appeal more to customers.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people having all this stuff on their profile like, “I exceeded my quota 150 percent,” “I won this award,” and so on.
That’s not appealing to customers.
Customers think, “Great, I’m so glad I’m sending you on an awesome trip while I’m sitting at home.”
If you’re trying to appeal to recruiters, great. Put as much of that on there as you want.
But if you’re trying to reach customers and get them to want to talk to you, you need to take that stuff out.
It’s a risk because you won’t get recruited as much if you don’t have all that in there.
If you’re happy where you are and trying to establish your name at your company, save all of that in a document for when you need it.
You don’t have to recreate the wheel later.
But get it off your customer-facing profile and talk more about the customer.
Say things like, “I wake up every day because I enjoy working with customers. Here are some problems I help them solve. Here are some key accounts I’ve established. This is my territory.”
They need to know, “This is the right person I should be talking to.”
That’s one thing about LinkedIn.
As far as who LinkedIn is good for, it depends on your call points.
If you’re calling on biomed, maybe 50 percent are hardly ever on LinkedIn, but 50 percent are pretty active.
Same with nursing.
A decent amount of nurses are active on LinkedIn.
The percentage is lower for doctors than it is for biomed, nursing, or purchasing, but some doctors are active too.
No matter what you’re doing in medical sales, focus on your profile.
Make sure you have a great picture.
There’s a platform called Photofeeler.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
No. Speak about it.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It’s one of my favorite things I do in customer trainings.
I secretly pull everyone’s picture from LinkedIn.
I don’t tell them I’m doing this.
I run it through a program called Photofeeler.
It votes on your picture and tells you how people perceive you in terms of friendliness, competence, and whether they would want to interact with you.
It gives you a score.
If your score is only four and a half, you probably need a new picture.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
That sounds subjective.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Real people are voting on it.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
How many people?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
You can choose however many you want.
You can either buy votes, or if you don’t want to pay, you vote on other people’s pictures to earn credits.
It’s pretty cool.
You can even do it socially if you want.
People vote on your picture and tell you whether you seem approachable or standoffish.
A lot has to do with your smile, lighting, and things like that.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
How long does it take to get results?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It’s fast.
Let’s say you only want 20 votes.
There have been times when someone’s picture wasn’t up for whatever reason, and I’ll say, “Let’s put it through.”
It will probably be done by the end of the meeting.
Within hours, it’s done.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
It sounds like a great way, if you’re helping people improve their profiles and you don’t want to tell someone they have a bad picture.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Exactly.
I’m not being the bad guy.
I’m not saying, “I don’t know about that picture.”
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the audience?
You’ve shared so many pearls of wisdom.
Any overarching message?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I’ll share one little nugget.
If you’re trying to get into medical sales, make sure you ask, “Are you on a GPO?”
A GPO is a Group Purchasing Organization.
One thing people might not realize is that almost every hospital is part of one.
There are a lot of different ones.
The reason hospitals join them is to get better deals on products.
Most hospitals have to comply with that contract within about 80 percent.
Everyone is different.
Often I hear people say, “I’m going to get this job with this new medical startup. It’s amazing technology.”
Then they don’t realize until after they get the job that the company is not on contract with anyone.
That sets you up for a hard road.
You call a customer and say, “I’ve got this new technology to show you.”
The customer says, “Great, are you on contract?”
If you have to say no, they might say, “I can only buy off contract 20 percent of the time, and yours doesn’t sound like something I want to fight for.”
To buy off contract, they have to fight for that product.
They have to really want it.
So ask, “Are you on at least a GPO?”
If not, you’re potentially in a tough spot.
The other thing to realize is that there are three different medical sales categories.
One is procedural reps, who are going in and supporting procedures.
Another is capital.
Another is consumables.
Of course, pharmaceuticals is its own animal.
It’s important for someone like me, as a mom, to realize that if I want to do procedural sales, that’s going to be hard.
I have to be there when the doctor wants me there, whether that’s 6:30, 7:00, or 7:30.
Unless you have flexibility or someone helping with your kids, that might not be the job for you.
My husband will tell me, “If I tell my sales rep to be there at a certain time and I want them ready with the tray, they better be there.”
If you don’t want that lifestyle, you might be better off in capital, which is more flexible.
You can decide when meetings happen.
Consumables might be even better because those sales reps can often do some work from home and aren’t always in the field as much as a capital rep.
As you look at jobs, make sure you ask, “What is this job really going to be, and what is the lifestyle really going to be for me?”
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
As you all know, if you listen to our episodes, we help you find exactly what position you’re supposed to be in.
This categorization is wonderful.
Thank you so much.
This has been so enlightening.
I loved having you on the show, but we have one more thing to do, Katie.
Are you ready?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I think so.
I hope so.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
We’re going to do our Lightning Round.
You have less than ten seconds to answer four questions.
Katie, in the last few months, what’s the best book you’ve read?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Atomic Habits.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
That is a good one.
What inspired that read?
Were you told, or did you see it online?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I saw it online.
I can’t even remember who recommended it or why, but I read it.
It might have been about how to lose weight or stay on track.
Someone said, “If you’re having a hard time staying on track, read this book.”
Now I love it for business too.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Best TV show or movie you’ve seen in the last few months?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
My daughter is obsessed with Friends, so that’s pretty much all I get to watch every night.
One episode of Friends.
I haven’t watched anything else.
Friends reruns for me.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Does it ever get old?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
No, it doesn’t.
You start over, and it takes you a long time to get back to the beginning.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
It’s almost like Seinfeld. You can keep doing it.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Also The Office.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
The Office is the best. That’s my favorite comedy show.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
We did watch the movie about Tetris, which was good.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I haven’t seen it.
Two more questions.
What’s the best meal you’ve had in the last six months?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
We went on vacation and went on this amazing boat.
My favorite meal was when she made fresh sourdough from scratch and gave me some of the starter.
I’ve been making fresh sourdough ever since.
I know it’s not a meal, but I feel like you could make sourdough into a meal.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Where did you try this boat meal?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It was on a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands.
It’s a bit hard to get to, but if you can get there, I recommend it.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Last question.
What’s the best experience you’ve had in the last six months?
Katie Mullen (Guest):
I did a training in Boulder for a company called Sakura.
It was an amazing experience.
They were so energetic.
Every sales rep was excited to learn, and the management was sitting there too.
Their entire management staff, the CEO, CFO, and marketing director, were in the front row listening and taking notes.
I feel like that’s so rare in this world.
Often, they’re in the back checking email, not listening, and thinking they know everything.
It was an amazing experience because they were all engaged and wanted to learn so everyone could be on the same page moving forward.
Everything they did was wonderful.
It was a great meal. It was a great experience.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Katie, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show.
Thank you for all the wisdom you shared with us.
We look forward to the wonderful things you’re going to do on LinkedIn and with helping companies improve their sales forces.
Thank you again.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Can I put in a quick plug for my book?
It’s coming out pretty soon.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Yes, please.
Tell us what it’s called and where we can get it.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
It’s called The Sales Tightrope: A Research-Based Guide to Not Annoying Customers and Still Being a Top Performer.
You’ll be able to get it on Amazon.
A lot of the things I talked about in this episode, I go into much more detail in the book.
That includes my customer research, how to do video messaging, and the nitty-gritty of all of it.
I would love it if you checked it out.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
We’ll probably add it to our required reading because we’ve talked about some amazing things.
Thank you again, Katie.
It was wonderful having you.
Katie Mullen (Guest):
Thanks for having me.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
That was Katie Mullen.
You heard it here, folks.
Being a good listener, having grit, and being optimistic in every situation.
It was such a pleasure having Katie on the show because these are the things every sales professional needs to keep in mind no matter what’s going on in their career.
You might be someone listening to this episode who is looking to get into a medical sales position.
Maybe you want to be in pharmaceutical sales.
Maybe you want to be in medical device sales.
Maybe you want to be in diagnostic testing sales.
Or maybe you have no idea.
Whether you know or not, you know where you need to go.
If you don’t, I’m about to tell you.
You need to go to EvolveYourSuccess.com.
Go there, hit Apply Now, fill out our application, and get in touch with one of our account executives.
They will show you and introduce you to a program called the Medical Sales Career Builder that will change your life.
Make sure you tune in next time for another episode.
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Medical Territory Manager!
I was a Regional Sales Representative for Long-Term Care pharmacy services. I had dreamed of getting into the med sales industry when I went into my career as a nurse, but the pharmacy sales job came to me, and I had just settled. Fortunately, I had a job shakeup that allowed me to determine that now was the time to pursue my original vision.
I absolutely would not have this position without Samuel and the Evolve Your Success community. A lot of people my age would just stop trying, but EYS believed in me.
EYS allowed me to break into the industry in 90-Days after I had been trying on my own for over two years! I had lots of recruiter screenings, and a few interviews with hiring managers, but I was never offered a position.
Before EYS, I didn’t realize I was doing the bare minimum to get hired. I was applying everywhere, hoping to get noticed and waiting. It just wasn’t working! I didn’t know that that was not enough to compete in an industry this sought after, and against people who knew what I didn’t know about the process.
Of course, I had to think hard before making a financial investment that’s reasonably substantial. But when I read the testimonials of real med sales reps on the site and learned that I wasn’t the only one taking a chance on my success, that EYS was sharing that risk also, I knew I had to do it. Though you might be able to cobble together some of the steps of getting a role in med sales from online research on your own, you just can’t know what you don’t know!
The process of going through EYS presents this insider knowledge to the student, as well as giving you a progression of difficulty as you obtain the information, and you begin to master it. Not only that, but they give you access to amazing mentors and instructors, allow you to practice your interview skills, and teach you how to market yourself through social media and your own website! I cannot stress enough that EYS was the factor that made the difference in my successfully landing my dream job! The support, structure, and knowledge gained was invaluable!
I would recommend this course to ANYONE looking to break into medical sales
Thank you so much, EYS! This journey has been life changing and has resulted in the successful culmination of my 18-Year ambition! 
Sports Medicine in Phoenix! I extend so much gratitude to the Evolve Your Success group as I land this role and get ready to pursue my dream job. I am a Physical Therapist who became a little stuck in the profession due to issues with reimbursement and the difficulty for continued growth upwards. I turned to EYS to assist me in learning about the medical sales industry and gain knowledgable mentors who were able to help coach me in this process. I am a strong believer in surrounding yourself with the best and good things will happen. I did work hard, but with the support of my mentors and other colleagues going through a career change, I felt a sense of community and it confirmed my drive to get into this industry. I have already learned so much through the interview process, and feel very blessed to have had the resources this group provided. I have made lifelong friends and I cannot wait to continue to follow others’ journeys to pursue this incredible field. I urge you to give Evolve Your Success a try to gain mentorship, guidance, and support through any career transition.
and am excited to make a difference in patients’ lives as a Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist.
! Though I truly enjoyed working as a physical therapist, I can’t wait to start my career in the sales world as a Clinical Account Executive.
. I owe this opportunity to Samuel, the program, and the incredible mentors at EYS.
