Medical supply and pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom have been expanding their corporate structures to meet the diverse needs of their clients. Part of this expansion has been increased investment in research programmes meant to ensure the best possible products for consumers. Another part of this expansion has been the widening and deepening of the corporate employment structure in order to facilitate new needs. Sales, accounting, human resources, and supply chain departments, among others, have been expanded to meet the needs of a globalised clientele. While this means a stronger corporate structure for UK companies, it means more jobs available to medical sales professionals.
Young professionals often enter medical sales because they believe in the products they are selling. Perhaps they have been influenced by a loved one who has struggled with an illness or studied medicine at the university level and wants to help people get the supplies they need. No matter the motivation, medical sales professionals are in an important position. However, medical sales people also want to make a living and advance within their field. The expansion of medical supply companies has meant more advancement to management positions for exceptional candidates.
However, there are some impediments to upper mobility for even the most talented UK sales people. International workers and new graduates from UK universities are combining to flood hiring managers with hundreds and thousands of applications for medical sales jobs. Companies are also putting up road blocks to advancement, usually by putting high standards and requirements for these positions. After all, medical supply companies are running a business and management professionals are a higher investment level than entry level workers. The question, then, is how a talented medical sales professional can rise through the ranks to their dream job.
One way in which these sales professionals can achieve their dream job is to pursue every professional development opportunity. Courses and seminars can help a sales person increase their profile among managers and help them build knowledge of the medical sales field. As well, medical sales professionals should work hard to constantly increase their sales on a quarterly basis. While this is easy enough to say, medical sales people can keep customers coming back for more by empathising with their situation and helping them find the best products for their needs. In the end, medical sales people need to prove that they are committed and successful in their jobs in order to advance to management positions.
Mark Doherty is a Director of Alexander Chapel Associates. A specialist sales recruitment company with a focus in IT sales jobs, logistics jobs and supply chain recruitment.