Today’s medical or pharmaceutical sales representative face many challenges in the current competitive marketplace.  Managed care, generics and a host of other factors contribute to the daily roadblocks, which may stand in the way of increasing market share.  So what must the successful representative do to try and control their destiny? —Organize and plan.

I’ve heard it said many times at various meetings, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Also, how many times have you heard, “control what you can control.”  Well, sometimes representatives feel that they can control very little, right?  Agreeably there are many things outside the control of a representative.  However, organization is not one of them.  Gaining insight and organizational focus of your territory will make the difference between you and the plethora of other representatives in a commodity driven market.

Most sales representatives in the medical field are faced with similar obstacles at one time or another, so pulling together a game plan is in order.  Representatives are asked for documentation and 90-day action plans based upon what they thought management was requiring. Let me challenge you today to plan your territory based upon YOUR knowledge of the turf and work WITH your manager.  Trying to simply appease your manager with mundane territory plans, rarely works long term.  Challenge their knowledge, that’s part of their job.  Before you do, develop your plan with workable substance and understand your turf.  Remember, your goals and your manager’s goals are mutual in that in the end you will both want something workable that achieves results quickly. 

I talk to many representatives each day and rarely do I get through a day without someone accusing their current or previous manager of being a “micro-manager.”  Before making this accusation, some representatives may want to reflect upon what is being asked of them.  Many times management is simply asking for a level of detail that a representative cannot produce.  And by the way, they have the absolute right as your employer to ask for this information and these detailed territory plans.

So go out and “dig in” to your territory.  Probe for information from medical professionals that will help position your product(s).  Involve other personnel in office that can help facilitate your role and your relationships.  You’ll be amazed at the additional “depth” of knowledge you’ll gain in your territory in just 90 days.

Call it what you will confidence, conviction or just over-the-top-enthusiasm, in medical sales it is important to demonstrate a positive level of passion toward your products or services.  Your clients expect strong presentations and so does your employer, so don’t fail to deliver passion in your next presentation!

In most medical sales positions, as with any other type of professional sales role, confidence, conviction and enthusiasm are important.  These components can help you gain credibility as a medical sales representative and provide you the healthy bit of arrogance you may desire. Defining these elements is simple.  Confidence generally shows that you have “mastery” of your subject matter.  Conviction demonstrates that you sincerely believe what you are conveying and want the physician or prescriber to believe it too.  As far as enthusiasm goes, that just means you jumped out of bed that morning ready and excited to yell about your medical product or service!  (No diving back under the covers—The world awaits you!)

So, the real pitfall comes with medical sales representatives that demonstrate an “unfounded arrogance”.  Who are these folks?  They are the ones that have not earned bragging rights by projecting the necessary confidence, conviction and enthusiasm, thereby falling flat or stumbling through their presentations.  Maybe they don’t know their product information well enough?  Maybe they’re just plain boring?  Do they lack confidence?  Whatever, the most tenured sales representatives know that it takes time, practice, patience and experience to get the elements balanced to master a professional sales presentation.  Yes, there is a place for practicing, but I just can’t make myself call it role-playing.

If you think about it, you may have heard in the medical sales field that a competitor is “arrogant”.   Your client may say, “I don’t like representative so-and-so because he’s so cocky.”  Interestingly, that representative may very well be a top performer.  It seems like it just works out that way.  Their arrogance may contain just the correct level of confidence, conviction and enthusiasm necessary to move business.

Obviously, you don’t want to be an industry jerk, but a little bit of arrogance can move your career forward.  It might even make you a lot more money?  Think about it.

1. Work with the right recruiting firm. It is important to find a firm that meets your needs. Interview the recruiting firm and get references from some of their past clients. It is also important to select a firm that specializes within your industry, such as medical sales recruiters.
2. Develop a partnership with a recruiting firm that specializes in your industry.
3. If you are not committed to hiring, don’t involve a search firm. Contingency recruiters work on a “commission-only” basis. Job orders are taken very seriously. Many hours go into the search and recruitment process to locate qualified candidates.
4. Provide a job description and accurate job order information to your recruiter.
5. Provide your recruiter with the hiring manager’s name and contact information. It is extremely difficult for a recruiter to recruit staff for a manager they have never spoken to.
6. Keep track of the candidates presented to you by a recruiter. Many companies utilize multiple recruiting firms on the same position. Recruiters earn their commission when a candidate they source is hired. Nothing upsets the process more than two recruiters presenting the same candidate for the same position. Candidates often think this helps their case but companies may become upset when the process becomes confusing.
7. Provide feedback to your recruiter when you receive a resume or interview a candidate. Your company and the recruiting firm are best represented when prompt feedback is provided to interested candidates.

To understand Contingency Search Firms, you must first understand how executive search firms, such as Global Edge  Recruiting, work. Executive Search Firms generally have agreements with many different companies to assist them in locating and recruiting the top talent on an ongoing basis. These types of search firms are generally independent contractors / outside vendors.

Executive search consultants should partner with Human Resources and your Talent Acquisition department to assist them in recruiting top talent for your open positions. As a hiring partner, the search firm gathers information about your company and open positions to gain an understanding of the key skills and abilities needed in various roles within your organization. With this knowledge, the search consultant can then network and search for successful candidates with the skill sets needed to work for your company.

The search consultant is responsible for carefully prescreening candidates. If a candidate is identified by the search firm to meet the qualifications of the open position, the search consultant will present the candidate to the hiring authority for review and assist with candidate communications, interviews and follow-up.

If a candidate presented by the search firm is hired by the company, the search firm is paid a commission fee for their work. There are two types of recruiting firms, retainer and contingency. Contingency search firm fees are paid by the employer only if a candidate is hired for the position.

As a Human Resources or Talent Acquisition partner in your organization, you are more than likely faced with a barrage of calls, e-mails, brochures, etc. from agencies vying for your business.

The rhetoric is the same in the medical sales arena, “We have had great success in finding…blah…blah…blah, and that’s where the ole *7 (delete) command happens in the voice mail system.

Why? It’s because you’re hearing from another vendor with an unsubstantiated claim trying to obtain your business. This type of “cold call” has long been the norm for those of us in the medical sales recruiting industry. Unfortunately, in the previous example, there was no value or need, which initiated any action on behalf of your organization, the potential client company.

I’m not saying that the above solicitation is bad; we’re all just trying to make a living in today’s tough medical sales economy. What I would venture to say is that the impactful nature of those calls is just not there. It appears the recruiter has made no review of your company’s website and no possesses no “baseline” knowledge of your organization or its products or services

My point is this…to be great at recruiting in the medical or pharmaceutical sales market; a medical sales recruiter must have a solid medical and sales background. An understanding of the marketplace and knowledge of current changes in reimbursement or other relevant trends is critical. I guess at this point your question might be, “How can I expect you to help me if you don’t understand my needs in medical sales?”

Here are a few questions to consider in finding a “Great” medical or pharmaceutical sales recruiter:

1. Does the recruiting agency specialize in the niche field of finding medical salespeople? Will they take the time to research and truly understand my needs?
2. Will the submitted candidates be of high quality and specific to my needs in medical sales? How do they determine a high quality candidate?
3. Does the agency have a specific and established recruiting process defined? What is it?
4. Does the recruiter have references? How long have they been in business?
5. How long does it take for the recruiter to find individuals to present (sourcing speed)?
6. How is the agency unique relative to finding talent versus simply using the job boards?
7. What is the “longevity” of placements made through the firm?

Hopefully, these questions will help you find that “Great” partner in efforts in the recruitment of top talent. You may agree that finding the very best salespeople can be a challenge in today’s medical sales world.

Randy Wilkerson, MBA has worked for three fortune 500 medical sales companies and is currently a medical sales consultant and Business Development Manager at Global Edge Recruiting Associates, LLC .