How to achieve your goals and targets as a Medical Sales Rep

Knowing that your job has a positive impact on patient experiences is an incredibly rewarding feeling. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons that we motivate ourselves to achieve higher goals and smash our targets at IQVIA. In such a diverse industry like healthcare, goal-setting helps identify a clearer direction as to how we can actualise our work potential. 

Read on as we explore some goal-setting strategies that can help you advance your career in medical sales. 

Why is it important to set the right goals? 

Ask yourself, can I achieve this goal in the time I’ve allocated? If the answer is no, then the goal can easily be moved into your long-term goal list (to be discussed later on).

When setting the right type of goals, it’s important to remember that progress takes time, and then actually give yourself that time.  

Let’s say you want to increase your medical sales performance by 10-15%. Ideally, this should be a goal that you look to achieve over a three to six-month period, rather than only giving yourself one month to achieve it. This is because you need time to focus on how you are working towards the goal. For example, you might find that ‘x’ works better than ‘y’ or that ‘z’ doesn’t really work at all. Therefore, giving yourself enough time to achieve your goals offers you the chance to put into practice the strategies you have discovered to be most effective. 

Short-term vs long-term goals

Sticking to the example goal above; increasing sales performance by 10-15% is our long-term goal. The short-term goal would be the targets we set along the way in order to reach our long-term goal. For instance, setting a short-term goal may be to gain more client insight to increase sales performance in the long run. This may include: 

• Spending an extra 30 minutes studying the client in further detail 

• Anticipating possible client objections to your sales pitch and how you will respond 

• Identifying your client’s pain points and proposing other pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices that may relieve them - in turn expanding your business with them.

How to stay motivated when measuring your goals

We’ve all experienced the frustration of not seeing the results of our hard work. Research shows that there is a direct correlation between optimism and goal attainment, so if you find yourself going off track, try not to get discouraged and remind yourself that adversity fuels growth. 

Try measuring and visually recording the progress you make towards your goals. That way you’ll be able to see the areas that have improved. Even if they are gradual improvements, having them visually laid out in front of you will make you feel like they are still worth celebrating. This could be anything from clients returning contracts faster than you anticipated or clients being convinced enough to ask for the contract before you actively offer it.

You might not have picked up on these things if you hadn’t recorded them. Never underestimate the power of writing down your goals and your progress - it is key to staying motivated. 

Achieve your goals with IQVIA 

At IQVIA, we want to help you actualise your potential in the workplace. We recognise that achieving goals is at the heart of professional development. With a steadfast dedication to patients, safety and ethics, our 61,000 colleagues across 100 countries are ready to make the healthcare sector thrive. Why not be a part of the team and apply for a medical sales rep job today? Or sign up for job alerts to guarantee that you never pass up on your perfect opportunity.