To Be a Pharmaceutical Rep or a Medical Sales Rep?

That is the question.  If you are breaking into the industry, you might not even know exactly how these sales positions are alike or different.  Let's break it down in today's post.

Pharmaceutical Sales versus Medical Sales

I spent my 18 years in the industry on the medical sales side of the business, so I obviously have more to offer on that side.  There are many similarities between the two positions, but ultimately these are very different positions.  I will start with the commonalities between both pharmaceutical sales and medical sales positions, and then highlight their differences.   Next week I will give a more in depth overview of the medical sales industry.

Requirements for both positions include:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Valid drivers’ license
• Clean driving record
• Clean criminal background search
• Drug test (not all of the time, but often)
• Vendor credentialing (for hospitals), includes flu and COVID vaccinations, TB test, tetanus and other requirements in order to gain access to hospitals. Your employer will pay for the annual subscriptions to these organizations.

Most pharmaceutical companies provide company cars.  Many medical manufacturers provide cars as well, and if not, they offer a car allowance as part of their compensation package.  Gas is paid for, and often, the cost of all car maintenance as well, including oil changes, tire rotations, etc.

Depending on the manager, reps have a decent amount of autonomy.  This structure is what gives these jobs a sense of entrepreneurship.  You are the captain of your territory, and it is up to you to have the self-drive and motivation to get in your car and make your sales calls day in and day out.  I also took a lot of pride in working on new approaches, trying out new marketing materials, etc.  It was fun to try something new, get a positive result from it, and report back to my manger and sales reps in my region to share a new tactic.

Pharmaceutical Sales:

If you represent a pharmaceutical manufacturer, you are selling pharmaceuticals or “drugs” to doctors.  Reps present clinical data and studies to show the effectiveness and safety of their drugs (over competing drugs) to physicians who decide to prescribe that drug to their patients.

Pharmaceutical reps call on doctors in their offices.  To gain access, many offices allow reps to bring in breakfast or lunch for the office staff, and in return, the rep is granted 5-10 minutes of face time with the doctor to present the latest information about the drug(s) they represent.

Reps can provide drug samples.  Most doctors’ offices have drug closets where the reps maintain a steady supply of samples so that patients can try the medication before receiving a prescription.  The reps have to secure the signature of the doctor when leaving the medication at the offices.

Each rep is assigned a geographic territory and/or list of doctor’s offices that fall under their responsibility.

A pharmaceutical rep’s success is determined by sales of their drugs in pharmacies within their geographic territories, defined by zip codes.

There are pharmaceutical sales training programs available.  I recommend Medreps.com as a resource. They have articles and information about pharmaceutical sales training, career fairs and other related articles.  (Please note, in my ebook, I reference Medreps.com as a great resource for open job positions).

Medical Sales:

If you represent a medical manufacturer, you are selling a medical product to a hospital or clinic.  These products can fall into two categories: 1. capital equipment, such as large X-Ray machines or surgical robots used in the OR or 2. disposable products, such as IV catheters, needles, syringes, urinary catheters, etc.  (Essentially anything with a onetime use.)  Selling disposables is a great way to get experience.  Capital equipment sales is reserved for professionals who know the business well.

When selling to a hospital, (unless you are a selling more of a commodity product) you must secure clinical buy-in, cultivating a “clinical champion” in one of the units of the hospital, and then you have to make a clinical and a business case to the purchasing department of the hospital.

I will do a deeper dive into medical sales next week including some key terms to learn before heading into a medical sales interview.  Until then, good luck out there.  Let me know if I can help you in any way.  Sales coaching sessions are available for booking on my website.