A day in the life of a medical sales rep by Jason Amada

It is 5 in the morning when my alarm goes off…Ugh…I hate this sound the most! I look for my
slippers while groggily rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. A voice from my inner self tells me,
“Jason get up, a long long day is waiting for you.” Standing in the shower, the hot water wakes
me up…and boom my body and my mind are at a race! My hands are doing the usual morning
chores and my mind thinks about the day ahead.

Being a medical sales representative, one can never think of an easy, smooth day. We have a lot
of things that need to be accomplished in one single business day. Otherwise, nothing in this
world can make up for our quota by the end of the month.

I dress up and quickly check my mailbox to make sure the world hasn't changed in the middle of
the night! Now comes my favorite part…Breakfast! Jason's mom is the best! She prepares a
quick breakfast and makes the best coffee in the world. Every sip of her coffee energizes me to a
point where I feel like I can conquer the planet!

And now an official day in the life of a medical rep starts! The first and foremost thing is the
to-do-list! No day is complete without setting goals and deciding what is to be done. My mind
races at an accelerated speed to quickly think of the everyday tasks. Reaching out to healthcare
experts, hospitals, administrators, and maintaining customer relationships is not less than a battle.
Thus, strategic planning is a must! Plus, when you think of too many things collectively, it is
very daunting. However, listing and planning them makes it a little easier. My usual to-do-list is
like;

1. Reaching the CP (contact point) in time

2. Reporting the immediate boss
3. Getting the products in stock
4. Enlisting the doctors and pharmacists to meet
5. Meeting the customers and briefing them with the details
6. Answering their relevant queries

It is around 8:30am when I have to reach the CP. I make sure that I’m well prepared with plenty
of stock models and brochures. I brief my plan before my manager and leave for the first
meeting. Usually, it is around 10:00am that I reach a hospital or a clinic. This is the ideal time
because doctors and the healthcare staff are usually setting themselves up and preparing for the
day ahead. No official procedures are started and we can easily see them and schedule meetings,
etc. Around 11:30am surgical procedures or operations start. During the procedure, I
communicate with the doctors about the correct usage of the products and their benefits, etc.
Around 1:00-3:00pm, procedures mostly end and I get a chance to sit down with the hospital
staff and obtain feedback. This is the appropriate to overcome objections and discuss the follow
up meetings, stock sizes, etc. After this I spend an hour walking around the ward to keep a check
on how our products are being used or if any follow up orders are made. Around 5pm, I am
usually back; I summarize the daily visit to my manager and place any awaiting order.

I work to sell or promote pharmaceutical products like drugs and medical equipment and sales
and promotion isn’t an easy task! Every day is long and challenging. I ought to be resilient and
persistent because reaching out to a customer is never easy. People are busy, especially the
surgeons, doctors, etc and they don't normally sit for meetings. However, once you've got the
chance to meet them, the game is almost yours!

I often prefer little homework before reaching out to my customers. I believe that we should
know the person we’re meeting and their expertise. This helps to relate products with them. Also,
we need to make our customer believe that our products and their expertise, together, can change
the world. So, my off duty time usually goes with answering any customer query, planning future
meetings, making strategies for completing the monthly sales asap and all this continues until my
sweet sleep brings me to bed!

Jason Amada