Medical Sales Interview questions- With Simple Answers

Overview: Medical Sales Representatives

The medical field, like any other industry, has its flow of products that are offered to its consumers. Just like how it sounds, medical sales introduce medical products such as drugs, medical kits, and medical supplies (surgical, diagnostic, electronic, storage, transport, etc.). Of course, knowing this, there’s always a need for promoting these stocks. That’s where a medical sales representative comes into use.  A medical sales representative is responsible for promoting medical products to its target audience. Products may vary depending on the demand of consumers, but the highlight of the job is to advertise. The consumers or target audiences of the stocks range from physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and surgeons. In this article, let’s know some Medical Sales Interview questions.

Responsibilities of a Medical Sales Representative

Listed below are the key responsibilities you should be made aware of before being appointed on the job. Further elaboration on the sphere of your responsibilities will then be accentuated upon for clarifications. As a medical sales representative, it is within your grasp to do the following:

1. Organizing appointments between healthcare providers/staff. Being a medical rep requires upholding a compatible connection between your company and your clients; hence, your job. It is important that you also acknowledge your client’s time schedule and act in accordance to them—creating a much breathable roster for both parties.

2. Negotiating contracts, agreements, etc. Business and trade always comes with contracts, agreements, terms and conditions, you know the drill. Effective networking constitutes a bond between you and your patrons; furthermore, great communication ensures secure enterprise together with a robust foundation of trust.

3. Writing reports and keeping detailed records of contacts. Being on the field involves a far-reaching web of acquaintances, connections, patrons, etc. Keeping them on track mitigates an overwhelming clump of information; for instance, imagine trying to find which client you’re supposed to go to next, which product you were to present them with, all that tedious stuff. To this extent, recognize the significance of keeping everything on track.

4. Attending and hosting conferences, trade exhibitions, etc. As an advocate of your firm, you are obligated to present yourself—to come forward to and or to demonstrate offers—as your organization’s foremost member. Conferences are held in furtherance to a variety of firms’ bond with others, augmentation of the product’s reputation among patrons, enlargement of audience, and more. Representatives are required to socialize and be present on recent updates on the market, formulating effective strategies in accordance to said market status, so on and so forth.

5. Demonstrating products to physicians, nurses, pharmacists and more. As discussed within this list, the main gist of being a medical sales rep revolves around advertising. One must possess exceptional skills for bargain—effectively making sales amid difficult encounters—proper organization, time management, and the like.

6. Managing budgets. Being on the sales field compels for proper budgeting; otherwise, certain rulings may end in deficit. Budgeting creates a space for coherent pictures of what you need, and what is not necessary. In doing so, you save the trouble of being in debt while keeping track of where your money is going.

7. And others that aren’t presented within the list.

Medical Sales Representative Interview Questions

Here are the minority of several interview questions that the manager/HR might present to you, so be prepared for that. Some of these questions fall under categories such as role-specific questions, self-focused or behavioral questions, and more. Each question is provided with brief insight or outline of some sort to enlighten readers (potential medical representative candidates in a company) about what the company wants to know more about when asking that question to avoid misunderstandings.

1. “What do you know about our company?” This question aims to assess your knowledge with the company; otherwise, you might seem like you’re not serious about the interview. The answer should be brief; give about 2-3 facts that you know about them, prove that you have read and looked up details concerning the affairs in their company. Your answer should be along the lines of this: 

Answer: “I’ve read that your company is well-versed in producing satisfactory products and that you are well-acknowledged in remarkable hospitals. The enterprise has produced and sold well over the quota. A recent news article about your company piqued my interest; it’s about the expansion of device variations and the scope of audiences you may attract. I want to learn more about that.”

You may change a few things from here and there to make your answer more interesting.

2. “What are your best qualities/strengths?” As a potential employee of their company, it is significant for them to know what they can get from you, something that they can benefit from, a quality of such that brings an asset to the company. If you are the type to talk your way into some good business, show it off.

Answer: “I’ve been in the leader role ever since high school, it’s my strongest quality and I’m pretty proud of that; throughout my journey, I’ve adapted many qualities like communication, decision making, as well as listening to your team. Like other things though, I do have my flaws as well. I’m a bit critical of the things I do; hence, I get the perfectionist title. Honestly, I’ve been working on it a lot, especially since I work with teams a lot.”

If the answer is a bit lengthy for you, you may skip on elaborating certain details; however, observing the example of an answer provided above, you may want to present qualities that complement that of an effective employee. Good strengths to present include leadership, creativity, social skills, and more. Weaknesses may vary but are commonly along the lines of perfectionism, self-critical, lack of familiarity in a certain field, etc.

3. “Describe your responsibilities.” A presenting interviewee should be able to know the responsibilities constituted within the position before applying for it and showing up. The point of this is for the company to assess your knowledge not only in the company itself but also with the role you’re willing to take up. 

Answer: “I’m aware that this job title requires me to be versatile. I’ve also read that as a medical sales representative, I am responsible for hosting and attending trade exhibitions/conferences, organizing meetups, etc. I’m fully aware of these and I’m more than happy to fulfill all the duties that come along with it.”

By carefully claiming the responsibilities affiliated with the role, it becomes clearer that you are aware of these duties and that there should not be an excuse for committing deceptive acts.

4. “How flexible are you/How do you plan your day?” Your manager simply wants intel about your planning and how you can handle hectic schedules. If your manager sees that you are capable of keeping up with all the tasks, you might’ve just increased your chances in getting the job.

Answer: “I prioritize the most urgent of tasks and work from then on. I’ve handled a plethora of tasks and managed to handle them well even under pressure; nevertheless, working under a couple of adversities here and there is something I got used to and it’s always fun and challenging to tackle them.” 

5. “Do you have experience making sales with medical products?” Knowing this, as a medical sales rep, you need to know what goes on around the field itself. You must know the consequences of selling faulty products in case you haven’t read the reports mentioned in numerous news articles.

Answer: “I’ve worked with a couple of clients before. I arranged appointments with them and made sure my plans are well aligned with their schedule. I’ve also experienced a couple of challenges in the previous industry I’ve been under. Dealing with those was never easy, but conquering it has always been satisfying.”

6.  “Where do you see yourself in the future?” Companies want an employee that aims high not only for themselves but for the company as well. Below is an example of a great answer for this particular inquiry:

Answer: “As a professional, I aim to augment my capabilities; by the next 5 years or so, I hope to grasp more about effective marketing strategies to amplify my knowledge and attract more clients. I’d like to expand on certain skills like effective communication with myself. Occasionally, I find myself stuck in a rut and often self-criticize. I hope to develop a better mindset to successfully fulfill my duties better than before.”

Note that you should refrain from saying things like leaving the company; rather, focus on accentuating your drive for development to help your company. It’s about wanting to contribute that the company will benefit from.

7. “What is your best professional achievement currently/in your last job?” Your manager may want to know more about what you can do. With the opportunity given, you should present them with utmost pride. You should also prove not only in words that you can achieve more and accomplish greater things.

Answer: “During my time as a sales representative in my former company, I had a client that doesn’t budge when it comes to trusting us and our deals. So, I presented the product to them yet again but with more transparency; I’d share the production process, where we get our resources, our team, etc. It took lots of tries but eventually, the client contacted me one day, asking for more details about the product.”

Note that the above answer is only elaborating a simple situation. As a professional, you are preordained to face much more intricate situations. So, start by stating the situation, your train of thought for a solution, the execution, and the results.

8. “When do you stop pursuing a product to a client?” Automatically, this could mean that the company wants to know how you handle your limits in pursuing a product. In that case, they might want to see you handle such inconveniences while maintaining a professional composure, no hard feelings whatsoever.

Answer: “I usually do not give up on clients on the first few tries; it helps me formulate better strategies as an advertiser. At the same time, I recognize what I should and should not pursue anymore since it’ll only take up both of our time. A client once compared our product to a competitor and is usually out of touch. They’ve also been complaining/disagreeing with fixed and reasonable prices even after multiple exhibits. Upon halting on persuasion, I had to ask what the other company has that we lack and discussed the feedback with my company and improve from then on.”

9. “What information would you need if we were to launch a brand new medical product?” As the advertiser of the products your company produces, you must have a few but adequate information at hand in order to make the most out of promoting the said product. Take a Fluorometholone sterile eye drop for example; how are you going to promote a product that you know nothing about? Given that it is indeed an eye drop; how can you choose your audience?

Answer: “As a sales representative, I’m aware that I have to be sure of what I’m selling to who. I’d like to know more about the new product’s function, targeted audience, how it helps & what sets it apart from other companies selling similar products, features, quality, and specs if it’s a device.”

10. “How often do you communicate with customers?” As a sales representative, communication is the key point of making sales and connecting through different networks or clients. Having transparency with them is also important as it constitutes trust within the relationship between your company and your clients.

Answers: “Upon first contacting a client, I believe it’s important to establish a friendly nature between us. I make them aware that I’ll be keeping in touch with them regularly. With this, I get the feedback I need, I get to gain their trust by listening to them, I get a check on how I’ve been handling things, etc.” 

Benefits of Being a Medical Sales Representative

There is a myriad of reasons why you should go for the said job. You could say that being a medical sales rep means you get to help people help more people. Knowing this, in defiance to heaps of responsibilities tagged along with the role, the conclusion induces a gratifying repercussion. Thus, cited below are a few and some—if not all—of the advantages you’ll be getting at the time of getting the job:

1. Income. Prior to getting a title in the job environment, one has gone through adversities associated in the course of work. After such fuss, it is only fair to compensate all this hard work with a satisfactory income. According to a survey conducted by MedReps back in 2016, medical sales representatives—on average—make about $145,147, with a mean of $88,038.

2. Admired occupation. Like mentioned before, the medical field has gained its reputation well enough that even the smallest branches of it bears golden fruits. Apart from acquiring a solid salary, you are associated with the word ‘medical’. To expand on that, different medical personnel titles have been well respected for a long time; in this fashion, along with a great and satisfactory job, you might find the ring of your job title pleasing to the ears!

3. You get to cruise through different areas. If it wasn’t made clear enough in this tract—yes—as a medical sales rep, travelling from one place to another may be a regular occurrence to you. Your job is not something you spend your time with in a closed space; rather, it relies more on building a network. Part of the job is socialization, negotiation and all that—taking it into account, you might want to go from hospital to hospital, establishments to another, present this product to this company and that product to that company, you get the gist.

4. Growth. When we consider growth concerning the job, it means a couple of things; one, it offers great opportunities wherein you get to collaborate and communicate with established professionals, which elicits more network of people for you. Secondly, the career objectively favors workers of the long term. Knowing this, the upshot of the whole concept is that you earn more while making your way up in the corporate ranks.

(Manley, 2016)

Conclusion

Medical sales representatives, like any other job position, are presented with responsibilities. They are responsible for promoting medical products; be it surgical instruments, implants, pharmaceutical drugs, medical supplies, etc. It is the medical rep’s responsibility to organize meetings with clients, communicate and negotiate contracts. Their audience is typically physicians, nurses, pharmacists, surgeons, and the regular folk. Standing in your role as a representative, one must know the ins and outs of the position, be made aware of different rules and regulations to avoid getting into deceptive acts. In defiance of all that, the career offers growth and satisfaction. Granted that there are heaps of responsibilities that correlate with your job but on the other end of the spectrum, you get the rewarding feeling after successful trades.