Sales

Sales Representatives - learning more about the role

Shadowing a working Medical Sales Representative provides an invaluable understanding of the role.  It is therefore a recommendation that you spend a working day with an experienced representative.

General Shadow Questions with regards to a GP Representative:

• How do you approach your territory?
• How do they plan their territory?
• How many doctors and pharmacists do you see a day
• How do you identify a high/low potential Doctor?
• How do you organise your time?
• How did you structure your last business plan?
• Who are your customers and how do you differ your approach to each of them?
• What is the local health care system?
• In what form do your sales figures come?
• How do you analyse your sales figures when looking at your business?
• What is the role of nurses?
• What is the role of community pharmacists?
• What kind of different meeting does a Representative do?
• How do you get access to your GP’s?
• What are the administration expectations?
• What are the short term and long term career prospects?
• What are the positives and negatives about GP sales?

General Shadow Questions with regards to a Hospital Representative:

• What are the main points of contact in a hospital?
• What is the role of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)?
• What is a formulary?
• How do you go about getting a drug onto formulary?
• What is a ‘Post Graduate’ meeting?
• How do you organise a postgraduate meeting (speaker, venue, accreditation, and timescales)?
• What’s the difference between evidence and non-evidence based medicine?
• Describe the Hospital Doctors influence / ranking system?

To make yourself stand out from the crowd and to help support your application it is advisable to write a report on your day out shadowing.  In this it is advisable to include:

• the days activity
• what you believe to be enjoyable about the role
• what you believe to be challenging about the role
• what you learned from the day
• what you think you would do differently

To add extra weight to your application speak to Receptionists and Pharmacists about their roles and the impact they make on a Medical Representatives role, as well as, finding out their view on Representatives and the way they work.

Collating a global report on all aspects of the role of a Medical Representative will demonstrate your initiative and determination to pursue a career as a Medical Representative.

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