How to Prevent “Keeping up with the Joneses” Syndrome in Sales
Are you guilty of “keeping up with the Joneses” in your sales career? Does chasing what others have leave you feeling disheartened or burnt out?
In this Secrets in Medical Device Sales episode, The Girls of Grit tackles the comparison trap and its impact on performance and satisfaction. Inspired by a recent trip to New York City, they reflect on how maximizing what’s in your bag—as a sales rep or in life—can lead to greater success and fulfillment.
They also uncover how comparison can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction, while gratitude and self-awareness can transform your mindset. They challenge listeners to rethink their approach, rediscover their passion, and tap into their strengths to stay ahead in this competitive industry.
This episode will remind you that success isn’t about having the latest or the best—it’s about recognizing and maximizing what’s already within your reach.
Success starts with gratitude and ends with ownership of your story. What’s one thing you can be thankful for in your sales career today?
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction
02:00 Experiences in New York City
02:49 Living in Small Spaces
05:08 Avoiding the 'Keeping Up with the Joneses' Syndrome
08:06 The Importance of Gratitude
12:24 Strategies to Overcome Comparison
22:49 Skill Reinforcement and Continuous Improvement
27:12 Summary
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
"Keeping Up with the Joneses" Mindset: They explore how constantly comparing yourself to competitors or others in your field can lead to burnout, dissatisfaction, and wasted energy.
The Power of Gratitude: Cindy shares her experience with keeping a gratitude journal and how focusing on daily wins can transform your mindset and approach to work.
Celebrating Small Wins: They emphasize the importance of acknowledging even minor accomplishments to maintain momentum and confidence in your career.
Reinforcing and Building Skills: They discuss how refining existing skills and seeking out new ones can help you stand out and thrive, regardless of what competitors may have.
Owning Your Narrative: You are the narrator of your story—success comes from focusing on what you have and maximizing it, not chasing after what others possess.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
"Not one patient will have the same exact anatomy as the next patient. Your product may not fit that number one, but it’s going to fit number two or three or four." — Anneliese Rhodes
"Go learn how to do it because you may not have that product that you keep jonesing for, you can learn the skills around something that might take you further." — Anneliese Rhodes
"Stop the comparison traps, focus on looking inward and not outward." — Anneliese Rhodes
"Gratitude will change your attitude." — Cynthia Ficara
"Sometimes if you just flip it open and you’re reminded of what you’ve done good, it can really just change your mindset." — Cynthia Ficara
"Write down your wins, they don’t have to be big. That big win is only an accumulation of many small wins." — Cynthia Ficara
"When you’re passionate about what you sell and what you believe in, that’s where you’re going to win." — Cynthia Ficara
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Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Maximizing What You Have
Anneliese Rhodes: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, brought to you by The Girls of Grit. And we are so excited to have all of you high performers tuning in once again to our episodes.
Cynthia Ficara: Hello, everybody. Welcome again. And we're very excited about today because today is really kind of fun. Lisa and I had an opportunity to travel for work recently, and I'm not sure how many of you listeners have been to New York City. And I'm sure maybe some of you actually work in New York City or live there. Well, to us, being from Virginia and Florida, it’s a different world, and it’s great. You get to come to this city that has high energy and everything at your fingertips. And, you know, the conversation comes up a lot when we’ve been here in the past and looked around, like, wow, what would it be like to live here? What would it be like to, you know—it’s different from what we know.
And we actually had the privilege to go see Lisa’s cousin.
Anneliese Rhodes: Who?
Cynthia Ficara: Actually does live in New York City.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yes.
Cynthia Ficara: Oh, it’s great.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. It’s awesome. And you know, it’s funny because my cousin, who is amazing and beautiful and wonderful, she has two little kids, little, like almost four and almost two—busy ages, busy, busy ages, adorable. And they live in an apartment in Lower Manhattan, Tribeca area, and it’s not big, is it, Cindy? I mean, it’s a small little area, but man, it's amazing.
Yeah, she maximizes every little inch of that apartment. And it got Cindy and me thinking. You know, here we are in a small little apartment with an amazing woman and two amazing children, and they are happy as can be—just running around and playing. And they are in a tight space.
And, you know, we were talking about, man, can you imagine living in that little space with these two little kids? And the thing is, it made us think about the old saying: “Keeping up with the Joneses.” You know, would you rather be in this big, sprawling home with all this space? And, you know, with that comes the fact that it’s more to clean—number one, of course, that’s what I think.
You wouldn’t probably see your kids as much. They would be off in their own bedrooms while you’re in the kitchen or the living room. And your closeness in proximity in that small apartment keeps you closer-knit.
And so what we started thinking about was instead of concentrating on what you don’t have or what you wish you had, why not concentrate on what you have currently in your bag as a sales rep and make it the best you possibly can—just like my cousin with her little apartment complex.
Cynthia Ficara: And I mean, I think back to when I raised my family in the suburbs. And so then you had to get the bigger car, and then—I don’t know about you—but we would travel in for the holidays, and that thing was packed because you had to have the little bathtub and the little thing.
And I’m like, did we though? Like, you had to pack that thing, and then I look at your cousin, and I’m like, wow, they made the TV in this little tiny, tiny box. Beautiful big TV, but it’s only inches wide. All the little stuff they need for their books and their crafts. But it’s like, wow, these kids have every single thing they need without thinking, “Oh, we need more.”
Well, they have to have this toy and that toy to stimulate. Like, no. And Lisa is spot-on about that, and it really did inspire us. This is why we’re doing this episode—it’s a little silly—but we’re calling it: “How to Avoid the ‘Keeping Up with the Joneses’ Syndrome in Sales.” Because I’ve seen salespeople guilty of this—well, many times.
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my God, I’m guilty of it. Absolutely, I’ve been guilty of that—going, “Oh, well, if I only had this or if I only had that product, I would have all my customers.”
But the truth is—and you know, I will say this—it’s kind of reminding me of the old saying that things look better than they really are.
The truth is, I think it’s more important to concentrate on what you have. Because I will tell you, if you continually spin your wheels on what you don’t have versus what you do have, it really leads to burnout.
I mean, you start stressing about things that you don’t have. It’s like, okay, well, that does you no good because guess what? You’re literally wasting your energy. You’re not going to have them anytime soon, maybe. So why concentrate on that?
Breaking the 'More is Better' Myth
Cynthia Ficara: And I think you’re spot on. I think there are two things when we talk about why this is bad. Essentially, you know, the whole myth that more is better—it’s really not. You’re right.
Number one, if you think more is better, it’ll lead to burnout.
Number two—and I know every one of you is either guilty of this or knows somebody who is dissatisfied with their job. Why? Because they focus on, well, you know, we have a future product, and it’s not here. So I just can’t do this. And I’m not satisfied.
Or, oh my gosh, the competition has what I wish I could sell, because if we just got that, then maybe my numbers would be better.
It kind of reminds me of our previous episode: “Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.” When you put your mind to a certain thing, that’s what you focus on.
Yeah, you know, you’re right. And so, if you focus on what you don’t have, you’re going to lead to burnout or dissatisfaction, and that does no good.
Anneliese Rhodes: No good.
Cynthia Ficara: No.
Anneliese Rhodes: You’re exactly right. And we’re not saying there’s nothing wrong with talking about things that may be coming down your pipeline in the future. Of course, that’s important. Customers do want to know where you’re headed in the next, you know, three to five years. That’s very important.
But if you solely base all of your happiness and your business on something that is not currently in your bag, at some point, it’s going to disappoint.
Because we all know things don’t happen on our timelines. They happen on their timelines.
And you can’t sell something that you don’t currently have in your bag yet. You just physically can’t. You can’t give it to your customers.
So again, we’re not saying don’t talk about futures or pipelines, but really what we’re focusing on today is staying current and what you have—in your bag, in your mind.
And, you know, one of those things I think that’s really important to keep in perspective is creating gratitude.
But before we get into that, I think we need to reveal our secret.
Cynthia Ficara: Yes. Because there’s always a secret to this. So, you know, again, what would our secret be to preventing the “keeping up with the Jones’s syndrome” in sales?
Lisa, I’m going to let you reveal our secret this time because I usually do.
Gratitude: The Key to Maximizing Potential
Anneliese Rhodes: Well, okay, so our secret is you need to remember to maximize your potential. And how do you do that? By celebrating and optimizing what you already have in that bag instead of dreaming of what could be. Absolutely. And, I mean, look, I’m definitely guilty of dreaming, right?
I’m definitely guilty of dreaming.
Dream big. Dream big. And bigger and bigger. But I’m guilty of saying, “Oh, you know, I just—I wish we had this, and I wish we had that, and I would be this, and I would be that.” But the truth is, again, it just gets you nowhere.
So, one of the things—and I just said it a second ago before we revealed our secret—is being grateful.
And there is nobody better to talk about that than my partner here, Cindy, who has a, I think you call it a grateful book. Maybe? No, a grateful—
Cynthia Ficara: A grateful journal. Okay, a gratitude journal. And I’m so grateful that you pay attention to me when I say this.
Anneliese Rhodes: I do.
Cynthia Ficara: Yes, I mean, I know we talked about this a long time ago, but honestly, I’m going to say this again because I think it is something very powerful. Years and years ago, I started keeping a gratitude journal, and literally every single day I write down three things I’m grateful for—just three simple things.
And, you know, sometimes I write it in two things, like three things I’m grateful for at home in my personal life and three things I’m grateful for at work.
It has allowed me to shift my mindset and really focus on that. I really have a great opportunity and am fortunate to be here.
And I want to remind all of you that if you are not yet a high performer, you are on the right track because you’re listening to us to become one.
And I think that it takes that bit of gratitude and knowing that the little things I’m grateful for make it all better when you really focus on what you have and start your day with gratitude.
It clearly—what’s the one saying? Gratitude will change your attitude.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, and I—you know, Cindy, I love that you started doing this gratitude journal. And I started doing it as well. Not a journal necessarily, but I have made a list of things that I’m grateful for.
Cynthia Ficara: Grateful book that you call it?
Anneliese Rhodes: Grateful book. My grateful book. But, you know, I mean, it’s—and guys, it can be personal, obviously, you know, your family, your friends, your work, whatever it is.
But, you know, one of the things that I think we all need to remember is we do need to be grateful for this wonderful world of medical devices that we get to be a part of. Because not everybody, number one, can do it. And number two, they’re in it.
And it’s like we get to be a part of something that is saving a patient’s life potentially. And we are working with amazing surgeons and physicians and brilliant people.
And, you know, they have their own things going on in their lives, but man, it just—it just reminds you to—sometimes you just got to dumb it down and be real simple.
You know, just be thankful for the things that you have, the company that supports you pays you well, and you are able to do something that you love.
Cynthia Ficara: And actually, I was on a train of thought and lost it. But you just reminded me—what you just said about medical devices—what I was thinking of saying is that you have to remember, if you’re in medical devices right now, you are a high performer.
And it is a privilege, because of the fact that you’ve gone through the interview process, you’ve landed a job, and you have what it takes to do this job.
Somebody saw something in you, and you have these little tools. It’s up to us to kind of help you refine them, polish them, and put them to work.
Anneliese Rhodes: A hundred percent. Absolutely.
Cynthia Ficara: So—
Anneliese Rhodes: Remember, remember gratitude.
Cynthia Ficara: All right.
Anneliese Rhodes: So, I think one of the biggest things, guys, that we tend to do—and this is in life, personal as well as professional—is comparing.
Embracing Competition and Overcoming the Comparison Trap
Anneliese Rhodes: Okay. Right. It’s the whole “keeping up with the Joneses” is what we call it. The grass is always greener on the other side. It’s the Instagram and Facebook filters of family and work-life balance and all the things that people want you to believe are true. We all know there’s the filter, and then there’s reality.
And, you know, you can apply this to your personal life as you can to business. You may think, “Well, if I only had this product in my bag, or they have that, they have everything, they have the market cornered.”
Guys, nothing’s perfect. Every product comes with its give and takes. You always have to give something up in order to get something else.
So don’t just think that what the other person has is a silver bullet because, let’s be honest, if it was a silver bullet, you’d be out of business, right?
I mean, if that’s not true if what they sold was a silver bullet for peripheral artery disease, then every other peripheral artery disease company in the world would be out of business, but they’re not.
So there’s something to be said for the fact that, number one, competition is great and good because it keeps you in business.
But number two, nothing is perfect. So instead of trying to say, “If I only had this, or I only had that,” know that tthere areprobably some weaknesses in all of those products. Go figure them out. To find out where they’re lacking.
Cynthia Ficara: And you can fill those voids. And, you know, not everything that the new shiny toy ends up being is the best in the end. You know, “Ooh, I have to have this because somebody else does.”
And then think about what happens down the road. Maybe there’s a recall. Maybe something doesn’t work. But what you thought was so great really isn’t.
And just because something else comes out that’s new, I’ve got to tell you, when you’re in sales and if it’s in your area of specialty, that’s a good thing. You want competition because that verifies what you’re doing. There’s a need.
There’s a need. And remember our target patient is human anatomy. And what’s so cool about medical devices versus, say, car sales or something else is that every human’s anatomy is slightly different.
So you may have one device that works for one type of anatomy, but now you need something a little specialized for something more complicated.
Or maybe in cars, every single—like some luxury car—you lift up the hood, and it’s all the same underneath. So maybe you don’t need all the different things.
And in sales, we’ve got to be creative. It’s about being creative and knowing how to position what you have best for what you are trying to treat.
And you want to have that competition, but you don’t want to let it stop you.
And I’ve seen this happen too many times, where, “Well, the competition has that, so that’s it. I’m out of business. Throw my hands in the air. I’m done. I can’t sell it because they have that.”
Well, you know what? Then that’s not sales.
Anneliese Rhodes: No, you know what? You’re exactly right. And I loved that analogy—or whatever you’d call that—with regard to human anatomy.
You are so spot on, Cindy. Not one patient will have the same exact anatomy as the next patient. And maybe your product may not fit that number one, but it’s going to fit number two or three or four.
And giving up because you, in your own mind, have convinced yourself that the competitor has all the answers and you have none makes zero sense.
Because, again, your company wouldn’t be in business if that was the case. So take a minute and just kind of think about it that way.
Stop the comparison traps.
So how do we work through this, right? What are some strategies to work through this?
Well, one of the first things I think, in terms of “keeping up with the Joneses,” is to do an inventory check.
And what do we mean by that? That can mean a lot of different things with regard to your products.
Go through what you have currently—not just in your bag, but the resources that your company brings.
Do you offer a training course? Do you train fellows or residents? Do you have mentors that you can call on or proctors that you could call on to home and work with your physicians on a certain procedure with that certain product?
Do you have VIP visits where you can bring your physicians to your home office? And they get to really see where your company started.
Did it, you know, start in the garage of somebody’s house? I mean, like, you know, I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting a little carried away here.
But the truth is, there are so many resources that sometimes you forget to tap into.
And because you just get so one-mind-focused on things, you forget about all these other things that are important.
And those resources—you can really capitalize on, guys.
Reigniting Passion Through Storytelling and Reflection
Cynthia Ficara: So try not to forget about them. And you are so right. You just talked about the garage. It made me think about, like, we’re in sales, guys. And remember that storytelling is amazing.
And when all of you were hired, I call it the honeymoon phase. And I bet every one of you—because every company I’ve worked for—one of the first things they do is they give you the history, right? Like there is a story to how you got there.
Yes. You know what? Revisit that. Go remind yourself. If you forget, call your upper management, call somebody that can say, “You know, tell me again how we started.”
Because I guarantee if you went to a customer and you’re just in your dissatisfactory burnout lull, take them to lunch and be like, “You know, do you remember how our company started? Did I ever tell you the story of how our company started?”
Sometimes it gives you that connection, and it’s somewhere different. But you know what that also does? We talked—this is under inventory check again—and are thinking about what it is that brought you to this job in the first place. What do you believe about your products?
And sometimes, Lisa mentioned resources, articles, home office, certain visits, or going back to training materials.
Reignite that belief you once had in your product. Get that belief back. And where am I really leading this? Passion. When you’re passionate about what you sell and what you believe in, that’s where you’re going to win.
So, you know, we’re talking about keeping up with the Joneses, right? Do you know keeping up with the Joneses is simply a story?
“Oh, look what they have. I want what they have, and it’ll be better once I get there.”
Well, guess what? You are the narrator of your own story. Change the dialogue. Now it’s, ‘Look what I have. Look what I can make work.’
Anneliese Rhodes: I love it.
Cynthia Ficara: I already have this information. Now the Joneses are going to be looking at me.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that. That was so good, Cindy.
Cynthia Ficara: That was—
Anneliese Rhodes: So good. And one more thing on this. I know I’m like, but you just jogged my memory about something else.
Sometimes we can get caught up in what we think we have portrayed to a customer in terms of the product, and the data. But sometimes it just takes a little bit of refocusing on that.
And, you know, I recently had dinner with a physician, and we presented some data to him. And even though I have said this in the past to him, I don’t really know if my message got across.
But I’ll tell you what, guys. At that dinner, he saw it differently, heard it differently, and I, again, heard it being presented a little differently.
It reignited my passion, but it also reignited his.
That’s awesome. And he said to me, “Wow. Hey, listen, this is some really good stuff. I’m thinking I’m going to change my mind in terms of the way that I treat my patients in my algorithm.”
And all that did was remind me that I needed to reignite that passion. I needed to hear it just a little bit differently.
Sometimes, maybe hear the story again. As Cindy said, go back to the honeymoon phase, figure out where you guys came from, and why you decided to go with this company in the first place.
Focus on looking inward—
Cynthia Ficara: And not outward. Yes.
Anneliese Rhodes: And it’s amazing.
Cynthia Ficara: You’ll find your little golden treasure chest with what you have.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love it.
Cynthia Ficara: You know. Yeah.
Highlighting Wins and Reinforcing Skills
Anneliese Rhodes: All right. Okay. The next thing is highlighting wins. This is something, you know, I know we talk about this a lot, y’all, but it’s a little positive kick in the butt. You know, it’s, “Hey, let’s talk about remembering—you did get these cases. You were in those cases. You got that hard doctor to change and use your product."
Maybe it was just a dinner that you had with them or a lunch, and they looked at you and said, “You’re getting my next case,” or “You’ve got my attention now. Come back again.” You know, “I’m going to give you the next case,” or “I’m going to have you come into the OR.”
Whatever it was in terms of that win, go back to that win and remind yourself—you did accomplish that.
Cynthia Ficara: And then build on that, right? Absolutely. And I know I’ve said this in a previous episode about writing down your weekly wins. And it can be on a pencil, on a piece of paper, it could be a sticky note in your drawer, or it could be in a little book.
Because I’m going to tell you, those days where you feel burnout and dissatisfied, sometimes if you just flip it open and you’re reminded of what you’ve done well—or even jotting down when somebody gives you a compliment—you might need to remind yourself of that later when you’re beating yourself up, which you shouldn’t be.
We’re striving for things, and it’s amazing how that can just, again, change your mindset and make you focus on wins—and they don’t have to be big.
I don’t want to know when you have some big, great conversion. I mean, yes, that’s great. Write that down and remember. But, you know, that big win is only an accumulation of many, many small wins.
I guarantee you right now, that you’re on the track. Maybe you’re the third win on your next big conversion. So look inward, highlight those tiny little wins, and you may not be as dissatisfied as you think.
“Oh, wait, I did get this. I do have this appointment,” and now you can start going forward.
So I think the third thing— all right, so we talked about our strategies: inventory check, highlight wins.
And the third way to really eliminate keeping up with the Joneses syndrome is skill reinforcement.
So I guess it kind of overlaps with inventory check, but I want to take it a step further because I think the great example is in-servicing.
This is what I want all of you to think about. If you’ve listened to somebody give you an in-service, no matter what product you sell—even if it’s a car—and somebody tells you an in-service, you get the points. But what’s the difference if during an in-service, they stop and ask you a question?
If you learn how to take exactly the same information and engage your customer in an in-service, that is skill refining and reinforcement. That’s like, “Hey, this product does XYZ. Have you experienced this, or do you notice a difference, or does this—”
All those leading questions like, “Can you tell me a time when this was an issue for you?”
Sometimes you don’t want to bring out an issue, but my point is: redefine the way you are in-service. Get excited about it.
And I’m going to say one more thing here—make sure when you’re in-servicing that you only use positive words.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. Well, and on that—before we close on this episode, guys—it’s not just reinforcing what you currently have, but going out and getting a new skill.
There’s always something you could not only do better but do now, right?
If they can do something and you can’t do it yet—holy crap, don’t let that hold you back. To learn how to do it. Because though you may not have that product that you keep jonesing for, you can learn the skills around something that might actually take you a step further than that product you keep dreaming about will take you.
Cynthia Ficara: And there’s one more link to the reinforcement part of what you just said—always make yourself better. But let’s face it, there are certain areas in every single specialty that are more specialized.
You know what? You’re making yourself better. Bring them in as a guest. Bring in the experts and tag along—maybe they know a higher level than you do. You may not have to know it exactly like them, but partner with them, bring them in, and that shows you—that elevates you just as well.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love it.
Cynthia Ficara: So I think this has been really exciting and it’s been fun to just really see that.
Lisa and I really couldn’t help ourselves, and we were so blown away by how people really make things work with what they have. And I’m telling you—the best sales reps do that.
Taking Action: Gratitude and Growth
Cynthia Ficara: So, in summary, how are you going to do this?
Do an inventory check, highlight your wins, and reinforce the skills you have.
So what I want to leave you with is a little call to action. And I want to highlight two areas that we really kind of focused on:
Number one: Start a little gratitude journal. Just three simple things that you are grateful for in your sales career each day.
Number two: A tiny challenge, more than anything. If every one of you out there listening can think of one current skill—or let’s say one existing relationship that you have—what can you do to nurture that and make it better? Just one.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love it. And I’m going to leave you guys with a really kind cool quote that both Cindy and I really liked, and this was said by Theodore Roosevelt:
"Do what you can with what you have, where you are."
