“Got my new sales quota and I’m going to call Relentless Recruiting to get me a new job.”

Many medical companies hold their national sales meetings between January and March. During this time of year, we see through social media all the President’s Club winners posing with their trophies and huge smiles. 

I’ll admit, I get a little jealous of those people because they are so dang happy. They love their company, team and manager. I’m a bit petty, but people shouldn’t be that joyful. Ironically, three short weeks later, a lot of those same people are angrier than a Desperate Housewife of Orange County, fighting over a half-empty bottle of champagne. What could have possibly gone so wrong so quickly? 

Yep—you guessed it; they received their new sales quota. I’m sure most of you are thinking, “I’m going to encourage those recent President’s Club winners to give me a buzz.” Not so fast; I highly recommend them to do the exact opposite. 

STAY PUT.

As a prior medical sales leader, I can vividly remember persuading my top reps to step off the “bitter bus” and get back to what made them successful.

My second piece of advice is to wait until August to get mad. That way, you have your manager’s full attention versus splitting it among the other eight angry sales reps in March. August gives about the right amount of time to let the dust settle and see if maybe the bean counters got your quota right. Of course, salespeople would never admit that, but you should know by then if your quota is attainable.

COOL IT.

My final piece of advice was given to me by a former manager who I hold in high esteem. After handing me the most significant quota increase in the entire company, he was trying to get me off the top of the “bitter bus.” 

He explained, “Never quit anything mad … because, more often than not, you will regret it.” He went on further, saying, “You should only quit something when you have a positive attitude and can effectively evaluate if the next move is truly better … that’s called growing.” 

I’m glad I listened because, 11 months later, I won another President’s Club and was promoted to regional manager—true story! 

WIN IT.

Now, putting my recruiter hat back on, my firm is one of the largest medical sales search firms in the country. We make our living by placing top talent with top companies.

Nothing is more rewarding than helping candidates advance their sales career. In addition, most of our recruiters were prior sales leaders and the last thing we would ever do is participate in helping someone sabotage their career. I know many President’s Club winners are reading this blog and are happy we convinced them to STAY PUT. Through their award pictures, I see their sense of accomplishment from the big smiles on those faces. This was all achieved from 12 months of fierce territory battles fought and won to help patient outcomes.

On behalf of the Relentless Recruiting team, I want to congratulate all the 2020 President’s Club Winners. We are so glad you are getting the recognition you deserve. Maybe I’m not as petty as I thought I was.