Archive for the ‘General’ Category
My first question is: Why would you want to? The industry’s going downhill fast for pharmaceutical sales reps. With many block-buster products losing patent privileges, weak future product pipelines, slow market growth, tremendous litigation issues, an ever-increasing regulatory environment, and continued formulary tightening by insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies are being battered and forced into mergers, buyouts, and massive layoffs in order to stay afloat. Other areas of medical sales (laboratory sales, clinical diagnostics sales, medical device sales, biotech sales, imaging sales, pathology sales–just about any other area of healthcare sales) are more stable, less tied to the economy, more respected, and more appealing if you really like the sales process. But, if you’re set on taking your chances in pharmaceutical sales, here’s what to do to have a successful pharmaceutical sales job interview:
1. Research the company. There is no substitute for doing your homework. Know what the company does, what its current issues are, and what the future plans include, especially in this unstable time for the pharmaceutical industry. Your job is to find out what you can do for them. Your research gives you material to talk about during the interview and a way to custom-fit your answers to their specific questions.
2. Build a brag book. Basically it’s a collection of awards, sales rankings, successful projects, letters from happy customers or managers, and so on, organized and put together in a binder so that it’s easily accessed. When you present it during the interview, it showcases your presentation skills as well as your accomplishments.
3. Create a 30/60/90-day plan. This kind of plan is a written demonstration of what you will do for the company in your first 3 months on the job–how you will get your training, how you will transition into being a contributing member of the sales team, and so on. This kind of plan will definitely get the attention of the hiring manager, and set you apart from the fierce competition in pharmaceutical sales.
4. Research interviewing tips and typical interview questions. Dress appropriately and watch your language. Remember that it’s a conversation, and have questions of your own to ask. Know how to close the interview and ask for the job. Think of your interview as a sales call, and act accordingly.
5. Consider custom coaching from the Medical Sales Recruiter. Most people need no more than an hour. Ask the questions you need in a private, one-on-one conversation to improve your personal situation. I’ve been a medical sales recruiter for over 10 years now, and I was in the medical sales area before that as a sales rep, regional manager, and national accounts manager. I can go over your resume with you, critique your answers to interview questions and prepare you for the interview, give you insider tips on the industry, help you get into medical sales if you’re new to it, teach you how to negotiate and recognize a fair offer, build your personal brand, or even decide between job offers. Career coaching works.
Peggy McKee is the owner and chief recruiter for PHC Consulting, a recruiting firm providing top sales talent, sales management, marketing and service / support personnel to some of the most prominent high growth companies in the medical and laboratory products industry for over 10 years!
Our client companies provide capital equipment and reagents for the clinical laboratories or research laboratories, equipment and consumables that aid the physician/clinician in diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic information, software that provides the workflow improvements that have unending positive impact on the patient, physician and the laboratory professional and a number of service offerings in the medical arena (for example: laboratory service, imaging etc).
Our expertise is in providing: Sales, Sales Management, Marketing, Technical Service, and Support Professionals.
We provide top talent (usually the top 10% of sales force rankings) and reduce turnover (through exceptional client knowledge and candidate screening) this in combination with our reputation for smoothly facilitating the hiring process makes us the search firm of choice in this arena.
For more information, see our website at http://www.phcconsulting.com/
Find information on career coaching at http://www.phcconsulting.com/customized-consulting-services.htm
When I review resumes for sales people I am often dumbstruck at the number of fairly basic errors that I see with their sales resume. These errors can reflect poorly on the sales candidate.
These mistakes vary from silly things like spelling mistakes (which in the age of word spell checks should never ever happen!) to more serious problems like poor targeting – that is to say they have submitted a generic sales resume and not a bespoke (for the vacancy) sales resume. But what I want to focus on here is when resumes for sales people have been prepared which do not sell the sales candidate.
If You Are in Sales – Sell Yourself
This statement actually applies to resumes for all disciplines, but is ‘especially important’ for resumes for sales people.
Ask yourself, would (or should) a potential employer take the risk of employing or even take the time of interviewing a sales candidate for a sales job if the candidate has not taken the time or effort to properly promote them self (i.e. to ‘sell’ them self) with their sales resume?
You see a sales person’s most important product is himself / herself as the case may be. So, it stands to reason that being in sales, sales people spend time and effort selling themselves – especially when applying for jobs. Of course, this sales pitch must embrace dress, speech, attitude, behavior and manner plus a whole lot more besides. But when it comes to applying for jobs – through the job application and resume path – then the first point of contact with the recruiters or hiring manager, is not you but your sales resume!
You may be a brilliant sales executive and just perfect for the job, but if your resume does not get noticed and does not convey the appropriate qualities, then you are going to get passed over. And since most sales people don’t do it – a well-crafted sales resume really puts you head and shoulders above the rest.
As a sales professional you must capture your skills, accomplishments, experience, and education in a targeted, eye-catching, and exciting manner that truly addresses the sales vacancy, then you will be noticed and more importantly – then you will be granted those important sales interviews!
Chris Beaumont is resume writing coach with a background in sales and client management with leading blue chip companies. He now specializes helping sales & marketing professionals from various industries write expert resumes capable of securing interviews.
Chris Works with his professional clients in person, through email and via his book How to Write a Killer Sales Resume.
You may read more sales resume articles, tips, newsletters and find in-depth sales resume information by visiting http://www.WriteASalesResume.com – where you can pick up a free copy of his ’5donts’ report which explains the big 5 mistakes that most sales resumes make.
Dos
Do Close Every Sale
You launch a sales career when you apply for a sales position. Right at the inception, you need to “close the sale” when you send in your resume by asking to be interviewed in your cover letter, and telling the recruiter that you will call to make an appointment.
Be sure to make the call!
When you go for your interview, wait until the very end to ask for the job. You are selling yourself. Employers looking to fill sales positions are impressed with candidates who know how to close a sale.
Do Seek Companies That Have an Employee-Training Program
Try to seek out employers who offer a solid training program that is structured to support professional growth of their employees.
Do Be Persistent
If you don’t have a lot of experience in sales, you can make up for it by being persistent in the course of your work.
Being persistent is an inherent quality of a successful salesperson.
Do Sell Products You Are Passionate About
You are more likely to notch consistently impressive sales figures if you sell products and services you are passionate about.
During your interview, impress your prospective employer with your enthusiasm for the line of products that are offered by the company.
Do Intense Preparatory Homework
Establish your targets and focus on laying the foundations for a job in a company by working toward it while you are still in college. You can do this by focusing all your individual class projects on that company.
During your interview, you can rattle off details of strengths or weaknesses of the company supported by cogent information you have gathered during your research for your class projects and create a good impression on your interviewer to land the job.
Don’ts
Don’t Let Inexperience Dampen Your Enthusiasm
If you don’t possess direct-marketing experience, don’t let it interfere with your enthusiasm for the job. Make a list of all sales-related activities you have already done that you can describe as transferable to your new sales career.
The list can be quite interesting, and will include giving presentations, soliciting local businesses for participation in events, demonstrations of proven strength in people skills, raising funds and convincing others to get things done as you want them done.
These are just some sales-related skills and traits you can list to shore up your appropriateness for this sales job.
In the opinion of sales experts, teaching, playing on a sports team, and participating in government student programs all require skills that are transferable to a career in sales.
Don’t Take Rejection Personally
Do not take rejection personally if you wish to be successful in a sales career. While preparing for your interviews, polish up your knowledge and skills for explaining how to deal with customer objections to prevent rejection.
Don’t Be Negative
A negative attitude in sales is taboo. Your attitude should reflect confidence and energy at all times.
Even when you are striving to meet objectives, keeping your chin up will convey to your employers that you are an energetic person with confidence and drive.
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online (http://www.sixsigmaonline.org) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for six sigma professionals including, lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
As the economy trends downward we are seeing multiple companies shrink their sales force and cut the fat in order to save costs. Most companies right now are looking to eliminate their lowest performing sales representatives and even their sales managers to ensure a higher return on investment on their sales team. This scenario leads to hundreds of thousands of sales representatives and other sales professionals hitting the bricks for one of the biggest sales of their life; their employment. So with all the salespeople in the job market today you would think that this makes it easier to recruit top level, high performing sales talent, right? Believe it or not, it actually makes it harder and more time consuming. Not only do you have way more applicants than you would usually have, you have a much higher percentage of underperformers. It takes longer and requires more attention to see past the smoke screen put off by your applicants. Keep in mind that you are interviewing professional, job hungry sales people, even bad ones know what you want to hear.
So what sales tips can I share with you to help ensure that you aren’t hiring sales representatives that have been cut due to their performance? First, you’ll need to look at past sales history. Did this individual obtain their monthly quotas, are there any awards or spiffs that have been given to the individual. Do they have anything to back up their claim that they were a top performer at their last place of employment? Believe it or not, I once ask this question to a sales representative who was interviewing for an online advertising sales job that very question. He opened his wallet and took out a paystub for a $10,000 bi-weekly commission check. This check was 8-10 times what a usual representative would make at the candidates previous employer. Another thing you can do is role play with the sales representative to get an idea of their sales process or sales techniques. I’ve asked sales people to try and sell me the pen that was in their hand. I would off objection after objection and listen to their rebuttals. It also let me know if they were taking the interview seriously, if they wanted to job and how they acted under pressure. As silly as it sounds this was often one of my favorite interview tools for sales people.
Even with the most elaborate sales testing or career testing it is absolutely impossible to predict how a sales representative or sales manager will perform in your company. These interviewing techniques for sales representatives only help so much. In the end it will come down to the sales representative’s personal drive, ambition and talent, among other things. On the other hand these tests will help you discover the sales representatives with “red flags” or obvious warning signs.
Oliver Feakins is a sales and marketing oriented entrepreneur from Lancaster County, PA. Oliver also maintains a sales blog called Quick Sales Tips (http://www.quicksalestips.com) which offers selling help to the sales community. Oliver also consults for area businesses on internet marketing and lead generation both on and offline. His past include executive level positions in the healthcare and internet marketing industries. Oliver can be reached via email at: oliverfeakins@hotmail.com
Finding a suitable role in the sales job market can be a challenging task for most graduates. The main reason for this is because employers prefer to hire seasoned sales professionals who have years of sales training and experience under their belt. Moreover, there are very few sales recruitment consultancies and commercial establishments who are prepared to invest the required time and money into training graduates and graduate calibre people. Over the last decade, sales recruitment firms and agencies have been providing an invaluable service to their graduate recruits and corporate clients. These companies believe that with the right attitude for sales, there is nothing that cannot be achieved. So far as their graduate trainees have the right attitude, leading recruiting agencies can shape them in to high-yielding sales professionals within a short space of time. Prospective sales candidates will find that the best training programs are some of the most respected in the sales recruitment industry. This is why a number of other sales consultancies around the world have been emulating their techniques and concepts over the years.
Top notch recruiters, trainers, and analysts believe that sales professionals need to be kept constantly motivated if they are to produce their best performance. These companies have worked with a wide range of both medium sized and large companies. Some of their clients include some very high profile multinational companies. Most recruiting firms also coach established sales teams in order to boost their overall sales performance. With the help of a top flight recruiting staff, graduates have an increased chance of securing their desired sales roles. This is because their extensive clientele base also means that their trainees are guaranteed a suitable job placement after a they have successfully completed sales training programs. At this junction, it should be mentioned that there are few companies which continue to provide support and guidance to their candidates even after a suitable placement has been secured, though it is becoming an increasing trend in the recruitment industry.
This post-recruitment service ensures that sales candidates go on to have successful and fulfilling careers in sales. There is no doubt that the services which recruiting agencies provide to their corporate and candidate clients are invaluable, especially in today’s volatile economic climate. With all this in mind, it is little wonder that an increasing number of graduates are looking to get enrolled in agency training programs. Sales graduates all over the UK are flocking to top notch agencies to help them maximize their potential.
Scott Deane is the Marketing Manager of meta-morphose international, a specialist sales recruitment agency with a focus on graduate sales jobs. The company have graduate jobs in the UK and Internationally.
A productive sales team is always an asset to any company regardless of the type of goods or services they provide. This is primarily because a high yielding sales team can significantly raise a company’s overall market share and profitability. Where there is little motivation and other incentives, the performance of even the most seasoned of sales professionals will tend to suffer. This will of course inevitably lead to a fall in the profitability of the company which employs them. For this reason, constant sales training/coaching is required even after a sales professionals have secured a suitable job placement. New entrants into the sales job market also require effective sales training. The training they receive should be tailored to meet both their needs and those of client companies. All initial sales training should be built on a framework on the right sales attitude. This is because the right attitude is the key ingredient for success in the sales industry. Without this, no amount of sales training will be sufficient to produce the desired sales performance.
When it comes to sales training, a business sales simulation training program is imperative. This is because such training helps to keep sales professionals constantly motivated. At this junction, it should be mentioned that all effective business sales simulation programs would pay sufficient attention to detail, objectivity and realism. All aspects of the sales process should be covered, including lead generation and the closing of a sale. The unfortunate thing is that very few companies and recruitment firms offer candidates this type of comprehensive training. This means that it is always like a breath of fresh air when candidate or corporate client finds a company which does offer these type of training services. There are plenty of good examples of sales recruiting and training companies in the UK which offer training for sales excellence. Over the years, these companies have built an impressive reputation and track record within the sales training and recruitment industry.
These agencies and firms have provided high quality training and recruitment solutions to a countless number of graduates and substantial number of both medium sized and large firms. These companies also show a genuine interest in ensuring that all their trainees go on to have successful sales careers in the long term. This point is further buttressed by the fact that these agencies continue to provide career support and guidance to candidates even after a job placement has been secured.
Scott Deane is the Marketing Manager of meta-morphose international, a specialist sales recruitment agency with a focus on graduate sales jobs. The company have graduate jobs in the UK and Internationally.