The differences between medical device and pharmaceutical sales

There are a number of fundamental differences to the role of the medical device (healthcare) sales representative, and a pharmaceutical sales representative.

• A healthcare representative sells a physically tangible product whereas a pharmaceutical representative is selling the concept of what their drug can do if prescribed.
• A healthcare representative closes for an order, i.e. he/she will get a signature on a deal.  This means that it is much clearer when a sale has been achieved.  Naturally if a deal is not forged, then the representative will be able to ask the customer what is preventing him/her from buying, and will have the chance to overcome the objection or to formulate a plan where that objection may be overcome in the future.
• Medical device companies, in comparison to many pharmaceutical companies, are not so concerned about a representative's call rate levels.  The amount of cash sales a representative is achieving is the most important factor, and how the representative is performing against a territory cash revenue target.  Naturally enough, if targets are consistently missed, then the manager may ask the representative whether enough of the right sort of potential customer is being seen, but this is as far as call rates go within medical product sales.
• The healthcare representative has complete possession of his/her territory.  There are not a number of representatives covering the same geographical area selling the same products to the same customers.  When things are going well, there is only one person who will get the credit and the bonus, but of course if things do not go so well, there is only one person who will be held responsible!
• Generally speaking, the geographical area that a healthcare representative will be expected to cover will be larger than that of a GP or a GP/Hospital representative.  Territories in medical product sales are comparable to those of Hospital Specialists.  There are exceptions to this general rule, for example if selling a medical disposable product (see below) into the community, the territory may be more compact than if selling a large and valuable piece of capital equipment exclusively into hospitals.
• Remuneration package. The basic salary of a medical device representative is likely to be a little lower than a pharmaceutical sales representative with the equivalent level of experience.  However, the realistic bonus earning potential is much greater in healthcare sales.  The reason for this is that device companies want to incentivise their sales force with good income levels in return for hard work and successful sales.  Additionally, there is no equivalent body to the ABPI wishing to restrict bonus potential.