19: Top Pharmaceutical Sales Rep - Christina Izokovic - Be Better Than Yourself

0:08 Scott Ingram: You're listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast, where we deconstruct world-class sales performers to provide insights and strategies to help you improve. To learn more, visit us at top1.fm. Here's your host, Scott Ingram. Today on the Sales Success Stories podcast, my guest is Christina Izokovic, who is the number one sales rep and rep of the year for Avion Pharmaceuticals. Welcome to the show, Christina.

0:36 Christina Izokovic: Hi, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

0:39 Scott Ingram: Well, it's really a pleasure. Really looking forward to our conversation. So, we'll start like we always do with the top 3 things that you believe have made you so successful. And if you regularly listen to the show, you probably know the drill. But if this is your first time, we do this really to front-load a lot of the value of the conversation before we go deep, as these conversations can get rather lengthy. So, but in a good way. So, Christina, what are your top 3?

1:04 Christina Izokovic: Well, I would have to say my number one thing is, um, I never give up. Um, as my manager would say, I like to be nicely persistent. And what I mean by that is I never give up. Um, I feel that every single call that I make, I look at it as one continuous call. So even if I didn't reach my goal in that call, if I didn't get where I wanted to be, there's always another chance because it's one continuous call. And so I never give up and I make sure I have a goal in mind and continue that one continuous call.

1:35 Scott Ingram: Fantastic. Is there ever a point though that you are kind of qualifying and deciding, well, maybe this one isn't necessarily worth it?

1:42 Christina Izokovic: Um, you know, I, I would have to say that, you know, you do come into these offices, just different situations where you feel like you're really not making an impact. But when I leave there, I don't really look at it as not worth it. I look at it as, um, an opportunity to make another impact when I go back, if that makes any sense. Sense.

2:02 Scott Ingram: Yeah, it does. It does.

2:03 Christina Izokovic: Okay.

2:03 Scott Ingram: So what's your second one?

2:05 Christina Izokovic: My second one would be to be better than the person I was yesterday. Um, and basically what I mean from that is I think even in life, everything that you do, every experience you go through, you learn from what you do. You know, you learn what worked in the past, you learned, um, what has not worked in the past and you grow from there. Um, you grow to make yourself better from yesterday, whether it is as a mom, um, as a sales rep, as a person. Um, you learn to be the better person than you were yesterday.

2:34 Scott Ingram: And how do you go about that? Is, is that sort of a conscious part of your process or, I mean, how are you, how are you thinking or quantifying your being better than yesterday?

2:44 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. So I think that that's just basically who I am in a nutshell, um, as a person. Um, but in the sales arena, you know, I, I kind of, I talk to myself all the time in the car. People make fun of me. Um, but I think about the way my calls went. And how I could have made that call better. If, you know, I can always tell if I made a slam dunk with a call, you know, if I had that aha moment, and then I can always tell if it was, uh, it was okay. So then I asked myself, what did I do? How can I make myself better than the last time that I was there? How can I make myself better than yesterday? Um, you know, I have big shoes to fill being the number one sales rep last year for Avion Pharmaceuticals. So now I look at it, how can I be better than I was last year? You know, how, what can I do differently that I did not do last year? What can I do similar that I did do last year and kind of go from there?

3:37 Scott Ingram: Cool. Well, we'll definitely dig into that. Maybe not right now, but I want to come back to that and talk a little bit more about how you're thinking about year over year. You were already number 1. How do you raise that game a little bit higher? But before we go there, what's, what's the last one? Number 3.

3:51 Christina Izokovic: Number 3 is to treat everyone with respect. Um, and basically what I mean by that is make a total office call. Um, my background, I am a registered nurse. I have been in the medical field for 12 years. And so I, my first sales job has been with Avion Pharmaceuticals. And my husband makes fun of me because he's in sales as well. And we've done lunches together. But when I go to a lunch, when I go to an office, I treat every single person like they are the provider. It doesn't matter if they're at the front desk, if they are taking, you know, cleaning the bathrooms, if they're the nursing assistant, the lab tech, the provider, whoever it is, I talk to every single person and I make them feel, you know, special. I don't want to be that pushy sales rep that's just there for one reason. You know, I want to be there to make a difference. I want to be there to make them feel good, and I want to be there to be a resource to educate them. My job is to help educate the nursing staff and the providers so that those patients can have the best care possible and the best products possible. But I think that starts with just making sure that I treat every single person in the office with respect, including those patients that come in.

5:00 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's fantastic. And I imagine it's just, it's probably an extension of who you are. That's, that's not some conscious thing you're like, well, this is my sales tactic.

5:07 Christina Izokovic: No, no, you're exactly correct. Um, that's just me. It's always been me since I was a little girl, you know? Um, I am that person that would talk to anybody that comes in and, you know, I grew up Southern. I'm a Southern girl, Southern belle. So, you know, I opened the door, I waved to everyone. I say, thank you. You know, it's just built into me. And I think that really does help me in the sales arena as well.

5:29 Scott Ingram: Love it. Now talk, you started talking about it a little bit, but tell us a little bit more about your role and what that entails and then how you got to number 1.

5:38 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. So when I started here, um, you know, I started as a sales rep and I still am a sales rep. Um, and I have one of the toughest territories in the country. Um, Charlotte, North Carolina is known for being a closed territory. It's probably about 70 to 80% closed, meaning, you know, people, you're not able to leave samples, you're not able to have lunches. So I've really had to dive deep and get into these offices and make real big impact. And in doing that, you know, I've been able to grow every single quarter, month after month, my numbers, all core brands, every single product that I'm selling, it's just continuously grown. And I think it's because of the relationships that I've been able to make. In addition to that, you know, I have been promoted within the last year, a couple promotions actually. I am now a district sales trainer where I help to lead the trainings for new hires. We've opened up a new hematology division, so I've helped train those people, and I'm a resource. I would tell you that my phone rings off the hook every day, people calling and asking me for advice or help with anything, which I absolutely love to do. Education is… my heart is in education. And then the other thing is I am part of the marketing board as well. So what that entails is, you know, having monthly meetings on the phone and talking about ways that we can basically make our brand known and ways to make, you know, the collateral material that we do have better. And Um, things to that extent.

7:05 Scott Ingram: Very cool. That's, that's a lot on your plate and you're still knocking it all out. So quantify, put this in perspective for us. Can you kind of quantify those results? What does it take to be number 1 at Avion?

7:16 Christina Izokovic: Um, I think that it takes persistence. I know I keep using that word, but to be number 1 at Avion, it's just do not give up. Be better than, I mean, my husband tells me all the time, you're, you're in president, you're in the running for president's club. Isn't that good enough? And I said, no, I want to be number 1. And I'm not competing against anyone else. I'm competing against myself. Um, it's kind of, I think it's the nurse inside of me. You know, when you work as a nurse, your goal is to take care of patients and make sure you're giving them the best possible care ever. And so to me, it's the same thing in sales. I want to give the best possible care for myself as a sales rep and be the best and be number one, but also be a resource. I love to help people. It's, it's in my heart. It's, it's always been a part of me. And I think being number one, um, opens that up as well because I can help others to, um, grow and get to the same place that I've been able to grow in a year.

8:08 Scott Ingram: And what about any specific metrics in terms of percentage of plan? Or, I mean, what did that look like?

8:14 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. So every single quarter last year, you know, I've always been above 100% to plan. Um, there's 3 brackets that we have. Um, and it's usually been anywhere from 150% to 180% to plan. Um, sometimes 100%, I would say more 100% to 180%. It just depends on which product it is. Um, I've never been below 90% last year. Um, and that really just helped me grow. The other thing is we have contests that we would, that Avion would have, and a lot of those times I would also win those contests. So all that money goes towards President's Club, which helps you to, you know, become number one.

8:48 Scott Ingram: Very cool. And how did this all start? I mean, you said that you spent some time as a nurse. How did you get into the industry and more importantly kind of make that transition to sales? What prompted that?

8:57 Christina Izokovic: Yes, that's a great question. So I've known since I was little that I've always wanted to help people. People. So I of course went into nursing school and became a registered nurse. Before that I was a medical assistant, so I've been in the medical field for 12 years. I am a mother of 2. I have an almost 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, so my life is very busy and hectic. And I found out that, you know, when I had my children that nursing, you know, it's very, very demanding. And I'll be honest, you get underpaid, you're underpaid, you miss holidays. And you know, you don't get the credit, you know, for the hard work that you do. You do with the patients, but it's, it's a tough, tough job. Um, I've always wanted to help people and you know, my husband's been telling me for years cause he is in sales that I would be fantastic at it. So, you know, after having my second child, I decided, you know what, I'm gonna, um, first of all, I wanted to believe in the company. I had to believe in the products to work for the company, of which I do. Um, so I took that leap of faith and I, um, you know, joined Avion Pharmaceuticals and I just, I blew it out of the water. I did better than I ever imagined, which, which is great because now I have, I have new goals every single month that as a mom and as a sales rep that I do.

10:12 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. And what's even more impressive is that you're juggling this with young children. I remember barely because I think I've repressed most of those memories from when my girls were 2 and 4. Those are, those are challenging times. How are you managing all of that?

10:27 Christina Izokovic: It's kind of crazy. I'm not going to lie. Um, you know, I, I just, I just manage it. I, I just, um, I'm used to multitasking, whether it was when I was younger waiting tables to being a nurse, working 2 jobs as a nursing assistant in nursing school to, um, you know, now as a sales rep, I've just, I've learned to multitask and I try to be the best at everything that I can do. Mom, wife, um, you know, and, and a sales rep. So, you know, my goal every morning as I wake up, I get ready, I get my kids ready. They used to be in daycare, but they were sick so much that we, we got a nanny. So now we have a nanny that comes home and stays with them. And I go to work and I travel if I need to, and I come home and take care of the kids and make dinner and do all of that stuff. It's just kind of a juggling act, really.

11:13 Scott Ingram: Yeah, no kidding. Now, if you were starting that whole thing over again, not the kids part, Um, but the kind of the career piece, would you have gone into sales earlier, or do you feel like having spent as much time as you did in kind of those nursing roles, that that laid a foundation that really allows you to maybe connect better, uh, with, with your clients than you ordinarily would have been able to?

11:34 Christina Izokovic: That's a great question. I, you know, honestly, I've been going back and forth in that. Would I have liked to start this earlier? Which, of course, you know, starting it earlier I think would allow me to move faster, you know, in the sales arena. But at the same time, I think every step that I've made in my personal life and my career life, it has led me to become the person that I am today. Um, you know, in my career and as an individual. Um, so, you know, honestly, I don't think I would change anything just because of the fact that I don't think that I would be, you know, as much of a hard worker, um, you know, as, as driven as I am if I didn't go through every single little piece of my life in my career and in my personal life as well. Yeah.

12:14 Scott Ingram: Now, I wonder if there's… and fair warning, I don't think I had this in my list of questions in advance. So, if you need an extra minute to think about this, that's fine. But I'm wondering if you have a favorite sales story, whether you won or lost, and maybe something that you learned from that story.

12:30 Christina Izokovic: Oh, that's a really good question. Let's see. I do have a favorite sales story, but I don't know if it's too much to say on You know, without putting too much information with our company. Got it.

12:44 Scott Ingram: Yeah. And if we leave this in, sometimes we edit out these chunks of it if it goes too sideways. But you have to be aware that obviously Christina's in a very highly regulated industry. This will be reviewed by her legal department before we can put it out. So, we have to be really, really careful about what we share. And Christina, I'd say let's give it a shot and see if you can Um, just take out any names or anything else to kind of protect any of that stuff so that there's nothing confidential, um, that we can't share and see if we can make it through.

13:18 Christina Izokovic: Sure. Um, well, I'm just going to go with something that happened yesterday because it's the most recent. Um, there is this provider who, you know, he's, he will talk to sales reps, but he doesn't really, he's not really, he's just not interested honestly when it comes to prenatal vitamins, iron therapy, he just does what he does. Um, and so the, you know, talking to him yesterday, we do a new product on board, which I think is… I like to call it the mack daddy of prenatal vitamins. I do think it's the best. I take it personally just as a multivitamin because I think it's that great. And speaking to him, I was able to not give too much information, but able to show him the benefits. He does currently write something for nausea for his patients. And I was able to talk to him about the benefits of our product which is a prenatal vitamin, but also has more B6 than anything on the market. And with that, you've not only got B6 in this product, but you also have a prenatal vitamin, a multi, a one-pill formulation versus taking something else that's got B6 in it, but they have to take it 4 times a day. And so with that being said, and being able to have this product with the most tolerable iron, which was something that was also important to him, you kinda get a double bang for your buck is what I told him. And so right then and there he said, you know what, you sold me. And he brought up his EMR system, He brought up the product, he replaced what he usually writes, and he asked me for the universal coupon code, which is something that goes straight to the pharmacy for the coupons for the patients, and saved it and said, done, this is my new go-to.

14:49 Scott Ingram: Nice, that's good stuff.

14:50 Christina Izokovic: So yeah, yeah, it was a really good sales call for me.

14:53 Scott Ingram: So what's the takeaway? I mean, what went right about that that you'll apply going forward?

14:58 Christina Izokovic: My takeaway is I kinda shortened it. I asked a lot of questions. You know, what do you typically do for patients when it comes to a prenatal vitamin? Uh, I don't really care. Okay, what do you typically do? I mean, how many patients do you have that are nauseated? You know, um, what do you typically do for them? Do you have to deal with prior authorizations? You know, a lot of probing, trying to get to what he's looking for, right? Because then that's where I can get them. That's because I know hands down our products win every single time compared to anything on the market. I'd be willing to bet my life on it, um, because of my nursing background and because I've taken it. You know, I know that if you compare what's on the back of our products to anything else in that closet, that we win hands down. It is the best. So knowing what's really important to him, being able to probe and dive into that and knowing what he's looking for, that was how I think I was able to go in and really tell him not only about our product, but how that's beneficial to the patient, what that means to the patient. And I think when you bring it back to the patient, making… because that's why we're all here, right? That's why a nurse does her job. That's why a provider does his or her job, is to make sure that we're giving the best care to the patient. And that's what it comes down to. And with that being said, and mentioning, you know, the coupon and getting it saved in the EMR system, going that extra step just to make sure we're replacing his old, you know, product that he used, I think all of that together is really what made that a successful call.

16:24 Scott Ingram: Yeah, great story. Good stuff. So what about, what about the flip side a little bit? What, what do you find to be the most challenging about selling today?

16:33 Christina Izokovic: For me, the most challenging are my closed offices. As I stated previously, you know, I have probably 70 to 80% of my offices that are closed. And what I mean by that is that they do not do lunches, they do not do breakfast, they don't allow samples. You can drop off coupons. So that would probably be my biggest struggle. You have to kind of get creative. Um, do not give up. It's very easy to say that you went to an office and not really go because you're not leaving samples. So definitely don't give up and always try something new, but be very pleasant. You know what I mean? Don't be that pushy sales rep. Be that person that lights up the room when you walk in there and try to have something new for them, something, you know, that would be beneficial to them, to their practice, as well as to the patients. But that, that is probably my most challenging, are those closed offices, because you've got to, you know, get to know the front desk and you've got to kind of figure out, be creative, what can get you past that front desk.

17:31 Scott Ingram: Interesting. So obviously unique to your industry, but I… what I don't think is unique is oftentimes there are particular accounts that are hard to get into and it's tough to break through. Are there any other kind of creative strategies that you have found that have allowed you to get back into the office in that closed environment?

17:52 Christina Izokovic: Yes, actually a couple things. And I would have to, you know, Marty was my manager last year and he's now a head of our hematology division. But I would have to, by the way, thank him for a lot of my success because he's given me so many great ideas. But one of those are thank you cards. You know, just, just thanking them. Thank you for allowing me to come in and bring you information for our products. And I hope that, you know, we can, you know, make, make Prenate Mini your number one prenatal vitamin to go to. You know, not really putting any specific information in there, but just making sure that he's aware it's from me and thank you for your business or I look forward to working with you. You know, I think that nowadays with technology and the way the world has evolved, thank you cards have kind of gone away, you know, and I think that having that personable, that personable aspect and bringing that into the office, I think, has been really helpful because they think, wow, she actually cares. She wrote me a card, you know. The other thing I would say is we have what is called a universal coupon code. And what that is, is it's something that providers and nurses can save in their EMR system with the code and save it to their favorites, and it can go electronically to the pharmacy and you can use it on as many patients as many times as possible. So when I go in there, you know, I tell them, hey, I just wanted to let you know I've got something that I would really like to educate your nursing staff on, and that's called the universal coupon code. I think this would be very beneficial not only for you guys but also for your patients so they don't forget, you know, to take the coupon when they're getting their medication. And that's actually been able to get me back into offices that, you know, reps historically have not been able to get back into. Awesome.

19:34 Scott Ingram: You know, and I think it's interesting. I have actually not been as good about this lately, but I used… man, there's something about the handwritten note. And the way that I used to frame that is, you know, if you think about… I mean, Christina, how many emails do you think you got today?

19:48 Christina Izokovic: Oh, wow. 10?

19:51 Scott Ingram: Oh, 10? Geez, I wish I lived your life. But I think a lot of us are just really inundated with electronic communications. Right. And if you ask somebody, you know, who was the last person that sent you an email? I don't know. That could have been any number of people. But I promise, if you think about the last person who sent you a handwritten note, you didn't get 10 of them yesterday.

20:14 Christina Izokovic: No.

20:15 Scott Ingram: And, and I promise you remember the name of the person who wrote that note.

20:19 Christina Izokovic: For sure you do. 100%.

20:22 Scott Ingram: Yeah. So, you know, it's, it's one of those sometimes, sometimes what's old is new. And I think that's just a great way to break through. I mean, this week has been really odd for me, and this will be, this will be totally dated. By the time this comes out, but I posted something on LinkedIn that went absolutely crazy pants viral to the point where, as we're recording this, I think it's had 400,000 views.

20:44 Christina Izokovic: Oh, wow.

20:45 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Not, not my favorite moment because it wasn't maybe the most positive thing I've ever said, but it was just sort of interesting and sort of struck a chord. And so, I mean, I turned off LinkedIn. It got too noisy and too distracting. But you know how many times my phone rang because of that?

21:03 Christina Izokovic: It hasn't.

21:04 Scott Ingram: It hasn't. Not once. So while I'm being inundated in electronic channels, nothing is going through the more traditional channels. So I think it's just one of those things that we really can think about. I don't know that you would fax somebody anymore, but what are the ways that used to work that have just sort of been abandoned? And, you know, man, that postal service of ours is pretty good.

21:29 Christina Izokovic: Exactly, exactly. It's very good. And you know, it's funny too, when I do… I even do this for open offices too… but when I do do the cards and write thank-you notes and I go back in to leave samples, I'll see that, you know, posted on their board, and it just makes me go, see, someone's gonna walk past there and that's what they're gonna notice, is that Christina left that, you know. And I think that does go a long way.

21:49 Scott Ingram: Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk about just some of your routines and habits. Are you, are you more of a morning person or are you a night owl?

21:58 Christina Izokovic: Um, I have become a little of both. Um, and I say that because, you know, I get up and I get the kids ready and I get my day started. Um, but with the extra, um, duties that I have now as a district sales trainer, you know, and, um, with the marketing board, more of the district sales trainer role, you know, I find myself doing a lot of emails late at night, probably till like 11:30, 12 o'clock. Um, yes. And in addition to that, I am working, I'm trying, working on writing a book. So, um, I would say more of a, uh, night owl lately.

22:29 Scott Ingram: Okay, so let's talk, let's walk through the whole thing though. So to start the day, when, when are you getting up? You know, what is, what is kind of that routine and process look like? I'm really interested in how you're structuring your day and making this all work.

22:43 Christina Izokovic: Yeah, so I get up around 6 o'clock and I take a shower, get ready of course, and then around that time I can hear my babies waking up. So I get them up, get them dressed, and then take them downstairs, get them some breakfast until the nanny gets here, get my computer out, get everything I need for work, including, you know, my breakfast, um, and get that ongoing. It's actually kind of hectic. It's funny you ask that because, um, Avion had me do an interview. They had someone come and videotape a day in the life with me and 2 other reps with Avion. And so the way that they did the morning, they made it really fast and it's very hectic. You know, as you can imagine, I've got 2 huge dogs and I've got 2 little babies and, um, and then getting ready for the workday. Um, so, but once I do that, then I, um, and the nanny has arrived and my husband And, you know, we take, sometimes he leaves earlier than I do. Sometimes I leave earlier. It just depends on what we've got scheduled that day. But then I go to my storage unit. I want to make sure that I've got all the samples that I need, but as well as all the collateral material that I need. You know, I think that collateral material and having that stuff that you can hand out to the offices really makes an impact when you're not there. So I need to make sure I've got everything that I need. And I, you know, I do work on my routing, but that's something that I work more on, probably on the weekends, on Sunday nights, to make sure I've got my week, you know, set in stone. But when I get in my car, I look at where I'm planning to go that day. If I have lunch scheduled, I'll order it the day before. And then just kind of go throughout that. I do take pre-notes, post-call notes, anything that's pertinent that I need to remember for the next time that I come to visit them. Whether it's a good thing, you know, something to, you know, look into, or if there's an issue with insurance and pharmacies, whatever the issue may be, I always want to be a resource to my offices. So, you know, I've got this little… I've been bad, I've been putting it in my phone in the notes, but I'm trying to get away from that and put it in a notebook in case my phone dies on me. And so I just go about my day and I make sure that, you know, I, I do take my time in offices. I do a total office call and I really try to talk to everyone that I can. And at the end of the day, you know, I like to make sure I have my eyes moment, which a majority of the time I do. Some days you don't, but that's okay. You just keep on going and get ready for the next day.

25:07 Scott Ingram: So many questions. Okay, so first of all, typical day, like how many offices are you typically calling on?

25:14 Christina Izokovic: I would say about 10 offices a day, 3 pharmacies a day.

25:18 Scott Ingram: Okay, and I'm curious about what happens, what happens with the notes at the end of the day, and, and what do you do? Is there a way that you sort of capture the aha moment and anything that you do with that?

25:31 Christina Izokovic: Yeah, Yes. So I take pictures of everything. If you look through my phone, you will see kids, you'll see dogs, and you'll see stuff in offices. So whether it's, you know, the way that I set up my lunch or, you know, a picture of me and one of the nurses, of them holding, you know, one of our boxes or whatever it may be, you know, I take pictures doing that. And then if there's certain information, you know, like a certain person that's with IT, you know, we've got new products and making sure they're in the EMR systems. I put that in my phone. I put that in my phone just because it's right there with me. Um, and then when I get to my car, you know, I want to put it in a notebook just so I can always turn back to it if I need to, if I need to remember someone's name or if I need to remember something to look up to or bring with me the next time I come in, you know, things like that.

26:17 Scott Ingram: Cool. And what about what happens with the aha moment?

26:20 Christina Izokovic: The aha moment is more of the pictures. And when that happens, you better believe I call my manager. She, so I had a different manager last year. It was Marty. And he could tell you that I probably called him a gazillion times a week. Um, and he is now in charge of the hematology. Now I have, Um, Tabitha is my manager now and, um, I probably talk to her on a daily basis, but I also like to share with other people that I work with. Um, I think my aha moment could be something helpful for someone else and vice versa. I hear some aha moments from other people that I work with and I'm like, wow, that's such a great idea. Um, but I always try to capture it, whether it's by a picture, you know, writing it down, emailing it to my manager, calling her about it, whatever it may be.

26:58 Scott Ingram: Nice. Okay. So now, now let's talk about the evening and how that is structured. And then I need to remember to ask you about this book idea that you're working on.

27:06 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so the evening's kind of crazy as well. It's not as crazy as the morning. Um, but when I get home, I have a rule. I have to put my computer down because otherwise I would work constantly. Um, that is just my work ethic. So I put my computer down and I make sure that I get dinner ready and spend time with my family. Um, you know, get them fed, get them bathed, get them dressed. Um, and they go to bed around 7:30, 7:45 is when we start that routine. Um, so my husband and I will take turns. We switch it up every night. One night I may have my son and he has our daughter, vice versa. Once they're asleep, then I bring my computer right back out. And if there is something that I need to do, whether it is dissecting my exponent data to see, you know, if I've gained business, lost business, whatever it may be, you know, looking at that, or if I need to get some kind of report, you know, together to send to my manager, then I do that as well. During those times where we have new hires and I'm training, those days are a little different. And I kind of missed that talking about the beginning of my day. If I'm training someone, I start my day earlier and I spend an hour on a conference call with them about what they're going to go over during the day. You know, then I go and I do my job as a sales rep during the day, and I try, if I don't have a scheduled lunch, to touch base with the people that I'm training to see if we can role-play or if I can answer any questions. And then at the end of the day, from like 5 to 6, 6, we have another conference call going over the material learned. So when at the end of the day when my kids are asleep, if that's one of the weeks that I'm training people, then I bring my computer back out and I write up the recap email of what we've learned, what they did a great job with, any questions they had that I wasn't able to answer for them, anything like that. But I'm typically on my computer probably till like 10 or 11 every night.

28:52 Scott Ingram: Okay. So when the heck are you working on this book?

28:56 Christina Izokovic: Um, so it's a great question. So I've had this idea to, to, to write this book, um, since I was very little. Um, and the, the weekend is really the only time that I can try to work on it. Um, I'm behind on as much as I wanted to get done by now. This year is really the year that I've said I'm really going to start doing this. Um, and it's more about kind of my life and how, you know, my childhood was, but how no matter what has happened in the past, it didn't stop me from being successful. And I think that that could be helpful, you know, for me, but also for other people out there depending on, you know, what they're going through and where they can go.

29:37 Scott Ingram: Love that. So what are, what are the core themes? I mean, what was it about your childhood that, that allowed you to always kind of get through and be successful?

29:45 Christina Izokovic: Um, well, I'll have to say, you know, we, I didn't have the worst childhood, but I would say I didn't have the best. Um, my mom was, is an alcoholic. My parents have been split up since I was 5, and there's just been a lot of craziness with that going, you know, growing up. And there were a lot of struggles. There were definitely a lot of struggles. And I've always said I want to write a book. I think that, you know, I have a brother and sister, and I think that for me, what got me through, and my life could have turned out so different because I… there were, you know, tons of things in my life that, um, decisions that I made that probably were not the best decisions. Um, but I chose to get away from those scenarios because I wanted to be better than what I grew up. I wanted to be a better person than, than what I, you know, was around. And I wanted to have children and my children to have a better childhood than I had. And I want to be successful. And I, you know, I knew I could. That's why for me, being number one was my goal because I wanted to be the best because I knew I could. No matter what I've gone through in my entire life, I conquered it all. I got through it and I became the best. And that's what I want other people to know and be aware that no matter what their situation is, no matter how tough it is, you know, you can get through it and you can do whatever you put your mind to and you can be the best. Nothing can hold you back. Back.

31:13 Scott Ingram: And is that the underlying sort of driver and motivator for you? Is, is it kind of being that inspiration or is there something else?

31:22 Christina Izokovic: I think it's, I think it's being that inspiration, but I think it's also probably proving to myself. I am, I want to be better than what anybody ever thought I could be, but I also want to be better than I ever thought I could be for myself, if that makes any sense.

31:37 Scott Ingram: It does. I love that. That's awesome. So let's, let's finish kind of the routine piece. You mentioned Sundays and you're doing a little bit of prep for your week. So talk about, uh, what are you working on? How, when, how much time, when, how are you, what are you doing to set up your week on Sundays?

31:53 Christina Izokovic: Um, well, Sunday morning I of course go to church. Um, and then, you know, we spend time with, um, my sister and her kids. Um, but I honestly don't do, you know, anything with work until my kids go to bed. I'm really big on, I'm trying to, um, make sure I don't take away, you know, my time with kids with working. So once they're, if they're napping or if they've gone, you know, they've gone to bed, that's when I really start I bring out my computer and again, I look at the week, what my routing is, where I'm going to go, any lunches that I have, especially for Monday because I need to order the lunch, what my goal is. Um, I don't ever go into an office without some goal in mind and it doesn't have to be, oh, they're going to write my script. Maybe it'll just be, can we get the coupon in the EMR system? You know what I mean? Just some goal. Um, and that's what I look at. I look at the people that I'm going to visit. Do I have any lunches? What are my goals? What should I bring with me? What type of collateral material and what type of selling message am I going to use? You know, I constantly change my selling message depending on how, you know, my last selling message has gone, you know. And, and I think that's when I get a lot of aha moments as well, is because I'm like, wow, that actually worked very well. I read a study recently that said the smartest people talk to themselves. And I will have to say that I probably talk to myself… I'm not on the phone in my car I talk to myself all the time about, you know, the, the offices, the detailing, the lunches that I'm gonna have, and how I'm gonna go about those selling messages and what I'm gonna say.

33:25 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Okay, that's great. And I'm gonna plead some ignorance here, just not knowing your industry. And I think you alluded to it before talking about an EXO or an EXA something or other. How do you measure your, your sales in your industry? How do you know that, that your providers are writing your scripts?

33:42 Christina Izokovic: That's such a great question. So there's actually 2 ways. We get what's called redemption reports. Redemption reports are probably the most real-time data that you can see, but it's more of when a patient is using your coupon. So every other week or every week we get these reports of which doctors are writing your prescriptions and who used a coupon. So we can see what the patient paid after the copay, you know, and what the price was for them and things like that. The other… and I look at that when I look at my pre-call planning. Um, the other thing that I look at is called exponent data. Now our data that we get is 2 months behind. So we actually just got March data. Um, and, but that's how you can tell what your doctors are currently writing. If you've lost business from them, if you've gained business from them, um, if you stayed kind of flat, um, and it kind of guides you, right? Like if you've lost business, what, where did you lose business to? And it kind of guides you to how you're going to have that conversation with that provider, um, because you want to get that business back.

34:43 Scott Ingram: Got it. And then just kind of putting your territory into some kind of scale, I mean, is there a certain number of offices that you are working against? How are you prioritizing that? I've got a lot of, again, I just not knowing how that works. I'm curious what that looks like for you.

34:59 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. So we have what's called a call plan and in our call plan we have doctors that they call tier 1 and tier 1s mean that these are the doctors that we need to see twice a month. Tier 2 are doctors that we need to see once a month, and that's when routing comes into play. You know, we create our routing based on that. We want to make sure we don't miss anyone that's on our call plan and we meet those requirements of seeing the Tier 1s twice a month, Tier 2s once a month. Of course, you can see providers once a week if you need to, but that's when you kind of got to judge. You've got to look at your data and see who are your loyalists and who are the people that you really do need to see weekly. There may not be a lot of them. There may be, there may be a lot of them. It It just depends. As long as you still meet your tier 2, tier 1 requirements of seeing those docs, you know, twice a month, once a month, um, then you can kind of go through and see who you need to see weekly so that you're, you're not missing those loyalists and still making an impact there.

35:57 Scott Ingram: Very interesting. Okay, cool. And then what does your information diet look like? Not that you have a ton of time in your schedule to be reading and listening and watching the different things, but there's gotta be something in there.

36:07 Christina Izokovic: Um, Um, what do you mean?

36:09 Scott Ingram: Uh, magazines you're reading, uh, anything you're listening to, all that stuff.

36:15 Christina Izokovic: Um, you know what, honestly, I listen to on my radio Pandora Fuel in between calls. Um, and then as far as, um, you know, talking, I, I, I don't, I haven't really had much time to read between the kids and trying to write a book and working as well. Um, lately. Um, so what I have been doing though is I really have been, you know, talking to a lot of different people with our company in between calls. Um, one, because, you know, I love to be a resource to other people. So, um, that's pretty much what my time consists of when I'm not in offices.

36:49 Scott Ingram: Love it. Are there, are there other kinds of tools and apps that you're using in your day-to-day?

36:55 Christina Izokovic: Yes. Yes. So I go, we actually have an app for our company. That they created. And so we like, we post pictures on there, whether like this week it's Nurses Week. So we post pictures on there of the ideas that we've done for offices to say thank you for their, you know, the work that they've done. And so everybody in our company uses that app and I look at it daily, especially when we're actively posting pictures to see what ideas people have because you can always bounce ideas off of each other. I also use the app, it's called MMIT Formulary. It's where you can look into your, look in the app and see which products are covered under what types of insurances and if they require some type of prior authorization or not. It's really helpful for when you are talking to providers or nurses and they're asking about insurance coverage.

37:45 Scott Ingram: Gotcha. Okay, cool. What about… is there a particular sales philosophy that you subscribe to?

37:53 Christina Izokovic: Um, yes, so I actually… the sales philosophy that I I really, it's pre-call planning. I go in, I make sure I pre-call plan, and then I look at my day, and then I make sure that I have a goal in mind, go in there and set that goal, talk about features and benefits, and then close. But it's like a, it's an ever, we have a term for it, and right now the mind is blanking me, my mind's blank of what it's called, but it's ever going, it never stops. Stops. You know, it's an ongoing process from pre-call planning to going in there and selling to post-call planning.

38:31 Scott Ingram: Got it. Got it. So it's just kind of a cycle that continues to repeat.

38:34 Christina Izokovic: A cycle. Yeah. Yeah.

38:36 Scott Ingram: Very cool. What about your style in the way that you apply that philosophy? How would you just describe that in general?

38:43 Christina Izokovic: Um, my style is I really go in there. My first thing is just to build rapport. Um, you know, well, let me back up. Before I do that, I sit in my car and I look at, you know, the data that we talked about earlier. Um, and, and what I'm looking at for the different providers. But then when I go in there, I just start with that rapport and asking them how their day's going before I even dive into our products. And then I, you know, kind of go into our products and the features and benefits that are beneficial for those, for those doctors, making sure I don't forget to probe and, you know, ask a lot of why questions. You know, I actually went through a phase 2 training recently and they said that the successful sales rep actually talks less than 50% of the time because really what you want to do is ask these questions and have the doctors more engaged in asking you questions about your products. That's when you know they're really interested and engaged in what you're doing. So, you know, that's a lot of it is asking questions, being able to answer any questions they have and getting right down to, you know, why our product is the best and can you write it for us and having that close there and then leaving, you know, with notes to take and where I'm going to start the next time I come in.

39:53 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Very cool. What about, is there something that you think the average seller, or maybe that is just part of what everybody thinks about selling that you think is sort of crazy?

40:06 Christina Izokovic: I think if you're not in sales, I think a lot of, as a nurse, I used to think that just reps were a pain. Honestly, I thought that they were just the pushy sales rep. Now being in the field, I have found out, yes, some are, but I also have found out that some actually really do care. They're actually really good at their job. They're very, very smart. And I never saw that aspect of a sales rep. And I think a lot of people have that, that thought process that they are pushy and they're arrogant, but they're really not. Not everyone is. And I think that's something that I really learned, you know, getting into this role.

40:45 Scott Ingram: Yeah. On the flip side, is there Is there something about you or your process or the way that you sell that you think the average pharmaceutical rep would think maybe you're a little bit crazy?

40:58 Christina Izokovic: Yes. My husband comments on this because I told you he was in sales. It's the fact that I talk to every single person. He's like, we had a lunch together and he said, why do you literally talk to every single person that comes through that door? And I said, why not? They're all important. You never know. And I know this as a nurse, that person that is at the front desk, that person that is cleaning that bathroom, that person that is, you know, um, sweeping the floors, that person that is in there with the, with the doctor, that they can be doing the same jobs over and over again, just changing, you know, changing positions. You know, nurses, providers, they, they do everything. You really do. You're, if you're busy, if you're slammed, if you're short-staffed, you find yourself wearing so many hats. So I think it's important to say hello to everyone, to talk to everyone, to make that conversation. Even in real life, I do that. I hate like being in a crowd and just not knowing someone and feeling like someone's left out. Um, and my husband makes fun of me for it, but I feel like that's something that's made me very successful is I never leave anyone out and I make sure that everyone feels important.

42:05 Scott Ingram: Love that. Now, is there, are there decisions you've made or lessons you've had to learn sort of along the way that, um, have really made the difference in getting to the top?

42:17 Christina Izokovic: Of course. Course, there may be certain times where you are double booked on lunches and you've got to figure out which one is, is the one you should go to, right? Which one is the one to cancel? Which one is beneficial? There are times where, you know, you may be following your routing and you get a phone call from a loyalist saying, hey, I'm completely out of these samples. I have a patient right now that needs it and they're going to go get it filled. You know, can you, can you come here? You know, there's times that you do have to make those decisions and you've got to figure out what's best for your business. And you are faced with those probably on a weekly, biweekly basis. And that's when it just comes down to you, the individual as a sales rep, and really look at your business and try to make the best decision based on what the needs are.

43:03 Scott Ingram: Nice. What about as you got into this? So you made the transition, you came into sales, I think you got off to a pretty good start. What, what advice would you give to others that are are either maybe even thinking about that switch, um, and, and kind of the factors that helped you make that decision and why it was the right one. And then what would you tell them to, to do or think about to really lay a good foundation to, to build on and get to the top?

43:31 Christina Izokovic: Yeah, I think number one, if you're thinking about making a switch, a career change into sales, first of all, make sure that you join a company that you believe in. Research the products, because I think that if you are selling something that you don't believe in, you're not going to do a good job. And I think that that is the number one thing that I looked at. I wanted to make sure I believed in the products. Second, you know, the first couple months were, they're difficult, especially if you're not used to being in sales. You've got to figure out your territory. You've got to figure out your routing. You, you know, you've learned these products, but you've got to figure out your selling message because what may work for one person may not work for another. Every single individual is different in their personalities, the way that they sell, the way that they close, the way that they probe. Everybody's different. So you've got to figure out what's best for you. The first 3 to 4 months were probably the most difficult for me because, you know, on top of learning the products and on top of learning, you know, routing and trying to figure out where to go and the policies of the different offices and how to, you know, how to know how you're doing. And I mean, it's very difficult. So I would say those first few months, even if it is difficult and you're struggling, don't give up because once you get in your routine, then you're in your routine and you can make that impact. Just don't give up.

44:52 Scott Ingram: Got it. Now let's, let's talk about, we started, uh, down this road very, very early in the conversation. You said, you know, you're always working on being better than you were yesterday. And now it's a focus on being better than you were last year as, as the number one. How is, what is that doing? How are you thinking about that and leveraging that?

45:11 Christina Izokovic: It's very difficult because you're like, well, how do you go further than being number one? So, you know, I just, I just think about, you know, what worked last year for me. I don't change what worked for me, but I think about what didn't work or what I have not tried. You know what I mean? And so I look at that and I'm… and I, and I say to myself, okay, this is what worked last year. Let's do this. But I've never tried this. I've never gone to pharmacies and brought them, you know, some goodies and taken their time to read them. Really get to know them and talk about our products and, you know, different things like that. You know, it's kind of looking outside the box and being creative every day, you know, trying something new, doing something different. And, and last year, you know, I've got big shoes to fill because of the way that I, you know, how successful I was last year, but I didn't do everything in the book. So now I've got to be creative and figure out what I didn't do and go towards that route as well. It's all about changing. It's all about, you know, being the best that you can, you know, as a sales rep, even as a mom. How can you be better than what you were yesterday? What can I do differently that's positive, that makes a positive impact?

46:22 Scott Ingram: Nice. What… and is there one thing that you're doing this year that you weren't doing last year that is making a difference?

46:28 Christina Izokovic: Yeah, I think that I'm trying to focus more on pharmacy. I mean, I saw pharmacists last year. But pharmacies really are… I mean, that's the middleman, right? That's where you… the scripts get filled. So making sure that you develop those relationships and you don't neglect them, I think that's huge. The other thing is, you know, trying to continue… I just started doing thank you cards the end of the quarter last year. So trying to, you know, continue to incorporate that, as well as, you know, just looking outside the box. What would I like as a… you know, if I were in an office and I were a nurse, what would be helpful for me? Giving out my business cards. If you ever have an issue with a pharmacy, if you ever have anything and you have a question, please call me and I'll go to that pharmacy. You know, reaching out to those places so that I can be a resource and try to make things easier on them.

47:20 Scott Ingram: Good stuff. So you, you actually called out one of the reasons why I think this show is so much fun, because when you are number one, you are sort of by definition without peers. There's nobody to to look up to and learn from who's ahead of you. So, as you think of people who are in similar positions, maybe in other organizations, what question would you have for them that would help improve yourself?

47:49 Christina Izokovic: I would have to say, how do you strive to be better than being number one? I mean, that's kind of a bland question, but I mean, how do you, you know, you are, you were the one that made it all work last year. So, what did you do to go move above and beyond? You know, is that, um, is that getting into management? Is that getting into education, which, you know, I'm on the path to do? Is that writing a book? You know, the things that I'm currently trying to do, um, I would ask other people, is that what was successful for you, or do you have other ideas that made you even better than you were last year?

48:26 Scott Ingram: Awesome. What about the, the best sales professional you know personally? Who is that?

48:32 Christina Izokovic: It would have to be… I keep going back to Marty. Marty, um, is… was my manager last year. Um, and it's, it's funny, he actually used to work with my husband at, um, Warner Chilcott years ago, and he's now above the hematology division. But his, his management style, that's who I would aspire to be, you know, as far as a manager, because in my mind he's still selling, you know what I mean? He's helping his sales reps sell. He's… he does a phenomenal job I 100% believe that without his encouragement and his guidance last year, I wouldn't have been able to get to where I am today.

49:05 Scott Ingram: You know, it's really interesting you said that. You sort of answered my next question, which, which was, it's, it's definitely becoming a pretty consistent theme that a lot of the top sellers that I've had on the show, their manager is a really, really big influencer and contributor in that. So what was it about what he did that helped you you get to where you got?

49:28 Christina Izokovic: He never gave up on me. You know, if I did have, if I was feeling down or if I felt like, you know, I just wasn't making the impact that I needed to make, he would reach out to me. He would, you know, listen to me and he would give me advice. He would, you know, kind of give me strategies on, okay, let's focus on this. Let's focus on that person. He'd randomly text me a name that was in my data. Hey, have you seen this person? You know, cause he would really look at your data and dissect it and kind of tell you, you know, what to do. Um, not what to do, but, you know, kind of to go in that direction and see what they're doing, you know, why they aren't writing. Um, I think he also was understanding. Um, you know, I have 2 kids. They were sick a lot last year. I had so many obstacles last year that could have gotten in my way between, between my kids being sick numerous times. I had my gallbladder out last year. I literally had every obstacle possible and he was understanding. And I think without his understanding, without his motivation, He definitely motivated me to, you know, and we had this thing going. I'm going to be number 11. Okay, now I'm number 10. I'm going to be number 5. Okay, well now I'm number 4. I'm going to be number 2. Okay, now I'm number 3. Okay, now I'm going to be number 1. You know, and I kept telling him that and he would say, okay, let's do it. Show me you can do it. But I think I wouldn't have been able to do that without his understanding because it is hard as a mom, right, to work full-time, especially when things happen. But he was understanding and he still motivated me and beyond, you know, every obstacle that I went through and every challenge that I faced, I still succeeded and I greatly surpassed every single goal that I, that I had for myself.

51:04 Scott Ingram: Is there downtime in any of this? Like all I hear is that this is just wall to wall. You had a lot of adversity in this. You had even younger children when you, when you, when you pulled this off. Was there a vacation in here anywhere? Like when do you recover from all this?

51:20 Christina Izokovic: Um, my vacation was when I had my surgery and I was at home recovering from my surgery.

51:24 Scott Ingram: I'm not sure that counts, does it?

51:27 Christina Izokovic: But hey, my vacation was My vacation now is I get to go to St. Thomas in a couple weeks for being number 1 or in President's Club. That's my vacation this year. No, last year, I really… no, there wasn't really a vacation last year.

51:40 Scott Ingram: How do you keep it burning all the time? There's got to be something in there that you kind of do for yourself so that you can do a little bit of recharging, or maybe this just is its own motivation and you just keep going.

51:54 Christina Izokovic: My kids motivate me. Doing a good job with work motivates me. And then I pray a lot.

52:00 Scott Ingram: A lot?

52:02 Christina Izokovic: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I pray a lot. Yeah. I try to go to the gym, but that just doesn't, you know, that still hasn't happened, but that's all right.

52:13 Scott Ingram: Oh my gosh. Oh, too fun. Okay. So now we've, we've come to the last question, which is the wrap it all together and put a bow on it if we can. And I've really tried to, I think I'm focusing in on the right interval for this challenge that we're going to suggest that the listener embark on so that they can improve themselves? It should be a 2-week challenge because that's exactly how long it is from one episode to the next. So they're hopefully listening to you, uh, the day this comes out. It's 2 weeks until the next time. So what can they do in that interim period that's actionable that they can start right now to improve their own game?

52:49 Christina Izokovic: I would say just don't give up and keep going. I mean, you know, there's always going to be a challenge. There's always going to be days that are, that are Right? But don't look at that. Look at the days that are, that are positive and look at where you were yesterday and how you can be better. Know that no matter what obstacle comes in your way, no matter how busy you are, even as a mom, right, you're super, super busy. That's my number one thing. I want to be the best for myself, but also for my children. I want them to see what I can do and how well I'm doing it so they have someone to look up to. So, you know, just be motivated and keep going and just don't give up.

53:24 Scott Ingram: Love it. So I've got an idea, and, and I, I always try and create something in our Sales Success Community. And this is a, this is a free resource for listeners of the show. All they have to do is go to top1.fm and put in their email address, and they'll get an invite to the community. Or in the US, you can top… you can text, excuse me, you can text TOP1 to 444999 and get access to that community. And what I think we're going to now is we're going to end the official episode in just a moment. And Christina, I want to keep talking a little bit more about women in sales because there's something about this and I want to get your perspectives on some of these things. So, if that's something that you have an interest in listening to, come join us in the Sales Success Community and come listen to that conversation. And thanks so much for listening. Again, top1.fm or text TOP1 to 444999. Christina, thanks so much for such a great conversation.

54:26 Christina Izokovic: Thank you. Of course. Anytime.

54:28 Scott Ingram: Thanks for listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast. To be sure you never miss an episode and for an invitation to our Sales Success Community powered by Influitive, subscribe to our newsletter at top1.fm.