How Do I Become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative?

Medical representatives are the people responsible for the promotion of related drugs. Some are responsible for hospitals, customers are doctors, some are pharmacies, and customers are distributors. Strong communication and coordination skills are required. At present, there are more than 2 million medical representatives nationwide. The role of pharmaceutical representatives was first introduced by joint venture pharmaceutical companies. In 1988, a southern joint venture pharmaceutical company was the first to "train" a group of medical representatives for the society. Other pharmaceutical companies are following suit, and pharmaceutical representatives have sprung up.

Chinese name: Medical representative
Category: position

Introduction time: 1988
Introducing unit: Joint venture pharmaceutical companies

Medical Representative Type

Drugs are special products, and they are instructional products. Drug salesmen should be familiar with the drug, and be able to research the drug's research and development sources, historical background, market development, pharmacological effects, clinical effects, similar comparisons, and related policies, regulations, and guidelines , Management, and so on, have their own unique insights, can talk in the lobby lectures, and can talk about the origin of face to face with people, have the theory and knowledge, is simply a sound pharmaceutical commodity expert. Can you do this? If you do this, you can enter the world's famous pharmaceutical companies (such as Astellas Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi Sankyo Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, etc.) to be a so-called pharmaceutical representative.

Simplified and complicated, it illustrates the particularity of the so-called medical representative ^[1] , and it is not easy to be a medical representative.

The main working methods and social recognition of Chinese medical representatives can be divided into two basic types, namely "product-independent type" and "product-related type".

"Product-independent type": Very few representatives have almost no exciting work content except simple "work". Such a representative we call: ATM machine. Their "regular" work is often outside the product. Customers cannot see and feel any product image from them, and become "shadows outside the product". Customers' understanding of the product often goes through "drug practice" and "Self-learning" process.

After gaining certain experience and lessons, some of the medical representatives gradually matured and gradually formed the following style: we call it "types related to the company's products."

The first category is social activists: about 40%. They are like the outer packaging of products. With their dazzling colors and perspectives, they constantly attract the attention of customers. After customers open the packaging because of curiosity, their work is over. Customers need to carefully review and judge themselves. Packaging is often Disposal is useless. It's easy for these sales rep to get a short sales peak, and it is near to the bottom. The main way these medical representatives work is almost purely social. Every day, they go in and out of various hospitals to find their target customers. In addition to briefly introducing the products they sell in the self-introduction when they first meet, their main job in the future is to establish cooperative relationships with doctors through various social activities to satisfy as much as possible. A doctor's spare time is needed in exchange for a doctor's prescription for his product. What customers get from them is more about the satisfaction of their personal interests, regardless of who really provides services to them. Frequent complaints from customers are difficult to cope with, and it is often the specific portrayals of these sales representatives that often suffer the brutal blow from competing products.

Essential Professional Qualities for Medical Representatives The second category, drug commentators: about 50%. Like catalysts for sales, they often directly lead to doctors' interest in products, but it is difficult to intervene in the process of generating prescription habits. Such representatives often have a good professional background in medicine and medicine, and have received a lot of product knowledge induction training, and with the development of the pharmaceutical market, more and more companies recognize the importance of professional publicity products, and gradually After setting up the marketing department with reference to the experience of foreign companies, the companies require that medical representatives must receive specialized product knowledge training before taking up their posts, and explaining their products to doctors is their basic responsibility. Such medical representatives often lack professional sales skills and experience in interpersonal communication. What they can do more time is to tell the doctor as truthfully as possible about the product knowledge they have learned. Such medical representatives are called in the European and American markets. Of: MESSENGER.

The third category is drug sales experts: about 8%. They are like additives to a product. Customers have learned about the vivid image and advantages of the product, and then have a prescription motivation. After the hard work of these medical representatives, it becomes possible for customers to form prescription habits, and the company's product sales will become increasingly stable. The shock will be quite expensive in front of them. The transformation of product knowledge into sales requires professional sales skills as a carrier, and customers also look forward to receiving the product in all directions after tasting the professional experience. After recognizing this principle of successful sales, many companies began to attach importance to training the sales skills of medical representatives. In fact, most of the companies with outstanding sales performance are such representatives who have received professional sales skills training. Through their explanation, the advantages and characteristics of the product effectively meet the needs of doctors and patients. Began to like certain branded products. At the same time, enterprises have gradually established their professional image in the market. This type of sales representative has an orderly and complementary life and work. While continuously obtaining sales performance, the sales profits obtained by the company are constantly rising, and they have become the backbone of the company's survival and development.

The fourth category, specialized medical representatives: about 2%. They represent the value of the product. Comprehensive guidance and information on the product are available through their doctor. Through the screening of this type of medical representatives, product information has been effectively classified and translated into a "drug dictionary" that doctors have called for, providing doctors with fast and accurate information services in the process of using the product. Called "professional helpers" by many medical experts, they are specialized medical representatives.

Medical Representative Post Duties

1. Promote and sell company products and complete sales tasks in hospitals within its jurisdiction;

2. Visit medical staff as needed to promote products to customers and continuously increase product market share;

3. Open up potential hospital channel customers and maintain existing customers;

4. Fully understand the market status, timely report the situation of competitors and market dynamics to supervisors in time, and make reasonable suggestions;

5. Develop and implement a marketing plan for hospitals in the area and organize various promotional activities in the hospital;

6. Establish a good image of the company and keep the company's business secrets confidential. ^[2]

Medical Representative Certification System

The professional competence and ethics of the "medical representative" are very important. In many countries, the pharmaceutical industry has developed a relatively complete "medical representative qualification certification" system to ensure the qualifications of this profession, and has adopted a "drug promotion code of conduct" to regulate and restrict the behavior of "medical representatives". The guidelines for most countries are based on the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) Code of Conduct for Drug Promotion. In China, RDPAC took the lead in promoting the "Code of Conduct for Drug Promotion" among its member companies in 1999 to regulate the behavior of drug promotion. Two revisions and updates have been made.

The "medical representative qualification certification" system has long existed in many countries and regions. Britain, France, Italy, the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Taiwan and Hong Kong in China. Although the English names are not exactly the same, they have established similar systems to "medical representative qualification certification", and some have a long history. The certification system is also relatively complete.

In 2003, RDPAC learned about the "Medicine Representative Certification" system in some countries and regions, especially the related certification projects in the United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong. The preliminary framework for the "Medical Representative Professional Training" (MRC, named "Training") project in RDPAC was established; in 2005, basic preparations were made Later, a small-scale pilot was conducted in five member companies. In July 2006, RDPAC officially implemented the MRC project in member companies, and accumulated valuable experience in all aspects of writing textbooks, conducting training, setting up question banks, organizing examinations, issuing certificates, and continuing education.

Medical Representative Frequently Asked Questions

Can't convince the doctor

When the doctor has a misunderstanding of the product, the representative cannot handle the misunderstanding or cannot correctly introduce the product. For example, the doctor said that desmopressin is not a pure hemostatic drug. I believe he said this for his reasons: first, there are multiple indications for desalination; effect. So how should we deal with this misunderstanding and introduce this product correctly? Start with two aspects: the hemostatic mechanism of deammonia and evidence-based medical support. I believe that when the representative has eliminated the misunderstanding and introduced the product correctly, the doctor will no longer misunderstand.

Do meaningless thinking

Some representatives like to use their brains, but often think about something meaningless and go deep. Why does the product have such side effects? This question doesn't make any sense to the product itself. Even if you know the reason, can you change the product? No, because the chemical structure of a drug is unlikely to change after it is marketed. Can you avoid using it with certain people? No, because not only will you lose a lot of sales, it is unnecessary.

When it is impossible to know which characteristics of the population will have side effects, what we have to do is: how to avoid these side effects? What to do if side reactions occur? Avoiding side effects is not to prevent certain people from using it, but to standardize medication; dealing with side effects is to find the cause of side effects.

Some representatives asked: Why should we use the dosage according to the instructions. Although you think this question is stupid, you still have to answer it carefully: because the usage and dosage in the instructions are from the results of evidence-based medicine research. Clinical evidence shows that this dose, while ensuring maximum efficacy, also guarantees maximum safety.

Blindly follow the competition

What about competing products, so should we. Many representatives have this kind of thinking. I have come into contact with such representatives. Competitive products can do that. Why can't we? I think this issue should be considered from two perspectives. If competing products are positive, then we should learn and surpass them. If competing products are adopting negative or immoral practices, then we do not need to follow. Competitive products and their own products have different degrees of difference in different aspects. It is this difference that makes us think, why do we follow? Why don't we follow? We encourage following and surpassing the positive promotion strategies of competing products, but we reject unfounded promotion of competing products.

A representative asked me: A product can sell 3,000 in a month in Gastroenterology. Why can't we? I asked him: How is A product marketed to doctors? The result representative told me: The marketing word of product A is similar to what we said. Then A sells well, we don't sell well, the reason has nothing to do with the product itself, because the product is the same, the reason to convince the doctor is the same, if he has other reasons, it must be blindly compiled. So what's the problem? The problem lies in representing itself.

A representative told me: other hemostatic drugs can be used for 7 days in the Department of Gastroenterology, why can we only use it for 2 to 3 days? I told him: the instructions stated that the course of treatment was 2 to 3 days. This is actually the case: patients with gastrointestinal bleeding can use ammonia for 2 to 3 days after the bleeding stops. In this way, the medication time is not only 2 to 3 days, but it can be longer. In addition, the usage, dosage, and course of treatment come from the mechanism of action and evidence-based medicine, not the way you want to use it, nor the way I say it can be used. We must come up with a basis for usage. Why is there a manual? The instructions tell us at least one dosage. According to this usage, it is to standardize the use of medicines; not to standardize the use of medicines, although for the purpose of volume reduction, it is us that ultimately suffer.

Medical Representative Function

Medical representative Liu Bin said, "The medical representative should be a medical professional who has specialized education in medicine or pharmacology, has certain clinical theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and is trained in marketing knowledge and promotion skills to engage in drug promotion and publicity. In other words, the role of a medical representative is to recommend medicines to clinicians, while also observing the efficacy of medicines and tracking adverse reactions to medicines, rather than selling medicines directly.

In foreign countries, medical representatives are served by professionals with medical knowledge background. The work of medical representatives is like a bond that connects doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical factories. They bring the latest developments in the pharmaceutical factory to the hospital, and then reflect the clinical status of doctors' medications to the drug delivery company, such as information on adverse reactions and changes in the scope of treatment. In the United States, 73% of clinicians' new drug knowledge comes from pharmaceutical manufacturers and from explanations from medical representatives. Medical representatives are not only salespeople, but also information carriers and product experts.

Why are drug prices so high? A few days ago, a medical representative revealed that the chain of interests with falsely high drug prices is a part of the audience, the benefits are all attached, the hairs are plucked, and the layers are overweight. Doctor ate. In some large hospitals, a little-known surgeon may achieve 30,000 to 40,000 yuan in monthly achievements.

1300%, 2000%, 6500%, 9100%, which are the high profit margins of some drugs disclosed by CCTV. However, in the industry's opinion, these drugs are all low-cost drugs, the ex-factory price and retail price are not high, and all the links earned are still "little money."

Some medical representatives disclosed that the more expensive the drugs, the more money they make. High-priced medicines that are not basic medicines. When drugs reach patients, they are generally about 10 times the ex-factory price, and at least five or six times.

Experts point out that under national policy, the profit margin of antibiotics is already very low, and every time the country lowers prices, there must be antibiotics. With the implementation of the new bidding policy, the winning prices of basic medicines and non-essential medicines have reached the limit, and it has become more difficult to enter the hospital, and the situation has begun to be controlled.

However, there are also grassroots medical staff who believe that there are many reasons for the high drug prices and the problems are very complicated. From the day when the medical and health institutions were brought to the market in 1993, the hospital switched from public welfare to profit-seeking, and it became more and more intensive. When the hospital began to pursue the maximization of benefits, doctors also changed from "angels" to "devils".

Some experts said that if the drug can reach zero price difference, the technical service price of medical staff must rise to a reasonable level, so that the operation of the hospital will be more healthy. ^[3]

Medical Representative Evaluation

In China, the emergence of medical representatives is good. Pharmaceutical manufacturers hope that medical professionals can explain the performance of new drugs to doctors, tell them about the contraindications of drugs, etc., so as to guide doctors in the correct use of drugs, and also improve the quality of drugs Sales volume. To this end, some multinational companies have conducted rigorous vocational skills training when recruiting pharmaceutical representatives, helping them understand the correct concept of drug sales, and representing pharmaceutical companies to convey drug information to customers scientifically and in a responsible manner, thus receiving a lot of medical workers. Welcome and recognition.

Medical Representative Issues

In China, because of poor state control, too many pharmaceutical companies, excessive competition in the pharmaceutical market, irregular markets, and poor circulation, etc., it has prompted the "medical representative" to change its taste and become synonymous with unscrupulous selling of medicines. They buy doctors for a variety of benefits, let doctors prescribe medicines, prescribe more medicines, and push up the price of medicines to make huge profits, and consumers become the ultimate victims. Professional forums for medical representatives have also appeared on some networks. From "how to develop a hospital" to "how to maintain a relationship" and other links, it has provided a variety of public relations methods and has become a compulsory course for many newcomers to the industry. Medical representatives have also become a popular group.

Notes for medical representatives

1. Professional knowledge Professional knowledge is one of the important conditions for becoming an outstanding medical representative. Compared with sales in other industries, the professional knowledge of pharmaceutical marketing is higher. The marketers of prescription drugs must have a class background, otherwise they will not be qualified. The marketing of over-the-counter medicine is quicker, but it is best to also have medical knowledge, otherwise you will not be able to deal with hospitals and doctors. Therefore, almost every formal pharmaceutical company requires a medical-related background when recruiting pharmaceutical marketers.

2. The communicative medical representatives and the R & D workers in the pharmaceutical industry pay different attention to technical activities. The medical representatives pay attention to brainpower, physical strength, communication skills, and three strengths in one. Brainpower is responsible for recording professional information such as the composition, efficacy, and side effects of medicines; physical power is responsible for allowing medical representatives to run between the hospitals under the sun and rain; communication skills allow medical representatives to display their company's products in the hospital's best appearance. . At the same time, in addition to completing the sales of medicines, the medical representative must also be responsible for the management of customers in the target area and maintain customer relationships. Therefore, the medical representative needs to have good communication skills and be good at handling interpersonal relationships. Expand the awareness of new connections.

3. Professional ethics Medical representatives are a more sensitive profession. Many companies have taken good professional ethics as one of the indispensable criteria when recruiting medical representatives. Therefore, the medical representative consciously cultivates a good standard of professional ethics, has a correct value, and expresses it in your daily code of conduct. I believe that it will help you to leave a reliable good in the hearts of customers, hospitals and company supervisors. impression. ^[4]

Medical representative cancels pricing

With effect from June 1, 2015, government pricing for most drugs in China has been cancelled. Among them, government pricing for other drugs has been cancelled except for the management of the highest ex-factory price and the highest retail price for anesthesia and first-class psychotropic drugs.

According to the cancellation of the drug pricing plan, the government pricing of most drugs will be cancelled. After the maximum retail price limit management is no longer implemented, prices will be formed by the market in different ways in accordance with the principle of classified management.

Among them, for medicines paid by more than 2,000 medical insurance funds, they will be managed through the establishment of medical insurance payment standards; for more than 200 patented drugs and exclusive production drugs, an open, transparent and multi-party negotiation mechanism will be established to set prices; for blood products outside the medical insurance catalog 5. The nation's unified procurement of anti-immune drugs, the country's free AIDS anti-viral treatment drugs and contraceptives, and the price will be established through bidding or negotiation. ^[5]

Medical Representative Policy

Recently, the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Review and Approval System and Encouraging the Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices" issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council pointed out that it is forbidden for medical representatives to undertake drug sales tasks and to provide personal medical prescriptions to medical representatives or related enterprise personnel Of prescriptions for medicines.

The opinion is clear that the holder of a drug marketing authorization must record the list of medical representatives on the website designated by the food and drug regulatory department and make it public. Medical representatives are responsible for the academic promotion of medicines, introducing medical knowledge to medical staff, and listening to suggestions for clinical use. The academic promotion activities of medical representatives shall be conducted in public and filed in the designated department of the medical institution.

Opinions point out that if a medical representative misleads a doctor to use a drug or conceal an adverse reaction to a drug, he or she should be investigated and dealt with severely; if a drug representative engages in drug business activities, he or she should be investigated and punished as an illegal drug.

Wu Zheng, deputy director of the State Food and Drug Administration, said that the opinions issued this time are an important programmatic document aimed at the current outstanding problems of drug and medical device innovation and focusing on long-term system construction. ^[6]