Examples of Sales Jobs in Life Sciences

examples of sales jobs in life sciences

The Australian Pharmaceutical industry is forecast to be worth over $25.2 billion in 2020 from its current value of $22.8 billion according to Globaldata. Interestingly, these staggering figures are aligned with what employers in the medical sector are seeking, among hopes that they too can enjoy a bite of that fiscal pie. Increasingly, we are seeing employers who are now looking for sales experience when hiring for critical business roles such as those in marketing or positions that require a wider business oversight. Sales is such a crucial and pivotal part of a business posing unique and often difficult challenges.

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In a saturated market of prescription medicines, having less than 10 minutes to sell your product to time-poor GPs isn’t easy! If you garner the gems of knowledge necessary to flourish as a Sales Rep and understand what life is like ‘pounding the pavement’, you stand a far greater chance of securing a marketing role. In fact, having sales know-how is seen as being necessary for many jobs where you’re having input into sales strategy or marketing collateral, or even in a more all-encompassing Product Manager role.

Career Planning

If you’re at the start of your career journey and you’re wanting to formulate the perfect blueprint to a marketing career, then sales should definitely be a consideration. Whether it’s the endgame or a step on the ladder, it will cultivate the skills and insight needed in so many other pharmaceutical positions. We have seen many attributes that candidates can develop with a background in sales and looked upon favourably by employers. Notice how these skills are key if you’re in marketing or brand management?

  • Strong relationship-building and interpersonal communication skills. As a sales professional, not only do you have to establish rapport with the decision-maker, but often the whole surgery, clinic, pharmacist, or hospital division. That’s an eclectic mix of personalities and motivations to navigate!
  • Persuasion and negotiation ability. It all starts with one patient or one device. But how are you going to convince your client to trial your product? What marketing collateral will aid your negotiation? The art of persuasion is integral to sales and underpins its success.
  • Sales can inspire marketing: Sales can identify what works out in the field and what doesn’t. They have a greater handle of what their customers want, what their patients’ outcomes are, and how their businesses work. Learning what marketing content is driving sales can aid the marketing team in making adjustments for better outcomes.
  • Competition, competition, competition: Being at the grassroots of the industry, those in sales can contribute to marketing strategies with information about their competitors. Sales Reps are always collating competitor marketing material from surgeries or gaining information directly from their clients.
  • Business acumen: It is often said that 80% of your business stems from 20% of your customers, but how do you find the top 20%? Sales Reps can identify this important information so that the business knows how best to focus on high-value territories.

We have placed many candidates in marketing positions who have had exposure to sales. Some of the feedback has been that they are perceived as being more credible than colleagues who lack it. It has made their job easier and more cohesive with the sales team. It takes away the opportunity for someone to say, “Why should I listen to this person when they never did the role themselves?”

Marketing roles are coveted and competition for these roles is tough. With a background in sales, you will be in good stead to come out on top, and you will stand out over someone who doesn’t have that experience.

If You’re Beyond Making This Change

If you’re at the point in your career where you are in a senior non-marketing role and you have superseded a move into sales, then is sales still important in your journey? Absolutely. Even at this point, there are other ways to gain insight into this area of the business. It is crucial to becoming cognisant of the role sales teams play, how they contribute to the organisation and how you can help them perform better. It is not uncommon for those in marketing to regularly spend a day in the field with Sales Reps to gain a greater understanding of their day-to-day ‘carrying the bag’. Not only will this offer a chance to see what collateral is effective (and what isn’t), but this will foster a greater bond between marketing and sales teams.

They are the benefactors of the ‘bottom line’ and their accomplishments have far-reaching effects. Some ways to support sales may encompass:

  • Address the needs of the business: How does the salesforce add value without compromising any regulatory or compliance risk? How can you promote a harmonious relationship between sales and marketing so that business goals are met? Perhaps you need to craft tools, processes, or programs that embrace the needs of sales teams and pique the interests of stakeholders and upper management.
  • Nurture and train: Meeting the needs of a broad customer base of doctors, specialists, super clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and more, can seem like a herculean task. However, by incorporating expert training, seamless communication with marketing teams, rethinking traditional sales strategies, and evolving with technology, you can enable sales teams to thrive.
  • Channel information: There is no better arsenal in sales success than current and relevant information. Whether it is about competitor products, customers, territory data, or marketing intelligence, just to name a few, a steady flow of information between teams can only be beneficial.

Final Thoughts

Candidates often underrate the value of sales as a critical proponent of a marketing career in the medical sector. The Australian pharmaceutical job market is competitive, yet flourishing and an increasing number of employers are often asking for people with exposure to sales. 

Whether it is for a marketing role, sales knowledge will increase your chance of getting there. After all, Sales Reps are seen as being the epicentre of a business, with their success influencing the success of the business. You can improve the way you market a product when you see how well the collateral is being received by your customers in person. There are so many ways to glean the sales knowledge you need to fortify your marketing career and it’s never too late to start.

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