Am I making a real difference in the world?
For many people who work in sales, the thrill of winning a big deal is the best motivation. For others, this question about making a difference plays a crucial role in their choice of career.
Here at Philips, working in sales is not just about closing deals, it’s also about measuring the value of what you sell by the number of lives you’ve helped to improve. As a company, we’ve pledged to deliver better care for more people, and we know we cannot deliver on that promise without our commercial experts – the people who work alongside doctors and hospital leaders every single day, developing a deep understanding of what’s needed to care for millions of patients around the world.
We asked our sales experts what being a trusted advisor to healthcare customers means to them. Here’s what they told us:
It means you’re helping to improve lives
Knowing your work could play a part in saving someone’s life is a great feeling, says Arnaud Vanherck, a Key Account Manager in Belgium: “When you’ve sold something, and you see it in action – then you see a patient coming out of that operating room – it’s so rewarding.”
Rob de Bie, a Business Development Leader in Critical Care based in The Netherlands, agrees: “Sales come naturally when you create impact for your customer. If you can show them the value that we bring for their patients, then the sales come by themselves.”
Jesse Ferraro, a Sales Executive based in the US, adds. “Having a sales role in healthcare gives me a real reason to wake up every day and work hard.”
You get to join a caring culture
Working at Philips, you also get to connect with talented colleagues who share your passion for improving patients’ and doctors’ lives.
Our company culture is based on delivering impact with care for patients, people, and the planet, all of which helps to build a community of people who support each other and care about each other’s success, says Arnaud Vanherck: “What I love most about my career is that it’s a team effort. I know I can count on them, that makes my job easier…and the team is just amazing!”
Ultimately, you’re driving healthcare innovation
As a sales expert in healthcare, your role is to develop a deep connection with customers, says Justine Colle, an Account Manager in Ultrasound Cardiology in Belgium. It’s this connection that enables you to provide them with the critical and sustainable health technology solutions they need to reach their ambitious goals.
And it also helps to drive healthcare innovation. “That’s because we listen to our customers’ unmet needs and share them with our innovation teams,” she explains. “We’re closest to the customer and it’s really rewarding to gather insights and feedback from them, then pass it over to our development experts, so they can get creative. We then work on it together as a team.”
It’s this collaborative effort – says Kim Westerlaken-van Bloois, a Sales Specialist based in The Netherlands – which helps expand the impact you have in your career: “As part of Philips, you feel like you’re always growing. We don’t sell products; we sell solutions that change peoples’ lives.”
