Medical sales jobs and focusing on your own strategy

Most of the time, when somebody new in medical sales rolls off the training course and out into the field, there confidence and motivation is on a high. In turn, this usually means activity is on a high and eventually results are also, consequentially high too. Gradually, a over a period of time, a number of distractions can creep in with very negative effects. You begin to notice bumping into medical reps selling your direct competitor, in some cases noticing how well they came across. You start to notice a few customers who favour your competition and not you. You start to feel like you've made some good gains through a few customers but are now running out of good prospects. I've seen it so many times, it's like a familiar negative cloud that descends on many medical sales staff somewhere between 6 and 18 months.

If this is you, just take a couple of steps back for a minute, my challenge to you is that really, externally, not much has changed. The competitors you have bumped into were always there, you just hadn't met or noticed them. Unless you have 100% market share (which of course no-one does) you will, of course, find GPs using and favouring your competitors (it's why you have a job!). And in reality, those few GPs you have seen so far who have given business will have plenty of room to give you much more. Without wanting to appear patronising, much of these negative feelings are being created in your own head, rather than a true response to external circumstances.

Like many market places, medical sales is a tough places to be and battle for a greater market share for your product. If you place too much of your focus on reasons why things 'might not be going well' it's easy to let this distract you from doing what you have been doing to do well!

In summary, in my experience in medical sales, medical representatives do suffer from fluctuations in confidence, motivation and as a result, their results do suffer. However, much this is caused by internal doubts resulting from an over emphasis on external factors, which have always been there, and always will. Refocus your attention on your own internal strategy, what you were taught on your training course, and what has brought in your good results to date. Don't let others and the environment distract you.

Good luck