Panic Doesn’t Sell-Power Does
Have you ever looked at your pipeline, felt your stomach drop, and thought—how am I going to hit my number this quarter?
If so, this episode is for you. Lisa and Cindy break down what panic selling looks like, how it shows up in your energy, and why it’s one of the most dangerous traps in medical device sales. You’ll learn how to recognize the warning signs, reset your mindset, and build a momentum strategy rooted in confidence—not chaos.
This is more than just a pep talk; it’s a tactical roadmap to shift from fear into power.
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction
01:56 Mid-Year Sales Check-In
02:21 Selling from Power vs. Panic
06:03 Identifying Panic Triggers
11:54 Strategies to Avoid Panic Selling
15:45 Bulletproof Your Mindset
16:41 Practical Tips for Selling with Power
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Why Panic Selling Happens - Lisa and Cindy explore how poor targeting, unqualified calls, and energy drain push reps into desperation mode—long before the end of the quarter.
The Hidden Cost of Desperation - They explain how selling from fear affects your tone, body language, and credibility—and what to do when the panic spiral starts.
Bulletproofing Your Mindset - From gratitude journaling to affirmations and visualization, Lisa and Cindy share daily mental strategies to keep you grounded and powerful under pressure.
Abundance > Scarcity - Cindy dives into the power of reframing your sales day: from rushing a big close to staying open to smaller, abundant wins that add up.
How to Recover from a No - Lisa reminds us that rejection is part of the game, and the fastest way to bounce back is to detach your self-worth from the outcome and reengage with intention.
Find Your Hype Crew - Whether it’s a mentor, teammate, or trusted rep friend—Lisa and Cindy emphasize how surrounding yourself with positive support helps you recalibrate fast.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“Panic is just energy without direction. Give it direction.” – Cynthia Ficara
“You cannot sell powerfully when you’re mentally depleted.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“When your mindset is bulletproof, no rejection can shake your value.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Don’t put scarcity in the universe. Put out possibility.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“Desperation shows up in your tone, your energy, your emails. And people feel it.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Sales isn’t just about momentum—it’s about mindset.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“Target better. Qualify stronger. Protect your peace.” – Cynthia Ficara
“You can’t sell from panic and expect powerful results.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“Even a small step forward is a step toward power.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Your hype girl could be the difference between quitting and bouncing back.” – Anneliese Rhodes
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Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anneliese Rhodes: Ah, Cindy.
That feeling. When the pressure is on or your pipeline is like super light or you're way behind quota and you feel like your back is against the wall, I hate that. That's when panic creeps in. That's when I get like all like anxious and anxiety and ah, and it shows up. Our tones and our offers and our energy and our customers feel that, and I hate that.
Cynthia Ficara: Hey, but not today because tune in, listen in in this episode because we are calling it out. We're gonna show you what not to do and exactly how to shift into selling from that desperation phase into a phase from confidence, clarity, and power.
Anneliese Rhodes: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, brought to you by the Girls of Grit. We are so excited to keep hearing from you guys. We love when y'all write in and you tell us all the things that we're talking about that just make you happy and are hit and home. So today we're bringing you another big zinger and, uh, I don't know.
I, I think this is something that we all struggle with, Cindy, from time to time.
Cynthia Ficara: Yeah. Hey everybody. This one is really fun. Today we're really trying to help you advance your sales. We're trying to remind you and give you armor to get to your goals. You know, we're halfway through the year. If you start your year in the beginning of January, so your calendar year's about halfway through, this is a great time to stop and look at your goals and see where you're going, and then.
The biggest thing is how are you doing it? Is there anything you are doing, keeping you from getting to where you need to be? So today we're really, really excited because we wanna give you the right approach to advance your sales. So we're really talking about what it's like when you sell from a place of power instead of a place of panic.
We don't like panicky sales, do we, Lisa?
Anneliese Rhodes: No. You know, I mean, and when you say panic, it's like. It's like, oh my gosh, I have a number to hit. Oh my gosh, I'm so behind my number. You know, I'm halfway through the quarter and I'm not hitting this bucket, or I'm not hitting that bucket. I gotta go call on this doctor and I gotta call on that doctor and I'm gonna get Dr.
Smith to use five of these things today because I need to hit my number. And it's, it's like, it gets really overwhelming and it, you
Cynthia Ficara: just made me anxious.
Anneliese Rhodes: I felt it. I feel it. I know. And it can like hijack your brain and like. You're not thinking clearly anymore and you truly are selling from a place of panic.
Yes. Versus selling from a place of power. And we talk so much about mindset and how important it is to be strong in that and you know, planning and strategic and all of those things. I'll tell you what, when you're panicking, all that goes out the window. It's like, it's literally like somebody, what was that?
Total recall. Remember that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger? Oh my god. Arnold Sch. I don't even know now, but like, remember that where they like totally erase his brain. Oh my. And then they like program him. So like, I don't know, am I being, I, I may even be remembering this wrong, but like No, you're right.
I think it was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Remember that movie though? And it was like, oh my gosh. And I remember watching it as a kid, this is totally dating me. And I thought to myself how scary I. Would that be if somebody reprogrammed my brain and I couldn't remember anything. And that is exactly what panic does when you like start getting into that panic mode and you're like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I gotta sell this.
I gotta sell that. It's like, you just forget who you are. You forget like everything except I gotta sell, sell, sell. And then you become that pushy salesperson that everybody hates. It's like, again, my used car salesman, you know? Uh. Person or a thing that I always think about. I'm like, Ew, go away. But your physicians feel the desperation.
Your all your customers feel it and they're like, go away, and then nobody wants to buy from you. You're really going over the top and losing your mind. Right. So, but you,
Cynthia Ficara: it's true. And we've all been there, like honestly, we have all had moments that we feel that like. You know, your stomach's all tight.
You're looking at, I gotta get this to the end of the quarter. I'm not gonna get here. There, like, you immediately go into this panic from pressure. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so that is the worst feeling, like, yeah, that is not what we want. And you're right, Lisa, I'm just picturing some of the things you said about like, what it looks like.
Yeah. When, you know, but like, how do, how do we, first of all, let's think about this. We certainly don't want you selling from panic, but I think it's important that we identify how we get there. How do we get in a place of panic, right? So one of the first things I think about is, um, if you've procrastinated all quarter and you haven't done what you need to do in last minute, you're just trying to run in and do something.
Okay? That's one thing, right? I've done that. I've done that. And sometimes it might work for you. Luck might be on your side, but something else that I've seen. Seen, um, and I see this in newer people. Mm-hmm. I see this in people who don't do a lot of like, self-reflection of where their numbers are going.
And what I mean by that is I see people working, but they're not working smart. So maybe they're targeting the wrong people. Maybe they're out, they get in the car, they go make their sales call, but they're, they're moving. Okay. Yeah. But there's. ROI, action bringing them back to where they need to be. And I think that that's something that we overlook.
It's something very, very simple. But if you're targeting all the wrong places, you're getting to the end of the quarter and you're not hitting your number. Now that panic sets in.
From Pipeline Panic to Strategic Clarity
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, that's a good point. Like they're going through the motions, but they're not really connecting. Um, you know, another one that I always hear is like, oh, we have nothing in our pipeline.
Our pipeline is terrible. You know, there's nothing new to sell. Well, okay, hang on a minute. I don't know any company that constantly has new pipelines. Like, I mean, I know companies that have things in their pipeline, but it's not like you're gonna go out there and sell new things all the time. Sometimes you have the same things.
There are companies out there that absolutely have the same thing that they've been selling for like 30 years, and guess what? They still sell it. They may make little small changes, but they're still selling the gloves. They're still selling the drapes. They're still selling the same things they've sold for.
30 plus 40 plus years, they may just change a little bit. So you gotta be creative. You can't just get stuck in that and be like, oh, poor me. You know, I have got nothing to sell. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm never gonna sell it again. I mean, you, you have to change that mindset, right? Because nobody has something like new to sell all the time.
Cynthia Ficara: And it's true. And, and the crazy thing is sometimes what we have is at our fingertips. If anybody listened to our last episode with Avery Lanham and, oh, stop. What if we don't put this? Yeah, take that out. Declutter. Take that out. Declutter. Sorry. Sorry. Darn. Okay. Okay, keep going. Um, so sometimes what we have, everything that we need at our fingertips, and we're just.
We are just making excuses. Yeah. I think one of the things that brings people into selling from panic is you make excuses. I didn't have time to go there the other day. I don't, we don't have this new product yet, so I'm not gonna worry about it. Mm-hmm. Um, well. You know, my doctors might be gone this month.
I'll just, I'll just wait till next quarter. It's, or it's Christmas time or it's vacation time. I'm not gonna do it now. And so many of those things add up. And so if, if you're listening to this and you're identifying with even one of these, this is just take a moment where we want you to change. This thought process just a little bit.
We don't want you to sell from panic and you know, some of the things you mentioned when you've got pressure from your quota, just like Lisa said, you can make a pipeline excuse all day long. You know, there's one other thing I think about that can bring you into, you know, fear and panic mode of selling.
Desperation of selling is if you've, if you've been. In a wave where you've had rejection in your sales. Oh
Anneliese Rhodes: yeah, that's
Cynthia Ficara: a good one,
Anneliese Rhodes: Cindy.
Cynthia Ficara: If you've been told no, and now you're like, oh, and then you don't want to, and you think, oh my gosh, they told me no. And then you get panicky over it. Yes. You bring that same thought into your next call Yeah.
Instead of just hitting a reset button. Yep. You know, because you're so worried you're behind. Yep. And that puts you just in the wrong frame of mind. I agree. So, so let's talk about a couple
Anneliese Rhodes: things. Yeah. And let's talk about a couple things that will will happen when you're working from a place of panic.
So one of the things is. You're not being strategic. You're basically going after everybody. You're in this mode now of, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I gotta sell. I gotta sell. I gotta hit my number. I'm so far off my quota. I'm not gonna make any money. I gotta go after every doctor. I gotta go after every customer.
And you throw out the window, your strategy, you throw out the window. That list of the top physicians of you know, who are your big hitters or where low hanging fruit. You just like forget about that. You know when you go, I gotta get the biggest doctor out there. He might or she might take a year to land.
You know, in medical device sales, it takes a while sometimes to land these big docks, but if you're operating from a place of panic, you go after them because you're like, I gotta get a big hit. And you totally lose sight of all the other things that are right there because you're operating from panic, you know?
Panic Selling Makes You Unrecognizable
Yep. I think you, I think you can easily do that. Another one is giving away your personal value and what you truly bring when you operate from panic. You no longer are representing who you truly are. You're showing whatever that audience is, that you are in panic mode. And don't kid yourself. They feel that and they're like, wait a minute, where did that Cindy go?
That I love and know and trust? Why is she so pressurizing right now? Why is she so annoying? And it's like. They don't wanna work with you when you're, when you're panicked, they're almost like gonna give you the big Heisman because it's like, I want my Cindy back. I want Lisa back where they were. Cool, calm, collected, my partner in crime.
Like all the good things. You give away that value as soon as you start to panic.
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. And you know, when you panic, you, you do become a different person, right? Like you are not mm-hmm. Who they want to see. So some of the things that you could do to protect yourself is to have boundaries, right? So don't sacrifice these boundaries.
So if you're, if you're, again, targeting wrong, working so late, you're so tired, and then you might shortcut. You know, you might be like, oh, let me just cut this corner. Let me jump through hoops. Then you find yourself in a place of begging, like you're, oh, please let me get in here and see this. And you're begging for a time slot.
Like, just breathe, get your life back. You know, do the things we talk about, like, you know, some of our. Early morning things of get, get back to yourself to give yourself those boundaries to feel good exercise, all that kind of stuff. Love that. But we'll talk about what to do good later. I think, you know, just to kind of wrap up a little bit more of what we don't want you to do, that leads you into panic.
I, I also think that, um. It's kind of going along with what I just said, but I think it's important to separate it in its own little category, is not to let your energy be drained. And I think that when we have scarce energy, we don't perform our best. And I also think that we have like, what's the old, um, like in science, there were atoms and neutrons.
Like one repels and one was Oh yeah. Positive and a negative attract. Yeah. Yeah. Electrons, right? Protons and electrons, yeah. Right. Protons, neutrons, and electrons. Uhhuh, but like. If, if, if you think about that, like you wanna attract something and when you're in a bad place of mind, I just picture like fifth grade science where there's pictures of everything's repelling.
That's a good point. That's what to me, I visualize in a panicky sales call. Yeah. So that's a good point. Self-worth is important. If you get burnt out, you're not gonna be in the right place.
Anneliese Rhodes: Do you talk about being that rep that you don't wanna be? There you go. I mean, you don't wanna be that rep that like, everybody's like repelled against you.
That's like the worst place to be. And panic can put you there. So I know you wanna give away our secret. Yeah, it's our secret. It's, it's perfect for what we're leading into.
Bulletproof Your Mindset. Be the Boss of Your Business.
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. So thank you for listening to the Girls of Grit because our secret to get over panic and to sell with power is this.
Bulletproof, your mindset. And of course now I'm singing that song Bulletproof. But still, you can sing it in your head. That's great because we want you to feel bulletproof. We want you to have that sense of power and protection. Yeah. When you protect yourself, my goodness, you, you know, you just, you give yourself such an advantage.
So Lisa, let's talk about what to do to sell from a place of power.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. So, you know, I think the first thing really that's important is you need to remind yourself not only who you are, but what are you bringing to the customer? What value are you bringing to the customer? You know, that's not just in the product itself, but also in what you're providing to the customer.
You do bring this clinical knowledge. Let's hope you do bring, you know, the overarching partnership to the, to the customer you, your product provides. Remind yourself of all the good things that your product just does. Why was it invented in the first place? It was for patient care. Maybe it saves patients' lives.
Just remind yourself of what you're truly bringing to your customer by going back and looking at your product. I mean, hold it in your hand. Go over the selling points of it. I know this sounds so like elementary, but sometimes it's breaking it down to the basics of reminding. Why you're there in the first place.
You know, and, and it really kind of grounds you and gets you back to that place of, okay, this is what I'm selling, this is how I need to be strategic. It's just reminding you of that overarching value that you bring. Oh,
Cynthia Ficara: absolutely.
Anneliese Rhodes: And
Cynthia Ficara: you know, when you, you know, it, it, what you were saying makes me think about pre-call planning and, you know, sometimes that's one of the biggest things salespeople overlook.
Why not sit in your car for a second, plan out what you're gonna say? You have that much more confidence to go in. It's like, it's like when you're, when you're trying to put together an elevator pitch and you know what you wanna say, and you never wanna lose that moment. So I think that's really important, like Lisa said, when you really know your value.
So the second thing that you, you kind of hinted on when you talked about targeting or being strategic in your targets. I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna word this as like a category and call it qualify yourself like a boss. So what do I mean by that? If you work your territory. Like you're the CEO of this company, you think differently.
You're gonna focus on who the decision makers are that can actually turn things quickly. You can have hot targets, warm targets, and cold calls, but somebody like a boss is working all of them all the time. Yeah. Now you just need to align with who the accounts are, correct and then who the people are. Now, take that a step further into what you just talked about with pre-call planning.
Now let's think about the right decisions we need to ask. You know, earlier on I mentioned how people work. There are some people who genuinely believe when they're walking out that door at seven, or maybe it's nine, whatever you, whatever company you work for. And you're getting your car and you're doing all the motions, but maybe you're not asking the right questions.
Maybe you're doing things that aren't moving the needle. So why are we doing it? This is where you need to ask yourself what I mentioned, reflect on your business, reflect on what you're doing, so qualify yourself like a boss. Get in the car and tell yourself, I'm boss of myself today. I am boss of my territory.
This is who I'm targeting. Here's the questions I'm gonna ask and when think about this too, take it even a step further and ask with confidence, authority, or a sense of urgency and not desperation. You know, there is a difference. You can make this the best thing out there that they feel, oh my gosh, if they don't buy this, they have fomo and I love that.
Oh my gosh, they're behind. Right. Well, I love that. It's so true, but fit it to their needs and fit it to your needs. When you bulletproof your mindset, you're going in really, really strong.
Why Mindset Is Your Greatest Sales Strategy
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that you're talk, I mean, what you're talking about is being the expert, which you should be the expert of your products, of your company, of your territory, right?
You lead the conversation. You get them down that road of having the fomo and listen, if it's not the right person or it's just not gonna work. You also gotta be able to walk away from it with confidence and not with, oh gosh, there it is. Another bad call. You know, this is all part of that bulletproofing your mindset.
And there are gonna be times when you get nos like this is sales. There are gonna be times when physicians or customers are gonna say, no, it's not the right time right now. I'm not interested. I just signed a contract with your competitor. I mean, these aren't things we wanna hear, but the reality is it's gonna happen.
So bulletproofing, your mindset also looks like. How you mentally prepare and handle these situations. Mm-hmm. Some of these things, Cindy, you talk about, these are great things, daily affirmations. You know, you have a gratitude journal every morning Yes. That you fill out with your gratitude. That's amazing.
It reminds you, it grounds you of who you are as a person and what's really important in life. That's important, you know? Uh, I think another thing is visualization. Visualize yourself wherever you need to be, whatever that is, that. Inspires you. Sometimes it's winning a race like that has nothing to do with your work.
It's everything to do personal. You've been training for a big five 10 K marathon? I don't know. Visualize yourself in that winning it, getting your time, finishing the race. It's amazing how that actually takes you across the finish line. So visualize yourself the same way with work. You know you're gonna land Dr.
Smith. It may take a little while, but you're gonna land her. You know, there are things that are really important and that's part of that bulletproofing your mindset.
Stop Saying You Don’t Have Time—Say This Instead
Cynthia Ficara: It's so true. And you know, it's so simple that one of the most common things I hear people say. And I'm gonna call out my cohost, so, oh no, we all do this.
Okay, so this is how real this is. We were having a conversation the other day and she said, this one thing, well, we don't have time for this, this, this, this is a perfect example of how to bulletproof your mindset and switch it around and be like. Instead of saying, we just don't have time for this because now you negatively just, there's all that proton and neutron, so it's done.
The door's closed. We can't do this. You're putting that out in the universe that you can't do it. Instead, you don't have to be like, oh, I know I can do this. Just, just switch it a little bit and be like, we could squeeze time in for just this little bit, and it's amazing how one little portion. Of just breaking something down to do.
It goes from, I can't do this till I can, so there you go. I caught her out the other day. She did it
Anneliese Rhodes: anyway. So you did, but it's true. You're right. No, and we all do it. I mean, I'm so, I'm so guilty of doing that. I just don't have time, blah, blah, blah. But you're right. You know what? You make the time, you find it.
I, I don't know. You figure it out, but you can't put it out in the universe that it's never gonna happen or you're never gonna accomplish it because. It's funny. Life has a way of figuring that out for you. Yeah. So don't put it out there. Exactly. You know, tell yourself, okay, well at some point I'm gonna get that no to a yes.
Okay. Well, at some point this is gonna be a good call point for me. Well, maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow. Yep. You know, things, things that just continue to inspire you. Bulletproof your mind. Yes. I mean, you don't listen to good inspiring music books. Quotes. I'm telling you what, somebody out there always has it worse than you do.
Just go anywhere and you can read about other people's stories. I, I just think it's, you're right, Cindy. Staying in that positive mind frame is so important, especially when you're in a sales call, because when you come from a place of fear, panic. People feel that. Exactly. They don't wanna be around you.
They don't wanna buy from you. Nope.
Your Pipeline Needs More Than Products, It Needs People
Cynthia Ficara: You wanna be in a place of abundance. So to your point, like, okay, this is, we don't have time to get to this big long goal. All you have to do is think of the tiny step, chip away little pieces, and when you tell your, this one little piece is good. So that's what you focus on and the bulletproof in your mindset is the little steps will get you there.
And I also think something important when I think of abundance, just that word alone, yes, it's our mindset, but also your targets. And we kind of touched on this a little bit, but I think it's really important that you remember the small hospital you're driving past when you're, you're going to something important, there are gonna be times that you need to fill in your.
Cold calling or your warm calling. You know, and I heard somebody say what it takes to be really successful in some elite medical device areas is, um, this was a VP that mentioned this to me once, that you need three to five touches a day. So what do we mean by that? That's visual, that's faces, that's being in front of, um, you know, just, it could start with supply chain and they know who you are and that person counts.
So when you get to another meeting, but if you're sitting at home and you're behind a text message or an email, that doesn't count. So think about the daily things you do to build abundance and build momentum. That's how you sell with power. 'cause you're gonna have a full pipeline. And it's not always just a pipeline of, of your product, it's a pipeline of your customers.
It's a pipeline of people you can call on when you need to because who knows when you get that phone call that all of a sudden your company just acquired something and now you've got all this abundance to feed that into. And it's just really important. And I think the very last thing I. Is to always have a community of support.
Have that network, you know, have that friend that calls you out when you say you don't have time, and corrects you and steers your mind into being more bulletproof. Know a mentor, you can call a coworker, you can call because, and somebody, when you have that moment of. I just don't feel that today you're good friends and those who know you the best are the ones that remind you who you are, remind you of the strength you have, remind you of what you're capable of.
And that little bit sometimes is the only kick you need. So find those close friends. Pick those who lift you up because it's one of the best things, especially as women we could ever, ever have in our pipeline or bag that we sell. I love that.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. What did, uh, one of our, uh, spotlight series Kirsten said, A hype girl.
I love that. Yes. I forgot about that. You're your hype girls. We are your hype girls. That's why we are here is we are here every week cheering you guys on trying to help y'all become better, more excellent, more successful, more high performing. Women and men salespeople out there, we know what it's like in this business.
It is not easy. It is a tough business to be in. We felt those pa, we felt those times of panic. I know I have. I've absolutely felt that. And it's hard sometimes to remind yourself that you need to get back into a position of power, but it's so important because if you don't, you will not be ultimately successful.
You'll end up. Honestly, killing your business by operating from a sense of panic instead of power. So bulletproof your mind. Do the things we told you guys to do today, and know that we're here for you. You know, write into us. Share this episode with somebody right now. Send this episode to one of the people that you know that's struggling or maybe having a tough day and say, Hey, listen.
Listen to these girls. They're gonna give you some good tips on how to get back into that seat of power and not operate from panic.
Cynthia Ficara: I
Anneliese Rhodes: love it.
Cynthia Ficara: So your call to action today is actually two things. Number one, you need to call your hype girl or your hype guy. You gotta start your day off. Just go call that good person.
Go send a good message. Feel good. And now number two, I want you to take one piece of this area that we talked about that could lead you to sell to panic. I want you to recognize one thing that you may be doing, taking you down the wrong path. And then furthermore, you need to correct it. You need to correct it with some of the strategies we shared, and I think it's really important when we talk about your value, qualify yourself like a boss, target correctly, focus on what you need to, and then have a, a ripcord strategy.
So when something doesn't happen. Find a way to bounce back, like Lisa said, pulling yourself away. I don't care. Listen to music. Listen to an audible, step away reframe and go back the next day. 'cause this is sales and part of it is getting knocked down, getting right back up. So thanks for listening today, and we're so excited to see you sell from Power Not Panic, by using our ultimate secret of Bulletproofing Your mind.
