Within the Pharmaceutical Industry, the job of a Medical Representative is to promote and sell medicines and medical devices.  Apart from this, these professionals also prescribe the best possible medicines and medical devices to the customers.  Their customers are doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

In some Pharma companies, they are also known as Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives or Medical Sales Representatives. A successful Medical Representative has to implement best practices to generate leads and business for the employer.

In starting, any region can be assigned to you, so you must be ready to happily accept it and show your mettle by generating quality leads and hitting every week/month/quarter sales quota. And yes, in case if you are looking for a sitting job then this role is not for you. Look for any other alternative.

Required qualifications to become a Medical Representative

Students aspiring to become Medical Representatives can meet the below-mentioned criteria.

Required Subjects:

In India, after 10^th Standard, students can opt for Biology or life sciences as a subject for developing a strong foundation.

Required Degree: Candidates must have any below-mentioned degrees

• Full-time or Distance course in Life Sciences
• Full-time or Distance course in Nursing
• Full-time or Distance course in Pharmacy
• Full-time or Distance Bachelor’s/Master’s in any other stream

In case you don’t have a graduation or post-graduate degree you can still become a Medical Representative with a high school degree.

Work Experience: If you have previously worked as a customer service executive or pharmacist it will be a plus point.

Essential Skills to become a Medical Representative

Grasping Power

Ability to understand the composition and functioning of drugs and  medical equipment

Knack for Sales

Strong selling skills is a must for this job

Persuasive Communication 

This is required to convince your audience

Negotiation skills

To bring business in favorable terms and conditions. This skill is always required.

Patience

Your customers and prospects may disagree with your viewpoint  but you need to make persistent efforts to make them believe that you are the best

Phone Manner

Phone conversation is a part of this job. Make sure that you keep a check on  voice modulation and speech

Email etiquettes 

Always write a crisp email with a right choice of words.

Excellent follow-up skills

You have to follow-up internal stakeholders for the supply of product and customers for timely payment

What is a Medical Representative Role?

The job responsibilities of a Medical Representative include:

• Good in identifying leads for business
• Budget management and allocation
• Maintain daily activity details records
• Taking appointments of doctors, nurses and pharmacists for an engaging conversation
• Negotiating contracts and winning new and old customers
• Stay updated with new development in the medicine field

Major firms Hiring Medical Representatives are

• Sun Pharmaceuticals
• Novartis
• Reddy’s Laboratories
• Cipla
• Abbott
• Cadila Pharmaceuticals
• Mankind Pharma
• And many other Pharmaceutical firms

What type of questions should you expect in the interview?

Following are the questions you can expect in the interview

• What makes you fit for this role?
• Sell me this pen?
• Will you be able to generate business by selling medicines?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Will you be able to handle the pressure?
• Are you aware of the sales cycle process?

What are the personality traits of a Best Medical Representative?

Excellent interpersonal skills are essential for a Medical Representative. If you wish to improve your interpersonal skills, a course by Pankaj Srivastava on Interpersonal skills comes in handy when you do not have the time to attend any class for improving your interpersonal skills.  Other than this, you need to be good at networking which means you are always ready to interact with the person you want to work for your employer.

How to Sharpen Sales Skills?

When you are in a customer-facing role you face different scenarios while dealing with customers. To become an expert in such situations you have to always give your best. For doing it you can read a few books on sales, remember to click the image of the book which shows the best possible answer to give in an unfamiliar situation. It will help you to keep a short handy note on your phone which you can read it anytime while traveling in-cab, metro, or train for your learning

What’s the salary for a Medical Representative?

At the initial stage in this role, you can expect it to be somewhere between (1.8 lakh per annum to 4.88 lakh per annum).  It depends on many factors such as job location, work experience, candidate qualifications, referral, etc. You can also go through the result of a survey done by PharmaState: Salary of medical representative in India. Also, you can go through this article: What is the starting salary after B. Pharm.

What to expect by becoming a Medical Representative?

• Fast career growth
• Lucrative salary
• Meet different personalities

Few Cons of Being a Medical Representative

• Target-based job
• Hectic Travel
• Overtime is quite normal

Conclusion

If you aspire to become a successful Medical Representative, you need to have an inclination towards science and must have a hunger to generate business by developing a strong supply of medicines to clinics and hospitals in the assigned region. Along with this, you need to show involvement in this job and separate ego from work because you will be listening to different tones of prospects and customers all day long and you have to deal with it in a calm and composed manner otherwise your customer may go to your competitor.