Meet Keith Brown, a passionate new addition to Epicur’s veterinary specialty sales team! Keith brings a wealth of experience, with a background in veterinary sales. The unique combination of Keith’s professional background and personal connections to the veterinary industry motivate him to be a strong advocate for veterinary practices and the professionals who dedicate their lives to animal care.
Keep reading to learn more about Keith!
Welcome to the team, Keith! Can you tell readers a little bit more about yourself and the role you’ll play at Epicur?
Sure – I am one of the veterinary specialty representatives and I currently manage all of Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and California. Our main focus is targeting specialty practices, so whether it’s oncology or ophthalmology, I visit these practices and hospitals in my territories to educate them on the Epicur advantage and how we can help them.
The educational information is about more than just our products. In veterinary medicine, regulations change frequently, and this year, newer laws have been passed that vary from state to state. As I build relationships with practices, I try to support them with as much education about the laws or regulations as possible so they can become more aware of how changes in the industry impact them. I also share how Epicur, as a partner, can prevent potential challenges they might be facing in each state.
Some of the states I oversee, such as California, have many more regulations and are much more stringent than others. There is more compliance to be aware of. My role is to be an extension of their team, helping them through all the complex regulations and ensuring they get the medications they need for great patient care.
You have interesting connections to the veterinary industry. Can you tell us more about those connections and the potential influence they have on your role at Epicur?
I’ll start with my sister – she’s a veterinarian in the US Army, the only branch of service with veterinarians. She has three primary duties:
- Overseeing all the small clinics on base, and like other veterinarians across the country, she performs typical activities you would see at any clinic.
- Overseeing the working dogs. She makes sure that the German Shepherds are healthy, and if they require any surgery, she might be the one operating on them.
- Food inspection. She’ll go to various food processing plants around the world, making sure there’s no potential contamination like salmonella or listeria.
She also gets to be involved in unique training situations like teaching dolphins to swim with a ring in their mouth looking for underwater divers when the ships are at port. A veterinarian has to be present at exercises like that, and that’s an interesting part of her work in veterinary medicine most people don’t think about!
My background is in veterinary sales, where I sold diagnostic equipment, primarily blood machines, to veterinarians so that they could run bloodwork in their practice while patients were still there rather than sending it to an external lab.
Because of how expensive these machines were, the average sales cycle was very long, which is obviously very different from Epicur. I was in that role for 5 years and was able to make some big achievements, including the president’s award. There were some big changes after we went through an acquisition, though, and that’s when I found Epicur.
What stood out to you about Epicur?
Epicur came across as a very polished and subject matter expert in the industry. I knew I wanted to work for a leader, a company that’s at the top of its game, and at the end of the day, I have a passion for working with and helping veterinarians. So, I think it all aligned with my core values and interests. I’m really happy to be here.
Was switching from veterinary equipment to veterinary medicine hard?
The ability to grow and learn something new is exciting. There definitely has been a learning curve, but at the end of the day, it’s been very rewarding. You know, veterinarians are some of the most humble and easy-to-work-with humans out there; they’re just great people. You have to be incredibly passionate to invest this much time and money into becoming a veterinarian. Any way that I can support, educate, or add value to what they’re currently doing is a great feeling.
What has been the biggest learning curve and what has the education process been like for you?
I think the learning curve has just been trying to understand the breadth and depth of the list of medications and then knowing which ones resonate or fit with each specialty, like ophthalmologists or oncologists. It’s important to fully understand the specialty areas so that when I speak to each I can be more relatable and understanding when I’m having conversations.
I was able to see the Epicur manufacturing facility and was just blown away by it. I had no idea what I was walking into, and I don’t think veterinarians truly understand the level of quality when making these medications. Seeing it brings so much understanding. The process goes above and beyond what you might typically think. I walked away, saying, “I wish these veterinarians had a better view of the process.” At the end of the day, veterinarians want to practice better medicine, and showing them the steps and measures that are in place only reinforces the idea that we are the best option for them.
Are there other aspects of your role that you also like?
I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, so to speak. What I mean by that is I like identifying new revenue streams. It’s exciting to be able to navigate through dozens of different decision-makers or layers of management and communicate our value proposition and why we are the best choice for them moving forward.
What’s your go-to strategy for explaining the 503B advantage to customers?
It’s more conversational—really trying to understand where their current knowledge base is and getting a feel for their understanding of the laws if they understand us as a company, and the differences between a 503A and 503B. Then, I like to understand where their focus is or what challenges they might be facing and hone in on that in our conversations. It’s more of a question-based selling approach, diving into what they know, the challenges they are facing, and then how I can help as much as possible.
Do you ever talk with them about iFill, the online ordering portal?
It just depends on where they are in the sales process, but iFill is 100% an advantage to veterinarians because it allows them visibility into:
- Can I order 503A and/or 503B medications for office use in my state?
- What is the cost of the medication?
- What is the expiration date or beyond-use date on the drug I’m ordering?
It gives them more information as a whole and an easy platform to navigate. For veterinarians in states that I serve with complex regulations, the easier it is to get all that information the better.
What do you find are the best relationship-building tools for customers?
I think I can find some commonality because my sister is a veterinarian, and I can share some of the pitfalls or struggles that she has experienced. Many of the challenges veterinarians face are common across the board. Being able to speak to those challenges and make myself relatable as far as understanding pitfalls or hurdles they’ve overcome builds a strong foundation for a relationship.
Even with my background in diagnostic tools, when I go into a clinic and see that they are running a certain type of equipment, I can speak to that or start a conversation that helps them know I am there as a trusted voice that knows the field.
Will you be in the Epicur booth at any upcoming shows?
I will be at PacVet in San Franciso in July and they can always find me in one of the six states that I cover! I’m happy to travel to any practice in my territory.
One last question – and it’s an important one – do you have any pets?
Yes, I have a two-year-old German Shepherd. My son had a hard time naming him, so we landed on Grogu. In Star Wars, baby Yoda’s name is Grogu, and he has massive ears; at the time, our German Shepherd hadn’t grown into his ears yet.
