Six ways to keep on top of medical sales trends in 2021

The world of medical sales is challenging, rewarding and often fast-paced. Trends are evolving at a rate of knots, and now more than ever, it’s important to keep on top of them.

Product technology, consumer knowledge and consumer needs are changing quickly and it is revolutionising the way that medical sales reps are formulating their sales strategies.

Knowing how to stay on top of a plethora of industry developments can be overwhelming, however, it is a vital part of being a successful medical sales rep. Adapting your medical sales strategy to meet contemporary trends is critical and we’ve given you some pointers on how to do it effectively.

Use SEO

If people are searching for certain terms in Google at a high volume, then it’s very likely that it’s a popular trend. This is where SEO comes into your sales strategy. Try using an SEO tool to search for keywords in your industry and identify any emerging patterns in search behaviour.

Some topics may not have a large search volume, but if they’re steadily rising, it’s likely they will soon become popular. Identifying these hidden gems is a great way to find opportunities for your company to take advantage of a gap in the market.

Subscribe to medical journals and magazines

Medical journals may sound outdated or old-fashioned, but they are still one of the best ways to keep up with the latest developments in the medical industry. It’s always beneficial to research the most popular medical journals and subscribe to them. Make some time in your schedule to sit down and read through the journals to see if you can pick out any emerging trends.

The same applies to medical or science-based magazines; whether you’re reading them for pleasure or business, it helps to make a note of any of the latest developments mentioned in them.

Utilise social media

Social media has been a crucial aspect of sales strategies for years now and shows no signs of slowing down. Make sure you follow all the best medical news profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more so that you can get relevant and trending topics whenever, wherever.

Social media is also a great way to look through the comments and see how potential customers are interacting with posts about new trends. If the feedback is overwhelmingly positive, then it may be beneficial to set some time aside to research that development.

Listen to podcasts

If you regularly listen to medical or science podcasts, you’ll have a deeper understanding of everything that is going on within the industry. Interviews with industry leaders can be particularly interesting, as they will often give us insight into what the future holds for the industry.

Remember to network

One effective way of obtaining the latest information is to find and maintain contacts in your industry and keep in touch with them. Whether you stay in contact via email, social media messages, or (our favourite) by meeting in person; you can build strong relationships and gain valuable insight into what is happening in your industry from networking on a personal level. Conferences, networking events and even social media groups are a great way to meet new medical professionals and to start building a healthy network.

Engage with your customers

Gathering feedback from your customers is a fantastic way to see your industry from your audience’s point of view. While certain decisions you make may benefit your company from a business perspective, it’s also important to consider how it affects the customer. By collecting feedback from your consumers, you can determine whether the trend is working for you and if there is anything else that they would prefer to see.

Take the next step in your medical sales rep career with IQVIA

Here at IQVIA, we are focused on improving the healthcare industry. Our medical sales reps work alongside our clients to ensure that the patients have access to the best products and services. The work that you do can make a real change in a patient’s life, so browse our medical sales representative jobs and join us in moving healthcare forward.