Pharmaceutical

With more than 825 million prescriptions dispensed in the UK every year, the pharmaceutical sales industry is big business. Indeed, the UK is one of the world leaders in drug discovery, with around half of all major medicines sold here developed in British laboratories. For instance. Viagra was developed by Pfizer in Kent, while Ibuprofen, one of the biggest selling drugs in the world, is the result of pioneering research undertaken by a scientist who worked for Boots Pharmaceuticals.

By its very nature, the industry is constantly striving to develop innovative products that will improve the health and quality of life for people. And this has created a competitive, fast-moving, exciting and rewarding career for anyone involved in the sector, especially sales people.

It is your job to promote and sell your company’s products to the GPs, senior nurses and consultants who are responsible for prescribing medication to the end-users – the patients.

Above all else you will need to be a good listener and understand what your clients really need. As Ryan Stewart, a leading sales coach specialising in the pharmaceutical sales sector, said: “The essence of a good pharmaceutical sales representative is communication. Individuals who communicate well can engage listeners. Good communicators are also exceptional listeners themselves.”

Hours and environment

When not in the office filling your diary with appointments for the week ahead, you will be out in the field meeting potential and existing clients in their place of work. Given that your clients will invariably be based in hospitals, private practices or surgeries, for example, you will need to be flexible with your time and work around their schedule. In practice this means that you’re working hours will likely fall outside the tradition 9 to 5.

You must be prepared to travel. As a sales representative you will be allocated a territory to manage, which could cover a relatively small area or a larger region, and your job will be to make appointments and attend as many client meetings/presentations as possible within your designated area. So you can expect to spend much of your day driving between appointments while finding time to fill your diary with more meetings in the days or weeks ahead.

Skills and interests

The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion pound industry, and at the forefront is the role played by the sales people who proactively approach the market and promote their organisations’ products. And this means that employers are selective about the type of people they recruit.

Although there are a number of key skills shared by sales people of all disciplines, the pharmaceutical sector looks for people with very specific qualities, including:

Ability to demonstrate both clinical and sales aptitude
Awareness of the issues affecting the sector
General medical understanding and appreciation of the potential health benefits of your product
Sound competitor understanding
Excellent communication and presentation skills
Degree-educated or degree calibre
A hands-on and customer-centric approach
Ability to forge strong commercial relationships
Flexible approach
Determination to succeed and overall career ambition
Good time management skills and ability to prioritorise tasks
Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative

Industry

In recent years, the industry has started to move away from being seen as ‘legalised pill pushing’ to developing a target-market approach as it responds to market pressures. Indeed, the industry – or more specifically the sales side of the industry – has set about repositioning itself as one that is focused on showcasing products and services that can promote health and improve quality of life while reducing healthcare costs simultaneously – known as Pharma 2.0. And there are two clear reasons for this.

First, a recent report suggested that around one in five doctors now refuses to see any sales representatives, which has inevitably forced the sector to revaluate its existing practices. Second, there has been growing public scrutiny over the interaction between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals, and the industry is keen to become more transparent.

So over the next few years, it is likely that sales people will require new skills, such as holding a science or health qualification and a greater understanding of specific complex diseases, for example. The focus will no longer be just selling products but better managing health outcomes through a full complement of health management services.

Entry

If you have a science-related degree, your chances of securing the job you want will be greatly enhanced. That said, non-graduates with a previous sales, marketing or medical-related background are also sought after by employers, combined with a good standard of education including five GCSEs and preferably A levels.

Indeed, many employers will recruit entry-level pharmaceutical sales people who have at least one to two years of proven success in a client-facing role and negotiating contracts with key decision makers.

Training, other qualifications and advancement

When you start your new role, you can expect to complete an initial three-month probationary period that aims to introduce and bring you up to speed with all you will need to know about the products you will be selling and the sector in which you operate. So even if you don’t come from a medical or related background, you will be supported throughout the early days of your career; thereafter, further industry and sector knowledge will be learned on the job itself.

Once you feel you have mastered your current role, it is natural for you to contemplate your next career move. From sales representative your next move could be a territory sales manager position, then area manager before assuming the role of national sales manager and eventually sales director.

Most employers operate on a global scale with many more expanding their operations into the newly emerging Asian and Indian sub-continent regions, which means that there may be opportunities for pharmaceutical sales people to work overseas.

But before you can progress from one role to the next you need to focus on your achievements in your current role and make sure that the powers that be (your boss) realise your potential.

This is a highly competitive form of sales and those people who simply ‘get by’ by plodding along and doing little more than what their job description demands of them will never be singled out for promotion. Instead, those people who get noticed and promoted are those who step out of their comfort zone to try do things better than they have been done before and make a real difference to their organisation.

So think about instances when the limelight has shone on you and you have attracted the respect from your peers. Perhaps you significantly increased sales within your territory year-on-year? Maybe you helped launch a new drug into the UK market and established yourself as its top seller? Do you have the highest client renewal rates in the company?

By focusing on your achievements and the instances when the limelight has been focused on you, your chances of winning that next promotion will be greatly increased – as will your ability to demonstrate that you already have some of the skills needed to do a good job in the role you are applying to do and the one after that and the next one after that.

After all, if you already possess some of the core skills needed in your next role, you will instantly be an attractive proposition to an employer who will see you as being able to hit the ground running if promoted.

Ultimately, employers are looking for you to have a positive, proactive attitude and an ability to hold your own when under pressure, combined with a fierce determination to succeed.

Top employers

The healthcare and medical sectors are dominated by a handful of organisations that operate on a global scale. In the UK, the biggest pharmaceutical sales employers include: