Is Your Next Win Costing You More Than You Think?
Could the quiet erosion of your accounts be happening because you've shifted your focus away from your foundation, despite your continued high level of effort?
Lisa and Cindy unpack one of the most common struggles in medical device sales: how to grow your territory without losing the accounts that built your foundation. From silent warning signs to strategic depth-building, they share real-world lessons that protect your momentum.
You’ll walk away with a proven three-step framework to maintain, grow, and scale plus a free playbook designed to help you stay in control, boost ROI, and build sustainable success without burning out.
Episode Chapter Markers
02:38 The “Slow Leak” Problem
03:24 Losing a Run-of-the-Mill Product Without Noticing
06:09 Step 1 — Protect Your Foundation
10:07 Less Calls, Weird Ordering Patterns, Shallow Check-Ins
11:46 Step 2 — Go Deep, Not Wide: Expand Inside Existing Accounts First
13:48 Why New Accounts Feel Better (But Can Cost You)
16:00 Step 3 — Scale With Systems: Checks, Balances, and a Simple Planner Rhythm
18:11 Have the Hard Conversations Early
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Protect Your Foundation – Why your top accounts deserve intentional attention before chasing new wins.
The Silent Sales Leaks – How subtle signs like reduced communication and inconsistent orders can quietly erode revenue.
Depth Before Width – Why going deeper inside existing accounts produces faster ROI than hunting brand-new ones.
Dopamine vs. Strategy – The psychology behind chasing new accounts and why it can sabotage long-term growth.
Scale with Systems – How simple planning structures prevent chaos and protect consistency.
CEO of Your Territory – How to manage your sales numbers with ownership, clarity, and control.
10 Minutes That Save 10 Weeks – The weekly habit that prevents months of stress and revenue loss.
Action Steps for Reps – Lisa and Cindy’s practical advice to build critical thinking daily.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“If you’re only looking at your total number, you can miss the quiet leaks that slowly drain your business.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“Sometimes the sales you lose don’t disappear overnight, they slip away while your attention is somewhere else.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“Going deep may not give you the dopamine hit of a new account, but it builds long-term growth that actually lasts.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“You have to run your territory like a CEO. Every bucket matters, not just the big number.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“The conversations we avoid are usually the ones that save our business.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“Most reps don’t lose business because they’re bad, they lose it because they get distracted.” — Cynthia Ficara
“Growth doesn’t mean starting over, sometimes it means going deeper where you already are.” — Cynthia Ficara
“Systems are what keep your business from running you instead of the other way around.” — Cynthia Ficara
“Ten intentional minutes a week can save you ten weeks of stress.” — Cynthia Ficara
“You don’t have to choose between maintaining and growing when you’re intentional, you get both.” — Cynthia Ficara
Follow The Girls of Grit:
We'd Love to Hear Your Stories!
Ever had that moment when you realized a key account was quietly slipping right when you were laser-focused on growing something new? Or maybe you caught a small issue before it turned into a massive problem. Those moments of awareness, strategy, and grit are what separate good reps from great ones.
We’d love to hear your story. DM us or tag us and share how you protected your foundation while chasing growth. Your experience could be the reminder another woman in sales needs to slow down, refocus, and lead her territory with confidence on the next episode.
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anneliese Rhodes: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets and Medical Device Sales, brought to you by the Girls of Grit. And today we are bringing you guys another episode. This one comes straight from the sources.
Cynthia Ficara: I love it. Hey everyone. You know Lisa, I'm really excited about this episode too, and you know, we always encourage you guys to write in and when we got this specific question, I said to Lisa, my goodness, you know.
Sometimes the obvious is always right in front of us and we don't even think about it. But this is a common problem. And I also think that it's like maybe something that we don't always identify and we're so wrapped up in the results of maybe losing some business or things not happening. But you know, just to, to be clear on what I mean, the question that came in for us is really.
A very common question asking how do you maintain your current business while you're trying to grow? So like, right, like have you ever felt like you're pulled in 10 directions? Do you ever feel like, how am I ever gonna do this if I'm trying to do that and there's not enough hours in a day? I mean, are any of these questions going through your head before?
Anneliese Rhodes: And, I mean, I'm faced with this all the time. It's like, it's the, it's the, uh, the yin and the yang, right? I mean, you grow your business and you get it to like this really awesome, super busy, uh, territory, but still gotta grow it. And so how do you do that when you still, like, how do you grow your business when you still have all this big stuff to maintain?
So Cindy and I are gonna talk about that today because. Um, that's not an easy thing to do, Cindy. And I'll be honest, I have totally messed it up in the past and it's like, Ooh, that was not the right thing to do. So we're gonna talk about that today, you guys, and really give you guys some good strategies, um, and things to think about.
Um, plus we are also going to include a freebie for you guys. Freebie that you guys can download and help you with this specific problem. Cindy and I put it together. We thought it would be really good for you guys to follow along. It's a framework. It's super simple to use and it's free. So all you have to do is at the end of this episode, we'll tell you all about it, where to go, but of course it's always on our website.
So, um, definitely make sure you guys check it out. It's free for you to use.
Cynthia Ficara: And you know, one of the things is we're just going to kind of give you a highlight. We're gonna really break down this topic into like three sections. And we thought, you know, for some people you probably wanna deep or dive in a little bit deeper and have a little bit more, um, instruction.
So if you're really struggling this right now, maybe it's your, you know, Q1 of your new year, you have a high number. And you're, you know, you're feeling a little tapped out, um, I think this will really help you. So without further ado, Lisa, uh,
The Silent Sales Leak
I, I think that. One of the things that really came to me is that sometimes your business can start to fade away when you don't even realize it, like, and it, and it's these.
Subtle, tiny things that happen. So, you know, you're working really hard and now you're like, okay, here's my new quota. It's Q1, I need, I'm gonna grow these three accounts, I'm gonna get three more new accounts. Okay? And then suddenly, you know, like subtly, I didn't mean suddenly I meant. Suddenly you notice maybe there's just a little dip in your numbers of your like number one account.
Yep. Or maybe there's like no big competitive shift. There's no big issue. No doctors left, nothing happened. It's just slowly slipping away.
Anneliese Rhodes: So I'll tell you where that like brings to mind a great story. So this is a long time ago. I had a ton of stuff in my bag and one of the products was a real like, you know, run of the mill type product.
Like think syringes or like sterile drapes or something like that, right? Something that we need every single day for surgery, but yet. Something that's super easy to miss if you're not paying attention to it. And I will. And it, and it slowly, like you said, it's not like a boom, you notice it right away.
It's like a subtle little like leak in a boat. Yes. That's a good word.
Cynthia Ficara: Leak.
Anneliese Rhodes: Floaty, like, and you're floaty, you know that you float around and you're pooling, all of a sudden there's like a little leak and by the, by the next day you're like, oh, that thing's flat. So I started, I was in this, um, job. I had just converted a hospital and I was like, rolling along, like, that's a big win, right?
Like converted it. And I, you know, I'm six months in, I'm a year in. All of a sudden, like, I didn't notice it right away, but my numbers started falling and it was in this small little area. It was in a very easy, you know, run of the mill disposable bucket, if you will. And I didn't actually catch it. My manager did, and I remember at the time he called me up and he is like, Hey.
He is like, so have you noticed that? You're kind of like, your numbers are kind of dipping. And I'm thinking to myself, Cindy, I'm like, well, that doesn't make any sense. I just converted this massive hospital. I've been doing all the work that I should be doing, and I'm calling on a new hospital now. Like I really started spending time in another account.
And he is like, yeah, he is like, you're really losing it on this one product. And I'm like, well, that's weird. They use it every day. Why am I, maybe they're not using 'em as much. So immediately I think, oh, they're not using this stuff as much. They're not doing those procedures as much. But those things are like every day.
So that doesn't make it just all of a sudden you just stop doing like, I don't know, some normal mainstay surgery. No. What's happening is you're not on top of your main account and you're losing sales to a competitor who has slipped in, but you haven't realized it because your attention has gone somewhere else.
And so I can absolutely tell you, Cindy, that has happened to me not just once, but many, many times. And it's an easy thing for us all to overlook. So don't feel guilty about it. You guys don't beat yourself up over it, but it is important to be aware of it because it absolutely can happen. So how do we kind of keep that from happening, right?
So we'll talk about that.
Cynthia Ficara: Yeah. And you know, Lisa, I think that you, um, you bring out a good point is that it happened to you. It's happened to me, but I, and I think, I want you guys to all understand that most people, when they lose business, it's not because they're not a good rep. And it's not because they're not really good.
It's it's because you're getting distracted, like you said. And now. When you, when you're really focusing on growing somewhere else, you actually become vulnerable in, in your main accounts. But there's certain ways that we can make sure you're strong and we wanna prevent you, um, from doing this.
Catch the Leaks Before They Cost You Everything
So let's jump right into the.
First, the very first of three that we kind of broke this down to three sections. So the very first thing to do in maintaining your business while you grow is to, number one, protect your foundation. So I think that, you know, we, we say this a lot about being intentional and Lisa said there was something you said about talking to your manager.
You didn't even notice this, but he did. Yeah, you're busy, you're getting up every day. You've got your list, you're, you're out there hustling, but you know, part of being a high performer. Being able to do all that while you're on top of everything. And when you intentionally protect this account that built, that you built, all these things kind of fall into place.
Anneliese Rhodes: So I'm thinking, you know, how do you do that? Right? So for me. It would be like how you form a habit, right? When you get up every morning and you have your gratitude journal, that is your habit that you formed, and that's a fantastic habit. You need to form the same type of habit with this big account. I'm assuming everybody out there gets their numbers every morning or every evening.
At some point you have, you have a way to look at your sales. You need to make sure that you're diving into that major account or major accounts, and you're seeing those numbers either stay consistent. Or grow because if you're looking at your numbers on a consistent basis and you're looking through every single bucket you will catch when one starts to bleed out a little bit.
I wasn't doing that, Cindy. I was just looking at the overall number, and what I found was that, well, even though I was bleeding out in this one section, other devices were raising me back up. So the overall number to me was still looking good, but my manager caught it because he absolutely had to be. On top of everything, right?
So I think it's important that as we talk about being a CEO of your own business, you have to run it like one. You gotta be on top of every single bucket. And whether you do that every morning or you do it once a week, maybe every Sunday evening, you sit down and you go through those numbers and you look at them in depth, and it may take you an hour, I don't know.
But you need to make sure that you are really on top of those numbers because. When you're not, that's when they start to bleed out, and I think, I think that's really important. I think that that could be an easy thing to do.
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. And here's another thing, like something that you said made me think about this.
If you don't know how to break down your numbers to that granular level, that's why you have managers and coworkers and trainers and teammates like, you know, part of being a CEO of your own business is identify your gap. Identify that, Hey, you know what? I miss this, so then what can I do or say to the manager, look.
I've got these two accounts. I'm really trying to grow, you know, will you help me stay on top of this? Because even though sometimes we feel like we're an island out there, remember in in many of you have circumstances where you can ask for help if, if somebody can't be looking at the numbers behind you, make sure you speak to somebody who knows how to interpret the numbers.
Every, you know, down to every detail so you don't miss it.
Anneliese Rhodes: Good point.
Cynthia Ficara: And, you know, and, and I think that's really important.
Anneliese Rhodes: That's great point. Um, I, I think there's also some silent signals that, okay, so let's just say you. Either don't have time to look at your numbers or, which, that would be crazy. But let's just say you only do it once a month, right?
'cause you're like, I'm so overwhelmed. There are other signals that are silent, uh, that we talked about you and I talked about earlier. I think the first one is like. It sounds obvious, but sometimes it's not like you just stop hearing from 'em, right? Like maybe they just don't call you as much. Like, I remember when I first started doing medical devices, man, I wanted to hear from my doctors all the time, and I did.
But then like, I don't know, a couple months in, six months in, they start to go a little silent, and in the beginning you're like, oh, well, they're still chugging along. And when you see 'em in the hallway, they're like, yeah, I'm still using your product. But are they. Are they really, or are they just telling you they're using your product and because you're not following back up with them, you assume that they're using your product, but they're not.
And there could be a million reasons why it, it might not be your competitor. It might just be that maybe their practice has changed or something else is happening. It's your job to know what's happening, right? And so if they stop calling you, you gotta figure out, like get back in front of them. Sales 1 0 1, go back to the beginning.
I mean, guys, this is an ongoing thing. So if you stop hearing from your customers, there's your first silent signal that something else might be going on.
Cynthia Ficara: I love that and I think that's so important to like and I, and I think we need to reiterate this when we're talking about protecting your foundation.
You may have areas that are leaking or bleeding out that you don't notice. So number one, you gotta make sure either you. Or your manager is working with you to really stay on top of your numbers. Little cues to look for. Okay. Maybe ask yourself, well, when was the last I heard from that doctor? You know, you heard from him.
You know, he'll pick up the phone if you answer. You know, he's gonna be friendly with you. But does that mean that somebody's not slipping in every other time that you normally would've been? So maybe something else that's silent to look for. Um, and this can be broken down in your numbers, is inconsistent orders.
Not that they've dropped off, but some, like if you had a pattern before, watch a trend. It may be that there was like a bulk and then nothing, and then maybe a little bit. So it's enough to make you think that they're still engaged, but it's like their toes are in the water, not their whole foot. And the other thing, the other silent is, is ask yourself like, what true communication have you had?
Like is it that yes, we went back in and had this long conversation? Or was it just like, yes, thank you, Cindy, I just saw you, here's your product. Gotta go by. Like, you're like, oh, I just saw 'em. But what did he say three words to you? Good point. Or did you have an in depth? Important conversation. So those are the things to think about because that will give you a clue that some of that, that business that you had may be going away.
So it's very important to protect that.
Smart Growth Strategy Most Reps Overlook
Okay, so now moving on to different ways. I think this one is one of the, the biggest things that we thought was a really good way to use it. Kind of like as, as I said, three big steps. So what we want you to think about next is to really go deep rather than wide, because the depth in which you are in the same hospital and the presence that you had is a little less.
Risky than going wide. And so does everybody understand what I mean by that? Like, okay, so say you have an account with six physicians. You're in that account and you work with one physician, well, you're in the facility, you're already present, you're already in there. Getting deeper within that account is other physicians, other areas, making sure you can add other products that you have, and working with the same physicians going wide is starting all over again at different places.
So just, just, it's almost like, um, warmer rather than colder option.
Anneliese Rhodes: No, a hundred percent going deeper is a great way to not only maintain but grow at the same time because you're basically in that same account. So you and I were talking about this before, Cindy, and it's so funny, I was thinking about this, um, with my kid.
So, um. My son, who's 18 has all of a sudden gotten into this like whole weird day trading thing, which is annoying to me. And I'm like, dude, that's super, that's gambling Brady. That's illegal. He's like, it's not illegal. You know, I pay for this and that and some funded thing. I'm like, dude, I don't even know, but no.
The answer is no, don't do this. And I'm like, don't you know what that is? That's a dopamine hit. He's like, yeah, I know. You know? It's like when you go to your phone and you're like, sweet, I've got five messages. That's like your little dopamine hit. Well, going to new accounts is like getting a dopamine hit, right?
Like it's a big dopamine hit. You're like, yeah, I just got that brand new doc to sign off on using my new product. And that's an amazing feeling, you guys, it really is going deep. May not give you that dopamine hit, but. Long term, it will give you the serotonin or oxytocin, which takes a little time to build up, which is more longer lasting.
And what do I mean by that? What I mean by that is what I just said earlier, if you go deep within your accounts, you're not only staying in that same account that's already feeding you so you can maintain it, but you're also going deeper and trying to get more sales out of the same account or even a new physician within that same account.
It does two things. It keeps you less distracted because now you're in that same account just going a little deeper, so you're able to stay on top of the business that you currently have. Plus you're also getting the win of either the new surgeon within that account or just a new procedure, and he's gonna use another product of yours.
So it's like you kind of get a two for one when you go deeper, but I think it keeps you closer to home as well, Cindy. And you know, maybe, and maybe not that's what your territory looks like, but I can guarantee you probably almost all of us are able to go a little deeper than we realize. It's just not as fun.
It's not as fun as going out and getting that new doc and that new win and the whole new account, right? Who doesn't wanna brag about that, but it's. Actually just important, as important, or if not more, if you go deeper and you really grow within,
Cynthia Ficara: right, because it's almost like it's, it's new with the old, you know what I mean?
Like everything doesn't just have to be new to be growth. Growth is any percent increase over a baseline that you in which you're measured. So it doesn't matter how you get it. You know?
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah.
Cynthia Ficara: Why not start where you're comfortable and you're warm and you know how to grow from there. And so sometimes we just make things harder on ourselves if we just stop and think, okay, I need to grow.
Well, let's start. With going deep, it is probably one of the best, um, strategic moves you can make to add growth because the ROI is so much quicker. It is so much quicker.
Anneliese Rhodes: It's good point. You're already known in that account, right? You're already known. The doctors already know you. Your product may still have to go through value analysis if it's a new product,
Cynthia Ficara: right?
Anneliese Rhodes: But if you've, or, or like even better solution, what if it's already approved by one or it's approved to the hospital and one doctor's using it. Now you get five doctors to use it. Holy cow. Like what a great ROI, and you're in your same account, so you're on top of what's already currently feeding you like.
It's, it's amazing if you go deep and you do it the right way, and I think that kind of rolls into our number three, right?
Scale With Systems
Yes. In in terms of like the number three thing in order to maintain and grow is what I love, what Cindy does is scale with systems, right? You can scale your business if you have good systems in place, and I think that's so key, especially when you're trying to manage two major things in your business, both growth and maintenance.
Cynthia Ficara: And I mean, we know we, we, I feel like we talk about this all the time and it's just so important that the difference, what separates a high performing rep. To those that just kind of run around is being able to intentionally run your business. You know, like if you are flying a plane and all of a sudden you're in the air and the nose dips, right?
Do you want that plane to control you or no? You put your hands on the wheel and you pull the nose up and you control it. That's your business. And what you don't need to think about is like, see, the, the, the caveat, the catch 22 of growth is that it does make things a little more busy, a little more complex, a little more full for your day.
But if you actually use a system. That plans your day, targets everything you're doing. You stay on course where growth can actually decrease your numbers in other accounts is when you're not paying attention to everybody and systems will really help and you know. We, we, we throw it around there, but, but the planner we've made is about checks and balances.
It's reminding yourself, okay, a week later, what have I done here? What have I missed? At the end of each month, we look, are you 33.3% a quota for the quarter? If not, why and where? You know, when you stop and ask yourself. Things, you're not waiting till the very end and all of a sudden your, your numbers are down.
You know, when you stay on top of things, you can catch it and go from there. So, um, scaling with your systems, whatever that system may be, is very, very, very important to do.
Anneliese Rhodes: And if you don't know how to form a system, get the planner 'cause it's in there. Or just go from the basics, right? Like what I was talking about in the beginning of this discussion is pull your numbers up, break 'em down, see where you're missing out.
I mean, it, it may sound super complex, but it's really not. And like Cindy said, if you don't understand your numbers, ask your manager or ask someone that can help you understand. But here's the thing. I mean, look, we know that we all get busy and we know that. Sometimes we don't wanna do the things that we don't wanna do, right?
Like nobody wants to have the discussion with the surgeon about, Hey, your numbers are down. Why are your numbers down? Um, are you, are you using somebody else? Uh, I mean, I'll be honest, Cindy, I have absolutely had that very humble, honest conversation of, yep. Hey, um, haven't done any cases with you in a while.
Everything okay? Did I say something wrong? Like, are we good? I mean, I have totally been that rep. You have to do that if your communication is dropping. Because if you let it fall to a really low point, sometimes you can't get it back. Yes. And even if you can, it's uncomfortable and it takes a lot of work and it's like, ugh.
So instead of letting the whole plane just nose dive down. Pull the nose up as soon as you realize that things are going a little south. Is that work? Yes, it is. We have to constantly stay on top of our accounts, constantly stay on top of our physicians because they're constantly getting distracted by other things, whether it's our competitor or new products or the hospital itself saying, Hey, you can no longer do that procedure.
I mean, how do you know as the rep, if all of a sudden the hospital said, Hey, guess what, Dr. Smith, the procedure you've been doing for years is not making the hospital any money, or we're losing money. We need you to stop. And instead of the doctor picking up the phone and saying, Hey Cindy, I need you to help me with this reimbursement stuff, they're just like, oh, okay.
Well right now I can't do it, so my hands are tied. I'm just gonna stop doing it. And there goes your sales, but you haven't had any communication with your physician, so you have no idea that's what's going on. So those, so you bring
Cynthia Ficara: up,
Anneliese Rhodes: yeah. It's conversations we don't wanna have, but we have to have.
Cynthia Ficara: But let me ask you this.
Would you rather intentionally just take 10 minutes? Okay. There's how many days in a week? Five. Right? How many minutes in a day? I can't handle to do the math, but if you were to take 10 minutes a week. Okay. Just 10 minutes a week?
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah.
Cynthia Ficara: That you can walk through a quick review and see where you are. You could save 10 weeks.
Oh my gosh. Of decreasing a heartache. So. Just for that, we built that in our little freebie, the free PDF that we're talking about.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah.
Cynthia Ficara: What we made in there is this is this quick, simple step and it gives you a way to really kind of review your business. And where you need to go. So download the freebie.
You don't have to question yourself. Just give yourself 10 simple minutes that will save you 10 weeks of heartache and headache and stress and trying to figure out, you know, what works and, and what doesn't. So, you know, I think this topic is really, really important. I'm glad we had a chance to talk about how do you maintain and grow, because when you're in sale, any type of sales.
You always have to grow, but then you think about those accounts that built your foundation and you want to continue and grow, but you have to do both. And, um, we do that by protecting your foundation. We do it by, if you strategically go deep first, then wide and, and scaling your system. Having a true system to help you and honestly, the doors could just break wide open and your commissions can skyrocket.
I, I truly believe, 'cause it's happened to both of us.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, I'm so glad we talked about this today. You guys don't forget. Go to our website, download the freebie, help yourself. We are trying to give you guys easy solutions to things that we've faced for years and years and years, and we continue to face it, right?
Every good rep is gonna face this. So for this specific question, we appreciate the listener writing into us and asking us this question. Um, you guys don't forget. Totally reach out to us. We love hearing from y'all. We love hearing. The things that you want us to discuss, because that's what we're here for.
We're here to help you guys. Yep. So please continue to ride in completing, continue to rate us and we love hearing from y'all. So have a great rest of your week. Go out there and kill it. And Cindy has one more thing to say,
Cynthia Ficara: so I just wanna remind everybody so the, you don't have to choose. Between maintaining and growing.
I think that's really, really important. When you're intentional, you can have both. So again, if this resonated with you, we did create, we call this the protect playbook. It's a freebie so you can execute in your territory intentionally and strategically. So go to our website to download it. Hope it helps you.
Let us know. Continue to write in. We appreciate everything. Thanks everybody.
