13 JOB PROMOTION TIPS FOR MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE TO AREA MANAGER

 

13 JOB PROMOTION TIPS FOR MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE TO AREA MANAGER is blog for those Medical Representative those after working successfully in an organization for 3-5 years loved to be PROMOTED as Area Manager.

I believe that no Medical Representative wish to be a Medical Representative for ever.

However if such candidates are thinking that promotion will come along every year like bonus for the time served.

Also it is to be noted that promotion can’t be just handed over because you want them. You need to earn promotion by first acting in a way that`s promotable.

But what does that means exactly?

Let`s us understand this from scratch.

What is job promotion?

As per the Business Dictionary a job promotion is defined as MOVE FORWARD or ADVANCE IN RANK OR POSITION of an employee within the organization.

Advancement usually means new role, more influence more money, and more control over day to day task- just to name all this more perks.

Getting promotion takes time, learning, and dedication to you.

To move up the ladder to next step in your career , you have to prove that you are good at decision making and having leadership qualities and therefore you are ready and deserving enough to take on more responsibility.

Once you set your goal to be Area Manager, sit down with your boss and discuss your professional career goal and are ready to take the new role. As good boss only will help you achieve your goal by giving you opportunities to grow and provide support to keep you on track.

Here are the 15 must qualities which you are expected to display to the organization by making small changes in day to day work and personality seriously to be considered for next step in your career.

 

1.       YOU NEED TO BE GOOD AT YOUR JOB- SALES ACHIEVEMENT, PRODUCT MIX SALES AND SALES OF NEW PRODUCT.

These sounds oblivious but if are not performing above average in job-sales, it is nearly impossible to be promoted.

SALES ACHIEVEMENT-You should be a consistent sales performer. If not 100% sales target achievement every month but one should be 95-100% in some months and not less than 90% in some exceptional months.

PRODUCTS MIX SALES- Generally all pharmaceutical company plans their Product Portfolio in such a fashion that their products fits into all season so that the company`s sales never comes irrespective of season. And definitely if in you territory there is good product mix sales hence sales volume of your territory will also not go down irrespective of sales.

NEW PRODUCT SALES- Once you are working in any organization the Old Products are already established by your senior colleagues but your real creditability is judged through the New Products Sales Performance. As whole efforts in doing this is made by you by implementing the planned strategy and strong follow up.

And at first instant attaining the mentioned points will bring you in good books of the company to be considered for job promotion.

2.       DRESSING SENSE

Appearance is your first impression which a sales person puts on customer mind as it is the first thing that a doctor will notice.

It is true before you start your doctor call, prospect having already begun to form their opinion of you, your service and your company.

Looking well and professional will help you to convince your doctors and win his heart. It will also help you to have self confidence.

Hence Dress your best!

·         Dress equal to or slightly above what your doctor is wearing.

·         Wear something that evokes trust and familiarity.

Therefore

·         Always wear light color shirt and dark color pant.

·         Wear matching tie and fix with clip. Do not let your tie wave here and there.

·         In winter season you must wear suit.

·         Make sure your clothes are pressed and wrinkle free.

·         Black is perfect color for shoes hence wear polished black shoes with white socks.

·         Your hairs also plays important role in your personality so be simple and have hair groomed properly before making doctor call.

·         Make sure you are not wearing heavy perfume and Lady Medical Representative is not wearing heavy jewelry.

3.       EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The real meaning of communication is to get message understood correctly by the person with whom you are communicating. It is always needs to be remembered, your communication is not completed till is rightly perceived by the other person in the same manner, in the same way you wanted to be. Communication can be Verbal, Written and Non-Verbal. 

·         VERBAL COMMUNICATION: As a sales person one should keep it in mind that you should always to speak in customer language. Therefore you should be sound in communicating in English the language which is commonly used by pharma sales person and also local language like Hindi, Punjabi, and Gujrati etc. Remember efficiency in Verbal Communication depends upon certain factors like flow of text, correctness of text,pronounciation of certain words( specially scientific words, indications, and ingredients etc), modulation of  voice, and above all confidence.

·         WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: You should be good in written communication also as many a times you have to communicate with your Team, Head Office, Depot, Hospital`s Admin Department, and Doctors through email. Hence having command on written communication would be helpful in communicating, express your feeling and emotions.

·         NON VERBALCOMMINICATION:  Researchers confirms that 55% of communication is done through Non-verbally (Body Language) and non-verbal communication carries about 5 times more impact than a verbal communication. Therefore one should essentially know body language. Each and every gesture is like word, giving different meanings. One can combine these words to convert into sentence. Although learning body language is a vast subject however  having well versed with body language would be helpful in understanding of complex human behavior and truth about a person`s feeling or attitude, specially during a face-to-face interaction with doctors and team members etc. 

4.       TIME MANAGEMENT AND PUNCTUALITY

Time management is one of important quality of Medical Representative. Time management is the ability to use his time productively and efficiently by having perfect balancing of time between different activities by proper planning, organizing and executing his day to day work.

Along with time management Medical Representative should also possesses sincerity, initiative along with PUNCTUALITY indicates that you care for the job.

Suppose a Medical Representative is not having said quality would be missing train/bus while going on tour. Missing important Doctor Call because of not reaching doctor chambers/market/field etc. Same happens during Joint Field Working too.

As a Medical Representative always follows his boss therefore pursuing Area Manager should possess the said quality so that team learns from him and become perfectly punctual team for all the assignment given to them.

IN FACT I FEEL THIS QUALITY SHOULD BE RANKED AS FIRST IN THE LIST QUALITY. 

5.       PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

IT IS RIGHTLY SAID THAT” SALES PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THEY SELL AND THEY SELL WHAT THEY KNOW.

In order to be a successful sales person you need to be confident in your product. Customers are more likely to trust sales people who show confidence in themselves and what they are selling.

Product knowledge is the most important skill while making call with the doctors. Product knowledge can be vehicle to increased sales through presenting your product benefits accurately and persuasively. In depth product knowledge would helpful in-

·         Strengthen Communication Skill.

·         Boost Enthusiasm

·         Grows Confidence

·         Assisting in Answering Objection.

For all this you need to ensure to know products feature and skillfully turn these features into benefits for the customers. 

6.       IN CLINIC PERFORMANCE

As per the surveys that doctors in India are increasingly showing disinterest in meeting Medical Representative. The reason understood from surveys, that doctors don’t think that a Medical Representative add value to their practice and knowledge. And a good number of doctors wish to interact with the pharma companies through digital channel for the product information.

Therefore everyone in Pharma Company must pay attention to this changing behavior of the doctors with a mission that Medical Representative should act as a catalyst for sharing information and knowledge.

For this you need to bring the following changes in your day to work-

·         Have complete doctor’s information like brand (self and competitors) prescribing like combination/company/price/USP of your brand Vs competitor product. As this will be helpful in positioning of your brand accordingly.

·         Have complete doctor’s personal information like DOB/DOM/Email ID/Mobile number. As activity on this will be helpful in rapport building with doctors.

·         Have good communication skills/ good dressing sense/ punctuality. Already these points have been discussed above.

·         Also meet the doctors as per their convenience or pre-decided day and that too with proper appointment. 

If you follow these points properly, you will be seen as valued consultant by doctors.

7.       NUMBER OF DOCTOR PRESCRIBING YOUR PRODUCTS

This point is also given high weightage while considering a job promotion from Medical Representative to Area Manager.

For example  60 doctors out of list of 150 doctors giving business of Rs.2000.00 per month means 60* Rs.2000.00= Rs.120000.00 sales will be ranked better that POUCH SALES from 3 doctors giving business of Rs.40000.00 per means 3*Rs.40000.00= Rs.120000.00.

In both case sales of territory is same but high number of doctor  prescribing will be ranked  better performance because if case of any doctor from the high number of doctor prescribing stops will result into a small loss which can be covered early Vs POUCH SALES.

Therefore prescription from high number of doctors is better and prescription from High Number of Doctor plus sales from POUCH DOCTORS will be the best.

8.       RAPPORTS WITH  DOCTOR,CHEMIST AND STOCKIST

Rapport is basically an emotional connection with other person. It is basically a tool for developing and maintenance of strong relationship while sharpening your capacity to influence others. Rapport building is also a critical tool in pharma business with team/doctors/chemist/stockiest etc.

When you establish rapport you are able to engage your customer to a human level where loyalty and connection occurs and you will find that harmony eases while communicating meaningfully and exchange information freely.

In this case all customers like doctor knows you by your name and they have all trust on you and help you in all odd circumstances, like helping to enhance your prescription sales, and providing feedback by chemist and stockiest etc.

9.       FEEDBACK AND DCR SUBMISSION

A feedback in form of report is the record of various activities performed on day to day bases. Unless and until you have submitted your report within specified time about activities you have done how your managers will come to know that what you have done? As through your feedback/reports like Daily Call Report, Weekly Feedback etc whatever may be the name they will be understand/analyze the effectively of activities and plan activities for future.

At the same time though report you your self can analyze your work for self development.

In all timely submission of your reports will leaves positive impression on your managers.

10.   COMPUTER KNOWLGE.

Today, every job requires the basic knowledge and understanding of computer, the same is true for Medical Representative and aspiring Area Manager too.

Budgeting, data management for Sales Achievement, Growth and De-growth are vital tasks performed by most Area Manger, so it benefits them to be proficient in spreadsheet programs like MS Excel.  

Spreadsheets are applications used to organize data and other information into tables and quickly calculate numbers.

Spreadsheets can also be used for advanced data analysis like sorting, filtering and calculating data fast and easy, and it helps manipulate numerical data with built-in formulas and functions. It also helps to create a variety of different graphs and tables that can be used in presentation.

Also an Area Manager have to prepare and present sales results to senior managers during review meetings, or train new members of the sales team, experience with a presentation tool like MS PowerPoint is a must.

PowerPoint helps you to create slides to form a professional and eye-appealing presentation. You can incorporate content, graphics, sound and video clips on each slide, and transition from one to the next with ease during your presentation.

11.   ALWAYS BE A TEAM PLAYER.

Each one of us has got our own identity, but we can’t live in isolation to enjoy life. We should keep in mind that employer don’t like, employees are focused upon “I” rather than “WE”.

In any organization everybody is part of chain, one should always remember that success of any team depends upon success of each member.

Your endeavor should be to contribute to your Area Team, in term to Regional Team, to Divisional Team and finally Company as a whole.

Never take the pride on individual success rather volunteers his or her efforts before even being asked.

You should share your experience of being successful to other team members during cycle meeting, webinar etc.

This type of employee simply goes above beyond and will be the first thought when promotion are being decided.

12.   DIGITAL MR.

During the pandemic situation a Medical Representative / Future Area Manager should have good knowledge of internet/web applications as this being the current digital tool of contacting and engaging there customer like doctor /team members in effective way.

13.   LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Leadership is the ability of individual to influence and guide followers. An effective leader possesses the following characteristics like-

·         Self confidence

·         Strong communication

·         Managing skills

·         Creative thinking

·         Willingness to take risk

·         Reactive in times of crises

Aspiring Area Managers once you are ready, serious and committed to get your goal follow above mentioned tips and keep learning by developing and improving your skills by making little change in your day to work.

For all this you can read goods books on Leadership Skills, Communication Skills, Man management, Marketing etc. Attend some Webinar at your own cost and go through audio/video on YouTube on these skills.

 

I am sure you will get your desired goal.