The worst sales rep I ever saw knew the product better than anyone in the room. The best one had never sold a medical device before.
That observation has stayed with me for years. Because in MedTech, and in most industries, we have a habit of confusing product knowledge with commercial ability. They are not the same thing.
Product knowledge can be learned. Give someone the right training, the right clinical exposure, the right time in the field, and they will know the product.
But the ability to walk into a room, read it instantly, build trust in minutes, ask the question nobody else dared to ask, and make someone feel genuinely understood, that cannot be taught in a training room.
I have seen people cross into MedTech from pharma, from FMCG, from financial services, and outperform everyone within eighteen months. Not because they knew the product better. Because they already knew how to sell.
And selling, real selling, is fundamentally about people. Not products.
MedTech is complex. The clinical environment, the OR access, the surgeon relationships, the procurement dynamics, all of it is real and all of it matters.
But even the deepest surgeon relationship was built by someone with the fundamental ability to connect, listen, and earn trust over time. That is not a MedTech skill. That is a human skill.
So can a great salesperson sell anything? My answer, yes. With the right attitude, the right hunger, and the willingness to do the work of learning the new territory.
The field changes. The fundamentals never do.