Unfiltered Medical Sales: How to Own the Interview Room
In the Unfiltered Medical Sales Series, Todd Crowder pulls back the curtain on the raw, real-world challenges of breaking into and thriving in medical sales. Through gripping stories and behind-the-scenes insights, Todd shares the high-stakes interview moments that test candidates’ resilience, adaptability, and character — giving you a no-nonsense look at what it truly takes to stand out.
From navigating uncomfortable conversations to turning interviews into opportunities for authentic connection, Todd shows why top performers in this industry are more than just polished resumes — they’re relentless, resourceful, and ready for anything.
He also dives into the psychology behind success in medical sales — unpacking how money and fear drive behavior, performance, and leadership. Learn how to identify candidates with the mental toughness to succeed without burning out, and how sales managers can harness those motivators to build unstoppable teams.
For clinicians making a career shift or recent grads aiming for their first break, Todd emphasizes the power of relationships over credentials — and why mastering rapport will get you further than memorizing product specs. With actionable strategies, red flags to watch for, and tips for nailing interviews with confidence, this series is your unfiltered guide to launching and leveling up in the medical sales world.
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Episode Transcript:
00:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, samuel, founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program called the Medical Sales Career Builder, and I’m also host of the Medical Sales Podcast. In this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire world. It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry from medical device to pharmaceutical, to genetic testing and diagnostic lab you name it. You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10% performer within your role or climb the corporate ladder. Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. Climb the corporate ladder. Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. And remember, I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing industry and how it can change your life. Hello and welcome back to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, samuel, and today we’re gonna do something a little different. We have started something called the Unfiltered Medical Sales Series. This is a series of talks that I’m currently doing with Todd Crowder. The unfiltered medical sales series this is a series of talks that I’m currently doing with todd crowder.
01:07
The unfiltered, raw reality of what goes on in medical sales. No subject is too taboo, uh, from from what it looks like when it comes to the money, when it comes to dating, when it comes to how to show up with your manager the right way, when it comes to all the self strategies that no one’s talking about, that truly give you the edge. Everything you’ve ever thought or wondered about. That happens in the medical sales world. This is where we’re talking about it. You’re going to learn those things that you’ve been so curious about that are going to move you forward and, more importantly, that can prevent you from making the same mistakes that so many make. So let’s go ahead and jump in. Okay, so go back, go back. Was that a panel? Describe that scene again. Was that a panel interview?
01:49 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yeah, give us the whole scene with all the characters in the room so we were interviewing for an associate rep coming in. My partner at the time, Kavisha, black female. She’s like my sister. Her and I are, think, just alike. We have discussions that probably most people would get very uncomfortable with.
02:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure sure.
02:08 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
And then we had our manager who was Vietnam raised, so Asian culture aspects of things, and we were interviewing this young black guy. He came in no tie, came in kind of like troubled up. Sure, he hadn’t been ironed.
02:27 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, and that wasn’t like the style like this guy had a. It seemed like he just didn’t either didn’t know or didn’t do it didn’t.
02:33 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yeah, both. No one prepped him and so he’s sitting there and one of the questions we were asking and saying why? Whole logic? And he looked around at us as a panel. He goes I really like the fact of diversity, and I looked at the panel, looked back at him and I go what part of the panel is diversity? The white dude and you thought that I would have slapped him or something.
02:57
He started stumbling and I go why does that make you uncomfortable? I go because you’re going to get in the OR and if that makes you feel uncomfortable, you have no idea what’s discussed in the OR, how things are discussed in the OR. You have a surgeon who could be the most racially divided surgeon, or could be on either side, could be racist towards whites, racist towards blacks, could have a God complex, which is probably more likely than anything, sure, sure. And if you’re uncomfortable with me making a slight humor of looking around the room and the only person that is the odd man out is the white dude sitting in the room, you have a bigger problem. And I told him. I said you’re not cut from the cloth to do this job, not because you’re not intelligent, but because you didn’t come prepared for the most uncomfortableness that should be in an interview. Okay, I believe and I, and I know this is my core an interview should not be comfortable, and I know this is my core An interview should not be comfortable. An interview should be pushing the limits.
04:10 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
This is like dating you want to make your best impression, so you should be able to handle the most difficult situations because if someone is, if you’re naturally allowing that environment to be uncomfortable and someone has the aptitude to make it comfortable and make the interview conversational, I mean, how are you not, how is it not a signal that you’re dealing with a rockstar that you probably want on your team?
04:38 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
A hundred percent, like it would have been fine with him to go. Oh, but majority of your company is white. Okay, that’s funny. Yeah, oh, but majority of your company is white. Okay, that’s funny. Yeah, okay, you got me back. Okay, so you’re willing to engage what I’m trying to make uncomfortable? Sure, sure. My first question is always fear of money. What drives you? Because everybody’s so used to. Every other question there is, and I think, if you can get it, there’s really no wrong answer, because how the person answers tells you what’s going to motivate them and how you need to motivate them to move.
05:17 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So you’re saying that you ask fear of money. What if it’s neither?
05:20 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Then I question what are you doing?
05:23 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay. So what if they say I want to be what is your?
05:24 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
why then? And what if they say I want to be what is?
05:25 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
your why then? Okay, and what if they say my why is the end result of what this business does? That’s why I’m here. If I know that, if I’m committed to that and I help create that and the money’s going to come and I’m definitely not operating out of fear I want to be. I’m here because I want the end result of what this business does.
05:43 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
But what was your saying? The end result also pays you, yeah. I would say so it’s money that still drives you.
05:49 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, hold on. Okay, let’s talk about it and let’s make it medical cell specific. So if I’m in an interview and truly all I care about not all, but what I really, really care about is the patient impact I’m going to have, and I know that as long as I’m committed to that and I do a good job, the money will come. But that is not what I’m focused on. I’m truly focused on the patient impact. How do I appease answering your question of fear of money?
06:15 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Okay, so you’re saying by the holistic aspect of how the company may work on curing prostate cancer? My dad and my grandfather both had prostate cancer. I’m a gun hoe it’s a passion of mine.
06:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I’m ready to go. Let’s cure this thing, yep.
06:31 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Then that’s you know what. I’m going to look at them and go great, I’m going to pay you $80,000 a year flat salary. You go ahead and do it.
06:39 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay.
06:40 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
If money’s not your driver, then you shouldn’t worry about how much or how little I pay you.
06:46 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, okay.
06:48 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Because then I’m going to make them stumble right, because then you’ve put yourself and I am virtuous in my calling to be able to do this. We all should be you shouldn’t get in medical sales if you don’t want to see a betterment of your community, of your lifestyle and what you can do. Everyone should do it. But don’t tell me that money doesn’t help drive that, because if that’s the case, then why don’t I just pay you a flat salary? I’ll keep the commissions for everything and you don’t have a word like to stand on. You shouldn’t worry about it. I hear you. Okay, so I’ve.
07:22
I’ve done this over the years to where if someone comes at me with it like, oh, I’m going to be, I just want to see the best because my mother I am so glad somebody was able to rescue your mother and I’m glad that the company has done the research to be able to help you with breast care and your mother survived breast care. The salary is 50,000. Total OTE 55. We’re good, fantastic Cause. I love the fact that you’re going to work for virtue and not have to work Stocks, are going to love the fact that we can get a bunch of you guys. That’s not what they want to hear all of a sudden now as well. Well, you know money also. Money does drive you.
08:01 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay.
08:01 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Well, there’s also fear. Okay, Fear drives a lot of people. It drove me for years, because fear of one not being successful, not accomplishing the mission and not living up to the ghost that set the big shadow behind me in my dad so then how do you interpret the candidate that says I just want to make some money?
08:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
man, look, health care is a good space. I think it’s cool that the end results these patients have a better life. But, honestly, I’m here because I just want to make money. I want to make as much as possible and that’s that great.
08:38 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
What is your dollar amount you want to make?
08:41 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I want to make half a million dollars a year if I can.
08:43 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
If I can’t do it right now, Are you willing to do what needs to be done to get there?
08:48 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Absolutely. That’s all I care about. Money, money, money money. When I wake up, I’m thinking about the dollar.
08:52 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Great, we’re going to teach you how to work your commission plan and get the results for the patient at the same time, because I want somebody who knows how to understand the business acumen of working commission. Too many reps get in there and they say the commission plan to OTE is 300. And they get a company. What do they do? I mean, you’ve been in this. They bombard you with seven different things and they all look at it and they go oh, we’ve got to get all these buckets, but hold on a sec. If you diagnose exactly how they’re going to pay you, that should interpret what you go do, because where they truly pay you is what they truly need to have happen.
09:33 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure.
09:34 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
When I worked for Hologen, they came out with this disposable scope and the scope reimbursement was like $60.
09:41 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure.
09:43 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So you want me to go spend three months to gain 60 bucks? Right, that’s it right or do you want me to go get a deal that can close in and have thousands upon thousands repeated business?
09:56 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
sure, yeah, okay, so then. So then, from your perspective, todd, you want that person that’s money, hungry and and that’s all they care about. Like, you want them on your team.
10:07 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yes, because then you know what they’re going to do. They’re going to go buy a new car, they’re going to go buy a big house and they’re going to make money. The reason why they wake up every day, regardless of whether they feel sick or not, whether they feel like they want to just be burned out, they’re going to be their own self-driver. I loved when reps went and bought new cars. I celebrated with them. Yes.
10:31 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
But what about the reps? They’re not even reps yet. But what about the people that all they do care about is the money? They get the job? They realize how hard it is to make the money they want because of what’s required and they bail. How do you weed them out?
10:49 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
well, I think there is, because that’s not the only aspect that you look for. I mean, money is a driver, but that’s not the end of the end of the interview. That is an aspect that so it shows me as a manager, how am I going to motivate? How am I going to motivate them? How am I going to move them? If fear moves them, then you need to place them in a situation that conquers that fear. If money moves them, they need to be able to understand how they’re going to maximize the ability to make the money.
11:17
It’s not a you have this interview question either you make the checklist or you don’t, and then we move forward. It is a encompassing of how the individual thinks it is what moves them. Is there why really matching up with what they’re telling me? So you first ask what it was. You know you why, why do you want to do this? And you tell me well, you know I’ve had series of breast cares, family, or I’ve had prostate cancer or I’ve just. You know I’ve had a passion of whatever’ve just. You know I’ve had a passion.
11:45
Whatever the case might be, whatever you’re interviewing for sure and then you turn around and you are can’t answer that question fair money and you come back and you go I just want to make as much money as I possibly can. Great, let’s talk about how you want to do it and what it takes to be able to do it. Yeah, so it’s not just as a black and white situation where you just go, fear money and there’s two answers, because they’re both correct.
12:10 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Right, right, okay, okay.
12:13 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So then, allows me to see the whole person, to be curious From your perspective, todd.
12:19 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
like what? What’s the worst answer you get when you ask that question and what’s the best answer you get when you ask that question? And what’s the best answer you get when you ask that question?
12:30 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
The best answer is what motivates them, followed by points behind it.
12:37 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay.
12:38 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Fear because, like I said, these things behind me and I want to conquer. I had a guy one time who was a phenomenal. He goes feared because I grew up poor. I grew up in new orleans and I never want to go back. I want to be the success that the kids talk about. So my drive is to be better and be more accomplished than anything else. That kid was phenomenal. That had another my best ever. He’s in Austin Texas. Maybe I shouldn’t use people’s names all the time, but he was my best hire out of Austin Texas. The guy was an elite 300-meter hurdle individual out of Austin Texas. Speed like I’ve never seen before. Most humbled guy in the world came from the most humble beginnings and all he wanted to do was be able to make money so he could go back and support his family.
13:34 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, so on the flip side, what are the worst answers? What are the answers that signal to you right away that this is not it?
13:43 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
The inability to answer either one. Okay. So when you tell me money, great, so you’re able to do it, you’re going to do whatever it takes and I’m going to tell you I’m going to paint the absolute worst picture that you could possibly have for being a medical salesman. Let’s do it. Let want to hear it. Paint a picture right now. All right, so you tell me money is your motivating factor.
14:08 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, money, it’s money, todd. I wake up when I think about that dollar, todd. That’s why I’m here.
14:14 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Great, so I expect you in that hospital every morning at 6 am.
14:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
No problem.
14:18 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I expect you to be able to be there until the last case is done. You’re going to get kicked in the teeth. The hospital we’re sending you into first the hospital does not like reps, does not like us. We have no friends, we have no contract and, realistically, you have no abilities to really get in the facility. If you land this, you’ll guarantee yourself half a million dollars a year. Now it’s going to probably take you about a year and a half to get through this entire process in order to be able to get to and earn the right to even walk in the door, much less even sell. If you can’t get Dr Jones and Dr Smith and Dr Fairbrother, forget about it.
15:04 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So then I say I love everything I’m hearing. Sign me up.
15:08 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
That’s fantastic, Great. So what we’re going to do? How do you even know these people by chance?
15:14 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Know the doctors. Yeah, I’m green.
15:18 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You’re right, I’m green, walk me through now, walk me through how you’re going to go get in front of these three major doctors.
15:25 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, so let’s pretend I laid out a fair plan, because I’ve talked to a couple of reps from the company, I know how this business works and I give you a plan that actually works. What happens next?
15:40 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So now, how soon do you think on a timeline? Because I tell you A’s, b’s and C’s A’s 30 days, b’s anywhere between that same quarter and C’s long term. I want you to rank right now how quickly you think you can have those doctors working in the A, b and C format.
15:53 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Well, todd, I talked to your entire team and it seems like the average is about a year and maybe, in some cases, a year and and a half. So, todd, I’m ready for that, I will do whatever it takes and I’m ready for that year and a half.
16:03 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So that year and a half, you understand, then your pay is going to be nil. You’re going to have to sit there and drudge through and basically live off your base pay and a little bit of commissions on other accounts that are gonna become distracted to you because you might have some growth in other accounts.
16:26 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
But your biggest thing, that you say money drives you your big whale is going to be sitting there in front of you. Are you willing to do that, Todd, if $500 million on the other side of me having to go through that for a year and a half? Please tell me where I can sign.
16:36 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
That is fantastic, because I know you’re going to do it and if you don’t, you understand the consequences, that you’re not going to make the money that you’re not you expect to make, and in doing so, I’ll probably have to replace you in about that year and a half. You understand that right.
16:54 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, yeah, I do understand that. I’m ready.
16:57 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
That’s fantastic. So now all you have to do is pass through training.
17:03 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So, todd, let me ask you, man, do people come off like the way I did? Or, when you put it that way, do you see people cower?
17:10 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I see a lot more cower Really. Then I do see boldness to go stand.
17:14 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, I mean I’m biased, right, I come from this world. Also, you know the game too. I mean we can easily sit there and paint a picture for it, right, right, right. But wow, so you see, most people cower. Where do they cower? They cower at the year and a half and not making any money. They cower before that. They cower at the get your teeth kicked in. Where do they cower?
17:37 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
They cower the fact they see medical sales as this right to have none of this is given to you. I will not give somebody especially green a territory in which they are gifted and have an inflated thought process of themselves. That’s a disservice. I’ve seen reps that have been given massive territories and they’ve won COE, and I know for a fact the territory was already set up. They’ve won COE and I know for a fact the territory was already set up. So now this rep thinks they’re fantastic and as soon as adversity hits, what happens? They bail, just bail. They stuff the territory as much as they can and they get out and all of a sudden that territory is done.
18:17
I’d rather build a rep that is willing to sit there and say I’m going to get kicked in a year and a half and I’m okay with it, and then I’m going to earn my right because I know then when the next competitor comes through they’re not going to run. My game is to try to build you to where you get your teeth kicked in dirt in your gravel and you’re able to sit there and move forward without having to sit there and go. Oh no, the competitors in the house, what do I do? I want you to be able to know, like I had for my first territory, which was like that, that I had the text giving me a text message well, patron messages.
18:57
Back when I started they would page me and that little pager would go off. They just simply had little signals. It was like 411 would be a rep, would be in the hospital, it was a competitor. So that’s how old I got and so I would have that and I still have it today. Like if I’m sitting here right now and we’re doing this stuff with L&D and we have a doctor that sat there and talked to a competitive rep, I have nurses and techs that will absolutely send me a text, said hey, somebody went and talked to Dr Tackett, let you know.
19:33 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, all right, I want to get into more of this interview. This is fantastic, so there’s some candid questions that are always asked every interview. Right, why do you want to be here? You just asked it. I love your fear of money proposition. I think that sounds extremely effective to get to the heart of what this person is here doing. There’s a question, though, that a lot of people still struggle to answer, and that is walk me through your resume when you ask that question, Todd, what are you expecting to hear?
20:07 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So I’ve gotten away from that, to be honest with you, Because what does your resume tell me? It tells me it’s basically like going to sit down there at a national sales meeting or a regional sales meeting and somebody stands up and reads you your PowerPoint. I have to have the resume ahead of time and I make my notes on the person’s resume and I pinpoint things, that you just get into the heart of what you want to know about the resume.
20:32 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So you’re saying you don’t ask that question and walk with your resume. Okay, so then let’s phrase it this way A lot of managers still do. In your opinion, what is the most powerful way an individual can answer that question?
20:51 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I think the most powerful way is an individual to understand how do you tie your resume that is presented in front of them, especially brand new, right out of college, to the why you just explained you did so. I don’t want somebody that they’re brand new right out of college. I’ve had plenty of kids that have come right out of college and I’ve worked with. Some have been phenomenal, some have been a total train wreck.
21:16 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure.
21:18 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I don’t. I need to understand and make sure that the why you did what you did in college was intentional and not just haphazard. If they were part of a sorority, if they were part of a fraternity, what was the reasoning? What did you do If you’re part of ROTC? What did you do in ROTC If you were part of a club that was for picking up trash on the side of the road? That’s fantastic, I can work with. But I need to understand why. You just told me matches with the resume that we’re walking through. If it doesn’t, why? Why doesn’t it match? Because each thing it’s kind of I always picture it. It’s kind of like playing flag football with my 8-year-old.
22:07 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay.
22:07 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Every play I run the exact same thing, but it builds on each other, so I make the defense by the end of the game, guessing what we’re doing on offense. So each question has to build to the next level and dig deeper in that person. If you’re asking me, walk me through your resume and you start off with well, my buddies were doing this and I thought it was a great time. We had a blast and did you hold any position? Nah, you know, I just wanted to be able to live college life, so nothing you were doing was intentional for your future.
22:37 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure Sure.
22:38 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
We’ve all been there. We all were in college.
22:40 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, yeah, okay.
22:42 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You’re at a different level when you go to medical sales. This and this is not a knock against any other industry, but if you’re doing Cintas and you’re working with uniforms, the intent, a lot of it, has to do with commercialization of things. That’s bigger than you as an individual, as a salesperson.
23:01 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure.
23:02 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
When you go work in medical device now, pharma might be different. Of things that’s bigger than you as an individual, as a salesperson. Sure, when you go work in medical device now, pharma might be different. I’ve never been part of pharma, but when you’re working in medical device, regardless of what it is, you have to have intention of what you’re doing each and every day and decisions should be intentional. That led you to this position.
23:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So what if you’re a clinician? What if you’re not a college student? What if you’re a clinician? What if you’re not a college student? What if you’re a clinician, nurse or PT? You’ve been effectively working in healthcare for the last 10 years five years and you get that question walking with your resume and you’re trying to make the case of why you want to make this transition to medical device. In your opinion, what’s the most powerful way a clinician can answer that type of question?
23:41 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
We have to understand how are you relatable to other people? There’s no question you’re coming from a nursing background that you can walk somebody through this when I don’t need it. 1999, I was in El Paso, texas. The rep that was there was a doctor from Mexico but did not want to go back through all the hoops required for him to have a doctor, so he got into medical device sure, worst rep I’ve ever seen in my entire life and looking back 25 years, he’s still the wow rep because he had the arrogance and the god complex of a clinician telling a doctor how to put a troll car in when troll cars were working out and how to staple doctor.
24:30
You’re holding the thing wrong.
24:31
No doctor, let me show you and would grab and it was even just right out of the military.
24:40
Just knowing that you’re not relatable, sure, I have to know that the clinician, the PT, the physical therapist, the OTE, the nurse, the neonatal nurse, whatever specialty you came from, from a clinician aspect I need to know that you’re a likable individual because I’ve been in the OR with plenty of people that are great clinicians, nurse-wise. They could walk you through and help you with a hysterectomy blindfolded, but every doctor is going to hate to be in the room with you, sure, sure. So you’ve got to prove to me not your clinician appointment, I will give you that. You could probably walk circles around me, talk about the drugs needed, but if I can’t, my dad had a thing back in the day so he said he’d have a three I call it the three hour rule, and my dad was a little bit rough around the edges and he would say if I can’t get in the car and ride with this person with three hours not wanting to punch them in the face then they’re not my guy.
25:42 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, so then? Okay, so then, let’s take it back to the. Let’s take it back to the question then. So if I’m a clinician and I’m sitting in front of a hiring manager that’s asking me walk me through your resume, You’re proposing that the clinician focus on how they make themselves relatable to the physicians they work with.
26:00 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
How they make themselves relatable to the physician, how quickly they can bond with the physician and the team. Because you’re not. No one should sit there. If you’re coming from working inside with well, if you’re working with a urologist and you’re the first assistant, you’re a nurse, it’s always with the robot, always with the nurse. You should know that should not be the questions a manager should ask.
26:26
Walk me through your resume. Let me tell you about a time where I was able to help the rep and really got me excited about being able to do this. Because of one, two, three. My point shouldn’t be back to well, I fixed the robot for the rep because they didn’t know what they were doing. So I was able to step in. Because if you’re able to step in, then I just need you as an onsite individual. I don’t need you as a salesperson. Okay, I can have the stores come, have you set up video and you can go sit in there and plug in the video for everybody and get you out of being nursing, and that’s nothing wrong with that profession. That’s not to belittle that profession, but they’re not selling. If you’re telling me you want to go to a sales role, I need to understand why you did what you did, how did it help the situation, and are you strictly taking credit for it or, as a good salesperson, humbly give credit to everybody?
27:24 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
else but yourself, so maybe OK. So then, if you get the question, walk me through your resume. You’re suggesting you almost answer that like you’re answering a behavioral question situation, task action result. I guess you say, well, I’ve been here here and here, but most recently there was a time I did this within this position and you go through the situation task action result and you highlight how you, I guess, worked in a you said don’t take credit so worked kind of like a team perspective to address whatever solution, to address whatever issue with your solution, and that is probably the most powerful way you can answer walking through your resume.
28:04
I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode and I want to let you know our programs cover the entire career of a medical sales professional, from getting into the medical sales industry to training on how to be a top performer in the medical sales industry, to masterfully navigating your career to executive level leadership. These programs are personalized and customized for your specific career and background and trained by over 50 experts, including surgeons. Our results speak for ourselves and we’re landing positions for our candidates in less than 120 days in top medical technology companies like Stryker, medtronic, merck, abbott, you name it. Would you run an Ironman race. Without training and a strategy, you wouldn’t. So why are you trying to do the same with the medical sales position? You need training, you need a strategy and you need to visit evolveyoursetscom, fill out the application schedule some time with one of our account executives and let’s get you into the position that you’ve always dreamed of.
29:01 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Correct, Because the clinician shouldn’t be questioned unless they’re, like you know, just finished nursing school. I did. I did a year of nursing and I was in the NICU and I couldn’t stand being around babies and I jumped out. You might have a little more things. You’ve been a nurse for five years or greater. We should have an understanding that you’re clinically good to go.
29:30 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So showcase your team dynamic and sales chops and really not even sales chops rapport building and relationship building chops in your most recent role, in addition to just quickly explaining how you even got to that role. That’s probably the best way. Okay, that’s for the clinician and then for the college student you’re saying you want to hear. Actually give that to me again. What do you want to hear from that new?
29:53 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
college that if you’re going to get into medical device, you’ve got to have a thought process that intentions equal to your. Why, like? There was a kid that called me up out of the blue. Um, he was a sophomore in college anyway. He asked what should I? He heard our podcast and he said what should I be doing right now? To me, that’s fantastic I got a sophomore wanting to know what he could do now.
30:21 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, absolutely.
30:22 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I said I would contact Ethicon, medtronic, applied Hologic, the big guys, strikers. They do internships. You, as a young man, young woman, need to go find a marketing internship as soon as you can with these companies, because I don’t care when you get to the big guys. You can go through the headhunters. That’s fantastic. But the individual that just got their position through us, working through this, got it because of what Relationships, networking. You can pour all your resumes you want to and some of the most fantastic individuals you got out there, whoever you want to name, who’ve been recruiters for a long time. But if Samuel has been working inside of Medtronic as a marketing individual during internship, every manager knows who that is.
31:17 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
No, I mean, look, that’s a fantastic question from that kid and of course that’s an answer that’s going to take him far. But going back to that college grad that didn’t think that way, that wants to be in medical device or medical sales in general and is thinking and he gets that question walk me through your resume for a hiring manager.
31:40 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
The most powerful way that new college grad can answer that question is to say what they need to display to me what they’ve done to sacrifice, what they’ve done to go through hard times, what they’ve been able to do to go above and beyond, where they put in long hours to get a result that’s going to take them a long time to get. Because what do you do each day? You wake up every morning, you’re in the OR by 630, 645. You don’t have a time frame in which you’re going to leave. You’re going to be pushed around, kicked around, told no. You walk’t have a time frame in which you’re going to leave. You’re going to be pushed around, kicked around, told no.
32:11
You walk through a door that says no one should enter. You got to sign in. They make it more difficult Now. You got to wear goofy outfits. You got time and time again. You’ve got to go pay $700 to go earn the right to go stand in the hallway and have someone tell you they don’t want you here. And so you’ve got to show, as a new college grad, that you understand that being a medical device requires sacrifice, long hours, arduous work and willingness to continue when that work doesn’t go right and that day seems like gosh, I just want to go home.
32:52 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, okay, I love this. So now let’s talk about where some of that’s a given right the Cintas rep, or the knife selling rep, or the alarm system rep that has done really well, and, gosh, you know much big ups if you’ve successfully sold knives and you clearly got something going on. So let’s go to that. And there’s now in front of you or not you, but they’re in front of a hiring manager that says, okay, walk me through your resume. What’s the most powerful way that type of individual can answer that same question?
33:19 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
What is their biggest will they’ve conquered and how do the steps get to be able to do it? Why did it take that period of time, what adversity you overcame and what was the end result?
33:38 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
okay, you don’t have to have one yeah, yeah, you can have, you can have. I mean, you can have.
33:42 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
It says work with your resume so you can have one in each, in each position you had for the last three years I enjoy hearing somebody that put all the hours in the work and this is not popular, I get it, but failed, right, right, because then I know okay, well then what’d you do? Then I got back up and I met with this person, this person, this person. I went back and I tried to get through it again and it failed. But I learned this there’s a guy that was rep not for me, but a counterpart of mine and his job, his wife and him lived in Savannah, georgia and he got on the road three days a week and flew to California and knocked on door by door selling solar panels for houses and I said you know what You’re?
34:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
the guy.
34:31 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yeah, I mean that’s that’s a tough, that’s a hard sell. That’s the guy and the other manager is sitting there with me. I was like no, that’s the guy. You can stop all the interviews. I don’t. You’re gonna have to have the Michael Jordan walk in here of sales to be that guy, because I can tell you what that guy’s grit and that hard work, talent can take you very far, sure, but hard work and a little talent will take you even further. Absolutely, because you’re not good. You were sitting there in la working south side of la, knocking on doors trying to sell solar panels to a house and the stories that man could tell. I mean, I was like dude, you’re it, I’m you’re in Savannah Georgia.
35:09 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, no, I love it. I love it. So I want to ask. Now you know there’s different types of hiring managers, right, there’s the Todd style, there’s the walk me through your resume style, and then there are managers out there that want to hear about why are you connected to this space? What’s the heart behind it? We’re all going to make money here, but what else goes beyond the money? How should a candidate approach this? What are some telltale signs? A candidate can maybe ask or pick up on to know who they’re dealing with, that’s interviewing them, so they answer things in the vein of what that interviewer is going to best receive so in 25 years I’ve seen all sorts of interview styles.
35:56 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You, you have to do your homework. Okay, if you go in there blindly, you’re more than likely. Let’s be more specific.
36:05 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
What does blindly mean? Are we talking about the company? Are we talking about the products? Are we talking about the actual interviewer themselves, like when you say you have to?
36:15 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
go interview themselves. If I’m going to go sit there in front of Samuel and have an interview, I want to know where Samuel went to school. I want to find out people that have worked with him. I want to find out who he’s connected to and LinkedIn and maybe go connect with them. Maybe somebody that doesn’t work with him, Maybe it’s a personal individual. I want to try to find out what it is. I remember one of the guys I interviewed with who was the vice president at the time and he has the want to make you too comfortable so that you let your guard down and become a little bit almost unprofessional.
36:48
That’s okay so he’ll lean back and he’ll smile, he’ll take his tie down. So I leaned in. When he leaned back, I leaned in and then I knew the fact that the individual played college ball. I went and looked up his high school. There was a paper that was written about him, about how he made a C in his class and his dad suspended him. His parents coached about how he made a C in his class and his dad suspended him. His coach did, but he made a C in the class and he was suspended from the team for three weeks because until he got his grade up to a B. Oh wow. And so he’s sitting there grilling me with these questions and he said what questions do you have for me? And I looked at him and I said how hard was it to sit out for three weeks in football?
37:31 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Because that’s your life. You went on and he you. You became his instant fan. He was like oh man, this kid.
37:34 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Wow, because you sit there, you have to. In today’s world there is no excuse back. When I first started you, you got the luck of the draw and you had to be you. You had to read quick, but here there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have some inkling of who this individual is you’re sitting in front of Now. It might bring other reps inside of the interview. Okay, you might get a little bit sidetracked, but the actual portion you need to find out as much information because your question is this mistake what do you consider the ideal rep is? What do you think it takes to succeed? What do you think I mean when you hear those questions, as a manager should be these days? Should be. That person didn’t study anything.
38:23 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So then, okay, so you know our program, the medical sales career builder in our company, uis, and you know that we literally work with candidates to help them bring out their most authentic sales, interview powerfully and get these medical sales positions. Have our candidates that are like Samuel, I have scoured, I have scorched the earth and I cannot find anything about this hiring manager, even on LinkedIn. This hiring manager is not even showing their picture. They’re on LinkedIn, maybe every blue moon. I see the college they went to, I see the high school they went or I see whatever you know their college and their career track, but I got nothing else. There’s nothing else for me to find out, and I got an interview two days from now. So when you hear that, todd, and you’re like, well, you need to get better prepared, what are you advising that candidate to go and do?
39:15 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So if that’s the manager who did you talk to on the team?
39:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Right, okay, okay so let’s say, let’s take it further now, and I’m not going to excuse the candidate, right, because if they can’t find someone to talk to, that might even be a separate issue. But let’s pretend, for whatever reason that is the case in this situation and stonewalled right, they can’t. For whatever reason, they can’t get access to anyone. Or here’s an even more realistic situation they got the opportunity, the recruiter called them the interviews in two or three days. No one has been able to respond. They’ve been after it, trying to get in front of someone to talk to. They can’t get ahold of no one. The hiring manager is barely on LinkedIn. They can find no information and they got something coming up. How do they? What can they do to really set themselves up for success?
40:02 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Find out the culture from somewhere else inside the company. It might not be the direct team, maybe it’s the Southeast team and the Southeast manager is absolutely does not want to be social media, anti-social media tells the reps you’re not to give anybody any information locked down. But he can’t control everybody Because that person then becomes that rep’s big whale to go get and if they can find out information on them, you know that individual is going to go take what it takes to get inside that difficult account, those difficult doctors so are you advising like a mass blast to every single rep in the company.
40:44
So you find out if you have a south, we’ll just pick on the southeast if you have the southeast, they probably have like a mid-South or a Texas or a Mid-Atlantic and see if you can go find those rims Okay, because the whole company is not going to be on lockdown. You’ve got too many people that love to see themselves on LinkedIn.
41:03 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Facts. Okay, or Facebook or TikTok or Instagram or some other thing that I don’t have Well to do, that it’s going to require you to blast everyone.
41:13 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
It requires you to be strategic in how you do it. You can’t go send a mass email out to everybody. That can be, because then all of a sudden people start talking.
41:27 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
They sure do.
41:28 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
And then you just look like a desperate individual.
41:31 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
And that’s not. That’s put you on the list.
41:33 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yeah, Because you don’t know if that individual is going to go call the manager, go, hey, look, Todd man, we were talking as a team up here in the Atlantic and, dude, he hit seven out of eight of us with the exact same email, asking the exact same questions Dude, do not Like Samuel, don’t do it, man, he’s not the guy. So then you’ve got to. So if it’s the Atlantic, you’ve got to find. Maybe you find a couple of those team members on LinkedIn and maybe go look at their social media and then maybe on the other team, you go find them on LinkedIn and maybe you contact that individual in a different area or district or region through LinkedIn and then maybe you can make some different contacts. The last guy that worked with me it was my associate rep. He did do the blast and he blasted everybody to a point where I finally just gave up and I said, okay, let me talk to this kid.
42:30 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure.
42:31 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
And he was. He actually was wonderful self-made individual, put himself through college, went and worked in Alaska for a year just so he could be able to earn his way for his degree. So sometimes it does work for you in your favor. Most of the time it won’t. But I suggest you don’t just narrow yourself down to one type of social media of an individual or individuals You’re trying to get to that company too.
42:59 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay. So let’s take it even further. So let’s say you’ve done all that Nothing. You got nothing. Now. You only got. Now the interview’s. Tomorrow Time is the time of the ticket. You’ve got it all.
43:10 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You’ve been strategic, you’ve been the most knowledgeable individual with the company and what the company has said from a stock standpoint. If it’s a privately held company, from any information about the company, sure and scour that and be able to understand and pronounce the names of the products correctly.
43:27 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Sure, and so all that, you got all that. I’m asking what’s the signal to know the type of hiring manager you’re dealing with? If you’ve done it, you’ve tried everything and the strategic way of getting information before the interview was just impossible. It’s not available, for whatever reason, and now the interview is tomorrow morning and you get to just go there and give it your best. You get to that interview. Is there a question you can ask? Is there something you can say? Is there something you can do to get the signal that, okay, this guy I need to be ready to have that fear and money conversation. Or this guy I need to be able to show when he asks me to walk with your resume, or this girl, when you walk with your resume, I can quickly do that and pick a few positions where I really overcome the biggest of odds. How do you identify who you’re dealing with?
44:16 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
to me. If it’s, if it’s now, this is me. I’m like, yeah, I will say how I would opinions.
44:22 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
These are opinions. Okay, my first thing I’m going to ask them sit down.
44:26 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
I’m going to thank them for their time. I, Before we get to this interview and go through all this stuff, I really, since I’ve listened and looked at the different things, different procedures, and looked at the culture, I want to ask you right from the start what made you want to be able to lead this team the way you’re leading it. I start the interview because everybody always assumes the interview is just about the manager. I’m going to start the interview asking the first question.
44:56 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Ask the first question. We teach that in our program ask the first question.
44:59 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
But I like the question you asked, so say it one more time what made you and how did you get to a point where you want to lead this team?
45:09 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So what, what may, how did you okay? So how did you get to a point where you want to lead this team, or how, or what makes you lead this team the way you’re currently leading?
45:18 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You can ask. Either way, it’s going to get you this, it’s going to get you the similar result to it, but that gives you right away the psyche of the individual. Am I a micromanager? Because they’re saying well, you know, I’ve always felt myself to be a strong leader. I lead people by example. I sit there and I’m going to be able to tell them how to be able to get to the.
45:47
As soon as you heard the word, the words more I than we, then you know right away, If you take this job, that I is going to be sitting on top of you the entire time. So I’m a proponent if you know nothing, because that’s how we went back in the day. I mean, I still remember the days you had to go to the hospital and lie to the little people in front of the thing and say we just moved here, so can I have a book by the doctors? And you go home and you go look all these doctors in the book and find anything, because there was no internet that was all so you have to take charge.
46:16
This interview is about you wanting to display yourself for this and make sure you’re a fit, but also showing that you are the individual that you want to be for this company. So take control of it, just like you would take control of the OR. You need to take control of the interview. To start off with I love it.
46:38 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love it. Okay, let’s fast forward to the close of the interview. What is the most powerful close you’ve ever heard?
46:51 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Golly, most everybody fails at this. One thing I mean, if I hear one more time, is there a red flag? You see any red flags for me coming up to be able to have this job position or move forward to the next position? There is now To me, you have to have the assumptive close. The assumptive close meaning that I am the candidate moving forward and you have to project, maybe even with a little bit of arrogance, but not overabundance of it. So, samuel, when can we take the next step? I want somebody, because I don’t know that person’s going to be sitting there and I only can judge it from the OR. Different types pharmaceuticals, different types of sales reps, different types of industries might have a different type of feel, but I in the OR have to know that somebody is going to command the OR, cause I’ve told you before, like there’s two types of reps, there’s assets and assets.
48:00 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Assets and assets. That’s going to be the name of a show right there Assets and assets. I like that. Okay, keep going.
48:06 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
There’s only two that walk in the OR. They’ve got plenty of asses that walk in the OR. You have to be an asset and to be an asset you have to be able to command a room without being overburied, but you have to be able to have the command of that room. So I’d rather have an assumptive close that I am the candidate moving forward and try and get him to schedule or her to schedule the next step.
48:33 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So give me what that sounds like. The interview’s coming to a close, I’m the hiring manager, you’re the candidate and I’m like okay, well, thank you for the time, Todd. Do you have any other questions?
48:41 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Yeah, samuel. So when can we go ahead and set up the next time that we can either talk or meet face to face or with your manager, so we can move this thing forward?
48:50 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You know what, Todd? We’ll let you know. We have a lot of people to interview. You know how these processes go, so we’ll reach back out to you.
48:55 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Okay. So when you’re in the process of reaching back out, what would make you stop and not go ahead and move forward Because I understand that each day goes by is money lost to you and your region, and that position being open?
49:10 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Well, you know what, todd? What would make me stop? I really want someone with a lot of experience. I know you don’t have as much, so you know some of that would make me stop. But yeah, you know, we’ll let you know. We’re going to talk to some other people and thank you so much for coming.
49:23 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
You mentioned my experience. What about my experience? My experience, what about my experience? Because I haven’t worked into the field or because my presentation to you doesn’t show that I am capable of working in?
49:35 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
the field Because you haven’t worked in the field. Your presentation was actually great, but the fact remains, you don’t have that actual experience, and some of the other candidates do, so we just got to weigh our options.
49:44 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
So what is the best aspect when you look through this candidate’s experience or presentation? Because my understanding having a little bit of knowledge that has come through here that being able to command a room versus just knowledge is actually can be more of a presentation to the surgeon and to other clinicians in the room can be more beneficial than other words, just having just the experience, because I can build relationships quicker by being able to be that, versus just coming in there and not saying that they’re acting as know-it-alls but maybe presumptually acting as a know-it-all in front of the doctors being costing you more time in business than moving forward to somebody that wants to be an eagerly and wants to be able to do whatever it takes.
50:31 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You know what, todd? That is something to really consider. I really appreciate you sharing that. Thank you for that. We’re definitely going to take that into consideration.
50:38 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Fantastic. I look forward to hearing from you and I’ll go ahead and make sure that I’m ready in moments and others in which you want to be able to move forward.
50:48 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay, okay, okay, I hear you. I hear you. You know what I do like about that close. You challenged me, man. You did not let me off the hook, which is cool. We actually train our candidates to not present it negatively, though. So you said is there anything that’ll make you stop? We feel that if you say stop, like how is that hiring manager not going to filter through all the things that would make them stop? And we actually try to turn that over and say is there anything else I could show that would give you the confidence to move me forward? You know what else could I show you, or what else could I describe that you’d go just to keep it positive, so that you’re not literally looking for something that would make you stop.
51:36 – Todd Crowder (Guest)
Well, the only reason why I’ve ever used stop versus what red flags is the word stop? Is because, just like you did Now, I know in my next sentence I’ve got to show that being clinical isn’t necessarily beneficial Sure, very beneficial, sure. So I then can sit there and pivot and try to pivot your mind saying each day that you’re waiting on this thing versus someone that you believe and it makes you say, oh no, your presentation was wonderful, that’s wonderful If you came back and said, well, your presentation lacked a little bit and you don’t have the experience. I think now you’re at a point where you realize, oh, you’re just out of the ballgame, they’re just now trying to get you out the door because now they really have somebody else in mind and you’re just kind of, we had to have so many people to interview. We just can’t say, hey, samuel’s are a guy, we have to legally open up to everybody, we have to draw requisition and we’re just doing this as a filler so that we can go ahead and give Samuel the job.
52:30 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
And that wraps up our first episode of the unfiltered medical sales series. You know, todd was dropping some real gems, real pearls of wisdom. I love the discussion we can talk about and I know you’ve learned something. I mean, if you really want to showcase what you’ve learned, go ahead to the Evolver Success website, go to our podcast page and let us know something, one thing that you’ve learned from these unfiltered discussions, and make sure you tune in next week, because we’re going to get into the clothes, we’re going to get into how to research your interviewer and much more. So we can’t wait to see you again.
53:02
Make sure you tune in next week for another episode within the Medical sales podcast of the unfiltered medical sales series. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode and remember I have a customized and personalized program that gets you into the medical technology industry as a sales professional or any type of role for that matter. Become a top performer in your position and masterfully navigate your career to executive level leadership. Check out these programs and learn more at EvolvesAssesscom by visiting our site, filling out an application schedule some time with one of our account executives and allowing us to get you where you need to be. Stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews on the Medical Sales Podcast.