Climbing Back to the Top: Revealing the Ultimate Secret to Rebuilding Your Business!
How can you rebuild your passion and excitement after career setbacks?
In this episode, The Girls of Grit reveals their top secret for overcoming challenges and rebuilding success. They dive deep into how to recover from a decline in performance, a territory realignment, or other career obstacles by tapping into the power of the "honeymoon phase."
They share personal struggles and the power of approaching setbacks with renewed enthusiasm. By embracing the same excitement you had at the start of a new role or relationship, you can turn setbacks into comebacks.
Discover practical advice on focusing on low-hanging fruit, maintaining face-to-face interactions, and staying positive. Learn how to approach your work with optimism and resilience, and transform your rebuilding phase into an opportunity for growth and renewed success.
Tune in to uncover the secret to embracing the honeymoon phase and rising to the top once again!
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Why Rebuilding Happens and Its Emotional Impact
3:29 How Do You Rebuild After a Territory Split?
5:51 Facing the Challenge and Rebuilding Through the Honeymoon Phase
9:47 Staying Positive and Focused During Rebuilding
11:13 How Do You Make a Fresh Start Feel Exciting Again?
12:58 The Power of a Decision
17:57 Taking Action: Steps to Rebuild and Succeed
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Embrace the Honeymoon Phase: Gain insights on how to rekindle the enthusiasm you once had at the start of your career. Learn how this fresh perspective can help you turn setbacks into growth opportunities.
Acknowledge and Address Emotions: Discover strategies for understanding and managing the frustration and emotions tied to career obstacles. This knowledge will equip you to move forward with greater clarity and resilience.
Focus on Low-Hanging Fruit: Learn how to identify and tackle achievable goals that provide quick wins. This approach will help you regain confidence and build momentum during your rebuilding phase.
Maintain Face-to-Face Interactions: Find out how personal meetings can strengthen your connections with clients and colleagues, rebuilding relationships and trust more effectively.
Stay Positive and Resilient: Get practical tips on maintaining a positive attitude, even when facing challenging recoveries. Your outlook will play a crucial role in overcoming setbacks and achieving success.
Make a Decisive Choice: Understand the critical role of making firm decisions in your recovery process. Committing to clear actions can drive progress and help you navigate through setbacks with purpose and direction.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“Rebuilding phase requires you to decline some phone calls.” — Cynthia Ficara
“If you want to change, you've to be the person that makes that change.” — Cynthia Ficara
“If you want to give it a rebuild, you want to give it a try.” — Cynthia Ficara
“The secret to overcoming this rebuilding hurdle is to stay or reignite into the honeymoon phase.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“You'll be surprised at how quickly things can progress and change when you're positive about it.” — Anneliese Rhodes
“You have to enjoy the process while you're doing it because if you don't enjoy the process, then what's the point of doing it?” — Anneliese Rhodes
“You need to be honest with yourself.” — Anneliese Rhodes
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A Team Dklutr production
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Cynthia Ficara: Have you fallen from being a top performer? Are you seeing a decline in your business? Was your territory recently realigned? All of these factors lead to the need for a rebuild in your current business.
Anneliese Rhodes: These challenges resonate with us and today we will reveal the one secret we consistently leverage to rise to the top despite all of these obstacles.
Hey, Cindy. Hey to all of our listeners out there. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales brought to you by the Girls of Grit. We are so happy to have you.
Why Rebuilding Happens and Its Emotional Impact
Cynthia Ficara: Good morning, everybody. I hope all is well out there. And oh my gosh, Lisa, this is going to be fun. I love it when we reveal secrets, right?
Anneliese Rhodes: I know. We are definitely in the business of revealing these awesome secrets that nobody talks about, but we know all the answers to. So today we are talking about a cool topic that I think every single one of us has to face at some point in our careers and truth be told, it doesn't even matter if you're not in medical sales.
It happens throughout your entire business journey, whether you're an owner of a company or you're just in sales of copiers. I mean, it doesn't matter. Everyone faces what we're calling a rebuild. And you know, you can look at some different ways or ways that you got to this rebuild, but I think it's really important to talk about it today because man, it can be a real scary thing for a lot of people.
Cynthia Ficara: You're exactly right. This rebuild does happen to many people in many situations, both of which have happened to Lisa and me. And you know, it's very interesting, you know, sometimes when we talk about things that have inspired us and this topic of rebuilding our business is something that we never really kind of labeled.
It's interesting. We talked about how things are bad and then you get better and we're like, wait a minute, you and I, we're not. reinvented ourselves over time and in different jobs in different ways. And so we just put our heads together and said, I think this is an important message to share.
And it's interesting how, when we discussed this, we came up with a secret. There is a secret to doing this now, hint. It's quite simple. I mean, so what are we talking about? Why do you need to rebuild? Like, what do we mean? Think about your current state of business and when we kind of brought it up in questions at the beginning, let's say you were president's club last year and now you're first quarter into your next year and man, your name's at the bottom.
Like, let me just tell you that sucks. I feel like I want blinders on, and put sunglasses on inside. I don't want to see my name. The bottom felt so good when I was at the top, right?
Anneliese Rhodes: Dude, I don't even get on those calls. When I know my name is at the bottom of the list, I'm like, I didn't even get on the call. Screw that, I don't need to see that. I don't need to see my name is not in the lights. I mean, it's so common and you know, it's kind of embarrassing to say that, but it's the truth.
Navigating the Challenges of Territory Realignments
Anneliese Rhodes: I mean, you were at the top of the list and you were hitting the president's club and now you're down in the dumps, you know, a lot of us that are high performers after a while, the territory gets so big, the company decides to split it. I mean, that happens in a lot of companies because they want you to go deeper into those accounts.
They want you to garner even more business within the accounts that you're already getting business in. There are several reasons why you would have a territory split, or maybe you're just given a couple of doctors leave. And now your big user is all of a sudden, like, bye-bye.
They're gone with a poof, but you still have this massive number that isn't going to just change overnight. And now how are you going to reinvent yourself and your numbers to get back up on that sales totem pole to make the number or to make your commission checks?
The Honeymoon Phase: The Key to Rebuilding
Anneliese Rhodes: I know all of us hit this at some point in our careers and if you haven't yet, you will, because it's just part of the cycle. And for me, I will be honest, Cindy, you know, part of me not wanting to get on those calls. Let's face it, it's embarrassing, right? I mean, I don't want to be a loser. Nobody else wants to be the loser. You know, it's one thing if you're brand new to a company or something and you're not quite there yet, you got an excuse.
But man, when you have been a performer year after year and then all of a sudden, you're like, is everybody talking about me? Are they wondering what's happened? Is my manager thinking I'm like not getting up in the morning, you know, and not getting out of bed? I mean, it's like all these things race through you and you become like this doubting Debbie or whatever.
Some of that may be true. I don't know, but it's a hard thing to do. It's a big piece of humble pie that you have to eat.
Cynthia Ficara: To get up and start over because you're right when that happens, you feel defeated. I mean, I think that's a good word to say, like whether it is a doctor left and you're still out there working, but you're watching your numbers go down and let's face it, that doesn't excite me, that doesn't make me happy.
And I feel heavy and then I get stressed out and I get like, oh my gosh, it's so frustrating. But honestly, we want you all to know that's normal, and that's a human reaction. We all feel that way, don't beat yourself up because we all have felt this way. But what we're here to do today is to reveal a secret that's going to make it better.
Anneliese Rhodes: We have the answer for you today. Be excited, it's the top of the Wheaties box. And it's, you know, again, I mean, it's funny because we were like, gosh, these are so simple answers and we don't think about it. But because you and I have gotten so used to it, it's just like, oh, no-brainer.
But the truth is the secret to overcoming this rebuilding hurdle is to stay or reignite into the honeymoon phase. And what do we mean by that, Cindy? Because you kind of got that one for this episode and I love it.
Cynthia Ficara: I think about the honeymoon phase and anything new. I mean, let's just face it, a honeymoon stems from a newly married couple.
Many of you are married, many of you are engaged, and many of you may be divorced, but think back to the new experience, it's exciting and everything is good with this person you're going to be with, you don't listen to what anybody else says because nothing can go wrong. You Focus, you know, you've got stars in your eyes and all this marriage is so wonderful, and that's how it came up with the honeymoon phase.
And then what happens is over time, people live together, then you're like, oh, now I gotta wash your dishes. It's not that you just don't love them, but that excitement. So you can parallel that into a new job. And I was in one of my job training, it was like 10 years ago or so. And I remember them saying, well, once you get over the honeymoon phase, coming out of training, it's all exciting.
You know, you're going to learn enough to just get, you might hit this wall. So when we talked about what we like when it's good? We love that excitement. We love to be driven. We love it when things are new and hopeful. So what we think is so important about rebuilding is that many of you may be at this crossroads right now.
You may be frustrated and one answer may be, oh, the grass is greener somewhere else. I'm going to look for another job. There may be reasons to stem that, but first let's think about, well, what do you want in another job? And if you're happy with where you are, you believe in what you're selling.
Now it's time to do the hard stuff, which is rebuilding. And that's what we're here to walk you through. You can bring back that honeymoon phase because you and I have done it and we're just going to share with you what we've done. So all of you that are faced with this can go out there and fix it.
Anneliese Rhodes: And what not more opportune time than now for me to talk because I am currently in a rebuilding stage in my territory and you know, whether or not I wanted it, it came as a territory split and great because I created a massive territory and it was time to split it in two and show the world that I can do it again. But man, what a challenge. And you can look at it both ways. You could say, is it a challenge or is it a burden?
Facing the Challenge of Rebuilding
Anneliese Rhodes: And I will be honest, for a little bit there, Cindy, I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to even like to think about the process of how hard it was going to be for me to rebuild. And I would have to go out and again, and culture these new relationships and do all the cold calling and the lunches and all the stuff, but it's like, one day I just woke up and he said, and I said, you know what? I can't curse on this show. Can I say, you know what?
That F word that I love so much, I'm just going to put my head down and get it done. And the thing is, I think sometimes we make a bigger deal out of things than they are. You know, I think I was probably sitting there going, and I know this is going to be so tough.
And what is everybody going to think of me? And you know, am I not a performer anymore? I mean, I was sitting there doubting myself, but the reality is, you know, especially if you've already been there at the top and you're in your current job, you're just rebuilding that territory.
You already know all the answers, you know all the products, and you've already got the tenure behind you. You've already done all that work. All you have to do now is get into that honeymoon phase of being excited again about what you're selling. And I'm not saying that I wasn't excited, but I'm saying, be excited and let that excitement exude out of you for these new customers or these people that you haven't called on in a while.
Let it exude out of you from you to wake you up in the morning and be like, yes, today I'm going to go out and I'm going to call on Dr. so and so on. And they're going to be excited to see me. I am going to get a case out of this, or I am going to make a sale out of this. And it's like all the positive things that you have to keep continuing to tell yourself make all the difference in the world, it's the difference between the challenge and the burden.
Embracing the Process and the Honeymoon Phase
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly, and you just decided to focus on the process. So think about the honeymoon phase, right? Everything's new and all you're focusing on is what you're selling and who you're meeting. When you get stuck in the position, I'm going to use your example just to make these simple territory splits.
So you have to quote-unquote start over. So if you let yourself think about starting up, if you let yourself look at your name at the bottom of a list, if you let yourself just stare at numbers that aren't going up, they're going down, you're never going to get anywhere.
That's a given, so you kind of come to this point where you ask yourself, all right, do I want to stay in this? So what do I need to do? I got to put my head down and do it. So when you focus, the honeymoon phase is focusing on the future, the excitement, the hope, and what you're selling.
You're not wrapped up in all the other things that aren't going well. You know, and these, honestly, I got to tell you one word of advice, and this just popped into my head is a rebuilding phase requires you to decline some phone calls because when you're down and out, maybe you've talked to somebody and they're down and out too. And then they're going to call you back because they just want to commiserate, you know, misery loves company.
Taking Action and Finding Success
But now you've done the first step, there are three simple steps to doing this. But the very first step is a question that you just ask yourself, do I want to feel excited again?
And I want to bring success. You asked yourself that, and then you went to step two. This is how simple this is. Everybody, you make a simple decision, that simple. I'm not kidding you, so you can just sit here like what I'm talking about and you can just go back. Do I want to do this? Do I not?
If you make a decision, then you just put everything else behind you and go, don't him and haul, make a decision. If you want to change, you've to be the person that makes that change.
Anneliese Rhodes: Well, and what you just said, about being excited I can liken that if you want to know what that feels like when you are brand new to a new job or in the industry and you are, whether you're young or old, it doesn't matter, but you're excited to be there.
You're excited to be part of a new company, new products, the new doctors you get to call on, and a new therapy you get to see. That excitement, that newness is the same thing as what you feel in your new relationship, right? When you're in a new relationship, whether it was in college or high school or the honeymoon phase of what we're calling it. It's exciting, it's fun.
It's fun to get dressed for the dates. You want to put on lots of makeup. You care about how you look 24/7 right? You come with a good-smelling breath. You have no BO, right? You've showered three times already. Your hair is perfect.
You're perfect. The clothes are perfect. Like all the things you do for that honeymoon phase, you need to be doing in your work phase of that rebuild. It is the same excitement, the same energy, and your customers need to feel that. And yeah, you got to look fresh and brand new and excited and have the products on you to show them.
It isn't, well, you can look it up on YouTube. I mean, no, that's not going to work. You gotta love your products, man. And I think that what you're talking about is exactly right. Once you make that decision, put your head down and go do it. Go out there and start the rebuild. And you know, I think you'll be surprised at how quickly things can progress and change when you're positive about it.
Steps to Rebuilding and Staying Positive
Cynthia Ficara: And you know, we can say, make a decision. Okay, but it makes a big difference. You know, when you make that decision that this is what you want to do again, the honeymoon phase, think about your first week in your job. I think all of us have been around, maybe there's somebody who's been there 15 years and you're in a room and they're complaining about something, but guess what?
It's like static. You have no idea what they're talking about. You don't care what they're talking about. It's like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you can flip your brain and allow yourself to tune out that static of the things that you see. Decline, whatnot, set it aside, and focus. And as Lisa said, she's going through this herself.
Now, I will witness that. I have watched her put her head down. It is like you guys, it's like the domino effect. When you finally decide to do it, you put your head down. Then you go see a doctor. It feels good. All you need is that receptive feedback of what you're doing is good. And then you get excited for your next call.
I haven't been able to get Lisa on the phone because she's been so busy. I got this and I got that. And all the action starts to happen and this can happen for you guys too. But I'm telling you right now, it starts with a decision and I'm going to take this one step further. So we talked about the honeymoon phase because that is the secret.
It's exciting. I want to talk about the parallel we're making in a relationship. So it's all hunky dory and great. Many of you may have been in, whether it's marriage or friendships, this even happens in friendships or relationships over time. Think about when you're mad about something and maybe it's a legit reason.
Then you kind of get over, well, then you see all the other little annoying things and you nitpick and you find things wrong with that person. You may even be someone who starts an argument with them because that's just, you know, where you are. But think about those relationships whether it's marriage counseling or just come together, say, hey, what are we doing? Let's talk through this. And you kind of get over it, then you read at night and you watch a relationship reblossom, excited to go out.
Then you want to put the makeup on and put the dress on. Oh, I got a date tonight and it's all great. You can do the same thing in your business. And how can you do it? By making this decision, and so once that decision is made, the third step is simple, right, Lisa?
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. But before we even get to the third step, I want to just add something. When you start to feel that domino effect. It's a great feeling and it propels you forward to keep going. It's almost like its own little drug, right?
You go in, you make the sales call. Then all of a sudden you get a case. You're like, oh my God, that was awesome. Let's keep going, man. What can I do next? And it does snowball. And I think like you mentioned, Cindy, as long as you stay on the positive end of it. It just keeps getting better and you will rebuild and it may take time.
I mean, nobody said rebuilding a territory is done overnight. It's not. We all know this in sales. And for those of you out there who don't know, I mean, it should probably take another year to get back up to where you were before, but that's okay. Enjoy the process, it's like training for a marathon.
You have to enjoy the process while you're doing it because if you don't enjoy the process, then what's the point of doing it?
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. You use the analogy of sales being like a roller coaster. You go up and you go down before you get on that roller coaster. You can see the track. You know, you're going to go up and you know, you're going to go down and you know, you're going to be upside down sometimes, but then you're going to rise back up.
You didn't even get on that roller coaster without seeing the track. It's the same thing in this business. I'm telling you it's up and it's down and it's upside down, but man, when you get back up that climb, and I'm going to also tell you, I feel like in the honeymoon phase, It's all well and good and you feel so great, right?
When you rebuild that honeymoon is even better. And for any of you who have been married for an extensive length of time, the love grows and it gets better in your business. You know what you need to do and you can bring excitement back and you can get better and better. And that's why you see some of these people have been here for a long time.
They get better because like anything, they get better over time when you do the right thing, which brings us to step three.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yes. So how do you do it? Right? How do you get there? The very first thing, and I love this because this is sales 101 is to get the low-hanging fruit and go after the docs you are either.
It could be a doctor that you know, that you're already kind of working with that. You just spend more time with that. Practice is changing and now they might want to use one of your newer products, something that you're super excited about.
I mean, that's pretty easy to do. I think for most salespeople, because you feel comfortable doing it, you already know the doctor, it puts you in a positive light more than not because they're going to respond to you positively. So that's good, that's going to make you feel good. I think the low-hanging fruit is a fantastic first step. It's easy to do, it's kind of a no-brainer.
Cynthia Ficara: You know, all of these things being just where you're taking action, you're targeting where, you know, you need to go low hanging fruit in services, something you can do that is if you need to just revitalize yourself or get back in the right frame of mind is lookup data.
We're in clinical cells, medical devices, clinical. If you're in another avenue of sales and maybe you're not in medical devices, I'm sure you're in a company that has updates on what's new, what's improved, and what's coming out and why it's always good to be up on the latest news, so to speak.
But I have to tell you, the biggest thing in step three of taking action is FaceTime, FaceTime is like not being on the phone. I'm going to call you right now. I'm going to FaceTime.
It's all about getting in front of somebody when they see your face and your doctors will remember you when you're there all the time. You know, if you're not there, you're forgotten.
Anneliese Rhodes: Well that's the whole thing, right? Many think they've used you, called you, or talked to you like last week, but the truth is they lose track of time. They've got so many things going on in their life, you know, besides just work and patience, they got a home and kids and all that.
So yeah, you got to be back in front of them. It's getting in your car, and driving to go see them. Whether you're sitting at the coffee shop, waiting to catch them on the side or you're in the OR for another case and you see the doctor that you haven't seen in a while. Stop, talk to them. Be excited.
I'll tell you. I had a call the other day, Cindy, and it's a doctor I haven't seen in a long time. And he's kind of like, he's not the easiest guy to kind of interact with, if you know what I mean. And he was like, he tried to answer his question. He's like, so what's new? Probably nothing much?
And I was like, no, actually we've got a lot of stuff coming out. And he was like, oh? I'm like, yeah. Do you want me to tell you about it? He was like, sure, but you know, like, I have that excitement, right? Even if you're not there yet with whatever products that you're going to potentially talk about, if it's something that you know is in the pipeline and it's coming out, man, talk about it with excitement because at the end of the day, that can be just an open icebreaker conversation that everybody always says, what's new.
You can make that the worst question in the world or the best question in the world. And in a situation like this, I was like, man, we got a lot of stuff that's new. And he was like, really? And he may not have even expected me to say that, but because I'm in the honeymoon phase right now, everything is possible.
Cynthia Ficara: Well you know what? I'm going to give you guys one more hint because if you're feeling and you're listening to this, you're like, yeah, right, okay. So I got to get excited, I'm going to get excited. Listen, here's all I want you to do. If you want to give it a rebuild, you want to give it a try.
I said, ask a question, make a decision. Do you want to do it? And if you're rolling your eyes on the action, take out a piece of paper. You've got three items to do. I want you to pick up a date on the calendar, and schedule one in service. I want you to pick up one research data, I don't care, YouTube, Google one update in your business. And then number three, you put one appointment on the books to see a doctor. A few minutes of a week, three things on the calendar, put a date to it. That's how you're going to step back into the honeymoon phase.
Anneliese Rhodes: I think at the end of all this, Cindy, the biggest question is Are you ready? And you need to be honest with yourself. Are you ready to rebuild? And you need to make that decision.
And if you're going to make that decision and you're going to say yes to that decision and you're being honest, you write it down as Cindy said, and then you enter into that honeymoon phase and you get yourself excited and you become positive about all things.
That's awesome. Declutter your mind of all the chit-chat that can come around you. And like Cindy mentioned, don't answer those calls that might be negative. Don't go down the wrong paths, go only down the yellow brick road. That's going to lead you towards that next awesome sales call when you walk in and that doctor looks at you and says, hey Susie, what's new in your world?
You are so ready to answer that question with all these amazing things. And you will be extremely surprised at how quickly that domino effect can take place.
Cynthia Ficara: There's a bonus to the honeymoon phase and the domino effect because we're focusing this on work when you're happy at work.
Let me ask you a question. How are you at home? And that my friend, wraps up a really exciting day of work. We're here to help you rebuild. We hope this helped because I've watched Lisa rebuild. It's been so exciting. We wanted to share this. We're all there. We will be there in the honeymoon phase. It's amazing.
All you have to do is make it.
