The Secret Skill That Separates Good Reps From Great Ones
Ever had one of those days in sales where everything hits at once a brutal call, a sideways case, and a full inbox and you still have to walk into the next hospital like it’s game time?
In this episode, Lisa and Cindy break down the art of compartmentalizing the elite skill that separates good reps from great ones. From handling rejection and managing chaos to mastering emotional control, they reveal real strategies for staying sharp under pressure.
If you’re ready to protect your edge and perform like a pro, this episode is your mental reset.
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction: The Chaos of Sales
02:36 The Importance of Compartmentalizing
04:47 Compartmentalizing Rejection
07:30 Mental Scrub Techniques
11:42 Compartmentalizing Tasks
16:25 Compartmentalizing Emotions
20:54 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Compartmentalizing Rejection – Learn how elite reps reset fast after hearing “no” and avoid carrying rejection into the next call.
The Mental Scrub – Lisa and Cindy share quick “reset” habits to shake off bad energy and stay present for the next meeting.
Compartmentalizing Tasks – Why chaos isn’t from too much work it’s from too much together. Learn to separate, focus, and execute with precision.
The Power of the Planner – Discover Cindy’s quarterly planner system designed to keep you accountable, focused, and calm under chaos.
Manage Energy, Not Just Time – True productivity isn’t just scheduling—it’s directing your energy where it matters most.
Compartmentalizing Emotions – The elite reps know: emotions don’t belong in the OR. Learn how to stay composed without faking calm.
The “Edge” Secret – Lisa reveals the secret that keeps high performers sharp under pressure: keep your edge, no matter what.
Real Talk on Women in Sales – Why mastering compartmentalizing helps women show up steady, confident, and respected in high-stakes environments.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“You can’t afford to step off that tightrope you’ve got to keep your edge and keep moving forward.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“Every situation is separate. The last ‘no’ doesn’t define your next call.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“You’ve got to manage your calendar like an operating schedule precise, focused, and smart.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“Your job isn’t just about showing up. It’s about showing up with emotional control.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“If you allow chaos to blend together, your focus and performance will pay the price.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“Rejection isn’t personal, it's professional. It’s part of the process, not the forecast.” - Cynthia Ficara
“Elite reps don’t fake calm. They truly compartmentalize so they can stay centered under chaos.” - Cynthia Ficara
“Focus can be a choice. Precision separates the average from the elite.” - Cynthia Ficara
“It’s not about managing your time, it's about managing your energy.” - Cynthia Ficara
“You can’t control every moment in sales, but you can control what follows it. That’s what separates good reps from great ones.” - Cynthia Ficara
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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. We are so happy you guys keep joining us, writing into us, telling us all these good things that you guys are getting from our podcast. We just love hearing from y'all. So thank you very much. Um, and today we're bringing you another really great episode.
I think this one actually, I don't know, I don't really think about it a whole lot, Cindy, but I think I probably do this a fair amount.
Cynthia Ficara: And you know what's fun is that when we talked about this topic, it kind of also brought subtopics. So we decided to tackle this conversation today into three sections.
Compartmentalize to Win
So the topic of the day today is about compartmentalizing. So you may be thinking. That's kind of boring. What does that mean? I don't really care. But you know, honestly, there's so many times that things happen during the day that we do this and we don't even really realize. But we truly believe that compartmentalizing is the difference between being average and being elite.
So if you are listening to our podcast, we want you in that elite zone. We wanna make sure we put you in that bracket. And we're gonna walk through a few things today because I feel like this will help you see why this is so important.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's funny because it's like. I don't know. Like I just said, I don't really think about it anymore 'cause I think I just automatically do it.
But it goes without saying that you absolutely have to be able to compartmentalize. And I always used to say that dudes could do this better than chicks, but I swear I think we can do it just. As well, you know? Um, but this today is kind of cool because it's not just about your emotions. Like there's more to compartmentalizing in sales, in medical device sales than just your emotion.
There's actually a couple other areas as well, so I'm really glad we're talking about this today because I think it's gonna kind of open y'all's minds a little bit more and kind of think about some different scenarios that maybe you've been through and you're like, Hmm, I probably could have handled that a little bit better.
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly, and everybody's probably thinking of, you know, a scenario that's like an obvious one. Like, you know, alright, so picture this. Okay, so you just get off this brutal call. And I use the word brutal because don't we all feel that way? There's always a day that you're like, oh, this is the, the world is.
Crumbling apocalypse now you know the surgeon shut you down and then your manager's on your phone pressing you for yeah, you didn't hit your target. Where are you getting this? And then you gotta be in the OR in 10 more minutes and you feel so much weight and you're carrying that in, but somehow you have to like flip a switch.
You gotta reset and you've got to perform your best. Again, this is an elite behavior versus an average behavior. But to Lisa's point, when we started investigating this in our conversation, we decided to talk about this to you today in three different sections. So just so you really get a clear idea of how you can impact your day, we're gonna talk about compartmentalizing rejection.
We're also gonna talk about compartmentalizing tasks, and the third one is compartmentalizing emotions. So I think that it's a lot more information than you think, than just the scenario of, like I said, it's just a hard day and you just throw the towel in. But if you break it down, it's pretty interesting.
How Elite Reps Bounce Back Fast
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, it really is. So, alright, so let's start off talking about compartmentalizing rejection because. I mean, let's face it, rejection hurts. It sucks. Nobody wants it. It's like, you know, it's the big green fat elephant that sits in the room. But you know, here's the truth, Cindy. I mean, even though you may get rejected from one physician or one client.
Guess what? The next one doesn't care. Like, it's not like the, the first guy that told you no is telling the next guy, I told her no. You know what I mean? Like, that's not happening. But if you carry that with you, then it's gonna kind of exude out of you, and then they're gonna be like, what's wrong with this person?
You know? So I think it's really important to remember the reality of the situation and every situation is completely separate from the one before. It's almost like what Aaron Kagan said in our episode. Last week when she talked about amnesia, which I, by the way, love, love
Cynthia Ficara: that.
Anneliese Rhodes: Right? And I was like, where's she going with this?
And then as soon as I realized, I was like, oh my gosh, I must have amnesia better because I will do that. You know, Cindy, I will totally take like. I dunno, bad sales call or just like nothing falling my way. And I'll be like, Ugh, such a bad week, such a bad month. And it's like, stop. You know, pull yourself back out.
Be able to compartmentalize, okay, this is happening, but let's move on. So I think it's really important to remember the reality of it.
Cynthia Ficara: It's true. And so in, in a way to separate is that rejection shouldn't be taken personally. You know, it's, it's professional that's just compartmentalizing in that sentence.
You know, I'm saying you, you feel it because that's not what you wanna hear. Of course, everybody would love, you know, rainbows and roses every day, but that's not the way it is. So sometimes, and we've mentioned this before, sometimes no, that day isn't the end of the world, but it's a professional part of your process of the sales cycle.
And so you can't take this personal number one in, in resetting. Compartmentalizing rejection. We use rejection because we feel like it's part of sales. We all face it, but if we learn how to compartmentalize it, it's, it, you can have such a great, you know, next call. And so, you know, I like, I like when you were just saying about, um, you know, why bring it with us?
Right? So you, you're, you're going into one call. Nobody else said. I just knew that I said no to her, but how do you like shake it off or rinse it off? So I think that this is a good time to kind of talk about a way to do like a mental scrub. You know, rinse everything off. Ooh, I like
Anneliese Rhodes: that.
Cynthia Ficara: Before your next call.
I like that. So. Think about this, like what can you do as a reset habit? We're gonna call compartmentalizing rejection. You need a reset skill. So here's an idea. You can do something, a habit. It could be like 10 seconds, five seconds. It can be that, okay, I've pulled into the parking garage. As soon as I close the door, I leave this behind me.
It can be in the hallway. You step outside, you're gonna take a deep breath and say out loud. Say something out loud like that one's done. Like find a way to shut it off and go to the next, the next call.
Anneliese Rhodes: I like that. Yeah, I was just thinking about something. So, you know, it's not terribly often, but it will happen when I have a number of meetings that I have with physicians, or I'm trying to catch 'em in the hallways or whatever it is.
I know the ones that are just hard to get in front of, you know, they're always busy. They usually say no, or, you know, email me or text me. And I'm like, okay, you're never gonna respond. So like, you know, of course I'm already like setting myself up. But anyhow, um, you know, when that happens, what I will do is if I have a meeting and it doesn't go exactly the way that I envisioned it to go.
Which can happen, then I'll take a mental note and I'll write it in my phone and I'll be like, okay, I need to circle back with him or her on X, Y, Z. How can I make this better? How can I, you know, if, if, did they drop a subtle hint to me that said, Hey, I'm still missing some information. How can I circle back with them?
And then I need to move on and I need to pull myself out of that mental place where I'm at of rejection with this one physician and I need to move to the next because I can't carry the negative energy. Into my next meeting. So I'll take like a mental note, I'll stop and I'll write it in my phone, which gets it outta my head, and then I move to my next meeting.
And so that's what I'll do. You know, I mean, I, I think it's kinda that, that's, maybe that's my mental scrub.
Cynthia Ficara: I like that mental scrub. That's a great thing to do, you know, and I think that. You know, overall rejection, it's such a heavy word and it's, it's not just, you're rejected, you're done. Yeah. In some ways, rejection is, is a good way to think about it as feedback as to the situation, but it's not a forecast of the rest of your day.
So we need to compartmentalize that. So I think it's a good time as the girls of grit to reveal a secret. So we we're, we're only on our. First part of compartmentalizing, which is rejecting. So will you tell our listeners the secret of the day as to what you need to compartmentalize? Ooh,
Anneliese Rhodes: I almost had a, I almost forgot our secret.
Typical me
Keep Your Edge Stay Sharp
, our secret to compartmentalize the secret. That's how I compartmentalize the secret. Our secret for today is edge. And what do we mean by that? You have to keep your edge because it keeps you performing. Under pressure. You have to stay on that. I don't know what it is, like a tightrope. I'm not, I'm trying to like make a visual for you guys, but like for me, it's like that tightrope that you're walking, you cannot afford to step off that tightrope because you'll fall.
So you gotta keep your edge, you know? You gotta have that little bit in you that's like, okay, I'm gonna take that knock and I'm gonna keep on going. I'm not gonna let that defeat me. I'm not gonna let that play into my next sales call. Case, whatever it is, I'm just gonna keep moving forward.
Cynthia Ficara: You have to have an edge and, and this edge we're gonna carry into the second portion when we discuss compartmentalizing.
And this is about tasks. And so I know that sounds almost silly, but you can't talk about compartmentalizing, or at least Lisa and I didn't. When we discuss this until you think about days that like everything just starts, just all in. One pot stirring together, you know? And so for instance, like if you have a day and you're like, oh, I'm so busy.
I've got these emails. Oh, and I got this call and I've gotta go into the, I've got a case here. And you're halfway between things and you're not all done and it's late, and you just feel that you have all this chaos in your sales, but. If you step back and realize it's not from too much work, it's just that you have too much together, that you're not compartmentalizing.
Anneliese Rhodes: Ooh, that was really good. And you know what? That is totally making me think of my other day. Like the, the other day, I like legit, like I had two big cases, I had to drive to them. I had a bunch of emails because it was on a Monday, so I'm catching up from the weekend, you know, you've got expense reports and all this stuff.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so busy. And it's like, if you don't. If you don't time block, if you don't compartmentalize, you know with precision, absolutely. You're gonna get run over. Absolutely. One thing is gonna meld into the other. Absolutely. Your focus is gonna be taken away from those important tasks.
Whatever they are. If they're a case, if it's a, you know, a meeting, if it's a presentation, I don't really care what it is. If you allow them to all flow into one another, your focus on each of these is not gonna be at your top notch. You know, performance and you're not gonna have that edge. So I love that you brought this up because people are like, well, how do I do that?
Well, guess what, Cindy, we now have a way for you guys to do this. We have a very special quarterly planner that is driven and written by none other than Cindy Kerra. Tell us about it, Cindy.
Cynthia Ficara: Oh yes. So honestly, it's just a sales system that keeps you accountable, it keeps you focused and it asks you the questions that you forget to ask yourself, did I finish this?
Am I on track? And it's a system set that you don't have to worry about the chaos and the fuzz in your brain. And you know, think about this, most of medical device works with surgeons. If it's not surgeons, I take that back, um, surgeons, physicians in a hospital, nurses techs. But when I think all of that, all these people mm-hmm.
And think about their days, you know, they clock in, they clock out. They have certain times they do things. But in our job, we, there is no clock in and clock out and you have to. Own that clock. You have to be the one that decides at this time, I clock in here and I clock out there and I move to the next thing.
But if you don't clock out and move on, your focus isn't where it needs to be. So, you know that old thing, the um, focus your energy. Energy goes where the focus flows or some, I said that back. Oh yeah. Focus, I think so. Goes with anyway. Right. But, but you need to be focusing at that time, like putting your energy into one task so you're not thinking about multiple things.
And so one of the things that we do on our planners, we have time blocking and that is so key. Yes. That if the night before, you know you have to be somewhere for like a 7:00 AM case, you can Yes. Reverse engineer back up your time and know where you you need to be. But it's not even all like compartmentalizing.
Isn't even about time management. A lot of the planner helps with time management. Compartmentalizing tasks is truly about energy management. And when you have good energy throughout the day, that's when you're more successful. When you dream yourself with things that shouldn't bog you down, then you run into trouble.
So, hmm.
Anneliese Rhodes: That's so true. Instead
Cynthia Ficara: of being all distracted and sloppy and thinking, I have to do these emails and do that, just block a time, get it done. It feels cleaner. You're sharper and you know, focus can be a choice. So something to think about.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that. And you know, we were talking about this, and like you were saying with surgeons and being precise and being very, you know, specialized, you should treat your calendar or your quarterly planner that you downloaded from the girls of grit.com.
Like an operating schedule, right? And everybody knows the operating schedule, it all operates around that 7:00 AM or seven 30 start, and everybody knows exactly what's happening, in what order, what case is happening, who's in that room, how much time to block showcases can run over. Things can happen in your day, but guess what?
They schedule for that. So manage your calendar like an operating room schedule. I think that's so important that you are, like you were saying, Cindy, you're focused, you're precise, and you're not wasting your energy. You're being really smart with these things.
Cynthia Ficara: I love that. So if you're an elite rep, you can use calendar as a weapon.
It'll give you that edge to stay focused. I love that.
The Power of Emotional Control
Anneliese Rhodes: I know you did. Alright, the last thing that we're gonna talk about is compartmentalizing emotions. And I think this is probably the most common thing that comes to mind when people think about. You know, compartmentalizing, like how you feel, how, what are your emotions, the stress, the everything.
And the truth is, is that does all weigh into the other things that we talked about. It does weigh into the tasks. It does weigh into the rejection. And so I feel like motions might be an overarching thing, but you know, I, I. Cannot stress this enough to you guys that you have to keep your emotions in check.
It is part of your job, just like your job every day, is to deliver the medical devices or be in the room to provide service or in service the staff or whatever your job is. It also entails that you keep your emotions in line because the truth is patients are on the table and they are depending on you not to bring anything.
Emotional wise into that room, you have to be like, I've said this before, it's almost like you need to be as sterile as the room is that you're walking into. Everything is out your system and you are operating like you should with your edge. You know, I'm not asking you to be a robot, but you need to really keep all of those emotions out like we've talked about before, leave them at the operating door.
You know, don't allow that bad call to come into your emotions.
Cynthia Ficara: And so I do think this is harder for women than men. Mm-hmm. And it takes that edge as we talked about, like you feel that just really stay centered and know that this is not the time for the emotions to come out. And so also I think it's, it's important to point out that when you are controlling your emotions, it doesn't mean to.
Be a fake calm when you're really just like people will see through as you are trying to mask or push away other things. So I think it's really important that we separate, like fake it till you make it. And compartmentalizing, compartmentalizing, truly compartmentalizes you take it out of your brain so you can stay really centered under chaos.
Focus on what you need to stay focused on because Lisa said it, there's a patient on the table and if you think if that was your mother, brother, sister, child, you would want all that focus on that patient. And so it is hard when we have tough days. But when you're an elite rep, you can do that, you know, pause where we talked about, you know, earlier, like walking out of the room if you need to step out and take a breath, but just pause and like pivot from what you're doing and then reenter the room and start over.
It is an amazing reset in compartmentalizing your emotions. One day when you, when you end up having a poker face.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love it. I was just about to say, it's like the poker face. I love that.
I'm so glad that we talked about this today, Cindy, because again, like I said in the beginning, this is not something that you typically think about, right? You don't bring this part into your sales calls, into your dailies, that you're out there on the field, but I think it's so important for all of us, especially women, to be able to master com compar.
Analyzing everything. Your rejection, your tasks, your emotions, because it truly makes you an elite rep. It really does. It keeps you laser focused on what you're supposed to be accomplishing. And you know, at the end of the day, if you really need to process some of these things that are happening, sure, take your, take your break, talk to your spouse, talk to a friend, pick up the phone, whatever you need to do, but you can't let it creep into your workday.
It just. It just is, it's gonna hurt your overall success. It's gonna hurt everything, right? Um, so I'm so glad that we talked about this today.
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Cynthia Ficara: I know, I think we've all had those moments for the emotional compartmentalizing. Like if you've ever had a physician just snap real quick, you know, whether they're, if, if they're in an OR again, sometimes it's like they have to have a response immediately.
You can't take it personally. You can't match that, that type of tension. You just have to stay calm. You keep the case moving, you stay centered and do your job. You can always. Later debrief. I mean, this isn't something you can just be like, oh, I'm just gonna, you know, forget it and leave it. Like, if it's something that needs to be addressed, you can address it later.
But there's a time and place for everything. Compartmentalizing is huge, and when you become that rep that supports your physician in a professional manner, they will have you back all the time. And so your power isn't always about reacting right away. It's more about responding in the right way.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that.
All right, so what is our call to action? What are we gonna give everybody? You're so good at your calls of action. I love them. What are we gonna ask for everybody to do today?
Cynthia Ficara: I think that, um, first of all, I really hope that in listening to compartmentalizing. You've had a chance to understand that it's not just emotional, it can be in tasks and it can be just in a rejection.
So I think that your call to action is to expect some type of, one of these three areas in which you will need to compartmentalize. I would love for you to recognize it and let us know, 'cause I want to hear your story and how you react. Or shall I say, not react? And I want you to end with, one thing I want you to think about this is that you cannot control every moment in sales, but you can control what follows it.
And that is what separates good reps from great ones.
Anneliese Rhodes: Hey, declutter. This is our snippet. Have you ever had one of those days in sales where everything hits at once? A tough call, a case that went sideways and your inbox is blowing up and you still have to walk into the next hospital like it's game time.
Cynthia Ficara: That is where great reps separate themselves. They don't carry rejection into the next room.
They don't let chaos bleed into focus. Oh, I don't like that sentence. Sorry.
Anneliese Rhodes: Just restart.
Cynthia Ficara: Yep.
Anneliese Rhodes: All right. We're restarting. I'm gonna go. Have you ever had one of those days in sales where everything seems to hit all at once? A tough call, a queso went sideways, and your inbox is literally blowing up and you still have to walk into the next hospital like it's game time.
Cynthia Ficara: That is where great reps separate themselves. They don't carry rejection into the next room
Anneliese Rhodes: because this job doesn't wait for your head to catch up. You've got to reset fast, move with precision, and
Cynthia Ficara: show up steady. And today we are breaking down exactly how to do that, how to flip the switch like a pro.
Keep your edge under pressure and never let one moment define your day.
