Being a Medical Sales Rep - 4 Facts You Need To Know

Whether you’re new to sales or you’ve been at it for a few years now, there’s one industry that many individuals are attracted to, and that’s the pharmaceutical and/or medical device industries. 

Some individuals are attracted by the money, the flexibility, the thrill of succeeding in a very competitive environment and of course the majority are driven by a sincere desire to make a difference in the lives of people. 

If you’ve decided that you want to give sales in the health-care industry a shot, perhaps working for one of the large pharmaceutical or medical device companies, or even a midsize to smaller company, then there are four important facts about sales jobs in this industry that you need to know before you make the decision to pursue a career as a pharma or medical sales rep.

And I’m going to share four of those facts with you today. 

Fact #1: You’d  better be prepared to work long hours. Whatever you’re told during the interview process about how much the company that you’re interviewing with values work-life balance for its employees, take everything with a big grain of salt, because in many cases you’re going to find your work-life balance flying right out the window once you become a pharmaceutical or medical device rep. 

A large percentage of the reps that I’ve personally worked with are putting in ten to twelve hours per day and many of them complain about the long hours. 

Now, it may be possible that you won’t find yourself in this type of situation, but be aware that there’s a high possibility of long hours. If you’re single and have no one else to worry about but yourself, then that’s probably not going to be a big problem for you. 

But if you’re married and also have children, you may end up feeling unhappy about the long hours. 

So, be aware!

Fact #2: You’d better be able to effectively deal with stress. 

There are a number of things that can cause the wrong type of person to become extremely stressed in the medical sales industry. 

One of them is the constant pressure to make sales quota. 

Another is the stress related to the many changes that are going on in the health care system, especially in the United States at this time. 

There’s also stress related to the challenge of gaining vendor clearances for drugs and medical devices. 

There’s also a lack of job security that results from the mergers and acquisitions that are taking place in this industry. In fact, it can be very challenging to find a sales rep in the pharma industry and the medical device industry who’s been with one company for more than ten years. 

And even having to deal with doctors and nurses, who in many cases are not happy with the situation in their environment, can be very stressful. 

Also, many individuals in medical sales describe the managed care system as a total nightmare. 

So you need to think twice about this and about how you handle stress. If you’re the type of person that handles stress very well and may even thrive in a stressful environment, then go for it. 

But if you’re not, give careful thought before you make the decision to jump into medical sales. 

Fact #3: There’s limited room for territory growth.Many reps complain about this. 

Because there’s so much focus now on the bottom line, it seems that medical devices and especially pharmaceuticals are becoming more commoditized, especially when patents expire and bio-similars begin to flood the market. 

So this can make in challenging for sales reps to expand their territory. And many sales reps complain that hospitals aren’t concerned with the quality of a product, but instead whether or not their company has a contract with the hospital’s group purchasing organization, or GPO.

Because these issues can and do affect the reps ability to grow his or her territory, it can also have an impact on income, bonuses, etc. 

So be aware of this Fact #3. 

And finally, Fact #4 is: the old standard of company politics. 

Now, I’ve never met anyone who enjoys company politics and sales reps aren’t any different than anyone else. 

And believe me, company politics exist in pharmaceutical companies just like they exist in any other organization in any other sector. 

Some reps have actually told me that senior leaders are hired and have NO CLUE about our business. 

I’ve also heard other reps complain that there’s no company loyalty. Senior management is only concerned about themselves and show little regard for their teams. 

Now, to be sure, this is not the case in every sales organization, as there are some that I’ve worked with personally where the sales teams have nothing but praise for their leadership. 

And it’s great when you’re in an organization like that. 

Yet, the reality is that in many medical device and pharmaceutical companies, it’s like dog - eat dog, every person looking out for her or himself. So be aware of that. 

So those are the four facts you need to be aware of if you’re seriously considering getting into the medical sales industry. 

And this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t, as that decision is ultimately yours to make. But it’s good to know ahead of time what the role as a medical sales rep can be like. 

I want to know what you think, so please share your thoughts and comments below. And if you like this video and found it helpful, then being the great person that you are, please share and remember to subscribe to my channel so you won’t miss any of the valuable information I have in store for you going forward. 

And remember, I help sales leaders in the health care industry to reach and exceed their targets. So if you’d like to learn more about how I can help you individually or help your sales team perform better than they are now, contact me through LinkedIn or ....

Email me at: mikeallisoncoaching@gmail.com or...

Call me at +1 204 806-2977

And last but not least, thanks for watching and have a great week.