The Benefits of Being a Pharmaceutical
Sales Representative

 

The Financial Rewards Including a Company Car

Pharmaceutical sales representative get some of the best benefits and perks anyone can ask for in a job. Typical starting salaries are in the low $30,000s and established reps can have base salaries in the $90,000s. Bonuses on top of that for high sales performers can easily push incomes into the six figure range.

But in addition to the money, there are many other attractive perks in pharmaceutical sales. One of the nicest perks that pharmaceutical sales representatives enjoy is the use of recent model company cars. These are usually midsize sedans that are leased under a company fleet program.

Company car leases are usually short term with durations of a few years only so the sales representatives end up driving relatively new vehicles all the time. Once a company car’s lease expires, the rep gets a new vehicle! All the maintenance costs such as tune ups, oil changes, gas and insurance are paid for by the company so basically the sales reps get to drive their cars for free.

In addition to a company car, a pharmaceutical sales representative also has access to an expense account which enables him or her to entertain customers such as physicians on a business level whether it is for meals at nice restaurants or other for business social activities such as golf outings or attending sporting events.

The Freedom and Independence

For those individuals who do not like the idea being stuck inside with an office job, a pharmaceutical sales position offers the opportunity to spend most working hours out in the field visiting customers like physicians, nurses and pharmacists. Pharmaceutical reps have the freedom to set and organize their own working schedules. No single day is identical as different customers at different locations are visited each working day. Pharmaceutical sales involve a lot of independence, as the pharmaceutical reps’ bosses or district sales managers are usually not around 95% of the time. Therefore, there is nobody to constantly look over your shoulder most of the time for this line of work.

The Travel Opportunities

Pharmaceutical companies usually conduct sales meetings for their sales forces at nice locations, sometimes even at exotic foreign spots which give representatives opportunities to travel at the companies’ expense. Accommodations, meals and entertainment during these meetings are usually top notch.

There are also opportunities for pharmaceutical sales representatives to attend large medical conferences which are often held at nice locations as well. Some representatives have been able to bring along spouses, partners and relatives to combine business trips with personal vacations. Again, all or a large part of the travel costs were already paid for by the company.

The Satisfaction of an Important Role in Health Care

Of course along with these perks, there are other factors involved in pharmaceutical sales which can be very satisfying. Pharmaceutical sales reps are in a position to help educate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical students about their drug products along with the associated medical conditions they treat. There is some great satisfaction when a medical professional tells you that your product has made a positive difference in a patient’s health, especially when the professional never used your product before your introduction of it to him or her.

It would have been your selling efforts that caused the doctor to change prescribing habits which ultimately helped treat the patients better. This makes a pharmaceutical sales representative feel like an important part of the overall medical health care team. It’s a good feeling indeed when one knows that he or she is part of a company responsible for bringing a much needed medical product to society.

If these benefits and perks sound good to you, click on the link below to find out how you too can get a rewarding career as a pharmaceutical sales representative.

To main page on how to get pharmaceutical
sales representative jobs

 

Video on Pharmaceutical Sales
Representatives