The Secret to Success: Why Being the Hardest Worker in the Room Matters

How do you go from just another face in the room to the indispensable expert everyone relies on?

In this latest episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, the Girls of Grit dive into the mindset and strategies that set-top reps apart. Kicking off their new series on what it takes to stand out, they explore the first key principle: being the hardest-working person in the room.

Drawing on Patricia Choquette'’s invaluable insights, they discuss how mastering knowledge, preparation, active listening, and the art of closing can transform your impact in the field. Through candid stories and practical advice, they reveal how true adaptability turns challenges into opportunities and positions you as the go-to expert.

Tune in for a raw, relatable look at how grit, focus, and unwavering commitment to excellence can help you step up and lead in the world of medical device sales.

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction 

02:27 Key to Success: Hard Work

05:12 Secret Revealed: Adaptability

09:54 Importance of Knowledge and Preparedness

16:40 Essential Preparations for a Successful Presentation

19:09 The Importance of Active Listening and Participation

23:31 The Critical Role of Closing Effectively

29:00 Becoming the Go-To Person

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

• Adaptability is Key: Anneliese and Cynthia stress that being the hardest-working person isn’t just effort—it’s adaptability. Knowing products, anticipating needs, and having backup plans set top reps apart.

• Preparation and Product Knowledge: Being fully prepared and understanding every detail positions reps as indispensable experts in high-stakes situations.

• Active Listening: They highlight the value of staying alert to everything in the OR, from patient stats to team needs, demonstrating attentiveness and commitment.

• Closing Every Interaction: Staying until the end and debriefing with staff cements relationships and can lead to more referrals.

• Earning Trust through Consistency: Doctors remember reps who go above and beyond, consistently showing up prepared and proactive.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

• “Being the hardest working person in the OR, you got to know everything.” — Anneliese Rhodes

• “Sitting back and being complacent is the last place you want to be. You never want to be complacent because you’re going to end up getting passed.”  — Anneliese Rhodes

• “Knowledge is key in this adaptability.”  — Anneliese Rhodes

• The hardest working person in the room should be the most knowledgeable.”  — Anneliese Rhodes

• “If you're going to be the expert in knowledge, you better be the expert in your product and other products.”  — Anneliese Rhodes

• “To be the hardest working person in the room, you have to be adaptable.” — Cynthia Ficara

• “Knowledge is power because it’s going to help your confidence.” — Cynthia Ficara

• “Be that person in the room that has the solution and when you stand out in a good way, it only comes back to you in a good way.” — Cynthia Ficara

• “Knowledge also ties into credibility.” — Cynthia Ficara

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Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Anneliese Rhodes: Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to everyone out there. Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales.

Cynthia Ficara: I love that you guys came back! What’s really fun about today is we’re starting a three-part series inspired by a recent episode we did with Patricia Choquette.

The reason we're doing this is that more than one person wrote in and responded to how great her interview was. She shared such valuable points on what it really takes to be the best of the best and succeed. In that conversation, there were three things she highlighted, so we decided to break them down into three separate episodes.

Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, because each one is super important. Each is a unique insight that Patricia pointed out. You know, it’s funny—I think we all probably do these things to some extent, but Cindy and I both really felt that these were three critical topics Patricia shared as keys to her success.

So, we’re going to break those down for you today and explain what they look like, give a definition, at least as they apply to us and to medical devices, share some fun stories, and show how you can apply them in your everyday work life.

And we hope, and really think, that you guys will get a lot out of this episode.

The Secrets to Being the Hardest Working Person in the Room

Cynthia Ficara: So, three things that Patricia mentioned. When she went through this—and you can go back and listen again—the three things she mentioned are number one, being the hardest-working person in the room. Yep, and that's what we're going to talk about today. The second thing she discussed was bringing value and being valuable to your customers. And the last thing is about following up—making sure you follow through with everything you were supposed to do. It’s about putting in the work from the beginning to finish strong.

So, that’s what we’re focusing on in these next three episodes. Today, we’ll start with being the hardest-working person in the room. So, what does she mean by that, Lisa? Who is the hardest-working person in the room?

Anneliese Rhodes: Well, I’ll give you a perfect example of what I think it means, at least in my part of the industry and medical devices. I’m an aorticist. I’m sure you guys all know that by now. And it’s a really unique place to be.

What does that look like? Well, being the hardest-working person in the OR, at least in our space, means this, guys: you’ve got to know everything. And what do I mean by that? From the moment you walk into that OR, you have your case plan. You know exactly what you’re doing in that case. You have a plan A, B, and C in case things go a little sideways. You have all of your products with you in the room and extras. Then, you’re going to walk into the room and do a number of things—you’re going to look at the patient, check the stats, you know, the blood pressure, heart rate, and how the patient is presenting.

You’re going to meet the nurses in the room, get their first names, and make sure you’re paying attention to them. You know the doctor, obviously, but you’ll review the plan with the doctor. You’ll listen to the anesthesiologist, and throughout the whole case, you’re going to be paying attention to the room and listening to the symphony of what’s happening there. You’re also going to know everything in that room and how it runs. And you’ve got to be able to run that yourself because if someone else in there can’t make it work, that’s your job—you have to make it work. You’ve got to have answers to everything the surgeons are asking, and you have to be quick on your feet and know where all the extra supplies are, in case the tech or circulating nurse doesn’t hear the physician quickly and needs to get that product. That’s your job.

So, Cindy, a lot of this is really interesting, and I think it might be time to reveal our secret. Oh, yeah—being the hardest-working person in the room.

Cynthia Ficara: What you just described is so true. You mentioned having to grab a product, having to do this and that. If you plan ahead and see where everything is, you can do exactly what we’re about to reveal. And the secret is adaptability. To be the hardest-working person in the room, you have to be adaptable.

For example, like she said, what if you need a product? It doesn’t need to be your product. A great piece of advice is that when you go into an OR, every single place is different, right? Some people have different rooms; they’re built differently. So, always do a kind of peripheral scan—go around, see, okay, I’m going to walk by, this is where this is in this cabinet, this is where that is now. Granted, when you’ve been there a long time, you see things where they are, but don’t be surprised—they do move things on you.

Anneliese Rhodes: Well, that happened to me the other day. I was like, wait, oh my God, they totally moved it! It was in the core, in this place, and I was looking all over, racing around in the middle of the night trying to find something. I was like, oh my gosh! Of course, no one was there to help me. I finally found it, but the next morning, I was like, what happened? And the head nurse says, “Oh yeah, sorry. We totally moved everything.”

Cynthia Ficara: Reminds me—do you remember after COVID? There was such a shortage, and nurses and techs were getting all this travel money, so they all left. Then it was like nobody knew anything, right? Or if they were older, they retired and didn’t want to work. So there was this huge shortage. You’d be in the OR and might be lucky to have one tech instead of two or three.

So, half the time, you’d walk in there, and let me tell you—if our secret of adaptability didn’t come into play, you’d be running around trying to get nine different things. You’ve got to make sure the fellow’s there. It’s almost like the expression of wearing different hats, but you have to put on that hat—put your hat on now. Now, I’m a rep. Oh, now I have to help the tech. Oh, now I’m the secretary who’s going to call the fellow or call someone else. Or wait, they’re hands-on with the patient, so I’ll be the one to run down the hallway to get something. Your legs are important sometimes, too.

Why Adaptability Puts You First in Line

Anneliese Rhodes: They're so important. That’s so true. You might be sitting there thinking, okay, well, great, you guys work really hard. Why is that important? I think I work hard enough. Why do I have to be super adaptable? Why can’t I just be semi-adaptable? Well, I'll tell you.

Cynthia Ficara: Are you—

Anneliese Rhodes: Are you getting all the first calls? Is the doctor calling you first for all these cases? Are you going into these offices, and he or she is handing you everything, saying, “Here you go, Cindy, here are your cases for the week; I’m giving you everything”? Chances are, probably not.

So, one of the reasons we’re talking about this today, and why Patricia highlighted it in her episode—and if you haven’t listened to it, you absolutely need to—is because Patricia is getting all those calls. She’s the number one rep in the company because of that. Right? She’s not getting overlooked. She’s getting picked, not her competitor. She’s on top of things, works really hard, and continues to work hard. There’s nothing wrong with working hard.

But the thing is, if you’re not doing this, you’re probably not getting all those calls. And what does that look like? Well, it’s a downward spiral. If you don’t start getting those calls soon enough, you’re not going to get any calls. And then, suddenly, you’re not hitting your numbers. Exactly. Now the stress is really on. So these little things we’re talking about—they’re not a big deal. But going a little over and above will save you in the long run by a long shot.

Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. So, if you’re struggling in any part of your business, like she said—is the competitor being called first? I’ll be honest, do you like feeling overlooked? Because I don’t.

Anneliese Rhodes: It’s the worst feeling in the world when you walk in, and you’re like, “Oh great, there’s everybody else today in the OR. Not me.” It’s an awful feeling.

Cynthia Ficara: And, you know, we’ve mentioned before, if you think about sales as a roller coaster, you have ups and downs. But let me tell you, there’s nothing worse than when you're down. You feel it—it just takes the wind out of you. We know it; you feel deflated.

So, part of what we’re talking about today is recognizing that these things happen. You’re going to be behind on your numbers sometimes. You’re going to feel deflated. But what if there was something you could do? What if we could fix this? What if we could make it better, instead of you just being down in the dumps?

So, if you’re feeling deflated, overlooked, or losing confidence in yourself—don’t throw in the towel. Not yet. We’re here to talk about how we can fix this. We’re going to break down that secret of adaptability that supports Patricia’s number one reason for success: being the hardest-working person in the room.

And we have four things we’re going to break it down into.

The Power of Knowledge and Expertise

Anneliese Rhodes: Yep. So the first one is knowledge. I mean, that's not a hard one, right? You have to know all the answers. You’ve got to not only have your plan, but you need to have Plan B and Plan C and Plan D. And you need to know everything about your device, the ins, and outs, to get the physician or whoever out of trouble if they find themselves there.

But then you’ve got to know everything about everyone else’s devices as well. That could be, you know if you’re in our world, balloons, and stents, which are ancillary products to us. Or, if you're in the peripheral world, maybe you sell atherectomy, and you know one balloon, but you don’t know the rest. You need to learn them all, know what their names are, what wire they go over, and have an idea of the pressure—because different balloons have different pressures. If you’re in neuro and you only know about coiling, go out there and learn the rest.

Everything you can do to up your game and knowledge is so important because, if you’re not on top of things, you’re going to get stepped over—and things are happening quickly. With our phones, basically a computer at our fingertips, you can look up almost anything when you need to. Knowledge is key to adaptability. To be the hardest-working person in the room, you’ve got to be the most knowledgeable.

Cynthia Ficara: So Lisa is saying pretty much you have to be Google, but let’s take this a step further because you just made me think of something. Yes, knowledge is important. So, let’s think about how you get that knowledge. Most likely, you have a training program, but let’s say there’s something missing in it. You can ask your trainers, go to your mentors, or even Google, or YouTube—especially for competitor products. It gives you great insight.

You also need to be knowledgeable about current events. Maybe my competitor is doing a trial, and I know this hospital is involved. What are the results of that trial? You can bring that into a conversation. Always stay updated on clinical information. If you rely a lot on your company for training, that’s great. Some companies are very thorough; in others, you pull much of it yourself. If you combine both, ask your company, “Hey, is this an approved article? I’m seeing this—read it over.”

So, when you know a little about something, see if you can learn more. Be the most knowledgeable. Don’t just know that a research study had good results. Ask: was it statistically significant? Research articles show statistical significance when results are repeated reliably. This ties knowledge to credibility, and when you’re in the OR, you’ve got to be able to pull that knowledge.

Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. If you’re thinking, “That sounds like so much work; I don’t have to do that. I’m doing great. They never ask me about that stuff.” They may not be today, but they may be tomorrow or next week. Complacency is the last place you want to be. You’ll get passed over. Even though it may seem like a lot, just break it down. Read one paper, know it inside and out, take notes and keep them on your phone if you need to pull it up when a doctor asks about it.

Cynthia Ficara: And know that knowledge is power because when you know, it boosts your confidence. When you have more confidence, you’re more able to speak up when you need to. It creates a domino effect, and it starts with being the hardest-working person in the room. That’s it.

Anneliese Rhodes: Well, don’t you want to be seen as intelligent with your doctors? I think that’s really important. Actually, I got a call yesterday; I was talking with one of my favorite CT surgeons about results and data. I told him, “I’m not a doctor, sir, so I’ll let you discuss this peer-to-peer.” He said, “Lisa, you’ve been doing this long enough. You know more than most surgeons I run into. I can have this conversation with you.” And I thought, “Damn right. I do know this.” We’ve been doing it, I learn, pay attention, and want to be better, so I ask questions and am constantly watching videos and learning so I can have intelligent conversations with my surgeons.

Cynthia Ficara: And then you’re seen as an expert in this area. CT surgeons have a buffet of things they do, and you’re one item on that buffet. You’re the expert in this area. You do the research, and study, and become an extension for them. You bring that value. If he sees you as an expert, he’ll call you first for that case. That’s how you get out of your funk, your numbers go up, and it works to your advantage. So, the number one thing is knowledge.

Preparedness and Problem-Solving

Anneliese Rhodes: All right. And rolling right into that would be being prepared—preparedness. I think number two. I don't even know if that's a word, but these are like literally one and two coinciding together. I mentioned it actually in the first part, but you know, you’ve got to be prepared. Have your plan, know everything about it, have all your products, be proactive, but also be able to troubleshoot along the way because chances are, things don’t always go as planned.

And you've got to be able to walk your surgeons through things. They’re leaning on you for that. If you’re going to be the expert in knowledge, you better be the expert in your product and other products. Go ahead and just plan on something going off-script, and that way, when it does, you’re good to go. You can solve all the problems.

Cynthia Ficara: And, you know, we’ve done so many examples of being in an OR, but many of us in the medical device industry also do dinner programs, right? Where you’ll have a presentation. So think about that scenario as well. You’re going to have dinner next week. Is the presentation clean? Is the background set for PowerPoint? Do you have a menu planned? Are the seats well-arranged? Doctors will say, “Thank you for picking this restaurant; we were able to have this great discussion.” Do a little bit of homework on the forefront.

My one piece of advice for any dinner program you go to: always have HDMI, A-to-B, C cables—whatever! Just keep one of them in your glove box so you’ll always have it. You know what?

Anneliese Rhodes: Girl, I’ve been burned. I was totally burned and had to run to Best Buy last minute and pray they had what I needed. So now I just keep it all with me. I am not going to be stuck. I literally have every connector possible known to man.

Also, make sure your computer is fully charged. Because if you happen to forget your power cord, you’re in trouble, because not everybody has what you need for a power cord. I know this sounds silly, but it’s so true.

Cynthia Ficara: It’s true. Be that person in the room that has the solution. Walk into the dinner, and sometimes upper management or other company specialists are there. But if they need something, you better have the toolbox because you’re the hardest-working person. Fix that projector. When you stand out in a good way, it only comes back to you in a good way.

Anneliese Rhodes: Because the opposite of that is standing there with your arms crossed, looking like a dummy, not helping at all. Even if you’re hosting the dinner, you’re just standing back, watching everyone else fumble around, and you too have no answer. The better solution is to have the answer, step in, solve the issue, and then you’re welcome to walk away. It’s a much better feeling, right? Like you’ve given something.

Active Listening and Participation

Cynthia Ficara: Oh, I totally agree. Totally agree. Okay, so moving on to number three. So, number one was knowledge, number two was being prepared, and number three is a little bit different, but it's very, very important and supportive when we think about the hardest working people.

And that is active listening and participation. So, what does that mean? That means don’t zone out. If you’re sitting at dinner, pay attention. You hear the cues for the little things, like if the doc is struggling with something—identify it before everybody else at the table notices. Do everything you can to prevent embarrassment or any struggles. So, actively listen, watch their body language, and know what’s going on. This also applies, of course, to an OR. You always have to be paying attention.

I was just, you know, training people recently, and I’ll point to the screen and say, “What do you notice up there?” Look, we have all the patient stats, you know—their blood pressure, their heart rate, and if there are certain medicines they're giving. Sometimes, paying attention to everything that’s going on as it’s happening really helps you be a reference because the surgeon is very focused on what they’re doing. There are times you may call out, “What’s this look like?” and they go up and look, but maybe there was medication, maybe there’s a certain lab that needs to be drawn at a certain time slot—maybe every 30 minutes, every 15 minutes.

Maybe there’s an IV on a certain arm, and there’s a blood pressure cuff that automatically goes up every 15 minutes, and you can’t figure out why the screen is going blank. Check to see if the blood pressure is on that arm. These are little, tiny things, but it’s actively participating with your eyes and your ears. And then you also become kind of like an extension of everybody in the room. You know what I mean, Lisa? I’m thinking more like…

Anneliese Rhodes: Yes, techs and nurses, yes. You’re becoming truly part of the team. That’s what we all want to be. You want to be not only a team player—you want to be intimately on that team because then they’re going to turn to you when they need something or when they have a question. You’re there to answer it. And again, why is that important? Well, let’s look at the flip side of that. Instead, you’re sitting back in the room, arms crossed, saying, “It’s not my turn to go yet.” I mean, what? Come on, that is just so—you know what that reminds me of? That reminds me of the episode we talked about, "Don’t Be That Rep." Yeah, that was that guy, just FYI. That was that guy. I’m like, really, dude? You offer nothing in this room. I’ll open the boxes for you. Go ahead, go get in your little car and drive away because I know your product better than you do.

Cynthia Ficara: Yeah. Go back and listen to that episode if you missed it because that was a funny one.

Anneliese Rhodes: But it’s true. I mean, the flip side of not actively listening and participating is—you just look like nothing. You’re not adding anything in there.

But let me just say this, though. You know, one thing that I think we all need to remember in medical devices is that there are certain devices we can touch and certain devices that we cannot. Oh, 1000%. I think it’s really important. And this goes way back to my beginning days when I started with J&J, I mean, 23, 25 years ago. They told us about a recent incident that happened with a rep who was told to touch a certain button. They touched the button, and ultimately, that patient had a reaction to the machine. It wasn’t the rep’s fault, but unfortunately, they touched that machine.

So I will say this: you guys really do need to make sure that you’re doing the right things. You’re not touching things you shouldn’t be touching. That’s not what we mean by participating. You’re not flipping the patient around. You’re not, you know, injecting drugs. You’re not doing any of that. What we’re talking about is making sure you’re paying attention in the room. If somebody needs something and the circulating nurse is busy, go grab it for them, hand it to the circulating nurse, and say, “Here you go.” Let them open the product—all the things that you should be doing in the OR. But it is very important.

Yeah. It just kind of occurred to me—I don’t want anybody thinking that we’re telling you to do something that you shouldn’t.

Cynthia Ficara: No, no, no. This is all eyes and ears. Eyes and ears and no hands. Eyes and ears, hands behind your back. There you go. That is so true. And, you know, when you’re listening and communicating with the doctor effectively in the room, you’re just part of that, circulating that. And it shows that you’re the one who’s willing to step up to the plate when you’re needed because there are other reps that may sit back. Doctors will remember that—they want to call the person who’s going to step up when they need them. And I think that’s really kind of coding what Patricia was really saying. I think it’s really important. So, we do have one more.

The Importance of Closing

Cynthia Ficara: So the fourth part of this is the close. So what do we mean by that? Are you the rep that leaves the OR, saying, "Hey, I got a flight; I gotta get out of here"? Or are you the rep that's like, “Oh, glad you guys are done; I'm just gonna see you.” Bye. Maybe the nurse, the doctor, or the tech wanted to discuss something about the case with you before you left. And now you're gone.

Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, or they were gonna give you another case, and then they forgot to give it to you because you left.

Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. You didn’t stay close. You didn’t wrap everything up. You didn’t partner from beginning to end.

Anneliese Rhodes: Yes. That’s a big swift kick in the butt. You need to stay till the very end—no matter what. It’s your job to be there until the doctor closes, walks out of the room, or de-scrubs. And you say, “Thank you so much for the case.” Offer a wrap-up or whatever information they might need. This is their opportunity to tell you, “Hey, Cindy, I just saw a patient in the clinic, and I think they might be great for your device. Why don’t you meet me after work or after the clinic tomorrow, and we’ll go through the films.” You’d miss that if you left early.

Cynthia Ficara: Closing is so important. It’s also the time to do all your paperwork. Get all the signatures, take the necessary pictures, and do all the documentation for your company. Make notes about any inventory that you used so you don’t get home and go, “Ah, I totally forgot to do this.”

The Power of Thorough Preparation

Cynthia Ficara: And, you know, say it was a busy, hectic moment during surgery. Remind the tech, “Hey, don’t forget, I had to run down and borrow from a different OR.” Help them close up and wrap up their job—leave no loose ends on their part because that’s important. And think about dinner meetings too. When you close it, make sure you’re the hardest-working person in the room. Say hello and goodbye to every guest. Make a point to shake their hands, say thank you, and let them see your face. If you need a sign-in sheet, have it, and thank everyone as they go.

Anneliese Rhodes: Don’t leave any stone unturned. We’re not just talking about the actual moment; there’s so much before and after that goes into it. Make sure you leave no stone unturned.

Cynthia Ficara: Exactly—no stone unturned. Right?

Anneliese Rhodes: This is what happens when we get together—we lose our minds sometimes.

Consistency as the Hardest Worker

Anneliese Rhodes: But I’m glad we’re breaking down these three points of Patricia’s. The number one thing she mentioned was being the hardest-working person in the room. It’s worth the effort because it ensures you will get that callback. You’ll get the next case; you’ll see your name on that board. You’ll be the expert in the room. The flip side is, you’re not the expert—you’re adding nothing to the case. And listen, would you want a doctor, if you were the patient, who wasn’t totally prepared and the expert in the room? Not me. So, why not match that skill set and be the expert right alongside them? They’ll appreciate and respect that. When you’re working hard, they’re working hard, and now you’re a team working hard together. It bonds you.

Cynthia Ficara: I hope that by listening to this today, how we broke down being knowledgeable, prepared, actively listening, and closing will help you avoid being in an OR and feeling like you don’t have an answer. Or going into a meeting and realizing you’re missing something important.

We made some of these moments silly stories, but if you find any of these happening in the next week, take time to stop and focus. I think being the hardest working person in the room is about taking time out, focusing where you need to be, and preparing, listening, participating, and being present.

Anneliese Rhodes: And in the end, you close. You’ll go home, hit the pillow, and know you did the best you could. And that’s all we ever ask—that you’re the one who gives their best every day. Doing these things—being knowledgeable, prepared, actively listening, and closing—brings it all together, making you the hardest-working person in the room. So go get them, guys.