Experience

Experience may be the most critical element to triumph. Many believe that skill would supersede, a valid argument, though skill doesn't encompass the intangibles that experience does. Experience gives you awareness of those subtle nuances specific to an established process. It allows you to more easily navigate from where you are to where you want to be and grants you an intimate understanding of the if/then's among other mastery:

• A cognitive clarity that amplifies insight
• An acute acumen granting direction and discernment
• An ability to articulate thoughts methodically to maximize impact
• A patient and sophisticated delivery that drives a point with succinct simplicity
• Familiarity with struggle and success that enables you to sustain elevated performance
• A sense of security and emotional competence that profoundly poises your behavior
• A trusted technique that allows you to operate more efficiently and effectively than your competitor
• The comfort and confidence to actualize theory to practice while producing favorable results.

Experience, in and of itself, is a skill set of its own. In order to get experience you have to get experience.

I can remember my efforts getting into the Pharmaceutical Sales Industry without knowing anyone who could vouch for my ability. The consistent push-back I received was I didn't have any experience. Exactly, 'How am I suppose to get experience when you won't give me an opportunity to get experience'? The interview that propelled me into 'Pharma' was conducted with a consensus concept; meaning, every interviewer had to agree, and there were five, in order for me to move forward. I met with an aspiring young manager who made it apparent that he was not familiar with the interviewing nor hiring process.  While flipping through the pages of questions that he was instructed to ask, I maneuvered to commandeer the interview and queried, 'What is the most important attribute you have to see in the candidate that you will hire today for this position?'. He immediately said 'They have to be able to sell'. To my surprise, this was working better than I expected. You see, Pharma's traditional interview process was that they ask you to 'describe a situation where... '.  This series of questioning allowed them to assess circumstances you had been in, various tasks that you had been faced with, what your actions were, and what results followed. All of this was to reveal the different qualities they were looking for in prospective sales representatives; work ethic, decision making ability, integrity, intellectual aptitude, communication skills, just to name a few. I then anxiously asked 'Let me sell you something, anything, you name it and I will sell it to you right here and now.  Fortunately, he asked me to sell him my Motorola Two-Way Pager, the most sophisticated and popular communication device at its time. OK, I know how old I am, no comments please. The way I saw it was, what could they tell me that I hadn't already heard. Thankfully, I appealed to his appreciation for the sales craft while making an exemplary connection that would serve us both well. After successfully selling him the device he became my advocate, defending why I should be hired over the other interviewees.  That day, I got the position and had finally infiltrated the Pharma Industry. This made it immensely clear to me that, in order to 'get in', I had to show value in their Return on Investment; Magnify their 'Line 49'. In order to get experience, you have to get experience. Great Selling!

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