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The making of successful salesmenWednesday, October 17, 2007 08:00 IST The job of a medical representative is an interesting one. They are out in the field (not confined to a small cubicle in a small office), interacting with highly qualified customers. They are the breadwinners - earning members - for the organization. Collectively, if they all do well, they can take the organization to great heights! They should therefore be passionate, and proud of their job. They are away from the head office, and their immediate supervisors, for most of the time. Their immediate supervisors may visit them once a while. Rest of the time, they are on their own. Therefore, they have to be very responsible, and self-controlled in their job. Their customers are highly qualified people. Therefore, they have to be thorough in their detailing, sampling, other promotional inputs, etc. exactly as given by marketing department for each and every product. Their customers list must be up-to-date. It should be exactly as per marketing strategy, because many of them may be just following the same old customers list, left by the previous employee to previous employee, etc. If they are not sure, they must take the help and guidance of their superiors, but they must ensure that their customers list is up-to-date at all times. This will ensure that all their efforts and promotion of products reach the right customers, which will help them to get the desired results. They should develop the habit of submitting all their reports on time to all concerned. This will enable their superiors to scan through the reports, and come back to them with suggestions, if any required, for improvement, on time. If they send their reports very late, by the time they get the feedback from superiors, it may be too late, and of little use. They should learn to respect their job. Don't take anything lightly, like wearing the neck tie, wearing of formal dress while on duty, meeting the norms for calls, attending every call at the appointed time and place. They should learn to locate and troubleshoot problems in sales, before it is too late and irreversible. For example, if the sales for product A is 30% of target, try to locate from which retailers it is not moving, and who are all the target doctors in those areas who promote the brand, and try to concentrate on those doctors to make sure this product improves in its sales performance greatly. They should not be happy with their salary. They must aim for earning incentives, by overshooting their targets/budgets month after month. A sales man who is meticulous and well planned in his working, some of which have been explained to above, will have more chances to be a successful sales man. A successful sales man will earn a lot of respect from his peer group, society, organizations, and will also grow in his career. I know many people, who have started their career as medical representatives, are now presidents and vice-presidents in good companies. Follow ethics Don't beg for orders from stockists. If the sales are good, the stockists earn big margins because of the good sales, and he will give the medical representatives (MRs) the respect they deserve. If the MRs have created enough demand (secondary sales), they can request for orders with conviction. MRs should learn to respect their targets/budgets. If they work in a well-planned and organized manner, they are bound to overshoot the targets. This should give them a feeling of 'achievers' and will boost their morale to a great extent. They should have in their fingertips, the important data like primary, secondary sales product wise, and the stock holding level of products at each one of their stockists. This will help them to plan their sales more accurately. They should try to be better at man management relationship. This will help them to get the co-operation that they may require from their customers, stockists, retailers, colleagues, etc. They should also learn to leave aside the habit of arguing or quarreling, if any, in them. In the case of international marketing, the general tendency is to take the route of getting into less regulated new markets, and also registering of new products in existing countries, to improve volumes. In addition to this, if they concentrate on improving the sales of already registered products, for example, ensuring the right customers list for each and every product for every medical representative, right number of customer and trade calls are made every working day, providing the right and required promotional inputs/supports for the products, monitoring the secondary sales and closing stock position of products, etc. may help the organizations to improve the sales performance of already registered products also in existing countries. Successful salesmen are not born, they are made. Therefore, it is possible for anyone to be a successful sales man, provided he/she is well planned, disciplined, orderly, organized, and meticulous in field working. I am sure, if the salesmen follow these, in addition to whatever their superiors might suggest, they will find themselves as transformed salesmen for better. (The author is with Orchids Pharmaceuticals, Chennai.)
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