What if the secret to selling more has nothing to do with selling?
After watching a waitress treat every table like it was her only table, Cindy and Lisa saw a powerful parallel to medical device sales: serve before you sell. Physicians and staff donβt need another pushy rep. They need someone who brings value and makes their lives easier.
Lisa and Cindy break down servant leadership, building trust, and why your product canβt compensate for a poor customer experience. This weekβs challenge: treat every customer like a new table.
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Treat Every Customer Like a New Table - Leave the stress of the previous interaction behind and give the next customer your full attention.
Serve Before You Sell - Medical device sales isnβt just about presenting a product. Itβs about understanding how you can genuinely help the physician, staff, and patient.
The Power of Servant Leadership - Lisa and Cindy explore how leading through service can build trust and create stronger customer relationships.
Your Product Isnβt Enough - Even a strong product can get overlooked when the rep creates a frustrating or overly promotional experience.
Make Their Lives Easier - Physicians are busy. The reps who remove obstacles instead of creating them become valuable partners in the customer experience.
What Do They Remember? - Customers may not remember exactly what you said, but the experience you created can shape whether they want to see you again.
Consistency Builds Trust - Servant leadership doesnβt require grand gestures. Showing up, supporting customers, and making things easier consistently can make a meaningful difference.
The Weekly Challenge - Before walking through the next door, leave everything else behind, put your phone away, smile, and ask: βHow can I serve this customer today?β
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
βItβs really easy for all of us to get caught up in what our goals are. We forget sometimes that theyβre still human beings, and everybody wants to be treated with respect and kindness.β β Anneliese Rhodes
βPeople want to feel good when they leave your presence. They want to be remembered in a positive way. They donβt remember what you told them, but they remember how you made them feel.β β Anneliese Rhodes
βYou have to bring value to them. Surgeons need you to alleviate the pain, not make it worse.β β Anneliese Rhodes
βWhen was the last time you did something for your customer or customers without ever asking for anything in return? You just did it.β β Anneliese Rhodes
βMake it easy to do business with you. Donβt be that rep that is so pushy or turning people off that even if you have an amazing product, they still donβt want to use you.β β Anneliese Rhodes
βTodayβs about every customer being a new table. Donβt think about coming in rushed and stressed from what happened before. Give the customers in the next hospital the same grace and welcoming.β β Cynthia Ficara
βThey have to understand what youβre there to do for them, how this product will help them, will help their patient, will help the hospital, will help everything.β β Cynthia Ficara
βServe your customers before you sell to your customers. Itβs really important that you listen to that and think about how youβre showing up for the people you serve.β β Cynthia Ficara
βA servant leader consistently can make a customerβs life easier. You donβt have to be somebody who does something extravagant or unique. If youβre consistently there and you support them, they know that youβre there to help them.β β Cynthia Ficara
βTreat every customer like a new table. Before you walk through the next door, just leave everything else behind. Put your phone away, smile, and ask yourself, βHow can I serve this customer today?ββ β Cynthia Ficara
Follow The Girls of Grit:
We'd Love to Hear Your Stories!
Have you ever walked into a customer meeting focused so much on what you needed that you forgot to ask what they needed from you? Think about a time when you chose to serve first without asking for anything in return. How did that change the relationship? Weβd love to hear about the moment you realized that making your customerβs life easier can be more powerful than making the next sale.
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Treat Every Customer Like a New Table
Lisa: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, brought to you by Anneliese Rhodes, Cynthia Ficara. We are the girls of grit, and we are here bringing you guys another great episode this week. This one is a really good one because it's very personalized.
We got some good stories along with it, and it's just something that I think every single one of you really needs to be reminded about.
Cindy: Hi, everybody. I called Lisa because this one was, on the tip of my tongue. I had to talk to her about this, so we decided to make this into an episode.
Let me just give you a little bit of background about what happened. This weekend, I was away actually at a conference, and it was in the middle of nowhere. Stepped out to get a lunch, and picture a very tiny restaurant that had GPS not told you exactly where to turn, you would've passed right by it.
Doesn't even look like a restaurant, yet there's a line of people outside the door. Finally, when we get up to about when it's our time in line, it's a simple sign that just says, " Please wait to be seated." And there's maybe six little tables to the left, maybe six or seven to the right, two and four top, and only two waitresses and two men.
You could see where they were cooking. And everybody's just pleasantly enjoying their meal, and we stood there for a long time, so I got to watch this waitress. Actually, there were two of them, but this one really stood out, and the other one was kind, too. This waitress was so patient and so kind, I don't even know if I can explain to you what we saw.
She would walk over to a table, and she'd be extremely nice. And she would say hello and take their order, and her voice was so calm. And then she'd go to the next table, do the same thing, then she'd run and go get another thing of food. And I know all of us have been in restaurants when it's packed and it's busy, and you almost feel the waiters' and waitresses' stress, and they're running and running.
Well, she's moving fast, but she's smiling and she's kind. And no matter what happened on the previous table, she would move to the next table as if they were the only people in the room. And she did that... I mean, we were there for a long time. We were there at least an hour and a half. She never wavered.
She smiled, and I just kept thinking, "I'm watching her go table to table with the utmost respect and kindness, and everybody being kind back to her and wanting to have her come back to your table." So it really started, when I called Lisa, and I was like, " Think of our world in medical device, the parallel of a waitress serving a table and a med device rep serving hospitals."
Your Customer Is a Person, Not a Goal
Cindy: So let me just give you a little bit more background of where I'm going with this. So if you are at a hospital, and you're rushed, and you're busy, and you're running to the next, where I'm going with this is don't think about coming in rushed and stressed from what happened before. Give the customers in the next hospital the same grace and welcoming that this waitress did to each table.
So I know it's kind of silly, a little silly parallel, but-
Lisa: Not at all. No ...
Cindy: today's, yes, about every customer being a new table
Lisa: I 100% agree with you on that. You know, it's really easy for all of us to get caught up in what our goals are, right? Like, what our goals are. That meeting, we gotta get that next case, we gotta get that next order.
We have to talk to this surgeon. We have to get them to commit. Whatever it is, and it's like you forget sometimes that they're still human beings, and everybody wants to be treated with respect and kindness. And, you know, you get in those modes, Cindy. It's like a really busy... Instead of this waitress being kind and understanding and seeing every table as a new opportunity to affect them in a positive way, she could've been running around and been like, "I'll be with you in a minute.
I, you know, hold on," you know? She could've had an attitude and everybody would've had a bad day. But instead, she chose to make everybody's day a little bit better. And I understand that in medical devices sometimes, we do get into a rush or we've got important things happening, but that doesn't mean you lose sight of the fact that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and care and kindness to a certain extent, because
I see a lot of times when, these reps walk in and they're so forward and they're so pushy, and the doctors are like, "Ugh." Like, "Get away from me," you know? Don't forget, men and women physicians have lives themselves. They have their own lives to deal with, and their patients. So, like, if you don't make their life easier, they're probably not gonna wanna deal with you, especially when they're busy running around the hospital and you're hounding them for that next case.
"Well, you know, doctor, give me five minutes. Doctor, I need, just need you to da, da, da." It's like, dude, you are going to lose that customer for good, and from now they're gonna start running from you. I mean, I would, you know?
Cindy: Oh, ugh, 100%. It's so crazy how standing... And I think, like, again, if I could describe to you walk into a very small room and you're standing at the door.
So you're standing there, and you're literally inches from somebody eating. Okay, so a little odd, but, not during COVID time, for sure. But you're standing and you're so close, it's almost like an aerial view, and you can hear the people. And it was almost like just watching something magical happen, and it was all because of her attitude.
It was all because- Yeah ... that whole day was so kind and people patiently waited. Nobody was impatient. And so your customers, like, If she approached it any different, I think the response of the people would have been so different. So really start thinking about your customers. Pull somebody in your head.
Where did you go last week? What is on the table this week? Yeah. How did you speak to them? Were you stressed?
Lisa: Yeah.
Cindy: Did you think that, if they receive you in such a positive way, how much better it makes their day and how much more they want to see you? I know that sounds so silly, but it is.
Lisa: No, it's such a good point.
Cindy: Medical devices, so many levels, it's so crucial to treat-
Lisa: Well, you know, you think about it from the restaurant point of view, you would return there, right? Like, you would go there. Even if the food wasn't amazing, right? Like, even if the food was subpar but the experience was amazing- 100% ... you'd probably go back, right?
100%. And it's the same thing in any type of sales or any type of life to begin with. I mean, people want to be... They want to feel good, you know, when they leave your presence. They want to be remembered in a positive way. And they don't remember what you told them, but they remember how you made them feel. How you
Cindy: feel. Yeah. Yeah, they don't remember what you said, but they remember how they felt,
Lisa: or how they- So if you're a pushy rep or you're pushing for someone, they're gonna be like, the next time you ask them to go to dinner, have a meeting, you know, bring in your VP 'cause you can't get them to convert, they're probably gonna tell you no, because they don't want to be bothered.
They don't want that feeling any more than you would. So I think that this is such a good point, Cindy.
The Secret of Servant Leadership
Lisa: And one of the things that you and I were talking about, and it's actually our secret, today for this episode, is there is a word, and you and I both agreed on this word, but it's called servant leadership, and it's basically how you lead by serving others, and that's what physicians are looking for in you.
They're looking for you to bring them value, to lead their teams to a certain extent, whether it's in services or making sure that everything is flowing smoothly. But surgeons need you to alleviate the pain, not make it worse. And-
Cindy: I was gonna say, that brings me to another story.
I just remember one time when I was with a rep I think he was brand new. I mean, or he wasn't... I don't remember. He may have been new. Yeah. And it was one of those just initial lunch-in services, and I remember he brought up, little bit about the product, and you could tell the doctor isn't really aware.
The doctor kind of said he wasn't all that interested, but, continued. And I remember this- Guy said, " Well, okay, so, if that specific area interests you, could you just commit to two or three of these, to put on your shelf?" And I will never forget, the doctor just kind of got his body language couldn't have been any colder.
Mm. He, you know, just kind of shut down, stood up, pushed his chair back, stood up, and was ready to walk out of the room. And so what do you take from that? This rep did not serve the physician at all. There was nothing he did to earn the physician's trust. It was just, "Hey, here. Buy this." It's like, "Yeah, I'm selling.
Take this." In medical device, that is the furthest thing. You will never sell anything if you just try to say, " Use my product," a couple different times. Yeah.
Lisa: Yeah.
Cindy: They have to understand what you're there to do for them, how this product will help them, will help their patient, will help the hospital, will help everything.
None of that was established in this early conversation. So I think, like Lisa said, the secret of servant leadership brings us, we want you to really understand in medical device how important it is to serve your customers before you sell to your customers.
Lisa: Absolutely. I mean, you have to bring value to them.
If you think about it- Cindy, like, and I don't even ask myself this question probably as often as I should is, but when is the last time you did something for your customer or customers without ever asking for anything in return? Like, you just did it. And, I'm sure that everybody's racking their brain right now going, "Wow."
"Maybe I didn't do that recently. Maybe I've never done that," right? Like, maybe I've always asked for something in return.
Serve Before You Sell
Lisa: But how would you feel if you constantly were that physician or that staff member and you knew the moment you saw that rep, they were gonna ask you for something? Right. They were looking, they were gonna do something good for you, and in return they expected something.
That is, like, the no thank you rule in sales, you know? I mean, you wonder why people get this idea or this nomenclature that sales is promotional, sales is pushy, sales is the used car salesman, right? That's why, because they're constantly looking for the next leg up, when instead it is very important to remind yourself that this is medicine and we are here to serve patients above everything else, and that when you put your needs above those patients and even above your customers, you're gonna end up losing because you will absolutely turn physicians off.
And it doesn't actually matter how good your product is. And you know, I was telling Cindy this, but like- Oh, that's true ... I hate to break it to all you guys, I hate to break it to all you guys, but nobody's got a silver bullet yet. Like, there's no silver bullet in medicine yet. I don't think cancer's been cured.
I don't think brain surgery has become, like, easy-peasy. There's no silver bullet in medicine yet. So I hate to break it to all of you, but your product ain't any better than the one down the road. Maybe in some ways it is, but the truth is in that physician's eyes, if you're gonna push them to use it, you're gonna push them to do cases with your product, even if it is amazing but you're too pushy, they'll never see the benefit of your product because you will turn them off before they ever even get it in their hands.
Cindy: And I think it's really important that you listen to what Lisa just said. In fact, I'm gonna do a mid-episode or almost end episode early CTA or additional call to action.
Lisa, you are so right, and I think it's really important just to reiterate this point, and when you said you can have the best product out there, but if you don't have a good rep behind it, it may or may not sell.
You can have a mediocre product. You could have a product that's 20 years old in technology, but have a fabulous rep, and you can tenfold your sales. And I think that all of you should just take a quick thought to that and think, " Hmm. Am I being the best rep I can be to sell my product?" It's really important. So-
Lisa: Yeah. Yeah ...
Cindy: you know?
Lisa: I love that. You have to bring value. And again, like, if you push them off, it doesn't actually matter if your product is the silver bullet, they may never use it because they don't wanna be around you, and you are giving that product a bad name, that company a bad name. Right. So it's so important that you hold yourself to the standard that you saw the other day in the restaurant, Cindy.
Yeah. You know, I think, the last thing really is, and what we're talking about it right now, is like make it easy to do business with you. Don't make it so freaking hard, right? Like, don't be that rep that like is so pushy or turning people off that even if you have an amazing product, even if you have the silver bullet, if you don't make it easy for those physicians, they're still not gonna use you.
Make It Easy to Do Business With You
Lisa: I hate to break it to you, but they're just not. They'd rather go the other route. Like, wouldn't you? If you have two paths to choose, like let's say you're going down the ski⦠You're skiing, right, and you got the catwalk and then you got this triple black, right? Most of the people are gonna take the catwalk because the catwalk, even though a little windy, it's an easier route.
There's not a lot of like scary things. You know you're gonna make it down there safely. And then you got the triple black that you're like, "I could die going down this," right? You got these two looking down the hill, and you're thinking to yourself, "Okay. Well, I'm gonna take the catwalk."
Now imagine that on that catwalk there's ice, there's boulders, there's trees, there's animals, there's people in the way, there's all these things, whereas the triple black is straight down the mountain, but it's straight down the mountain. It's scary, but you're gonna go, but you will get down there just as easy as you would the catwalk because of all the things.
You're probably gonna take that triple black, even though you may have never taken it before. You know why? Because the catwalk, that would've been the easier thing to do, just had so many hurdles in front of it, you're like, " Screw it. I gotta get down this mountain, and I don't have all day long to get down it.
I need to get down it now." And that's what you're doing if you are a pushy rep or you are not the best servant leader to your physicians and your staff, you are pushing them down that triple black, and they're not gonna come back to that catwalk ever again because guess what? Once you go down that triple black and you know you made it down, you're gonna go down it every single time
Cindy: I love that.
And you know, Lisa, you're right. A servant leader consistently can make a customer's life easier. You don't have to be somebody who does this extravagant thing or unique thing or just shows up every so often. But if you're consistently there and you support them and they know that you're there to help them and make it easier, every single time they're gonna call you.
Yep. And I think that your competition will be a little bit scared when they figure that out.
Be the Rep They Want to See Walk Through the Door
Cindy: I mean, I really hope just amazing experience in this cute, tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere helps you open your eyes, where Lisa and I talked about, I want you to take this week to really think about every customer being a new table, and serving before you sell.
And like we just talked about, really trying to make it easy to do business with your customers, if you take a step back, there was really nothing fancy at all about this restaurant, nothing elaborate. Certainly wasn't the building. It wasn't the size. There was no marketing.
There was no campaign. Yet there were people lined up outside the door as if there were fireworks and lightning and the most amazing advertisements. But they were lined up there because I think these same people always come back. And I think you need to ask yourself that question, "Do my customers want me to come back?"
So this week, be that rep they wanna see walk through the door. Lisa, do you wanna talk about our- Yeah ... new challenge for the week?
Lisa: Ooh, what is our challenge? Did we write it down?
Cindy: I'll tell you. All right.
Lisa: Ah, you go
Cindy: for
Lisa: it, Cindy. So- You're amazing at it, I'm sure ...
Cindy: well, this comes off of what Lisa was just talking about in sales, not being promotional.
Everything you don't do is promotional. Understand that, this call to action I'm talking about is more about behavior than it is going out and actually doing an action. So I'm really serious, like for the bottom of my heart, please do this for me because it was so awesome to see.
Treat every customer like a new table. So before you walk through the next door, just leave everything else behind. Put your phone away. Smile. Ask yourself a question like, "How can I serve this customer today?" And then just do it. And I think that you will find a feel-good week, and when you feel good, things move good.
And when things move good, everything gets better. Wishing you all the best in your secret of servant leadership to a fabulous week of selling. Thank you everybody for listening. Leave us a review. Thanks so much.
