The First Five Minutes After Bad News

It's 5:30 AM. Your phone lights up. The case you've been counting on is canceled. What happens in the next five minutes can define your career more than the bad news itself.

Lisa and Cindy break down the Five-Minute Rule: stop, separate facts from stories, and resist the spiral. Whether the case canceled due to a patient issue or a competitor just stole the case from under you, your reaction is the only thing in your control.

The reps who last in this industry aren't the ones who never get bad news. They're the ones who know how to recover. Take the challenge this week: next time bad news hits, set a timer. Five minutes. Then decide your next best move.

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

• The Bad News Reality Check - In medical device sales, cancellations, competitor losses, and quota hits aren't exceptions. They're part of the job, and Lisa and Cindy make clear that how you handle them is what separates the reps who last from the ones who don't.
• The Five-Minute Rule - Before you fire off a text or spiral into worst-case thinking, stop. Lisa and Cindy introduce the Five-Minute Rule: pause, breathe, and give yourself space before reacting to anything.
• Facts First, Stories Second - A canceled case is a fact. "I'm losing this account and I'm never gonna hit quota" is the story you tell yourself after. Cindy breaks down why separating those two things is the most important move you can make in the moment.
• It's Not About You - Patients cancel because they're sick. Surgeons lose income too. Lisa reminds reps to zoom out and consider everything a case cancellation affects beyond their own numbers, and why that shift in perspective protects relationships.
• Be the Detective - When a competitor gets the case instead of you, don't get emotional. Get curious. Lisa and Cindy walk through how to investigate what really happened and why knowing your competitor's device as well as your own is a non-negotiable.
• The Athlete Analogy - Cindy draws a straight line between elite athletes and elite reps. You don't quit after a tough loss. You walk off the field, assess, and come back with a plan. That mindset is what gives you a long career in med device.
• Communicate When You're Behind - If a cancellation puts your quota at risk, loop in your manager early. Lisa walks through exactly how to handle that conversation so it lands professionally, not defensively.

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Transcript

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Lisa: "Welcome, everyone, to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales. We are here today talking to you guys about another fantastic topic, probably something we've covered in the past, but maybe not this specifically."

Lisa: "This is a really, like, humanized episode. And what I mean by that is, like, I feel like everybody goes through this, right, at some point in their careers. If not, like, once a week. I'm really glad we're talking about this today, Cindy."

Cindy: "I am too. It's a little bit different angle. You know, in medical device you're working hard every day. It's really not a Groundhog Day type job. When Lisa and I were talking about something that we've seen happen, we thought it was a really, really good idea that we just want to help you all kind of brace yourself because if this hasn't happened to you — which if you think hard I'm sure it has — it may happen here in the next week or so, and we just wanna kind of give you a little bit to think about for the next time this happens."

Cindy: "So Lisa, what are we talking about happening here?"

Lisa: "So we're talking about, you know, when bad news happens. So, I mean, bad news can be anything really, Cindy. Like, it could be personal stuff. It can be professional stuff. It can be all sorts of things, 'cause it's life, right? Life happens. But specifically today we're talking about in your medical device career and your professional career when things happen that come up unexpectedly."

Lisa: "For example, like a case that last-minute cancels. You brought all the stuff. You were there early to the hospital. You have all of your products. You've gotten ready. You're walking into the OR, and the OR supervisor or scheduler says, 'Oh, by the way, that patient didn't show up,' or 'The doctor canceled the case.' Or you get a text five minutes or the evening before and you had to drive in — which has happened to me multiple times — of the physician saying, 'Hey, so sorry. Patient didn't make it in or patient canceled.' And it's like, what do you do, right? Because you are at the whim of the physician's schedule, the patient's schedule, the hospital's schedule. Your schedule is not your own ever in this job. So you're gonna get this a lot, and today we're gonna talk about how do you handle those situations when they happen because, like I said before, they're gonna happen all the time."

Bad News Is Relative. Here's Why That Matters.

Cindy: "So much of it is out of your control, so much of what happens. When you first said something at the beginning, I love what you said. You're like, 'Anything can be bad news.' And so what I'm gonna say next is not our secret, but I wanna say this 'cause I feel like it sets the tone for the rest of this episode — you have to understand bad news in a sense is all relative. It's relative to your account, how sensitive you are, what's happening, what's happening in your life, what's happening elsewhere. Of course we're talking about if you're getting what you think is bad news at your job, what do you do in the first five minutes?"

Lisa: "I've had so many cases, patients cancel on me. I mean, I've lost count, Cindy. We've been doing this for so long, and it's like you're just at the whim. You're at the whim of so many things. And so I know the feelings very, very well. I know 'em when I've driven all night long and have gotten there, you know, late in the evening at a hotel that's not very awesome. And you wake up in the morning to the text message or the phone call in the middle of the night saying, 'Hey, by the way, sorry, the case canceled.' And I know those feelings."

Lisa: "It's immediately a letdown, right? Disappointment, 100%. Because we as reps have so much riding on these cases. It's not just the case itself and the planning of the case and the expectations of the case. It's our numbers, you know, our quota. What if it's the first case with a surgeon, right? Your very first case. You're so excited. You need this to snowball. You need it to multiply into multiple cases moving forward, and then it cancels, and it's like this wave of just disappointment and, you know, you're pissed. You're mad. You don't know what to do. You can lose your temper. You can say things, do things."

Know Your First Instinct: Panic, Blame, or Spiral?

Lisa: "So ask yourself, what is your first instinct? So what do I mean by that? So when you hear bad news, number one, do you panic? Are you somebody who completely freezes and it's like, 'Oh, I can't think'? And then you have paralysis by analysis. Do you get defensive? Do you immediately start to, like, cast blame on somebody else or something else? Or, 'Oh, well, this wouldn't happen if, I don't know, X, the company, did this, or if I didn't have this situation.' And then also this one I think about — a normal human response is how sometimes people can completely blow it out of proportion. Like, it's just a sentence. It's just a response, and I'm gonna blow it completely out of proportion."

Lisa: "If somebody says something bad, immediately you might be like, 'Oh my God, I'm losing this account. I'm not gonna hit my numbers. That's it, I'm done. I gotta look for another job. I'm out of here.' Like, the world falls. Never gonna get the case again. It's not gonna get rescheduled. The brain is easy to run away like that, especially when you've put so much pressure on the situation itself, the case itself."

Lisa: "I've gotten to a place now where until I'm literally in the room with the patient on the table, it's like nothing's a done deal till then, right? So you start to learn how to expect the unexpected. But for those of you that are newer to the industry or still struggle with this, some of these really good pieces of advice that we are gonna give you guys are key to your long-term success in the medical device arena."

The Five-Minute Rule: Stop, Breathe, Separate the Facts.

Lisa: "The first thing I think that we need to talk about is, hmm, don't knee-jerk. Don't freak out. Just don't do anything, right? For the first maybe minute or so. If it's a text in the middle of the night from a doctor or a call, I mean, obviously if it's a call, you gotta respond. You gotta pick up the phone. You can't not pick up the phone. But you need to really, like, take the deep breaths immediately. If it is a phone call from a surgeon or you do need to reply and let them know that you've received the cancellation notice, you need to at least step back and just breathe and tell yourself, 'This is going to happen. It is an unexpected event. It is gonna be okay. The world isn't coming to an end. The sky isn't falling, and we're gonna move forward.'"

Cindy: "The news itself, the facts itself isn't really what's hurting you and causing this emotional reaction. It's your brain jumping to conclusions and making you spiral out of control. So I think we're gonna give you a little takeaway here. We're gonna give you a five-minute rule. Number one, you just need to stop. You get this information, just like Lisa said, stop. Don't respond. Don't fire off texts. Just, like, breathe for a second. And I think the second thing you need to do is absolutely separate the facts from the stories."

Cindy: "A case canceled. Okay, that doesn't mean that you're the worst rep ever and they don't want your product and you're never gonna work again. Dude, no. Maybe the patient canceled. You can't automatically assume the worst. If the fact is the case canceled, the story isn't even told yet. And you have to separate that. So stop, number one. Number two, know the facts."

Lisa: "This isn't about you, right? Like, this isn't about you. If the case canceled, probably something's going on with the patient. How many times are we operating on sick people? These people are in the hospital getting a procedure done because they're probably sick. Cindy, how many times, and it's sad to say this, but I've had this happen to me multiple times where the patient has cancer. God, stop thinking about yourself. Stop saying, 'Oh, poor me. Woe is me. I'm not gonna hit my number. I was counting on that case to hit my number.' How about the patient? How about the patient's family, you know? How about all the things that the patient is going through? Pull yourself out of your own head, stop playing poor me, and think about what else is happening right now in the world, in this patient's life."

Lisa: "It's not like the surgeon wanted to cancel the case. I'm sure he or she was also planning their day around the case, right? When a case cancels for a surgeon, it throws their schedule into a vicious cycle. Like, now they're playing catch-up. I've had cases where they cancel and my doc's like, 'I have nothing to do now.' My day was — 'I have nothing going on this morning because this was an all-morning case, and now it canceled and I have a whole morning open. And oh, by the way, the OR's already booked in other rooms. I can't pop in a new patient early. I now have a two-hour lag.'"

Cindy: "Don't forget, surgeons are paid by RVUs or their time, their procedures. They're not gonna get paid for it. So again, it's not just about you. And that brings us to the secret — don't take it personally. I know this sounds crazy, but five minutes of bad news, the biggest thing is you can't take it personally because it's affecting many people, and bad news isn't always bad. It just may not be what you wanted to hear for your agenda, and sometimes that news doesn't mean that it's ultimately gonna be bad in the end. Maybe there's a better ending later, and how we react will determine whether you get the opportunity for a better ending."

When a Competitor Wins the Case: Be the Detective.

Cindy: "So okay, so we're talking about if the patient cancels, you know, something very understandable. What if instead the case goes to a competitor, right? So you had this case on your schedule, or maybe you knew about the patient coming in, or maybe the doctor called in you and your competitor and he or she decides to use your competitor over you. This is so bad. Now, how are you gonna react? Because it's pretty easy to react accordingly when it is a patient status issue. But what if it's not? What if it's a competitor? What do you do? How do you handle that? I tell you, this is where you put on your detective hat."

Cindy: "The day it goes to the competitor over you is number one, you start with questions. You have to investigate what it was, because before you jump to conclusions, maybe there's something anatomically different in this patient that their product is superior over yours at that moment. But let's also not pull the wool over our eyes and realize, did you do something? Was there something you did that you said before? Was there anything that led up to why they wouldn't want to work with you? That's a little bit of self-awareness. But more often than not, it's a fact, it's data that you're missing."

Lisa: "Be the detective. Figure it out. Figure out why it's happening. Why are they using your competitor and not you? Cases will get sent to me, and they're like, 'Hey, look at this. Tell me what you think. I'm also considering your competitor.' Well, it is what it is, right? This is a competitive world. It's not like you get all the business."

Cindy: "Know your competitors inside and out because it will help you understand when you speak to them, 'Oh, that's right. Their device does XYZ. Mine actually doesn't. But the patient you have following, mine does ABC and you need it for that.' And that's how medical device world works. Don't be afraid to say, 'You know what? I think the competitor's device for this one specific case is probably better.' It shows the value. It's patient first. What's best for the patient."

Behind on Quota? Communicate and Keep Moving.

Lisa: "So let's just say the case cancels, all that good stuff, whatever, and you're behind on quota. How do you handle the situation? I mean, I've had this happen to me where I'm like, 'Ugh, I was so counting on that one case to get me over.' First of all, again, things happen. But if your manager is on you for that, you need to make sure that you communicate this to them, right? 'Hey, I had these cases on the schedule. This case or these cases got canceled. Just need you to know there's a chance I'm not gonna hit my quota.' It's important to communicate regardless of what's going on."

Lisa: "Handle it like a pro. Like, figure out where else you can go. Maybe there's another potential case coming up that you didn't know about. Ask them. Ask the physicians. After you reply and say, 'Oh wow, that's such a shame. Please let me know when it gets rescheduled,' say, 'Let me know if there's anything else popping up. I'm here, happy to work. I've got my product.' Do it in a positive sense, not a negative, 'Oh, I'm never gonna hit quota. The world's coming to an end. Poor me.'"

Cindy: "A lot of our listeners are probably previous athletes and, you know, every so often we talk about the athletic comparison to medical device sales, but I think this topic reminds me of like you're in a championship game, stakes are on the line, you know, it's like down to overtime and boom, you lose. If you are a great athlete, do you quit? Like literally, did you work so hard to get where you are, it didn't work out so you're just gonna quit? You're gonna cry, you're gonna say, 'Oh, the ref or the umpire or the judges thought they did this or that wrong.' How do you walk off of a field and what do you say? Because good athletes walk off the field and realize, 'All right, I got knocked down. How do I get back up? I'm not gonna stay emotionally stuck in this feeling.' And then you start looking — where could I do better? What is next? What do I need to do to come back even stronger?"

Your Future Is Determined by What You Do in the First Five Minutes.

Cindy: "I hope you all listening out there need to remember that your future is never really determined by that bad news you just got itself. Your future in your career in med device is determined by what you do in the first five minutes after you hear it."

Lisa: "Don't knee-jerk react. Sky is not falling. Panic doesn't need to set in. You need to think clearly. You need to not assume everything in the world is about you. You know, really calm yourself before you send your reply or you react in a certain way that could really detrimentally hurt you in your career."

Cindy: "Lisa said it, 'Facts first, stories second.' We have to think about how we control our emotions and then, you know, I think as you recover there's something you can ask yourself. Like what is the next best move? Because if you've done what we said, you're gonna stop, you're gonna think, you're gonna process, and then — it's what is my next best move?"

Cindy: "So our CTA for today is more of like a challenge. It's more of just here's what I'd like you to do. The next time bad news hits this week, number one, you don't react. How about you challenge yourself to set a timer, give yourself just five minutes. Separate the facts from stories, control your emotions, get that information like a detective, and then decide what is your next best move."