What are the top sales skills for medical representatives in 2022?

In recent times, the landscape of the medical sales industry has changed dramatically requiring pharmaceutical companies to adapt, or in some cases, completely transform to help them to thrive.

Redefined workplace environments; the shift in healthcare sales delivery; and innovative data advances are a few examples that are contributing to unprecedented change.

However, amongst all of the changes, successful medical sales reps are still responsible for providing the critical link between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals. The past few years have presented a host of challenges and medical reps have had to remodel their methods to flourish.

Here, we've listed the top sales skills needed to have a successful medical sales representative career in 2021.

Building rapport in virtual meetings

The emergence of Covid-19 at the tail-end of 2019 hurtled the pharma sales industry into a digital communications era. The pandemic has forced medical reps to navigate a new virtual world as clients dramatically reduced or abandoned traditional face-to-face meetings. Medical sales reps have traditionally built rapport with clients through in-person meetings, so an element of adaptation is required to keep up.

Many reps have disclosed that building rapport over a phone or video call is significantly more difficult than via face-to-face meetings. So much of communication is experienced through non-verbal cues and it’s much easier to establish a positive relationship with someone when we’re close to and facing that person.

That said, if you can master transferring your in-person skills into the virtual world, then you can take a leap ahead of the competition and accelerate your career in pharmaceutical sales.

Showing strong product and industry expertise

Rapid technological advances are the hallmark of the medical sales industry. As we advance digitally, organisations will need to keep pace with technological and industry change and as a sales rep, it is imperative that you stay on top of the trends. As a healthcare company releases new products, it’s essential that the rep knows each and every aspect of the technology. Potential customers will have questions about the product and it is the sales team’s job to be able to provide in-depth answers and display their industry expertise.

Showing a detailed knowledge of the product you are selling enhances your reputation and relationship with the client which can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful sale. Keeping up with medical trends is a must and can propel a medical career to new heights.

Setting yourself up for success using data and AI

The exponential growth of data coupled with increasingly accurate analytics is transforming life sciences in significant ways.

Although AI has been around for a few years now, we’re still unlocking its full potential and it will continue to transform healthcare throughout 2021 and in the years to come.

AI is changing the way medical sales representatives are engaging with healthcare clients, enabling them to taper interactions based on more detailed and targeted customer data. Sales reps are also using AI to taper the content that they share with clients and to identify what the next actionable steps are based on previous calls.

By taking advantage of the systems and data that is available, medical sales reps can adapt their approach in line with customers’ evolving needs and provide the best possible experiences. Ultimately, the use of data helps reps increase the strength of their client relationships and enhances the chance of a successful sales relationship.

Start a medical sales representative career with IQVIA

At IQVIA, we want to improve the healthcare environment by finding the best candidates for medical sales jobs. By working with IQVIA, you will have access to an enriching career and have an important role in helping our clients find and implement new innovations for the healthcare industry. We endeavour to find the best candidates for a range of pharmaceutical sales jobs.

Browse our latest medical representative jobs and join us on our mission to change healthcare for the better.