Archive for October, 2007

Fall is Good Time of Year to be a Drug Rep

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Since we are now into the fall season, I recall that this is always a nice time of year to work as a drug rep, at least in the northern US and Canada. The sweaty hot summer is over and the cold snowy winter is not yet here. This means that traveling around to different doctors offices and hospitals is much more pleasant and comfortable from a weather point of view.

Most of the doctors are also back from summer holidays so organizing CME or continuing medical education events will be back in full swing. Then there’s the eager effort of the sales force to make the final sales push to secure their numbers for the rest of the year. An exciting time.

Since the pharmaceutical sales industry is back into high gear during the fall, this would also be a great to network with drug reps and others in the field for those of you who are looking to enter pharma sales. Get out there and learn as much as you can about how drug reps work.

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Will Teachers Make Good Medical Sales Representatives?

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

I was asked yesterday whether teachers would make good medical sales representatives or not. Well, the answer is that it just depends because I don’t think that we can generalize whether teachers would be a good fit for medical sales. We would have to look at the individual.

We can assume that most teachers will have decent communications skills which helps. However, in addition to communications skills, one must have the aptitude for a sales job and not all people with good communications skills, teachers included, can sell.

I will probably write a new article on this topic in the near future. Meanwhile, more information is available for aspiring medical sales representatives.

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Planning CD Version of Pharmaceutical Sales Audio Book

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Because of demand, we are currently looking into making CD versions of the audio program book “How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales – Direct Inside Advice and Guidance from a Sales Manager” available. We realize that individuals located in areas without access to high speed internet would not be able to download the large MP3 files of the audio book. So we are just working out the logistics and details.

Since shipping would be involved, we would have to determine the costs. The CD version of our pharmaceutical sales program will have a slightly higher price than the electronic digital version but probably not much more. We will release full details when we have them all worked out.

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Another Term For Drug Representative

Monday, October 15th, 2007

Another term that has been used by medical staff that refers to drug representatives is ‘detail men’ or ‘detail person’. When I was out in the field as a drug representative , I heard this term used occassionally but not very often. I would sometimes get asked by a physician’s secretary if I was a ‘detail man’ or sometimes the doctor would say to his staff, “you could bring in the detail person now.”

The origin of this term probably came from the sales activity that drug representatives do when we ‘detail’ our customers everything about our products.

For more information on how to get a lucrative career as a ‘detail person’, see drug representative page.

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Veterinary Animal Health Pharmaceutical Sales

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Another option in pharmaceutical sales is veterinary animal health. Some pharmaceutical companies have divisions that deal only with the animal health market. In fact, I was coaching somebody the other day for a telephone interview. He is currently seeking a position as a pharmaceutical sales representative but only in the veterinary market since he happens to be a former license vet.

I know another person who is also a former vet who is already working as a rep for Pfizer in its animal health division. In this case, she does similar activities to what drug representatives for the human medical markets will be doing. Just the customers and patients are different.

So my book “How To Get A Pharmaceutical Sales Job – Direct Inside Advice and Guidance from a Sales Manager” will also be applicable for those who want to become pharmaceutical representatives in the veterinary animal health market as well.

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Free Communications Skills Workshop In Toronto Mississauga

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

The free public speaking seminar I alerted everyone about in the post earlier this week can actually be viewed as a communications skills workshop. Some people assume that public speaking is only for those who want to get in front of large audiences. This is not so.

Most public speaking training involves relatively small groups and therefore participants benefit from learning communications skills in front of any size audience. This is why such training would be beneficial for anyone thinking about going into pharmaceutical sales.

So the event for October 27 which is a free session, is a communications skills workshop that anyone can attend if in the Toronto Mississauga area. See the last post for exact details.

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Free Mississauga Toronto Public Speaking Seminar

Monday, October 8th, 2007

For those who live in the Mississauga and Toronto areas, here’s something that will be of interest if you are hoping to be in a career such as pharmaceutical sales or any other field that requires good communications skills. Actually, if you want to get ahead in ANY field, improving your communications skills would be vital these days.

There is a FREE one hour seminar on public speaking skills on Saturday, October 27, 2007 from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. It’s being held at the Mississauga Central Library at 301 Burnhamthorpe West, second floor meeting room CL2.

During this workshop, you will learn;

- how to effectively formulate and express your ideas clearly and persuasively
- how to inspire, motivate or educate with words
- how to become a confident, charismatic communicator
- how to overcome your fear of public speaking

Although it is a free event, I would suggest pre-registering since the meeting room is not that large. For more information or pre-registration, contact Susan Lamb-Robinson at 416-677-3554 or e-mail susanlamb12@rogers.com

This event is sponsored by Toastmasters, a non-profit organization in developing communications and leadership skills.

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More Testimonials For Pharmaceutical Sales Book

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

I’ve been receiving some more testimonials for my pharmaceutical sales book. Here’s the webpage where I’ve compiled some of them – see pharmaceutical sales testimonials.

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A Long Testimonial About Pharmaceutical Sales Medical Drug Rep Careers Book

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

Here’s the longest testimonial I have ever received about my pharmaceutical sales medical drug rep careers program. It does describe how one customer benefited from the book.

William Olah of Indiana says,

“About to receive my B.S. in biology and wanting a career in pharmaceutical sales, I really had no idea where to start. Even though I live and attended school in Indiana (home of Eli Lilly and dozens of smaller pharma and biological companies) with a Pfizer plant in my hometown, college career counselors only gave me the age-old advice on resume prep and letter writing. No results came from my registering at companies’ careers websites or attending collage job fairs.”

“While surfing, I came upon Clint Cora’s website, and his approach was so different from anything I had been told that I decided to order ‘How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales.’ Its style and structure permitted me to read it in one day, and I immediately put into motion the strategies it recommends.”

“Clint’s advice on analyzing one’s past employment experiences (to find parallels to what selling pharmaceuticals is really all about) led me to realize that one of the responsibilities of my current part-time job is to influence others to recommend my employer’s services to their clients. Those ‘others’ in my current setting are the physicians with whom I would be interacting as a pharma rep. This realization allowed me to revamp my resume so as to make very relevant what I previously considered nothing more than a part-time college job.”

“The chapter on cover letters provides meaningful examples which can be tailored to anyone’s personal situation. Finally, I found the book’s specific advice on networking and how to uncover existing job openings before they are published to be squarely on the money. Within 3 days of asking a pharma rep I knew and my own physician for contact information on pharma reps whom they thought performed their jobs well, I had a list of 6 contacts. All 6 agreed to meet with me, and all 6 have provided both solid advice on how to proceed and leads within their respective companies. I feel I am on my way, and I owe it all to Clint’s ‘How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales’.”

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Pharmaceutical Sales Resume Custom Evaluation

Monday, October 1st, 2007

As some of you already know, one of the great bonuses that I offer for customers who have purchased either the ebook or audio versions of “How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales – Direct Inside Advice and Guidance from a Sales Manager” is a free custom evaluation of their resumes.

This is an opportunity to have a pharmaceutical sales resume looked at by a former sales manager who use to hire, train and manage successful drug representatives.

Here’s what Miranda Merten of Mableton, Georgia had to say after receiving her custom evaluation;

“Thank you so much for taking the time to review my resume. It really let me see from a manager’s point of view exactly what they will be looking for and what I need to include. I appreciate your time and input, and your eBooks are fabulous.”

For more information on how you could access this service, see pharmaceutical sales resume.

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