Tips to a Thriving Career in Medical Sales with Brandon James Thompson

In this episode, we talk all about how to break into the medical sales industry, the importance of being kind to every person you meet, framing being "busy" in a positive way, and the value of taking the tougher path.

I'm joined by Brandon James Thompson. Brandon is the CEO and Founder of BT Medical Innovations and Careers in Aesthetics. He helps healthcare companies find top talent. He has over 15 years of medical sales experience climbing the corporate ladder starting as a Territory Manager to National Sales Director and Vice President of Business Development. 

“If you can take the tougher path, it will create an incredible skill set for yourself" – Brandon James Thompson

Highlights

💫 2:21   A little about Brandon's career journey

💫 8:22   Some advice for those wanting to break into aesthetics 

💫  16:27   Are you taking advantage of your ride alongs? 

💫 26:12    The power of positivity!

💫 30:19   How to be intentional with your time

💫  37:24    Three takeaways from today's conversation

Connect with Featured Guest, Brandon Thompson

✳️ Website: https://btmedicalinnovations.com/

✳️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonjamesthompson/

Finding Your Way Towards Success in the Medical Sales Industry

What's funny about my success is that I learned that there was very high turnover. And I knew that the new people coming in were using it as a stepping stone and they would leave quickly. I would befriend these people and I would take over their leads. So I found a shortcut, so I befriended them. I would always get the two or three hot leads that they're working on and I would close them, and so I had my circuitous ways of becoming successful quickly which helped the company. But it was an awesome learning lesson and I will tell you, I didn't hate it because I love cold calling. I really do to this day. I'm 43 years old. I have gone up the corporate ladder but I say, it sounds corny, but turning the frown upside down with the director of first impressions is something I learned from my grandfather and my dad. And so you know, treating them and acting, saying, “Are you the decision maker?” Just little things like that can put a smile on someone's face in the process of making cold calling less uncomfortable.

And it was about the cold calling. The cold calling, I didn't mind because after I worked in copier cells, I worked for a dental company. I did dental capital equipment for five and a half years. And that was all hunting for new businesses. It was cold calling day in and day out. So that wasn't the part that bothered me. It was more that I wasn't very passionate about a copier and there wasn't necessarily a segment that we were given direction on like, “Okay, these are the types of businesses that you wanted to do.” I was smart and why I was able to have success early on is because right before the market crashed, the mortgage companies were thriving at the time. So I was like, “I'm gonna go after the mortgage company. They print a lot of paper.” So I started with that. And then once I got into dental I was like, “Okay, call in dentists.” Like at least let's narrow it down from there versus more direction.

Unexpected Blessings and Windfalls

I was given very little direction. I did have a sales internship at UPS. And the hiring manager for the copier company had made a lot of money when they went public. It's a story for another day. But my first job, I'll tell you quickly, I walked into the UPS board – it's the warehouse – and an hour later, they went public. This is in, you can look it up, I think it was in 2001. It was, to this day, the most historic moment of my life. That guy who hired me into copier sales retired that day from UPS, he was supposed to train me. So when I walked in on my first interview, answering an ad in the newspaper, he said, “You're hired, you are trained by UPS.” And so it was divine intervention. But watching these UPS workers retire after 22 years of being drivers was, you know, it really made me once I hit that jackpot of having the stock options. Which brings me to your question, did you ever get that windfall of an opportunity where you got a stock advantages?

There have been times where I've gotten stock advantages through acquisitions. So one of the things that when I am working with clients and we'll negotiate, it's part of part of getting and attracting their dream job as we go through the negotiation processes of either looking at or we're going to negotiate their salary, or we're going to be negotiating signing bonuses, or stock options as well. Because stock options, when you get to a certain level within an organization, you start to acquire them and you can get some pretty hefty payouts. I paid for my kids’ first two years of college right off the bat with some acquisitions.

What to Consider in the Medical and Aesthetics Space

Now, what advice would you give to people – this is a two fold question – what advice would you give to people that want to break into medical sales? And then if they are in medical sales, what advice would you give if they want to maybe get into aesthetics?

I've been asked this question for years now. And my brother is 10 years younger than me. He's a naval flight surgeon now. And I would say that 15 of his friends I had this conversation with and it drives me crazy, because very few people take the advice. And so just like you and I did, we took the – definitely not the path of least resistance – it was a difficult path. And so that's why people in medical, especially in capital equipment sales on the aesthetic side, they want people that have the mentality of the no soliciting sign means welcome. And you have to cold call, you have to be a hunter. And so that's why they love people from copier. 

So my suggestion to someone is that it doesn't matter what age; I'd say under 35 would say, you know, go sell copiers, find a Konica Minolta dealer, find whatever dealers, Xerox, sell copiers for no less than two years, start interviewing at that 18 month range. If you are in the top 20%, find ADP. I deal with the top players in the industry [lik] BTL, a lot of these big cytomx and they love sales reps that sell payroll from ADP, like you said, send us uniforms, copiers; and some do like enterprise. Some don't like enterprise because it's not really a transactional sale. So find something that you can do. That's a transactional sale much like a device that has a higher ticket item. Retail doesn't work really well. But if you can get documented sales success, and you can have an email and a tray have a track record of being top five, top 10%, top 20%. And if you're number one, and you're 18 months in, you're gonna get hired. And what these device companies do is they'll hire you as a TM, a lot of people will take a step back. So if you're with Santos and you're in the top 5%, if you're selling copiers, you're probably making $125,000-130,000. Well, in order to become a TM, let's say for a site 10 or VTL, sometimes the salaries are less. It's $40,000- $50,000. So it's almost like you have to take a small step backwards to take a step forwards. 

But what I can tell you, and I know that you and I share the commonality of being passionate about helping people, I went to the sights on national sales meeting three weeks ago and I just got the chills. I got three hugs from people that I'd never met before, who said that, “Brandon, you talked me into taking this step back to take a step forward. Not only is my life better, but you completely changed it because now I'm part of this cultural fit that I love. I love being in aesthetics. But I absolutely love what I'm doing, versus loving the paycheck that I'm making.” And those people that took a step backwards for six, seven months are going to double their income within two to three years.

I get this question a lot when people are talking about how I develop my career? How do I put together a career plan for short-term and long-term? And that old mentality of saying we'll just climb up the corporate ladder has really shifted over the past couple of years, because sometimes it's not about taking. Sometimes it's not about taking a step back, it's about maybe learning new skill sets. So if you come from a copier background, you have the capital equipment background. Now it's also learning in different industries. So you're kind of shifting a little bit learning new skills. And sometimes if you want to move up into a director of VP level, it's also working and having lateral lateral moves within different divisions so that you have a broader perspective of the organization and how the business runs. So lateral moves are very beneficial for your career. Working in different industries can be beneficial in your career as well.

Well, I know that you mentioned that you worked in dental. I also worked in dental; my first capital job outside of copiers after being in a short stint in orthopedics was working for Biolace. And now aesthetics includes dentistry. So,it really does help as long as you're not in that orthopedic space where there's no real commonality. 

Ways to Level Up in your Career 

The advice – to answer the second part of your question – that I would give to someone that is in, let's say you're selling diagnostic equipment or to urologist, is just be at the top of your game. There are different segments of aesthetic. So if you want to get into skincare sales, you really have to have aesthetic relationships. I think that on the skincare side that a manager would prefer to hire almost an esthetician than they would someone like a copier rep, in some cases. There are some who want an office manager. My ex wife actually was an office manager at an aesthetic office. But she had that personality with sales, so they took a gamble on her. But that's one out of 10. So if you have the sales experience, and you become an esthetician, or something like that, to really understand the industry, you're going to get the job. If you've got that Top 10 Top 20% sales experience, and you understand the industry, maybe at night, get your esthetician license to show that you're passionate about the industry. 

Number two would be let's say you're selling equipment…I think that you've got – especially if you want to get into device – if you want to sell $100,000 pieces of equipment for a device company in the aesthetic space, and you're selling a good or service like from McKesson, they really don't want to go that route because they look at it as a transactional sale. I would try to shift into a department where there's more transactional sales. So I think that you know, just because you're selling to physicians, if you're not selling to plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and med spas, and dentists, it's difficult to get in because you don't have those relationships. And if you're not selling something that is a value of $20,000 plus, they don't look at it like a transactional sale.

Different Approaches to Hiring and The Three T’s

It's interesting that you've said – so this can be interesting and I'm glad that we have some differences, a little bit, on the opinions on backgrounds of things because it goes to show you that everyone takes a different approach to hiring. There are people I was a hiring manager for an aesthetic company and I was in the Skincare Division. And yes, there was one person that I've hired that actually had an esthetician license, no one else did. 

But I liked diversity on my particular team. I liked people that came with different skill sets. And I also know that there's some companies – I've spoken with managers recently, this past couple of weeks – and they said, “I want somebody who has aesthetic experience.” And then in the same week, I talked to somebody else, and they say, “No. Yes, we are an aesthetic company but we want to do things a little bit differently. So we're looking for people that don't have aesthetic experience.” 

Those just show you that every company is different, every hiring manager is different. And at the end of the day, when I was looking at what am I going to hire for my team, I came down to the three T's: 

•  What were the needs of the immediate territory?  

•  So if I had somebody that had a lot of key opinion leaders, if I had a territory where it was a high volume of business, I'm probably gonna want somebody that's got a little bit more experience, then a new and emerging territory that could take a little bit more of a risk with that particular one. 

• What were the needs of the team?  

• I want to have different strengths, so that all of us can come together and be a really strong kick ass team. 

• And then the other one was time.

• Can I sit in the car with somebody for eight hours, and actually deal with the time. 

It's a big deal. I'm one of the odd managers that I really enjoy ride-alongs. And as a rep, before, I was a manager, I liked when my managers rode with me for two reasons. Number one is, you're never going to work harder than when your manager’s with you. Number two, is take advantage of that extra touch point. And it's so funny to me how many people dread it, I think that just means that their work ethic is probably subpar. And so I loved when my managers rode with me. But I think that, to your point of the differing backgrounds, I do think that there's a shift where understanding aesthetics is more important than it was maybe in the past. But I do agree with you that if it's a territory that is an up and coming territory, where they can take some risk, where they really just need a cold calling machine, that it would be better to go that route of someone with you and I, our background.

And just like you, I loved it when my manager rode with me because to me, it was, “Okay, here's like this low hanging fruit. These are the accounts that I'm working with, I just need a little bit of something to push the needle.” And what I would always tell my team when I would ride with them is kind of use me for your business card. A lot of the time I'm probably going to be saying the same thing that you're saying. But I'm just saying it in a different way. And I'm reinforcing what you're saying. And that's where that value add is. So I loved it when my manager rode with me. And also I enjoyed writing with my team too, because my primary love languages of the Five Love Languages is acts of service and quality time. So I like one on one time, which is probably why most of my coaching is one on one coaching. I like the intimacy of one-on-one conversations.

I do too. And I mean, there are friendships that I've formulated. Ally Reese has been in the industry for a long time and we had our first ride-along together. Scott Callahan – there are so many people that I've had ride-alongs with that we had, we only met; that was the first time ever meeting in person. And to this day, we're friends. And both Scott Callahan and Ally Reese are just like, “You're the best cold caller I've ever seen in my life.” But without that ride-along, they would have seen my numbers and that I was a successful sales rep. But I wouldn't have been able to speak in front of the entire company on how to successfully and effectively cold call. So yeah, I like it. Very, very few people are like you and I that took advantage of it. But the bottom line is, in sales the more touch points, the higher the proclivity is that the doctor or whoever the buyer is going to move forward. And so just like what you said they can hear it from us. But you know, hearing it from a manager and then connecting them with another physician who's an owner. Now you got three touch points, they’re so much more likely to move forward. So take advantage of your ride-alongs, people.

Utilizing the Resources Within the Company while Showing Respect and Kindness

Yeah, and sometimes, that ride-along could be – there would be times where my manager was busy. Or I was busy as a manager covering five states. I was on the road all the time. And so what would it look like if you asked your peer, “Hey, would you come co-travel with me and kind of just be a second eyes and ears into the meeting and maybe provide another perspective.” It doesn't always have to be your manager. Use the resources…your peers as well.

At company meetings I would make friends with the engineering department. I can remember the year that I left Tutera in 2012 as the number one rep. Dr. Mary Lupo was bought an XLV and she was instrumental in helping me be successful that year. So I utilized her when appropriate when they were at the finish line. But I also used the engineering department and – I loved him. And they started coming to me like, “Which device? Which direction should we go?” But I would put a doctor that was asking high level engineering questions, which is not my forte. I was like, “You know what, versus talking to a physician, I think that you would really get a kick out of speaking to the engineer that created the device. Would that interest you? If so, I'm going to CC you on a text. I don't want to be on the call. So you can ask any questions that you deem necessary." 

And so yeah, you're utilizing your resources within the company. I think that also brings a good point, regardless of what type of sales you're in, be friendly to every department. I'm not going to name names, but I was on a call the other day with a friend. And this is a top performing employee rep every single year. But this person is rude to the customer service department. And you know, you just don't want to be that person. Be just like, when you're anywhere, be friendly to the team. I always say, the staff at a restaurant and people, you just want to be friendly to everyone within your corporation. Because at one point, they can help you. But why not just be kind in general?

Yeah, I agree with you 100% because a lot of times I look around when I'm looking at – even when I'm interviewing people, and I'll see if often we'll be at a hotel, or we'll be at a restaurant and interviewing. And I always look to see how they are interacting with the servers that are serving us? Are they making eye contact? Are they saying thank you, because how you treat people that you interact with every single day is what's the most important. And you're right. I mean, there's people within the organization and when you get to know and you go beyond understanding, not only the people and the departments, but what's the day to day like for them. What are some ways that you can support them in getting their stuff done? So then in return, not in return, but like it's a mutually beneficial relationship? There's often times where I'd speak to the marketing team. I'm like, “Hey, we're hitting a roadblock. What's going on? What perspective can you share with me of why this is happening? And maybe I can change my approach of getting exception requests done faster.” And a lot of the times it was such a simple thing, but it wasn't until somebody took the time to ask.

Yeah, well, I think that that's a whole segment that you and I should talk about – sales reps getting along with the marketing department. But because this is a female dominated group, one of the things that I always end on every day that I had is, “Is she nice to the server?” And just like what you said, the other thing that I look at when when I'm speaking to anybody, and this is what I've really instilled in my life since probably 30, is if someone doesn't ask a question about you – so ladies, especially that are single and going through a divorce, and I just went through a divorce – if someone doesn't ask about you in the first five minutes, I don't even care if they're a customer, I'm probably not going to do business with them. Because I really don't want to be affiliated with people that are extremely self-centered. But I think that those are two really good ways to see how people really are on the inside – How they treat the server? And did they ask about you in the first five minutes? I think those are two great questions to ask yourself when it comes to business, friendship, and life in general.

What to Consider in Creating Your Tribe

Oh, gosh, life advice. I mean, the things that I look for – it’s very similar to that, you know, is it a two-way conversation? I think about when you're creating the tribe of people around you – I've had a podcast episode about this. And for those of you that are tuning in, Chelsea Donaldson was the guest and we talked about creating your tribe – and so the things I look for are, “How are the interactions when somebody's interacting with the day to day people? What are those interactions like?” 

And there have been times where I have seen people on my team who are rude to the valet person, the staff at a restaurant, and I'm going, “I'm not surprised that I'm getting customer complaints.” I had one person on my team had 10 customer complaints within a very short time period. I wasn't too surprised which is why maybe those conversations were a little bit different from somebody where I see them on there every day. They're just so kind and generous. And so I get a customer complaining like, “That doesn't align with, maybe, my continuous interactions that I have with this person.” 

So when you're creating your tribe, look at how they interact with other people. Ensure that it's a two-way dialogue and get to know each other. It's not all about you. It's not about them. It's really about you guys getting to know each other and, and deepening that relationship and that bond. The last one, I would say, is positive people; really assessing the people in your life and saying, “What are they bringing to the table? Are they a person that calls you up and then when you get off the phone you're just drained? Like they just steal your soul? 

And Then there's some people that it's like, yes, there's going to be tough times. But like, how do you get through it together? How do you acknowledge it and not go into that victim mentality? And so I surround myself with people that are very positive; glass half full, because that's who I want to surround myself with. And I'm not to say that things don't happen in life. There's been some challenges. But how do you get through it, and how do you address it? So looking around at the people around you is definitely the other thing that I look at when creating my tribe. ,

Connecting People and Helping Each Other Out

I think that that speaks volumes about our friendship, because it's gone both ways. And just a compliment to you is, you know, the people that I've sent to you to be on the podcast, you know, Randy and Maryland, Dan, and a lot of these powerful female leaders, they loved you. And so Olara, who I introduced you to for your messaging, but the feedback that they give me is similar, and I love how you say, “They love you, Brandon, you know. And I think that we are kindred-spirits, but you know, every person that I've put you in touch with has really appreciated you as a person and the professionalism that you bring to the table. Oh, you just made my day, Brandon. 

At the end of the day, the feeling's mutual. I think that's where we are. So as I was telling our audience, we've had very similar career paths. As you've heard from this podcast, we both started in copier sales, we both did dental, and we both were in aesthetics, but our paths never crossed in person. Actually, our paths crossed through the pandemic, through LinkedIn, and yet we've come to your own business while building your own businesses. And then we've come to find all these people that we knew in common, and we just started connecting people. And it's always been like, “Hey, do you have somebody that does this?” And then you'll reach out to me, “Hey, do you have somebody that does this?” It’s just helping each other out.

Well, there should be more of that. And I will say that during the pandemic, you know, Alicia Merleau Rosa, who you and I are both friends with, she created a platform within LinkedIn. And I love it. And people were helping each other out. And I feel like there's already been a loss of the total connection that we had before. But I think that there could be more of it. But honestly, I'm at a point in my life where if it's a one-way street, I'm out. I don't have time for it in my life. You know, I'm a single dad with two kids, and I love my children. And if I have an energy vampire, of course, people have their bad days, and you need to be there for them. But if it's continual, and it's a couple of months at it, I just got to pump the brakes. 

Being Positive about Being Busy 

One other bit of advice I'll give you, and I've never heard you say this, is “I'm swamped.” Salespeople, stop using that term. It drives other people crazy. We're all busy. I like to say that I'm crazy busy, but in a positive way. Like I've had a great day. I've talked to a lot of prospects.

Interesting that you've made that observation, because especially today, within the past 24 hours, I've had this kind of “aha moment” in my life where I'm a big advocate for work-life balance. And my business has grown very rapidly to the point where I've had this moment within the past 24 hours where I'm going, “I need to get help.” I'm at this point where I could have brought somebody on. I've got a couple of people, some team members, that I've brought on but it's now to get some more team members. But you're right, I won't ever say I'm so busy. I say my schedule is full. Right now, my schedule is full and it's a matter of prioritizing some things. My garage is a complete disaster right now, it's a mess everywhere. My husband has this eight-inch lifted truck that he's constantly working on. So there's car parts everywhere. My truck is lifted so my old tires are there.

By the way, for those that want to know Danielle, if you follow her on LinkedIn you've seen the picture. But when I met her in person, she pulled up with her two kids in the back of this giant truck that was lifted – coolest entry I've ever seen with a woman – she wasn't in high heels that day, but a badass female leader that I've ever seen.

Yeah, I'm probably the most – a little bit polarizing in the sense that everybody sees me on social media, I love to dress up. I love wearing heels and a dress and feeling feminine. I also drive a huge lifted truck. I also owned and rode my own Harley Davidson, which I sold for a double stroller. So there's being diverse and just who you are as a person. But yeah, it's a matter of your schedule being full. And it's a matter of reevaluating, constantly doing a gut check of like reevaluating as to where you spend your time, who you spend your time with, and saying that it may not be a “no”; sometimes it's just a “not right now”, maybe it's something I'm gonna be doing in the future.

I've gotten much better at that. And I will tell you, because we both are working parents, that one of the things that when I have my kids, it's a 5050 custody split. And they get along with my ex wife brilliantly. But I don't care if it's a giant deal, when I pick up my kids at 4:15 – unless it is an absolutely necessary call – I don't answer my phone between 4:15 and 9pm. My kids are asleep by nine and I have more calls post 9pm than I've ever had, but that time is for my kids. And I'm really good at, you know, what I could make more money if I answered those calls. But to me, I just want to be omnipresent with my kids; I coach and that is my number one priority. I would rather spend quality time with them than potentially close a deal. And I think that my customer base really appreciates it at the end of the day. Have I lost deals? 100%, but the majority of them I send them a picture afterwards saying, “Hey, I was just coaching my kid play basketball. He had a great practice. Thank you for understanding.” It almost creates an even better bond because then they'll send a picture of their kids. So just remember that you first, and prioritize your work-life balance, and work isn't everything. Although you know, if you're like you and I, we love to win, and we love to succeed, and we love to help others, there are points in your life when you have to say “no”.

Building Helpful Habits

I'm glad you brought up that “balancing” as well, because one of the things that we did as a management team is we made a commitment – I was with one company –  we made a commitment where we weren't going to email each other after 5pm. That was our commitment. Now I acknowledge that sometimes, you're on the road. When I was on the road and I was doing overnights, that was the time that I would just power through and get caught up on all the things so that when I got home I could just be done. With that said though, what I would do is I would delay delivery of the message to the next day so that my team and my peers were not getting their phones banged throughout the evening. 

The average person touches their phone 200 times a day, that’s  just scary.So since I know that and I have the awareness of it, when I am with my kids I put my phone in another room. 

And at my parents’ house, I do the same thing. I will tell you, and you got to use this with your kids – for all you ladies that have children, so I give my son and my daughter two opportunities to yell at Dad. Absolutely scream at me I don't care, you can be disrespectful because I'm a big advocate of saying, “Yes, sir. Respect.” I teach my son and my daughter how to shake hands. So if my head is down, I hear, “Head up, daddy!” That you have to put your head up because it aligns your spine. I'm telling you. One of the things – the reason why aesthetics is booming is because of the Technic number one. 

Number two is texting and driving. I can't tell you I was doing it yesterday. And my son said, “Stop texting and driving, daddy.” So those are the two times that I allow them to absolutely have an outburst, disrespectful; I'm like, “Whatever I'm doing, when I'm doing that, you guys can yell at me, punch me, whatever you want to do.” So take that bit of advice because it goes both ways.

You're so spot on. I tell my kids – one of my boys lately is just kind of like when he gets sad, he just puts his head down – and I say, “But Bob, when your head is down, you miss out on seeing the world. Why miss out on seeing the world? Hold your head high and look at everything around you.” And so that's what I remind him of. And then there's times they'll catch me on the phone. There is a reality to it, I am not perfect at not being on my phone, I definitely get tempted at times. And I give them permission to say, “Mommy, get off your phone.” And I say, “You know what, thank you for that reminder.” Because I need reminding too, and it's also showing them that I also say I'm sorry to them. I also acknowledged when I have dropped the ball on my commitment and my word to them.

Well, one of the things that I know that you've seen me post about it on LinkedIn is that my son has ADHD and he doesn't respond like my daughter does to punishment. So I do the positive affirmations. And so one of the things that I've never told you that I've started doing is – because I have overreactions, and I call myself super dad, and I'm a really good dad, and I'm passionate about it – is that I make him right. So let's say he doesn't listen. So I have him say, “I am the best listener in the world, I outhustled the competitors, it's all positive.” He has to look me in the eye and say it. One of the things that I've done with him lately is if I have an overreaction, I write to him. I go, “Hey, Daddy is calm and respectful to my children.” And so I've been doing the same thing back. And I think that it resonated with him more so than ever, because he sees that I'm practicing what I'm preaching. Because I make a lot of mistakes, too.

I'm going to use that nugget. I have two kids, I mean, everybody would ask me, “Why are they similar?”No, they’re two kids who just happened to be born at the same time. So for those of you who may not know, I have twins. They are four years old. They're adorable. Totally different kids, different personalities. And one of them, he's a people pleaser. You can be very direct with him, and he'll do it. The other one, no. The other one is, fire. But I'm going to try those affirmations, and modeling what you teach.

Three Key Takeaways

1. If you know someone trying to get into aesthetic device sales or medical sales in general, you know, most people don't want the hard work. Tell them to go the toughest path because if they can take that tough path of doing the cold calling and selling something like copiers and ADP for a couple of years, it will create an incredible skill set. But you'll just have an easy path in life – that’s number one. 

2. Treat people – everyone – with respect. When you walk into a gym, are you friendly to the person that checks you in? I'm friends with the janitorial team at LA Fitness. I love this guy who used to play college basketball, he's awesome. You know, just be friendly. When you're going into an office, be friendly to the director of first impressions; make them smile, you know, for those of us that are 40 plus, turn the frown upside down like Lionel's play world. Because it makes your job more fun. I saw your post earlier today about just what a compliment can do to someone. And so make your job fun by being more proactively friendly. 

3. And number three is, we're talking about sales, ask for the business. It's crazy to me how many good educators there are out there that forget to ask for the business. You know, based on everything that we've gone through, tell me what you like about the device. Well, listen, if you liked the device, there's a need in your practice. Is there any reason that this isn't a good fit, and we can implement this next week and shut up? Remember that silence creates a reaction. And I'm not very good at shutting up but I'm very good at it in a closing opportunity. Yes, be comfortable with the uncomfortable pauses. 

And if I'm on a call, I press mute. Especially if I'm on an interview and we're talking, the last thing I'll tell you if I'm on an interview – and you know, I love my candidates to ask questions about culture, and what are the qualifications of the best hires, write those down at the end of the interview – and I say, “Listen, based on all of our conversations, I attain the qualities of the characteristics that you mentioned your top performers attain. Is there any reason you don't see me being a good fit on the team?” Then, mute. Make them talk because you can fumble it after that and then you scrub it, that's not it. Then you ask them, “I know you see me being a good fit on the team. I know that there is such a thing as a one-call close. Is there any way I can start Monday?” Make them laugh. Number three is, “Okay, you say that I'm a good fit. I know you can't make a one-call close. Can we at least put on the books a face-to-face meeting because I know that if given the opportunity to meet you face-to-face, you will hire me. And the last thing that I tell my candidates to do is, “Okay, I know we've got our face-to-face meeting set at two o'clock, two Fridays from now. That gives me two weeks to be proactive and reach out to your current team members to get their buy in and get their endorsement. Is there any way that you'll proactively give me their email addresses and phone numbers so that I can get their endorsement and approval, so that you are more than comfortable with the fact that I'm the best team member possible besides just knowing me?”

Mic drop. That is exactly how you close an interview. Those are great tips. I'm so glad that you're leaving us with that. Because that is something that you guys, I invite you to play that back, write it down, play it back again, because he provides great advice on how to move to that next step in the interview process and ensure that you're getting the job. 

And I'll end it here, regardless of how senior you are, I think it's always good – when you're interviewing – to reach out to someone like Danielle or myself, because we teach people how to do this. It's an art and I don't care if you've been the number one rep at your company, number one manager, you've built sales teams; when you're interviewing, you have to understand what you're doing. And regardless of whether you're in sales, you have to close them. And so what you do for people is awesome. I'm so proud of what you've built over the last year and a half. And I'm honored and humbled to have been the first male guest on the Danielle Cobo podcast and I do go by Brandon James Thompson.

I invite everybody today to connect with Brandon on LinkedIn. He is constantly posting tips and advice on how to thrive in medical sales, how to get into medical sales. He is such a breath of positive energy. so I invite you to connect with him. 

Transcript

Danielle Cobo 0:05
Hey, beautiful. Welcome to dream job with Danielle Cobo podcast. I am Danielle Cobo, elite career coach, and I believe every woman has the power to step into their dream job, earn the salary they are worth, and live the life they desire. Each week you join me, you're going to hear from these inspiring women who have overcome adversity and leveled up their career. You're going to learn how to eliminate that inner critic that is holding you back from pursuing your dream. How to build confidence, create healthy boundaries to transition burnout to re energize and gain clarity on how to accelerate your career. It's never too late to pursue your dream job. The time is now. Are you ready? Hey, everyone. Welcome to an episode of dream job with Danielle Cobo. I am your host, Danielle Cobo. And today I have my very first male guest. My guest today is Brandon Thompson. He is the CEO and founder of BT medical innovations in careers and esthetics. He helps healthcare companies find top talent, he has over 15 years of medical sales experience climbing the corporate ladder, starting as a territory manager to National Sales Director and Vice President of Business Development. I've had the pleasure of knowing Brandon for some time. And it's amazing how our careers have kind of aligned throughout our lives. But we've never crossed paths until we connected on LinkedIn. And then we ended up unfolding this onion of all the people that we know. And I'm very excited to have you on today, Brandon,

Brandon James Thompson 1:48
Thank you. It's nice to be here, especially as the first male on your incredible podcast.

Danielle Cobo 1:54
Yep, the first male we get to celebrate that. And Brandon is well aware that most of our audience is female. So I also do you know, there actually are some men that listen to the podcast as well. So one that you've had 15 years in medical sales experience, and now you are doing recruiting for medical sales as well, in addition to the other business that you own. So tell us a little bit about how how did you break into medical sales? Some advice would you give?

Brandon James Thompson 2:20
Yeah, I graduated college right before 911. And so I was hired by two pharmaceutical companies. And obviously, they went on a hiring freeze. And my brother's 10 years younger than me, and I was driving my brother back and forth to school, and three months into that, and my mom handed me $20 bills to go out my dad was like, you have to get a job. And so it didn't look like the hiring freeze was gonna be lifted from Janssen or event us. And I'd always wanted to be in pharmaceutical sales. And so I asked a couple of physician friends of my family, like what route should I take? And they said, Sell copiers. And so I was given the advice to sell copiers. And once once I got the job selling copiers with Konica Minolta. And to date, you know, I mean, this is only in 2001. To date, my experience, I answered an ad in the newspaper. And number one number two, I actually clocked in once I got the job. And my my first day on the job, Danielle, he said, you've already gone through sales training, you just go out and cold call. I mean he it was it was amazing. But that that's how I that's how I broke in. So once I knew, though, that my goal was to get into capital equipment sales, and so I concentrated on selling copiers to offices, medical offices and private practice. So I had about 1112 copiers sold to physicians, where I also ended up getting a letter of recommendation from each. So by the time I got into the interview process, it was relatively easy to break in.

Danielle Cobo 3:59
I was also given very similar advice. I knew that I wanted to be in medical sales. I didn't know that I want to do capital equipment or farm I just kind of had that umbrella. If my mom was in farm, I'm going to do Pharma. And I was given the same advice either work for enterprise ATP or do copier sales. And I did copier sales, I hated it hated that job. I did it for six months, and I killed it in six months. I was like, Okay, I'm done. I'm out of here.

Brandon James Thompson 4:24
Yeah, you know, what's funny about my success is that I learned that there was very high turnover. And I knew that the new people coming in, were using it as a stepping stone and they would leave quickly. I would be friend these people and I would take over their leads. So that's why I found a shortcut. And so I'd befriended them I would always get the two or three hot leads that they're working on. And I would close them and so I had my circuitous ways of becoming successful quickly which helped the company and you know, but it was an awesome learning lesson and I I will tell you, I didn't hate it because I love cold calling I really do to this day, I'm 43 years old, I have gone up the corporate ladder. But I say it sounds corny, but turning the frown upside down with a director of first impressions. It's, it's something I learned from my grandfather, my dad. And so you know, treating them and acting saying, Are you the decision maker, just little things like that, that can put a smile on someone's face in the process of making cold calling less uncomfortable.

Danielle Cobo 5:28
And it was about the cold calling. One of the things is the cold calling. I didn't mind because after I worked in copier cells, I worked for a dental company. I did dental capital equipment for five and a half years. And that was all hunting new business. It was cold calling day in day out. So that wasn't the part that bothered me. It was more I wasn't very passionate about a copier about Yeah, and there wasn't necessarily a segment that we were given direction on of, okay, these are the types of businesses that you wanted to do. I was smart and why I was able to have success early on is because it was right before the market crash. The mortgage companies were thriving at the time. So I was like, I'm gonna go after the mortgage company, they print a lot of paper. Right. So I started with that. And then then it was getting once I got into dental I was like, Okay, call in dentist, like at least let's narrow it down from there. On the direction. Yeah, more direction.

Brandon James Thompson 6:24
There's, I was given very little direction. I did have a sales internship at UPS. And the hiring manager for the, the copier company had made a lot of money when they went public. It's a story for another day. But my first job I'll tell you quickly, I walk into the UPS board like it's it's the the warehouse, and an hour later, they went public. This is in you can look it up, I think it was in 2001. It was the most I mean, to this day, the most historic moment of my life. That guy who hired me into copier sales, retired that day from UPS, he was supposed to train me. So when I walked in on my first interview, that answering an ad in the newspaper, he said you're hired, you are trained by UPS. And so it was divine intervention. But watching these ups workers retire after 22 years of being drivers was, you know, it really made me want to hit that jackpot of having the stock options. And which brings me to question Did you ever get that windfall of an opportunity where you got a stock advantages?

Danielle Cobo 7:28
There have been times where I've gotten stuck advantages through acquisitions? Yes. So one of the things that when I am working with clients and we'll negotiate it's part of part of getting and attracting their dream job is we go through the negotiation process of either looking at our beginning negotiate their salary, or we're going to be negotiating signing bonuses, or stock options as well. Because stock options, when you get to a certain level within an organization, you start to acquire them and you can get some pretty hefty payouts I paid for my kids. First two years of college right off the bat with some some acquisitions.

Brandon James Thompson 8:01
Yeah, a lot of people that I know that have done well, in capital equipment sales, especially in esthetics have fared well with stock.

Danielle Cobo 8:09
Yeah, that was where my mind was in aesthetics. So now, what advice would you give to people that twofold? This is a two fold question, what advice would you give for people that want to break into medical sales? And then if they are in medical sales? What advice would you give if they want to maybe get into aesthetics? Because that's both of our backgrounds?

Brandon James Thompson 8:28
Absolutely. So I've been asked this question for years now. And my brother is 10 years younger than me, he's a naval flight surgeon now. And I would say that 15 of his friends I had this conversation with and it drives me crazy because very few people take the advice and so just like you and I did we took the definitely not the path of least resistance it was that it was a difficult path right. And so that's why people want to in medical especially in capital equipment sales on the aesthetic side. They want people that have the you know, mentality of the no soliciting sign means welcome. And you have to cold call, you have to be a hunter. And so that's why they love people from copiers. So my suggestion to someone that is doesn't matter what age I'd say under 35. I would say, you know, go sell copiers, find a Konica Minolta. Dealer, find whatever dealers Xerox, sell copiers for no less than two years. start interviewing at the 18 month range. If you were in the top 20% Find ADP. You know that a lot. I mean, I deal with the top players in the industry BTL, a lot of these big cytomx and they love sales reps that sell payroll from ADP like you said send TAS which uniforms copiers and some do like enterprise. Some don't like enterprise because it's not really the transactional sale. So find something that you can do. That's a transactional sale much like a device that has a higher ticket item. Retail doesn't work really well. But if you can get documented sales success, and you can have an email and a, you know, a track record of being top five, top 10%, top 20%. And if you're number one, and you're 18 months in, you're going to get hired. And what these device companies do is they'll hire you as a TM. A lot of people will take a step back. So if you're with CentOS and you're in the top 5% If you're selling copiers, you're probably making 120 $530,000. Well, in order to become a TM, let's say for a site tender BTL, sometimes the the salaries less, it's $40,000 $50,000. So it's almost like you have to take a small step backwards to take a step forwards. But what I can tell you and I know that you and I share the commonality of being passionate about helping people, I went to the cytomx national sales meeting three weeks ago, and Danielle, you, I just got the chills. I got three hugs from people that I'd never met before. Who said that Brandon, you talked me into taking this step back to take a step forward. Not only is my life better, but you completely changed it because now I'm part of this cultural fit that I love. I love being in esthetics, but I absolutely love what I'm doing, versus loving the paycheck that I'm making. And those people that took a step backwards for six, seven months are going to double their income within two to three years.

Danielle Cobo 11:30
I'm glad that you mentioned this because I get this question a lot when people are talking about how do I develop my career? How do I put together a career plan for short term long term. And that old mentality of saying we'll just climb up the corporate ladder has really shifted over the past couple years, because sometimes it's not about taking. Sometimes it's not about taking a step back. It's about maybe learning new skill sets. So if you come from a copier background, you have the capital equipment background. Now it's also learning in new to different industries. So you're kind of shifting a little bit learning new skills. And sometimes if you want to move up into a, a director of VP level, it's also working in having lateral lateral moves within different divisions so that you have a broader perspective of the organization and how the business runs. So lateral moves me very beneficial for your career working in different industries can be beneficial in your career as well.

Brandon James Thompson 12:26
100% Well, in you know, like I knew that you mentioned that you were worked in dental I also worked in dental my first capital job outside of copiers after being in a short stint in orthopedics, was working for bio lace. And now esthetics includes dentistry. So, you know, I mean, really, it really does help as long as you're not in that orthopedic space where there's no real commonality. You know, the advice to answer the second part of your question that I would give to someone that is in, let's say, you're selling diagnostic equipment or to urologist is, is just be at the top of your game, if you know it. And if you want to get now there are different segments of esthetic. So if you want to get into skincare sales, you really have to have a static relationships. I think that on the skincare side that a manager would prefer to hire almost an esthetician, then they would someone like a copier rep. In some cases, there are some that just they want, they want that an office manager, right, my ex wife actually was an office manager at an esthetic office. And but she had that personality with sales. So they they took a gamble on her. But that's one out of 10. So if you have the sales experience, and you become an Aesthetician or something like that, to really understand the industry, you're going to get the job, right. So if you've got that top 10, top 20% sales experience, and you understand the industry, maybe at night, get your aesthetician license, something like that, to show that you're passionate about the industry. Number two would be let's say you're selling equipment that or a I think that you've got if you especially if you want to get into device, if you want to sell $100,000 pieces of equipment for a device company in the aesthetic space, and you're selling a good or service like from McKesson, they really don't want to go that route because they look they don't look at it as a transactional sale, I would try to shift into a department where there's more transactional sales. So I think that you know, just because you're selling to physicians, if you're not selling to plastic surgeons, dermatologists and med spas and dentists, it's it's it's it's difficult to get it because you don't have those relationships. And if you're not selling something that is a value of $20,000 Plus, they don't look at it like a transactional sale.

Danielle Cobo 14:52
Mm hmm. And it's interesting that you've said Okay, so this can be interesting, and I'm glad that we have some differences a little bit on the opinion On backgrounds of things, because it goes to show you that everyone takes a different approach to hiring. There are people I, I was a hiring manager for an aesthetic company and I was in the skincare division. And yes, there was one person that I've hired that actually had an Aesthetician license no one else did. But I liked diversity on my particular team. I liked people that came with different skill sets. And but there's I also know that there's some companies I've spoken with managers recently, this past couple weeks, and they said, I want somebody who has aesthetic experience. And then in the same week, I talked to somebody else, and they say, No, yes, we are an aesthetic company. But we want to do things a little bit differently. So we're looking for people that don't have that experience. Those just show you that every company is different, every hiring manager is different. And at the end of the day, when I was looking at what am I going to hire for my team, I came down to the three T's, what were the needs of the immediate territory. So if I had somebody that had a lot of key opinion leaders, if I had somebody a territory where it was a high volume of business, I'm probably gonna want somebody that's got a little bit more experience in a new and emerging territory that could take a little bit more of a risk with that particular one. So the needs of the territory, what were the needs of the team, which is I want to have different strengths so that all of us can come together and be a really strong kick ass team, right? And then the other one was time, can I sit in the car with somebody for eight hours, and actually,

Brandon James Thompson 16:28
it's a, that's a big deal. I'm one of the odd managers that I really enjoy ride alongs. And as a rep before I was a manager, I liked when my managers rode with me for two reasons. Number one is you're never going to work harder than when your managers with you. Number two is take advantage of that extra touch point, right. And it's so funny to me how many people dread it, I think that just means that their work ethic is probably subpar. Right. And so I loved when my managers rode with me. But I think that, to your point of the differing backgrounds, I do think that there's a shift, where it they understanding esthetics is is more important than it was maybe in the past. But I do agree with you that if it's a territory that is an up and coming territory, where they can take some risks, where they really just need a cold calling machine, that it would be better to go that route have someone with you and I are background.

Danielle Cobo 17:23
Mm hmm. Yeah. And just like you, I loved it when my manager rode with me because to me, it was okay, here's like this low hanging fruit. These are the accounts that I'm working with, right, just need a little bit of something to push the needle. And I was always tell my team when I would, when I would ride with them is kind of use me for your business card. A lot of the times, I'm probably going to be saying the same thing that you're saying. But I'm just saying in a different way. And I'm reinforcing what you're saying. And that's where that value add is. So I loved it when my manager rode with me. And also I enjoyed writing with my team too, because my primary love languages have The Five Love Languages is access service and quality time. So I like one on one time, which is probably why most of my coaching is one on one coaching. I like the intimacy of that one on one conversations.

Brandon James Thompson 18:11
I do too. And I mean, there are friendships that I've formulated. Ali Reese has been in the industry for a long time. And our first ride along together Scott Callahan, there's so many people that I've had ride alongs with that we had, we only met that that was the first time ever meeting in person. And to this day, we're friends. And both Scott Callahan and Ollie Reese are just like you're the best cold caller I've ever seen in my life. And but without that right along, they would have seen my numbers and that I was a successful sales rep. But I wouldn't have been able to speak in front of the entire company on how to successfully and effectively cold call. So yeah, I like it. Very, very few people are like you and I that took advantage of it. But the bottom line is in sales Danielle has the more touch points, the higher the proclivity is that the doctor or whoever the buyer is, is going to move forward. And so just like what you said they can hear it from us. But you know, hearing it from a manager and then connecting them with another physician who's an owner. Now you got three touch points, there's so much more likely to move forward. So take advantage of your ride alongs people.

Danielle Cobo 19:17
Yeah, and sometimes that right along could be there were be times where my manager was busy. And so or I was busy as a manager covering five states. I was on the road all the time. And so what would it look like if you asked your peers Hey, would you come co travel with me and kind of just be a second eyes and ears into the meeting and maybe provide another perspective. It doesn't always have to be your manager use the resources ladder. Your peers as well.

Brandon James Thompson 19:43
I mean, Daniel at company meetings, I would make friends with the engineering department. I can remember the year that I left que Terra in 2012 is the number one rap I use. Dr. Mary Lupo was bought an XL V and she was instrumental in her They may be successful that year. So I utilized her when appropriate when they were at the finish line. But I also use the engineering department. And they I loved him. And they started coming to me like which device which direction should we go to, but I would put a doctor that was asking high level engineering questions, which is not my forte as like, you know what, versus Talking to a physician, I think that you would really get a kick out of speaking to the engineer that created the device, would that interest you? If so, I'm going to CC you on a text, I don't even want to be on the call. So you can ask any questions that you you deem necessary. And so yeah, you're utilizing your resources within the company. I think that also brings a good point, regardless of what type of sales you're in, be friendly to every department, I'm not going to name names, but I was on a call the other day with a friend. And this is a top performing employee rep at every single year. But this person is rude to the customer service department. And it's and you know, you just don't want to be that person. Be just like, when you're when you're anywhere, be friendly to the team, I always say the staff at a restaurant and people, you just want to be friendly to everyone within your corporation. Because at one point, they can help you. But why not just be kind in general.

Danielle Cobo 21:18
We will be right back to today's episode, whether you want to get a promotion, find a new job, increase your sales performance, the feeling of clarity on how to accelerate your career is priceless. The risk of uncertainty is missing out on promotions, lacking leadership experience, unclear on how to break through that glass ceiling, you're left feeling stuck, frustrated and discouraged. 74% of employees feel like they're not achieving their full potential because of lack of development opportunities, it becomes a lot easier to get there. When you know where you're going. How would you feel if you knew exactly where to go, and how to get there. With 15 years of experience in corporate America, and a certified leadership coach, I've helped 1000s of professionals transform their mind from self doubt, to confidence and courage and gain clarity on how to accelerate their career. I invite you to go to my website, Danielle cobo.com, at CEO, Bo and schedule your career discovery session with me. Thanks for tuning in. And back to today's episode. Yeah, I agree with you 100%, Brandon, because a lot of times I look around when I'm looking at even when I'm interviewing people, and I'll see if often we'll be at a hotel, or we'll be at a restaurant I'm interviewing and I always look to see how are they interacting with the servers that are serving us? Are they making eye contact? Are they saying thank you, because how you treat people that you interact with every single day is what's the most important. And you're right. I mean, there's people within the organization and when you get to know and you go beyond understanding, not only the people and the departments, but what's the day to day like for them? What are some ways that you can support them in getting their stuff done. So then in return, not in return, but like it's a mutual beneficial relationship? There's often times where I'd speak to the marketing team. I'm like, Hey, we're hitting a roadblock. What's going on? What perspective? Can you share with me of why this is happening? And maybe I can change my approach of getting exception requests done faster. And a lot of the times it was such a simple thing, but it wasn't until somebody took the time to

Brandon James Thompson 23:28
ask. Yeah, well, I think that that's a whole segment that you and I should talk about is his his sales reps getting along with the marketing department, but because this is a female dominated group, and following that you have, one of the things that I always add on every day that I had is is Is she nice to the server. And just like what you said, the other thing that I look at when when I'm speaking to anybody, and this is what I've really instilled in my life, since probably 30, is if someone doesn't ask a question about use of ladies, especially that are single and going through a divorce, and I just went through a divorce. If someone doesn't ask about you in the first five minutes, I don't even care if they're a customer, I'm probably not going to do business with them. Because I really don't want to be affiliated with people that are extremely self centered. But I think that those are two really good ways to see how people really are. And the inside is do they how they treat the server. And did they ask about you in the first five minutes? I think those are two great questions to ask yourself when it comes to business, friendship and life in general.

Danielle Cobo 24:34
That's great advice. Yeah, that's great advice and going into all areas of

Brandon James Thompson 24:38
Give me some life advice, Dan. Yeah, you're in a fantastic person.

Danielle Cobo 24:43
Oh, gosh, life advice. I mean, the things that I look for is is very similar to that is, you know, is it it? Is it a two way conversation I think about when you're creating the tribe of people around you. It's how are the people when you're when you're creating your tribe with people and I've had a podcast episode About this, and for those of you that are tuning in at Chelsea Donaldson was the was the guest. And we talked about creating your tribe. And so I the things I look for is, how is the interactions when somebody is interacting with the day to day people? What are those interactions like, and there have been times where I have seen people on my team, who are rude to the valet person, the staff at a restaurant, and I'm going, I'm not surprised that I'm getting customer complaints, I had one person on my team that had 10 customer complaints, within a very short time period, I wasn't too surprised, by maybe those conversations were a little bit different than somebody where I see them on there every day. They're just so kind and generous. And so I get a customer complaint, like, that doesn't align with maybe my continuous interactions that I have with this person. So when you're creating your tribe is looking at how they interact with other people, ensuring that it's a two way dialogue and getting to know each other. It's not all about you. It's not about them. It's really about you guys getting to know each other and, and deepening that relationship and that bond. And there was something else that you said, and I'm kind of blanking out on it. Go ahead. Oh, the last one, I would say is positive people. I don't you really assessing the people in your life and saying, What are they bringing to the table? Or the person that calls you up? And then when you get off the phone and you're just drained and you're just

Brandon James Thompson 26:29
like you vampires?

Danielle Cobo 26:31
Yeah, they just sold this your soul? And and then there's some people that it's like, yes, there's there's going to be tough times. But like, how do you get through it together? How do you acknowledge it and not go into that victim mentality? And so I surround myself with people that are very positive glass half full, because that's who I want to surround myself with. And I'm not to say that things don't happen in life. There's been some challenges. But how do you get through it? And how do you address it? So looking around to the people around you is definitely the other three thing that I look at when creating I mean,

Brandon James Thompson 27:03
I think that that that speaks volumes about our friendship, because it's, it's gone both ways. And just a compliment to you is, you know, the people that I've sent to you to be on the podcast, you know, Randy and Marilyn Dan's and a lot of the these powerful female leaders, they love you, and so Olara, who I introduced you for your messaging, but but the feedback that they give me is similar to because I and I love how you say they love you, Brandon, you know, and so I think that we are kindred spirits. But you know, every person that I've put you in touch with has really appreciated you as a person, and the professionalism that you bring to the table.

Danielle Cobo 27:44
Oh, you just made my day, Brandon. You think at the end of the day, and in the feeling's mutual, too. It's I think that's where we so as I was telling our audience, we've had very similar career paths. As you've heard from this podcast, we both started copier sales. If both did Dental, then we both were in esthetics. But our paths never crossed in person, actually, our paths crossed through the pandemic, through LinkedIn. And yet we've cut our own business while building your own businesses. Yeah. And then we've come to find all these people that we knew in common, and we just started connecting people. And it's always been this like, Hey, I reach out to you. I'm like, Hey, do you have somebody that does this? And then you'll reach out to me? Hey, do you have somebody that does? Is just helping each other out?

Brandon James Thompson 28:29
Yeah. Well, there should be there should be more of that. And I will say that during the pandemic, you know, Alicia, Merleau, Rosa, you and I are both friends with you know, she created a platform within LinkedIn. And I love it. And people were helping each other out. And I feel like there's already been a loss of the the total connection that we had before. But I think that there could be more of it. But honestly, Danielle, I'm at a point in my life where if someone if it's a one way street, I'm out. I'm just I'm, I don't have time for it in my life. You know, I'm a single dad with two kids, and I love my children. And if if I if I have an energy vampire, of course, people have their bad days, and you need to be there for them. But if it's continual, and it's a couple months, I just got to pump the brakes. Which a one other bit of advice I'll give you, and I've never heard you say this is I'm swamped. Salespeople stop using that term. It drives other people crazy. We're all busy. I like to say that I'm crazy busy in a positive way. Like I've had a great day. I've talked to a lot of prospects.

Danielle Cobo 29:36
Interesting that you've made that observation because especially today, within the past 24 hours, I've had this kind of aha moment in my life where I'm a big advocate for work life balance, and my business has grown very rapidly to the point where I've had this moment within past 24 hours. I'm going I need to get help. I'm at this point where I could have brought some On I've got a couple people, some team members that I've brought on but it's it's now to get some some more team members. And but you'll you're right I won't ever say I'm so busy I say my schedule is full. Right now my schedule is full and it's a matter of prioritizing some things. My my garage is complete disaster right now it's mess everywhere. My husband has this eight inch lifted truck that he's constantly working on. So there's car parts everywhere. My truck is lifted so that my old tires are in there.

Brandon James Thompson 30:31
By the way, for those that want to know Danielle, if you follow her on LinkedIn, you've seen the picture. But when I met her in person, she pulled up with her two kids in the back of this giant truck that was lifted, coolest entry I've ever seen with a woman you weren't in high heels that day. But but a badass female leader that I've ever seen.

Danielle Cobo 30:52
Ah, thank you. Yeah, I'm probably the most a little bit polarizing in the sense of you all, everybody sees me on social media, I love to dress up. I love wearing heels and a dress and feeling feminine. I also drive a huge lifted truck. I also owned and rode my own Harley Davidson, which I sold for a double stroller. So there's being diverse and just who you are as a person. But yeah, it's a matter of like your schedule being full. And it's a matter of prior reevaluating, constantly doing that gut check of like reevaluating as to where you spend your time who you spend your time with and saying it may not be a no, sometimes it's just not right now maybe it's something I'm gonna be doing in the future. But

Brandon James Thompson 31:36
I've gotten much better at that. And I will tell you, because we both are working parents that one of the things that when I have my kids, it's a 5050 custody split. And I get along with my ex wife brilliantly. But I do not I don't care if it's a giant deal when I pick up my kids at 415. Unless it is a absolutely necessary call. I don't answer my phone between 415 and 9pm. My kids are asleep by nine. And I have more calls post 9pm than I've ever had. But that time is for my kids. And and I'm really good at, you know what I could make more money if I answered those calls. But to me, I've just want to be omnipresent with my kids, I coach and that is my number one priority. I would rather spend the quality time with them, then potentially close a deal. And I think that my customer base really appreciates it in the end have I lost deals 100% But the majority of them I send them a picture afterwards saying hey, I was just coaching my kid play basketball, he had a great practice thank you for being understanding, it almost creates even an even better bond because then they'll send a picture of their kids. And so just just just remember that you first and and prioritize just like what you said your work life balance and work isn't everything. Although you know, if you're like you and I we love to win and we love to succeed and we love to help others. There are points in your life when you have to say no.

Danielle Cobo 33:05
Mm hmm. Yeah, there definitely I'm glad you brought up that that balancing as well because one of the things that we did as a management team is we made it come and I was with the one company as I made it, we made a commitment where we weren't going to email each other after 5pm That was our commitment now I acknowledge that there's some times you're on the road when I was on the road and I was doing overnights that was the the time that I would just like power through and get caught up on all the things so that when I got home I could just be done. Yeah, and with that said though, what I would do is I would delayed delivery the message to the next day so that my team my peers were not getting their phones beamed throughout the evening. Yeah. And and if you are tempted wheat, the average person touches their phone 200 times a day. Just scary to think about

Brandon James Thompson 33:51
I'm there. Yeah, I'm probably

Danielle Cobo 33:54
I probably don't do so since I know that and I have the awareness around it when I with my kids. I put my phone in another room.

Brandon James Thompson 34:01
I do too. I do too. And at my parents house I do the same thing. I will tell you Danielle and you got to use this with your kids for all you ladies that have children. So I give my my son and my daughter two opportunities to yell at Dad absolutely scream at me I don't care you can be disrespectful because I'm a big advocate of saying yes sir respect. I teach my son and my and my daughter how to shake hands. So if my head is down, I head up daddy that you have to put your head up because it aligns your spine. I'm telling you. One of the things the reason why is that x is booming is because of the technique number one. Number two is texting and driving. I can't tell you I was doing it yesterday. And my son said stop texting and driving daddy. So those are the two times that I allow them to absolutely have an outburst disrespectful. I'm like whatever I'm doing when I'm doing that you guys can yell at me punch me whatever you want to do. So take the take that bit of advice because it goes both ways. Ways.

Danielle Cobo 35:00
Yeah, Brandon, you're so spot on, I tell my kids, one of my boys lately is just kind of like when he gets sad, he just puts his head down. And I say bit Bob, I said, Bob is your nickname. So when your head is down, you miss out on seeing the world, why miss out on seeing the world, hold your head high and look at everything around you. And so that's what I remind him of, and then there's times we'll they'll catch me on the phone. It's just, it's, there is a reality to it, I am not perfect at not being on my phone, they definitely get tempted at times. And I give them permission to say, Mommy, we get off your phone, and I say, You know what, thank you for that reminder. Because I need reminding to and it's also showing them that I also say I'm sorry to them, I also acknowledge when I have dropped the ball on my commitment and my word to them.

Brandon James Thompson 35:48
Well, one of the things and I know that you've seen me post about it on LinkedIn that I do, my son has ADHD, and he doesn't respond like my daughter does to punishment. And so I do the positive affirmations. And so one of the things that I've never told you that I've started doing is because I have overreactions, and you know, I call myself super dad, and I'm a really good dad, and I'm passionate about it. But is that I make him right. So let's say he doesn't listen. And so I, I have him say, I'm the best listener in the world. I outhustled the competitors, it's all positive. He has to look at me in the eye and say it. One of the things that I've done with him lately is if I have an overreaction, I write to him, I Hey, Daddy is calm and respectful to my children. And so I've been doing the same thing back. And I think that it's resonated with him more so than ever, because he sees that I'm practicing what I'm preaching, because I make a lot of mistakes too.

Danielle Cobo 36:44
I'm going to take I'm going to use that nugget. I'm going to kids. I mean, everybody will ask me more. Are they similar? No, they're two kids just happened to be born at the same time. So for those of you that may not know I have twins are four years old. They're adorable. Totally different kids, different personalities. And one of them he's a people pleaser. You can you can be very direct with them. And I'll do it the other one. No. Buyer, but I'm gonna try that affirmations. Absolutely. Absolutely. And modeling what you teach. Well, we've, we've unpacked so much in this, this episode today. So what are three things that you want to leave our listeners with? From our conversation today?

Brandon James Thompson 37:25
So the three things would be if you know someone trying to get into aesthetic device sales or medical sales in general. You know, most people don't want the hard work. Tell them to go the toughest path because if they can, if they can take that tough path of doing the cold calling and selling something like copiers and CentOS and ADP for a couple of years, it will it will create incredible an incredible skill set but your you will you just have an easy path in life number one. Number two is treat people everyone with respect. You know, when you walk into a gym, are you Are you friendly to the person that checks you in? Are you friendly, I'm friends with the janitorial team at LA Fitness. I love this guy used to play college basketball, he's awesome. You know, just be friendly when you're going into an office, be friendly to the director of first impressions, make them smile, you know, for those of us that are 40 Plus, turn the frown upside down like Lionel's play world, because it makes your job more fun. But I saw your post earlier today about you know just what a compliment can do to someone. And so make your job fun by being more proactively friendly. And number three is listen, you know, we're talking about sales, ask for the business. My goodness, you know, ask for the business. It's crazy to me, how many good educators there are out there that forget to ask for the business. You know, based on everything that we've gone through, tell me what you like about the device? Well listen, if you like the device, there's a need in your practice. Is there any reason that this isn't a good fit and we can implement this next week? And shut up? Remember that silence creates a reaction and I'm not very good at shutting up but I'm very good at it in a closing opportunity. Those are my three tidbits Danielle

Danielle Cobo 39:21
great tidbits and yes be comfortable with the uncomfortable pauses

Brandon James Thompson 39:28
and I pray if I'm on a Call Danielle I press mute. So if I do especially with Can't you know if I'm if I'm on an interview a we're talking to the last thing I'll tell you if I'm on an interview, not on a zoom, and I use the closing call. And you know I love my candidates to ask questions about culture and what are the qualifications of the best hires write those down at the end of the interview say listen, based on all of our conversations I attain the qualities of the characteristics that you mentioned your top performers attained Is there any reason you don't see me being a good fit on the team mute? Make them talk? Because you can fumble it after that. And then you scrub it. That's not it. Then you ask them, you know, I know you see me being a good fit on the team. I know that there is such thing as a one call close. Is there any way I can start Monday? Make them laugh? Number three is okay. You say that I'm a good fit. I know you can't make a one call close. Can we at least put on the books a face to face meeting because I know that if given the opportunity, when given the opportunity to meet you face to face, you will hire me. And the last thing that I tell my candidates to do is okay, I know we've got our face to face meeting set at two o'clock, two Fridays from now that gives me two weeks to be proactive and reach out to your current team members to get their buy in and get their endorsement. Is there any way that you'll proactively give me their email addresses and phone numbers so that I can get their endorsement and approval so that you are more than comfortable with the fact that I'm the best team member possible? Besides just knowing me?

Danielle Cobo 41:09
Mike drop my mic drop Brandon yet that is exactly how you close an interview. Exactly. Those are great tips. I'm so glad that you're leaving us with that. Because that is something that you guys I invite you to do is to play that back, write it down, play it back again, because he provides great advice on how to move to that next step in the interview process and ensure that you're getting the job.

Brandon James Thompson 41:35
And Daniel and I'll end it here, regardless of how senior you are. Regardless, if you're me. I think it's always good when you're interviewing to reach out to someone like Danielle or myself. Because we teach people how to do this. It's an art and I don't care if you've been the number one rep at your company, number one manager, you've built sales teams, when you're interviewing, you have to understand what you're doing. And regardless of whether you're in sales, it you're you're you have to close them. And so what you do for people is awesome. I'm so proud of what you've built over the last year and a half. And I'm honored and humbled to have been the first male guest on the Danielle Cobo podcast and I do go by Brandon James Thompson. You do know this?

Danielle Cobo 42:17
Yes, Brandon James Thompson. So I will go ahead and include in the show notes, I will include the links of where people can find you. I invite everybody listening today connect with Brandon on LinkedIn. He is constantly posting tips and advice on how to thrive in medical sales, how to get into medical sales. He is such a breath of positive energy, as you can probably tell from today's podcast, so I invite you to connect with him. I'll include the links to his website and his LinkedIn page. And also I invite you to share this episode. If you are listening to this episode. And you know, people you've got co workers and peers who are in medical sales. They need to hear this episode. They need to hear some of the valuable advice that Brandon has shared with us today. So I invite you to share it. Also write a review and comment, please because that does help support this podcast in creating some more awareness around it. That's how podcasting works. So thank you for tuning in and create an intentional day. Thank you