The Quantabio sales team is proud to attract not just great salespeople, but also great scientists. To see what we mean, look no further than Merve Ӧney, senior genomics sales executive. She came to us from a career at the bench, and that experience allows her to cultivate strong relationships with current scientists who can benefit from using our products. She joined Quantabio in 2016 and is based in San Diego.
Q: What do you do at Quantabio?
A: I’m the sales rep for the West Coast region that covers California, Arizona, and Utah. I’m responsible for maintaining and growing key accounts as well as looking for new business. I am lucky that California is a large biotech hub and I never run out of prospective customers. I also closely work with our VWR distribution team to help grow sales.
Q: What brought you to the company?
A: I came from the bench, and this was my first sales position. I was trying to transition from the bench to sales for a while so I jumped right in when this opportunity came up! I had several years of molecular biology experience from working in the lab so Quantabio’s molecular biology focus felt familiar and attractive. Also, the idea of being part of a small team was appealing to me as I wouldn’t be just one dot in the company.
Q: What’s the best thing about your job?
A: The customer interactions. I love being in the field and talking to customers face to face, getting to know about them and their science. I truly enjoy building a relationship with each of them and becoming someone they can trust when they need reagent support. Over time, I came to realize that the industry is in fact not that big; you run into the same people you worked with in different roles, different companies. Every connection and every relationship counts in our business.
Q: What do you wish more people knew about Quantabio?
A: I would really like people to know that when it comes to working with some really tough specimens, we can help. If you’re working with blood, saliva, anything clinical or environmental, we have the PCR and qPCR products that are designed for those sample types.
Q: Fill in the blank: Better reagents lead to ______.
A: Better science. Better reagents deliver higher quality in your experimental results. If you have cleaner results, that leads to more accurate analysis and interpretation and, ultimately, better science.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
A: Right now I have a year-and-a half-old toddler so it’s really hard to find spare time! But when I do, I always like to explore new bakeries with my friends. I have quite a sweet tooth.
Q: What’s your ideal vacation?
A: I grew up in Turkey and my summers were spent by the Mediterranean so I love swimming. Wherever there’s a beach and warm enough water to swim, I’ll enjoy myself. My hope is to pass this on to my son as well.
