Story of a Pharma Salesperson III – Blog Post #415 by Asrar Qureshi & Javed Akhtar

Story of a Pharma Salesperson III – Blog Post #415 by Asrar Qureshi & Javed Akhtar

Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #415. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.

Continued from Previous……

CHAPTER 3 - SEEKING INFORMATION

Jamil and Anwar met over the weekend. Jamil told him about what he had been thinking since they met last. He said he wanted some more information to understand better.

“Ask as much as you want. I think I can answer your questions”. Anwar encouraged him.

“What is the work of medical rep? What do they do? More detail about work please”, Jamil pleaded.

“Ok. Let me try. The job of medical rep is to build and increase the business of company. I give you my example so that you can know better. I have seven products in my group. I promote all products and I have target to achieve for all products. I have target for every product in number; for example, my target for the product ‘Axomycin’ is 300 packs for one month. Similarly, I have target for each product in number. I also have value target. My target for this month is 180,000 rupees. If the achievement of one product is less, I must try to sell some other product more to complete the value of 180,000”.

“It looks tough Anwar”, Jamil apprehended.

“Yes and No”, said Anwar and then continued to explain. “When I joined, I was given a short training about products, and their use in diseases and patients. I was assigned a territory for working. I was given a list of doctors which was prepared by the medical rep who worked in this territory before. I was asked to update the list if I found more doctors or new doctors in the area. I should have 100 doctors on my calling list. But it could be between 90 to 110”.

“Why this number? it a very high number”. asked Jamil.

“The actual number of doctors in my territory is more than this. But I cannot meet all of them in one month. This number is what I can manage to visit in one month. I should choose those doctors who are related to my products and who are more important for my business. My work cycle is one month. I should complete my visit cycle in the month. I visit every doctor at least two times in a month. There are many companies, many products and many medical reps. There is competition. If I don’t visit for long time, some other medical rep will get business”. Anwar replied.

“You make me worried”. Jamil felt concerned.

Anwar did not attend to Jamil’s concern and continued. “I make daily, weekly and monthly work plan and give to my Field Manager. He reviews it and makes some change what he thinks is necessary. I follow my work plan. I make a ‘Daily Visit Report’ and give to my FM when I meet him. Remember, I told you two times a week? The DVR is a summary of what I did on that day”.

“How do you make business?” Jamil was curious.

“I visit pharmacies to see how my products are moving. I also book orders if needed. Mostly, the order booking is done by the distributor’s team. All supplies are done by distributor anyway. I go to distributor on every Monday and Thursday. I note down sales of my territory. If it is in line with my target, I keep working the same way. If it is more, I want to know what happened. Of course, I am happy. If it is lower, then I follow my customers more and try to generate more business. So, I work, I check, and I adjust my activities. That is why, I am able to achieve 80% and more target every month”.

“Are you very successful in your job?” Jamil asked a rather direct question.

“I am successful as I keep achieving target; but not always 100% and not yet more than 100%. I want to become very successful though” Anwar replied matter-of-factly. “I have one colleague, Sajjad. He is a star. I want to be like him” Anwar continued.

“Really? What makes him a star?” Jamil asked eagerly. 

“Many things” Anwar said. “He speaks very well. He always wears clean clothes. It is easy to listen to him and understand what he is saying. He knows more about products. He has been able to build good relations with doctors in his territory because doctors like him. I am sure that because of these reasons, he achieves his targets, many times more than 100%. He earns more incentive money than any other team member.”

“Why don’t you become like him? Is it very difficult?” Jamil asked.

“I am trying. It is not impossible, but it needs some hard effort. I am trying” Anwar replied.

“Look! Do you want to become a medical rep?” Anwar asked directly.

“From what you tell me; and you have told me many things, I feel excited and I want to apply. I am somewhat scared whether I shall be selected or not” Jamil was truthful.

“Do try. I shall look around and tell you where the vacancy is. You should apply. We’ll pray about your success”.

“Thank you, Anwar. You are a great help. I shall wait to hear from you” Jamil hugged him and went home.

Key Learnings

 1. The job of Medical Representative is to develop and maintain business in the assigned territory.

2. Medical Rep visits doctors and pharmacies, and promotes products to get business

3. Medical Rep job is better paying than most office jobs for the young graduates. They can earn even            more by achieving more than the target.

4. Basic requirements to become medical rep are; 

a. Presentable – clean and decent look

b. Ability to speak clearly

c. Good social manners

d. Mindset to work hard, take challenge and achieve

5. Product knowledge, Territory knowledge, selling skills are learnt over time with the help of seniors            and other company resources.

6. Medical Representative work is Challenging; but Exciting and Rewarding.

To be Concluded......