
What is a Virtual Sales Representative and how can you become one?
Virtual Sales has a growing presence in the healthcare and medical solutions industry, especially since the pandemic. Virtual Sales is set to be the new normal, even as we’ve emerged on the other side of COVID.
According to the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, there has been a 163% increase in the number of sellers operating virtually from pre-pandemic to today, showing how opportunities in these roles are only growing.
At IQVIA, our Virtual Sales Representatives are self-motivated, results-driven professionals, but what does a virtual Sales Rep do daily and how do you get into these kinds of roles?
What is a Virtual Sales Representative?
The primary objective of a Virtual Sales Representative is to meet established sales goals by delivering real value to customers through differentiated products and services.
Virtual Sales Reps target and manage their territory strategically while operating within an assigned budget, they’re fantastic team players with high degrees of customer focus.
When it comes to medical sales and solutions, Virtual Sales Reps engage with healthcare professionals to promote and sell medical devices or pharmaceuticals, they build relationships, provide product education, address customer inquiries, and close sales.
Below, we’ll expand further on their daily tasks.
Day-to-day tasks
No two days are the same when you’re a Virtual Sales Representative, we’ve broken down just a few things you can expect when you start down this career path with IQVIA:
- Conduct all sales activities in line with guidelines and policies while generating sales in line with your assigned Territory quota.
- Provide timely updates to the Project Manager on any ongoing business activities, competitive conditions, and industry trends that you’re aware of.
- Classify customer clinical needs, goals, and constraints related to patient care.
- Determine where therapies can assist in providing a comprehensive healthcare solution.
- Identify key referral networks.
- Conduct outbound calls while identifying, contacting, and introducing virtual sales presentations to customer target audiences.
Virtual Sales Rep skills
As a Virtual Sales Representative, you’ll need a diverse set of skills so that you can engage effectively with clients and drive sales in a remote environment.
Here are a few that will set you up for success in this role:
- Good organisational and planning skills.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
- Strong communication skills including verbal, written, interpersonal, and active listening
- Persuasion, influence, and decision-making skills.
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Customer-focused selling skills.
- Demonstrated computer skills.
How do you become an online sales representative?
If you’re interested in this career path, you could begin by obtaining a relevant degree in the sector you wish to enter, in the US, we require a 4 year degree which can be in any subject matter. For IQVIA sales jobs, some degree examples include but are not limited to, healthcare, biological/biomedical sciences, business, or marketing.
The next step from there would be to gain some firsthand sales experience, ideally within healthcare, medical sales, or medical devices, and then you can really focus on developing the skills we mentioned above.
Make sure to familiarise yourself with medical products and technology during this career route, this will definitely help you as you look to specialise later on.
After you feel confident you’ve developed your skills and knowledge, apply for positions in virtual sales so you can demonstrate to your employer that you’re suited to work in a remote setting.
Continuous learning and networking across the industry will also help to enhance your opportunities.
Take your career in Virtual Sales to new heights with IQVIA
Now you know what it takes to become a Virtual Sales Representative, you can join us in driving healthcare forward.
We’re always pushing the boundaries of human and data science at IQVIA so we can make the biggest impact possible.
Working with us is an opportunity to help our clients find expert solutions for patients through medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
Browse our available positions today or look into our blog for more career advice. And, if you’re planning on working remotely full-time, make sure to read our tips on how to keep your work and home life separate.
Find out more about life at IQVIA
Did you know IQVIA has
Countless development opportunities
for personal and professional growth
Did you know IQVIA has
86,000+ employees
from clinicians to data scientists each transforming healthcare in 100+ countries
Did you know IQVIA has
Excellent work-life balance
and is committed to this kind of culture
Did you know IQVIA cares about
Health and Wellbeing
for all its employees
Did you know IQVIA has
56+ petabytes of unique data
including 1.2B+ non-identified patient records
Did you know IQVIA has
4,600 data scientists
including statisticians and analytics developers
Did you know IQVIA has
1,900+ epidemiologists
and real world insight experts
Did you know IQVIA has
4,600 data scientists
including statisticians and analytics developers
Did you know IQVIA has
Excellent work-life balance
and is committed to this kind of culture
Did you know IQVIA has
1,900+ epidemiologists
and real world insight experts
Did you know IQVIA cares about
Health and Wellbeing
for all its employees
Did you know IQVIA has
Countless development opportunities
for personal and professional growth
Did you know IQVIA has
86,000+ employees
from clinicians to data scientists each transforming healthcare in 100+ countries
Did you know IQVIA has
56+ petabytes of unique data
including 1.2B+ non-identified patient records
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Since joining IQVIA I have had unrivalled support and development from my manager to enable me to aspire to move into secondary care. I feel like my career is strongly supported by my manager in order to maximise my potential.
Just following on from the amazing news I got yesterday I wanted to say a really special thank you for all the help and support you have provided throughout the entire recruitment process.
Once again I cannot thank you enough for not only approaching me with this opportunity but also for all the support you’ve given me along the way!
A quick note to say thank you for your time this morning discussing my future career options. As you know I was feeling very conflicted about the right decision. Discussing the role with you gave me chance to clarify what is important to me.
IQVIA has been behind my development to become a MSL. The contracts that I have worked on have allowed me to push clinical projects with a recent opportunity to manage a pilot scheme integrating e-detailing into an established field based team. The result was an increase in sales.
Since joining IQVIA I have had unrivalled support and development from my manager to enable me to aspire to move into secondary care. I feel like my career is strongly supported by my manager in order to maximise my potential.
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