Medical Sales Representative
What is the work like?
Medical sales representatives or ‘reps’, also known as pharmaceutical or medical sales executives, sell prescription drugs, medicines and medical equipment to health professionals including GPs, hospital doctors, pharmacists and practice nurses.
As a medical sales rep, you would sell products to clients across a wide geographical area. Your work would include:
- making appointments to see existing clients and potential new customers
- presenting products to doctors, pharmacists and other clients
- persuading clients to buy your company’s products
- providing an after-sales service
- meeting sales targets
- organising or attending medical conferences
- keeping records of sales and customers
- reporting information back to head office about customer needs
- keeping up to date with the latest clinical data and research, so that you can discuss medical matters with health professionals in detail.
You would often specialise in a particular type of product or therapy area, such as oncology, diabetes or respiratory health.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
You could take one of three main routes to become a medical sales representative. You would normally get into this type of work with one of the following backgrounds:
- a degree in life sciences (such as biology, pharmacy or biomedical sciences)
- nursing or healthcare
- sales or marketing, with an understanding of what medical sales involves.
Most employers prefer to train graduates, but a science degree is not essential for all jobs. If you do not have a scientific degree or background in healthcare, you will need strong experience in sales or marketing. You will also need to show that you can learn about medicines and therapy areas in detail, so you may find it helpful to have an A level or similar level of qualification in biology or general science.
If you want to get into medical sales, you should ideally spend some time ‘shadowing’ an existing rep before you look for your first job. You could get in touch with medical sales reps through doctor's surgeries, pharmacies, or by contacting pharmaceutical companies directly. See the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) careers website for a list of pharmaceutical companies.
What further training and development can I do?
Your employer will usually provide some training in sales skills and detailed training in their products and therapy area when you start your job as a medical sales rep.
You must pass the ABPI Medical Representative’s Examination within your first two years in the job. Your employer may include this as part of its in-house training, or you could study through the ABPI’s distance learning programme. Visit www.abpi.org.uk for more information (link opens new window).
You should also keep up to date with new products and research developments throughout your career. The ABPI provides various seminars and short courses to help you do this.
You could also work towards general sales qualifications, such as NVQ levels 2, 3 and 4 in Sales, or qualifications from professional sales organisations, such as:
- Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM) Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Sales and Marketing
- Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Certificate in Professional Sales.
See the ISMM or CIM websites for more information.
Where can I go for more information?
12 WhitehallLondon
SW1A 2DY
Tel: 020 7930 3477
www.abpi.org.uk
Lower Woodside
LU1 4DQ
Tel: 01582 840001
Cookham
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 9QH
Tel: 01628 427500
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What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Typical starting salaries are £18,000 to £24,000 a year.
- With experience, salaries may range from £25,000 to £40,000 a year.
- Senior level staff can earn up to £60,000 a year.
Many companies offer a basic salary plus bonuses or commission, with other benefits such as private health insurance.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
You could have a home or office base, but you would spend most of your time out on the road meeting clients. You may sometimes have to spend nights away from home.
Your working day would usually be long, because of the travelling time involved. You may also need to socialise with clients in the evenings and attend conferences.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- excellent sales and negotiation skills
- excellent communication and networking skills
- good planning and organisational skills
- self-motivation, drive and initiative
- an outgoing and confident approach
- commercial and business awareness
- the ability to understand and present clinical data
- adaptability, for coping with frequent changes in products and healthcare systems
- a full driving licence.
What opportunities are there?
You could work for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that are involved in manufacturing or research and development. Some of the main employers are large multinational companies, so you may have opportunities to work overseas.
Jobs are advertised on employers’ websites, by specialist recruitment agencies, and in the local and national press.
With experience and a good track record in sales, you could progress into area or regional management, or into marketing, product or account management. Head hunting is common for senior jobs.
You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open new window):
ABPI list of pharmaceutical recruiters
Pharmafocus
InPharm
New Scientist
All About Medical Sales
Star Medical
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