In the medical device industry, many of our sales relationships are with large hospital organizations. In previous roles, how have you made connections with the right people in large hospital organizations?
Philips Healthcare relies on solid relationships and products in their market. A huge part of this is their field staff's relationships with the large hospital and healthcare organizations. If you are being considered for a field role with Philips Healthcare, it will be important that your interviewer understands the customer-relations experience you will bring to their team.
"I have successfully worked in direct sales before. My first step is to look at the CRM platform to see who the contact is. I reach out, and if that isn't the right person or that person has left, I do a LinkedIn search to see if I can figure out who is in that role now. I use many reach-out methods, including phone calls, emails, LinkedIn messages, and even dropping by the facility. By covering all of my bases, I can usually find the right person and figure out how our products can add value to their patients."
"I have a lot of industry contacts. In large hospital organizations, it is often the chief supply chain officer versus the chief medical officer that you need to start with. I reach out to some of my colleagues who have products in other spaces to see if they know who I should start with. Because of the relationships I have built, people want to help me, and they know I will help them. I think my connections could be valuable to Philips Healthcare."
Come to your interview prepared to discuss your direct customer relations skills and the duties you have held throughout your career. If you take the time to read about Philips Healthcare's strategic focus before your interview, you'll see that they strive to connect the dots for their customers and consumers using real-time data. To highlight your ability to do just this, discuss the tailored service you are used to providing coming into this role.
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Anonymous Answer
My previous positions in the healthcare industry have helped me to learn how to navigate the hospital setting. During my internship, I often had to reach out to various physicians and departments to learn more information about certain problems I was facing, or to set up times to shadow. Typically, making connections with the right people is accomplished by taking the chance to reach out to someone who may be the right option, and making sure to ask questions and get referrals to ultimately reach the correct person.
Rachelle's Feedback
This is a good start! Since the question is framed as, 'how have you?' I suggest altering your wording to make the response feel more personal. Also, I recommend including a brief story of a time when this approach generated a positive result. I've provided a starter for you below.
"My previous positions in the healthcare industry have helped me learn how to navigate the hospital setting. During my internship, I often had to reach out to various physicians and departments to learn more about certain problems I was facing or to set up times to shadow. I made connections with the right people by taking the chance to reach out to someone who might be the right contact. Then, I would ask questions and get referrals, ultimately leading me to the correct person. For instance...(offer a brief story-based example)."
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