Working in Medical Device Sales

What is the medical device industry?

The medical device industry is composed of companies that manufacture, supply, and distribute medical devices that are used by the healthcare community for patient diagnosis, care, or treatment in medical centers, hospitals, clinics, doctor offices, surgical centers, and long term care facilities. There are a diverse offering of products including disposable or consumable (surgical gloves), Capital Equipment (imaging devices), Implantable Devices (artificial joints), Services (lab testing), and SaaS (medical record keeping). The facilities that use the devices, typically decide which brand they buy and offer their patients. Therefore, when selling medical devices, sales representatives are approaching Surgeons to explain the benefits of the devices they should be using on their patients or to asset during surgeries to improve outcomes; Materials Management at a hospital or facility to purchase all the products used daily, Nurses to educate them on the devices so they know how to use them and pull that brand from supplies when taking care of patients, and sometimes customers who use devices at home by the recommendation of their doctor. Medical devices are typically purchased by the facility where the patient gets medical treatments, and will be billed for reimbursement through medical insurance, Medicaid/Medicare, or by patient.

What you need to work in medical device sales

Someone in a sales position in this industry must build strong relationships with decision makers, and it can take a long time from contacting a lead to gaining a purchase order, so tenacity and perseverance are important traits. The majority of these sales roles have individual quotas to achieve within their assigned territory, and are not tied to any team goals or performance. The compensation plan for these sales roles are typically heavily commission based, to which a salesperson earns money for every device that is purchased by one of their customers. Most sales people in this industry start their careers in non-medical sales organizations that offer structured outside sales training programs. With a few years of successful outside sales experience, medical device hiring managers are confident in an understanding of the sales process and can then just train on the clinical product and the new call point expectations.

Roles in the Medical Device Industry

Sales & Sales Leadership Positions

Associate Sales Representative, Associate Territory Manager, Inside Sales Representative, Territory Manager, Account Manager, Medical Device Sales Representative, Sales Executive, Sales Specialist, Post Sales Representative, Sales Support, Surgical Sales Representative, Institutional Sales, Regional Territory Manager, Account Sales Representative, Geriatric Care Manager, Distributor Representative, Territory Business Manager, Senior Territory Manager, Business Development, Area Sales Manager, District Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Regional Sales Director, National Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Director of Sales, Head of Sales, Vice President of Sales. Manager, Senior Manager, Associate Director, Director, Senior Director, Associate Vice President, Senior Vice President

Clinical Sales or Support Positions

Clinical Procedure Specialist, Clinical Sales Representative, Clinical Service Manager, Manager of Fellows Programs, Clinical Trial Manager, National Clinical Manager, Clinical Education Manager

Training & Marketing Positions

Field Sales Trainer, Manager of Field Training, Director of Field Training, Product Planning Manager, Product Marketing Manager, Downstream Marketing, Upstream Marketing, Director of Marketing, Vice President of Marketing

Operations & Administrative Positions

Project Manager, Director of Operations, HR Manager, Talent Acquisition, Receptionist, Office Manager, Associate Director, Sales Analyst, Sales Operations Analyst, Field Service Technician, Field Service Manager, Director of Finance

Scientific Positions

Associate Scientists, Scientists, Medical Science Liaison (MSL), Medical Science Director

Executive Positions

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Chief People Officer (CPO), Chief Science Officer (CSO)