How to Raise Your Visibility Within Your Organization
Get noticed. Get promoted.
It’s common for me to get questions from folks in higher-level sales positions or semi-supervisory positions (maybe National Accounts Managers, etc.), maybe interviewing for Regional Accounts Manager positions, who want to know how to differentiate themselves so that they will be the ones who get tapped for promotions. There’s a lot of advice out there about these kinds of things, and certainly your sales performance has to be solid to even put you in the running. I provide custom consulting at this level, too, but to get you started, here are 9 ways to raise your visibility within your organization and build your personal brand:
1) Always be over-prepared (for everything). Always be on time. Always send thank-you notes. So, if a VP of Marketing travels with you, send him a thank you note immediately – within 24 hours. The thank-you note shows your appreciation, and separates you from the pack. It’s all really just basics– good manners and good work ethics. Simple, but you’d be surprised how many sales reps get caught up in their own “stuff” and forget these simple things.
3) Offer to do projects or tasks that no one else volunteers to do. Be the “go to” person.
4) If the president or CEO wonders about something in a discussion, go find the answer and respond to him. It will show that you are paying attention to him, it will show your initiative, and it will set you apart in personalization.
5) A lot of people work very hard for certain events like Regional Sales Meetings. Decisions like: Where will we have it? What are the topics? Who will speak? What will we eat? Who’s going to eat where? What projects will we do? These issues take a lot of time and energy, and the ones who set it up often don’t have much administrative support. They’re doing it all. Remember to thank them when it’s over. Thank the Regional Sales Managers, the sales team, the trainers, and the people from the home office who fly out to speak with you. That’s huge.
6) Gather information on competitors. Any time you see something that might be of interest to anyone in your organization, whether it’s marketing, technical support, or anyone, send them a quick e-mail with a link to the pertinent information when you can. You can set up Google Alerts to let you know about any developments in your company or within your industry, any key people you have a rapport with or need to develop a rapport with, any information on your competitors, product areas (genomic testing, FDA-approved tests, point-of-care, microarrays, etc.—you get the drift). Set up those alerts that let you know every day about what’s going on, send relevant information on to whomever it’s relevant to, and if they ask how you saw it, tell them about the Google Alerts. It sets you up as a SME (Subject Matter Expert). You’re not necessarily an expert, but it does show your fluency with the computer/internet, your creativity, and your initiative in forwarding information that will help your company.
7) Ask if you can be a mentor within your organization. Lots of people want and need one and are afraid to ask. But, if there’s someone (like you) who’s volunteering…it becomes more likely that they’ll take it. Spending 20-30 minutes on the phone once a week with them will really benefit them, and it will show in their growth. And if you have taken the initiative to set it up rather than participating after you’ve been asked (if the company even has a program), it shows you as the leader that you are.
Be willing to do a presentation on a product, a competitor, or sales training. Meeting organizers often have trouble finding content. If you are willing to provide some of that content, it increases your profile, positions you as a subject matter expert, and helps you build your personal brand.
9) Sharpen the saw. Keep up with your reading in sales or motivation, talk to people about them, and send the books you read along to others in your organization. That’s a very cool thing. It makes people feel that it’s a personalized gift, you’re trying to help them learn something, and you’ve already read it so you know it’s good. There are a lot of great books out there. I love the Malcolm Gladwell books, and here’s a link to a few more.
These are some pretty significant ways to impress those higher-ups in your medical sales organization, so that when the next opportunity for promotion comes available, it’s all yours.
Written by Peggy McKee - the medical sales recruiter
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Nice post.
“Sharpen the saw” – new phrase to me BUT continual learning essential for all roles.
Have a nice weekend Paul
One way to establish your reputation as a subject matter expert is to stay up-to-date on academic research. It’s always impressive to mention the latest research paper or college symposium in your field. Google Alerts can give you a steady stream of these items to cite for free and with no work, once you set it up. Here are some searches you can try.
If you want to see research papers as they are published in your field:
medical device site:edu filetype:pdf
To keep track of university conferences:
medical device symposium site:edu
If your readers need some help in getting started with Google Alerts and creating these types of searches, I’ve written up a free Google Alerts Tutorial:
http://www.alertrank.com/google-alerts-tutorial.html
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As a former National Sales Manager in the pharma industry, I can also add that one should bone up on presentation skills. Future managers are expected to give effective presentations to marketing and sales departments. Toastmasters would be a good option for this.
Also, make sure that you can work with all types of people since in this diverse working environment, those with the best people skills will get promoted fasters.
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[...] How to Raise Your Visibility Within Your Organization : Medical … – Be willing to do a presentation on a product, a competitor, or sales training. Meeting organizers often have trouble finding content. If you are willing to provide some of that content, it increases your profile, positions you as a subject matter … medical device site:edu filetype:pdf. To keep track of university conferences: medical device symposium site:edu. If your readers need some help in getting started with Google Alerts and creating these types of searches, … [...]
First of all, great article. I totally agree with what you are saying here and it truly resonates with everything that I’ve learned and found to be effective. A few more ideas might be to:
1. Have more “cajones” and go against the grain from time to time (but in a way that benefits the company)
2. Follow the UPOD rule: Under promise and Over deliver.
3. Know what is truly important and what is relatively unimportant. Spend more time on the former.
Once again, awesome article!
Very good points brought up there. It’s all about gaining the right exposure and you’ve given tons of good methods. It’s not who you know these days, but who knows you that counts. One thing I’d like to stress on is the importance of people skills and charisma. Contrary to general belief, it can easily be cultivated and trained. Gives you that extra edge that you need in performing all the above actions. Thanks for the good read. Hope to see more from you in future.
I may be a little biased but I think the most important are effective presentation skills. I listen to pitches from medical software makers and 8/10 the presentation is boring and hard to follow for a non-technical person.
For example, I’m a member of Toastmasters and they will actually send a certificate of completion to your boss.
I think every boss likes to see that you’re doing something in your spare time to improve your skills.
Very good article. Good presentation skills are the most important thing to “sell” something to anyone.
Being over prepared is always beneficial because you can answer questions to show you are the expert. Having high expectations and excitement without being hypey can often help increase production and recruit more clients.
My uncle did really well in medical sales and as a matter of fact he was trying to get me into it because I know the money is really good. Also it is about who you know. Although I think if you are really good in sales you can’t excel and anything you just have to have the right product knowledge because sales at sales.
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