Explaining Medical Sales: Part I

I receive several calls every single week from people asking about the difference between sales opportunities in the medical laboratory sales field, and which personalities might fit best.  So, to address these questions, here is the first part of a 3-part series explaining different types of medical sales. 

There are 2 basic types of sales that occur in all areas of medical laboratory sales, which includes medical diagnostics sales, medical revenue, pharmaceutical sales, imaging revenue, DNA products revenue, cellular/molecular products revenue, medical equipment sales, surgical supplies sales, hospital equipment sales, pathology sales, or biotechnology sales.  Today’s movie scene will explain Capital Revenue, as opposed to Consumable Sales. 

My favorite way to explain this is to talk about the difference between buying a car (capital sales) vs. shampoo (non-capital, or consumable sales).  Buying a car requires research, consultation with your spouse, test-driving, maybe a loan, and a major outlay of cash.  It takes a while. 

A consumable sale is the shampoo.  Much easier decision, because the consequences are less.  Not as much commitment, (partly because there’s a lot less cash required), and it’s easy to change vendors.  So, the relationship isn’t as solid. 

Capital sales in the pharmaceutical field usually mean things like software (hospital information systems, laboratory info system, workflow software, billing or recruiting software) or equipment.  These affect many departments… there’s lots of outlay, many decision makers, and it typically has to be budgeted.  The customer needs a really admirable reason to switch from what they were doing/using.  Clinical equipment means tangible products…anything from thermometers to imaging equipment, laboratory equipment, or beds, even.

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