Medical Representative is the Professional Salesman representing a Reputed Pharmaceutical or Healthcare or Life sciences or Nutraceutical / Wellness / Medical Device manufacturing or marketing company who visits the Doctors / Dentists / Dieticians & other Healthcare Professionals (to be commonly called as Doctors ) in regular intervals to update the latest information about their drug molecules/medicines/supplements/devices etc. and seek a prescription for the same from the Healthcare Professionals to increase Sales of Healthcare Companies.
This is the entry-level job of the Sales Ladder, which terminates into the CEO or Managing Director level. Each MR has a scope to become Managing Director of the company in the near future, depending on the ambition & energy levels of a particular person. Opportunity is there, for each & every person, however, many tend to forget this in the initial 5-10 years of their career in sales & do get stuck at the lower levels.
At this level, MR gets to interact very closely with reputed Healthcare Professionals, like General Practitioners (GPs), Consultants like Consulting Physicians, Gynecologists, Orthopedic Surgeons, General Surgeons, Gastroenterologist, Gastro Surgeons, Dermatologists, Ophthalmologists, Psychiatrist, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Pulmonologist, to name a few. This feature makes their life different from other sales representatives in any other industry. These, doctors or Healthcare Professionals are the Cream Class of the Society. The opportunity to meet these customers, allows them to get polished themselves as these doctors with respect to knowledge, etiquette, mannerism, lifestyle, etc.
Medical Representatives on the other side also get an opportunity to handle trade channels which includes, important partners as Chemist / Retailer / Druggist who sells the medicines, on a valid Prescription of the Healthcare Professional to Patients, who actually pays & consumes the medicines. The retailer stocks the medicines to the tune of 1 week’s sale. Distributor / Stockist, who stocks the medicines sufficient for monthly sales of around 200-300 chemists in a given city. One more level, up, that is the C&F agent or Carrying & Forwarding Agent, who is responsible to handle for up to 30-50 stockists depending upon its geographical location and state.
Medical Representative and further levels in the Sales ladder have the highest chances of getting faster promotions than any other stream in the Pharma Industry. This is because the Medical representatives & other members of the sales departments are the revenue generators for the entire corporate. Therefore, they are given a lot of importance to the Organization. Of course, there are exceptions to this, with some, organization, wherein, they are treated otherwise. Hence, the selection of Pharma Corporate is very critical while entering into Pharma Industry.
Many Medical representatives, we see, enter the industry by accident or because they do not have any other job & switch to other professions if they get one. However, the new generation, Medical Representative, may change this picture, being well-versed with the know-how of the success formula to become a Leader in the Corporate Pharma, starting his / her journey as the Medical Representative, at the bottom of the Pharma Corporate Pyramid.