How to Be a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep

Being a pharmaceutical sales representative is a highly coveted job that can be extremely fun and lucrative. The position involves interaction with every aspect of medical staff, including highly trained doctors in their field, extensive product knowledge training, travel, sales, and freedom. The field can be hard to break into but, with a little luck and a lot of skill, you can turn yourself into a top-notch pharmaceutical sales rep.

Networking is key to finding a position in pharmaceutical sales. Most positions are filled by referrals from other reps. Ask around and see if anyone knows any other drug reps. Ask your doctor's office for reps' cards and contact them.

Be prepared and have your resume ready. When you do make contact with another rep, make sure to have your resume up-to-date and written to emphasize your sales and marketing skills. The rep will hopefully pass your resume on to his/her manager.

Market. In the past, prior medical experience/knowledge was essential to selling pharmaceuticals, now the emphasis is more on marketing. When you score an interview with a pharmaceutical sales manager, dress professionally and wow them with your abilities. You will most likely be asked to "sell" the manager something, such as a pen. Describe the object's features (black ink, click on/off) and the benefits of the object (black ink shows up clearly, keeps pocket cleaner).

Train. Once you land a pharmaceutical sales job, you will be sent to training at corporate headquarters. You will be given the medical materials to learn. Study them well because you will be expected to have learned everything prior to training.

Behave. When you arrive at training, make sure you display professional behavior at all times. It can be tempting to go party with other reps and "let loose" from the pressure of sales training, but your manager will be informed of your behavior and you do not want to embarrass your manager. Reps have gotten fired from training based on their behavior.

Study hard and do your best. If you need help, ask the instructors. They are experienced former reps who know the business well. Your test scores will follow you throughout your career on performance evaluations, so work hard.

Set up your storage unit of samples and promotional materials and keep it well organized once you have finished training. Pharma companies constantly revise marketing materials and you want to be sure you're giving doctors the latest information.

Organize your time. Pharma sales is very flexible with a lot of freedom. Don't be tempted to cut corners to shorten your day. Get the job done.

Plan your work and work your plan. Make detailed lists of the doctors you need to see; their prescribing information; locations and sample cards. Load your car with fresh supplies every day. Planning your work in advance will allow you to complete the day much more easily (and earlier).

Communicate with your colleagues. Most pharma reps work in teams and call on many of the same doctors. Coordinate your efforts with other reps and share notes on the offices so that each rep can achieve maximum exposure to medical staff.

Think outside the box. Doctors see a zillion drug reps, so find a creative approach to getting the doctor's attention. Make sure your efforts are in total compliance with the selling guidelines established by the FDA and your pharma company.

Stay on marketing message. Companies spend a lot of time and money developing marketing materials and ensuring that everything is legal. Reps can get fired for changing the marketing message and the company can be fined large amounts of money.

Provide food. Many drug reps get time with doctors by bringing lunch to their office. Lazy reps bring pizza. Skip the pizza and do something out of the ordinary. Get something that they don't often have and will like. When booking a lunch with a medical office, find out if there are vegetarians or those with food allergies.

Take care of your receipts. Pharma reps often have big expense accounts, but that means a ton of paperwork at the end of each month to submit your expense report. Keeping track of receipts will help you avoid the last minute track-down of lost receipts and avoid getting stuck for the expense out-of-pocket if you can't provide a receipt for.