Focus Supplement 2 - Summer 2017 - 17

MEMBERINTERVIEWS

the clinical piece, but they'll be having
constructive conversations, giving
feedback. ey will be leading the new
hire to do certain things, they'll be
mentoring them and they will coach
to a higher skill. In order to get that
done, I have to provide the
development curriculum and pathway
to train them up. Only having
product and clinical knowledge is
merely the ticket into the carnival.
at's your entranceway to become a
field sales trainer. From there, it's the
developmental tracks of education
that help them become leaders,
coaches and mentors."
"It's not just, 'Here's a checklist, go
train,' " she added. "It's so much more
than that because the company and I
require so much more of the role."
Naturally, the home oﬃce role
doesn't end with those initial steps.
"Our field sales trainers are
extensions of our leadership team and
our training team. ey are the face of
our corporate culture, they are the
face of our corporate values, they are
the face of our coaching and
development, they are the face of all of
our customer-patient-product clinical
interactions. ey really are the
extension of our leadership and
training team. We're all walking the
same walk and talking the same talk.
An extended army of people if you
will," Lowe said. "ey support us
with training, mentoring, leadership
activities, national sales meetings,
ongoing education eﬀorts, cultural
activities, change management
initiatives, compensation eﬀorts,
marketing, taglines, logos, campaigns.
ere's no limit to what the field sales
trainer helps us with and could help us
with."
At Bayer, Hood said, field trainers
are also brought in to help
headquarters train new sales
consultants. ey bring the field

"Our field sales trainers are
extensions of our leadership
team and our training team. ...
They really are the extension of
our leadership and training team."
- Melissa Lowe, Spectranetics

perspective, he said, and share up-todate customer knowledge.
ResMed runs a full day of
workshops at its national sales
meeting for field trainers, usually split
between reviewing current learning
experiences and focusing on
development. e company also holds
quarterly calls and each RST is
provided a leader's guide to leverage
on monthly regional calls.
"We run field-based learning
interventions the first two months of
every quarter," Wilson said. "e RSTs
are also co-facilitators for in-house
training. ey are required to come to
corporate once a year."
Persaud said the Astellas CFTs are
an extension of commercial learning
& development. ey conduct
business planning reviews with new
hires and periodically come to
headquarters to assist the training
department by providing a field
perspective, application of concepts
learned and illustrating "what good
looks like."
"CFTs routinely join in on new hire
teleconference calls, hosted by the
training managers during home study,
so that they can keep abreast of the
progress and learning requirements of
the class," she added.
In terms of advice, each LTEN
member had diﬀerent thoughts to
share as well.
"Networking with current training
managers and making your career

aspirations known can lead to
opportunities down the road," Persaud
said. "Have an ongoing discussion
with your sales manager about your
career path and have them
introduce/connect you to the relevant
internal stakeholders within the
training department."
At ResMed, Wilson said, "We are a
huge fan of development. We engage
RSTs who want to build their learning
competencies in formal projects or
stretch assignments that can help
prepare them for a career in training."
"Volunteer to be a part of the HQ
training of sales consultants," Bayer's
Hood advised. "Make a good
impression and then volunteer for a
project that keeps you in contact with
HQ trainers."
Finally, Lowe pointed out she built
her own career starting as a field
trainer, and at Spectranetics she has
seen her field trainers advance to
training roles, strategic account
management roles and even into
management. She follows a "jungle
gym" approach.
"When we look at the definition of
field sales training historically in our
industry, we may think it's only one
avenue, when tomorrow's jobs have to
be a jungle gym of backgrounds and
experiences," Lowe said. "So why not
allow the definition of a field sales
trainer to be more like a jungle gym?
Why shouldn't our industry be flexible
to the needs and competencies of the
business, companies and patients we
serve? We have a myriad of roles, a
myriad of opportunities and a myriad
of definitions."
"e philosophy is simply lead,
coach and mentor," Lowe added.
"What you want to do with it from
there as a field sales trainer is really up
to you. We just give you the
development tools to help you get
there." ■

Tim Sosbe is editor of Focus magazine and editorial director for LTEN. Email Tim at tsosbe@L-TEN.org.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Supplement 2 - Summer 2017