InVentiv Approaches

Welcome to Success Stories, which explores what makes the industry's top-performing representatives so amazingly successful. Each month we will talk with someone who works closely with sales representatives, such as managers, trainers, managed care specialists, medical science liaisons and even doctors, to get their unique perspective on what habits, traits and competencies propel a rep to the top of his or her company.

Shawna Hankins is an area sales manager at inVentiv Health. She hires start-up teams for launches, and has been a Circle of Excellence award winner for the western region based upon her teams' sales performance and for consistently hiring exceptional representatives.
This month I spoke with Shawna Hankins, area sales manager at inVentiv Health. As a manager in a contracted sales force, Hankins' teams face a special challenge: inVentiv reps have to continually learn new products and new corporate cultures every time they are assigned to a new contract. As a manager, Hankins knows how difficult it is for representatives to thrive under these constantly evolving circumstances, and has a unique perspective on what it takes for a rep to be truly successful.

Shawna, representatives in a contracted sales force are in a unique position. What characteristics identify top performers at inVentiv?

Fluidity and passion are the most important traits of our top performers. Fluidity is the ability of the representative to "go with the flow" and not become disrupted by constant change, such as new target lists, reporting criteria, access issues and managed care. The fluidity of exceptional reps allows them to discover opportunities regardless of the objections they receive, while others often get caught up in variables that are out of their control.