Contracting executives recognize excellence in their profession. But what constitutes excellence among those who sit across the desk from you – that is, salespeople? In this month’s digital edition, the Journal of Healthcare Contracting shares stories of four people who exemplify excellence in sales.
Two of them – Bill McLaughlin and Yates Farris – are with IMCO, a co-op for independent distributors, whose mission is to help local and regional distributors compete with national companies. McLaughlin, CEO, has been called “the passionate, mother bear” for the independent distributor; while Farris has proven himself as a salesman, sales manager and now, vice president of primary care markets for IMCO. Both were recently inducted into the Medical Distribution Hall of Fame, a program initiated by Repertoire magazine, a sister publication of JHC.
Chuck Ryan and Nate Williams were recent recipients of the Repertoire/HIDA Excellence in Sales Award. (HIDA is the Health Industry Distributors Association.) Ryan, an account manager for McKesson Medical-Surgical in Boston, credits his years of working in a pizza restaurant, and then being a driver for a medical distributor, with laying the groundwork for a successful sales career. Williams, a sales representative for Midmark Corp., believes that today’s salespeople need to love their customers’ problems more than their own companies’ products and services.