Competitive Edge
Gary Foley stays sharp for sales calls in many unique ways.
The Foley File
Raised in: Queens, New York
Age: 43
Company: Sullivan-Schein
Territory: Central Florida
Title: Field sales consultant
Lives in: Lake Mary, Fla.
Noteworthy: Teaches CPR classes to his dental customers. Has some other unusual pursuits as well. (Try bagpipes.)
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Gary Foley has what many dental sales reps can only dream about - two to three hours of face time with his customers in one sitting. He gets it by teaching (with his wife, Kim) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillation (AED) techniques to dentists and their staffs. Indeed, it could be said that Foley has taken the concept of "consultative" selling to a new level.
With his training as a paramedic and Kim’s training as a nurse, perhaps it was only natural that the Foleys would combine dental sales with CPR training. But the fact is, Foley enjoys stretching the envelope. That’s why he was drawn to training as an Air Force pilot and ultimately served as a helicopter paramedic. And it might also explain the black belt in Isshrinyu karate and his participation in a musical band - more precisely, a bagpipe band.
Recently, First Impressions spoke with Foley about what has kept him busy these last 43 years - in the air, on the ground, in dental sales, and, of course, in bagpipes.
First Impressions: Where did you go to college?
Foley: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach (Fla.). I got a degree in aeronautics in 1985.
FI: Would it be safe to say that a career in dental-products sales wasn’t on your mind when you enrolled at Embry-Riddle?
Foley: I always had a fondness for aviation, and Embry-Riddle is a great school. When I graduated, I got a pilot’s slot in the U.S. Air Force, which meant that I would be in a class of about 40 people who were going to learn how to fly. It’s very competitive. I trained at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas. But about three months after I started flying, I resigned my commission. I had a problem adapting to the environment; I kept getting sick. It was motion sickness.
FI: What did you do then?
Foley: Along with my fondness for aviation, I had always been interested in medicine. My father had been a New York City police officer, and was involved in emergency medical services. So I went back to Daytona Beach and became a certified firefighter, and got my paramedic license. I was fortunate enough to work as a crew member on a flight helicopter operated by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department.
FI: No airsickness?
Foley: No. It’s different flying in a helicopter at 200 or 300 feet than flying in a jet at 12,000 or 15,000 feet.
FI: Did you like the work?
Foley: Yes. It was great. My wife-to-be, Kim, was a nurse in the emergency department at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. We would drop patients off, she would pick them up. We have been married 17 years now.
FI: Did you have further career plans while flying the helicopter, or were you content to do that?
Foley: I had a desire to either advance in that industry
or - somewhere down the road - do something else.
I entertained the idea of getting a master’s degree
in pharmacology, or maybe going into medical or pharmaceutical sales.
FI: So what happened?
Foley: In 1989, one of my friends, who was in the dental industry, had heard that Healthco [a Boston dental supply company] was looking for someone in sales. He thought I’d probably be great as a salesman. So I took the job. But I still enjoyed being a paramedic, and I was afraid to drop it. So while I was developing my sales career, I continued to work as a paramedic. I would work full-time for Healthco Monday through Friday. Then on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, I would work in the helicopter or ground ambulance. Money was tight, so it didn’t hurt to have two jobs. And this was before our daughter was born. I continued to be a full-time paramedic through about 1990; then I gradually dropped down to part-time. I did both jobs for about three years.
Because of my medical experience, I could offer to conduct CPR classes for my dental customers. In a field where [salespeople] will do anything to gain an edge, this was a pretty good combination. I even developed a course of my own called "Managing Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office," in which I teach what the office should do in case of an emergency - if someone has a seizure or goes into insulin shock, or even if someone simply faints in the office.
As I sell cements and impression materials, I can say, "If you need a CPR class, I’m happy to do it." While everyone else [in dental sales] is fighting to spend five minutes with the front desk person or 10 minutes with the doctor, I have the doctor’s undivided attention for three hours. They can see I’m pretty sharp. It’s golden.
FI: How many CPR/AED classes do you and your wife offer?
Foley: In an average month, we do anywhere from two to 10 classes. There are fluctuations. In summer, sometimes it’s pretty dead. Then, when recertification is due, we’re swamped.
FI: Are you able to offer to conduct CPR classes for all of your customers?
Foley: Usually my schedule coincides with that of my customers. They’re free in the evenings or Fridays, so we schedule the courses then. The bonus is that my wife - with her medical background - does the classes with me. She is certified in CPR and can offer AED training as well.
We usually offer the class to one practice at a time, though I have on occasion merged two or three practices. Sometimes a specialist who wants to do something nice for a referring dentist will hire me to conduct a class for the dentist. And sometimes other [Sullivan-Schein] reps will ask me to do a class for their doctors.
FI: Who in the dental office needs to be certified?
Foley: Those who are directly involved with the patient. But in many offices, the front-desk people take the class as well. Some people feel they don’t have the aptitude or the need to learn CPR, but they do it anyway, either out of curiosity, or because they have small children or grandchildren. But we make it simple and straightforward.
FI: Let’s switch gears. Talk about your involvement in martial arts.
Foley: My daughter, Alexa, who was in fifth grade at the time, came home one day with a pamphlet on karate. She said she wanted to get into it. After about a week, my wife and I decided to put her in the class. Between my wife and I taking her to class, sometime I’d sit there 45 minutes or an hour. I started figuring, ‘I have to sit here anyway; why don’t I just take the class with her?’ I figured it would be a good way to stay in shape and to spend time with my daughter. So about three months after she started, I started too. We made a pact that no matter what happened, we would get our black belts together. Three years later - last summer - we did. My wife started taking karate too; she got up to the purple belt, which is about three belts away from black. We still go after school and on weekends.
Today, my daughter teaches a group of what they call "tiny ninjas," which are 3- to 6-year-olds. She loves it. My wife does karate because she likes the self-defense and confidence aspects of it. I do it for the strength training and agility.
Fitness has always played an important part of my life. And in the dental industry, if you’re not in shape, you’re going to get killed. You get up early, stay up late. I look at my job as running a marathon. If you’re sick, you lose business. If you’re tired, you lose business. Karate gives me everything I need. In one hour, there’s stretching, cardio, strength training. It can knock you into shape pretty quickly, if you do it regularly.
And on a mental level, karate teaches you to focus. It’s a great way to clear your head. If you had a tough day or a great day, for that hour, you erase the blackboard, and everything starts again. You’re not thinking about losing that sale or about the reports you have to write.
FI: Do you do anything else to clear your head?
Foley: I’ve been involved in a bagpipe band in Orlando. We went to Scotland in 2001 and competed in the world championships at the novice grade level. We didn’t win any prizes, but it was a great experience.
FI: Why bagpipes?
Foley: About 17 years ago, I had some friends who played, and over time, they roped me in. This was way before karate. I needed some kind of outlet. I’ve been in and out of bands ever since.
FI: What’s the trick to playing a bagpipe?
Foley: No trick at all. It’s something you really, really work at. First of all, you have to memorize every piece of music. Have you ever seen a bagpiper read music while playing? Some memorize hundreds of tunes. When our daughter was 3 or 4, she got into Highland dancing. That was another thing we did together. She danced, I did the piping, my wife carried the costumes.
FI: Did you have musical training before picking up the pipes?
Foley: No, I learned as I went along. You develop lung capacity over time. It takes months or a few years of training, but after awhile, it becomes second nature.
FI: Where does one buy a bagpipe?
Foley: I got mine from an old band member, who sold his to me. Sometimes bagpipes are handed down. Now, you can buy them online. They cost anywhere from $800 to $15,000. Some predate World War II. Back then, they were made of African Blackwood. Some have real ivory and sterling silver. Most of today’s bagpipes are nickel and plastic.
FI: Are you Irish? Scottish?
Foley: German-Irish. And of course, with my father
being a New York City police officer, the pipes were out all the time.
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