Working full time as a medical sales representative

Innovex was first established in the UK some 25 years ago at a time when outsourcing in the commercial arena of the pharmaceutical industry was unheard of.

Having grown into a global organisation Innovex was then acquired by the now privately owned Quintiles Transnational in 1996 creating the world's leader in pharmaceutical outsourcing.

In the UK Innovex has continued to build on its core competencies - resourcing, training and development, performance and project management - and to invest in information to support the core services provided to our customers. This investment allows us to deploy resources in a more intelligent, targeted, cost effective way that provides the ROI required by our customers. For example our fully flexible web-enabled CRM system drives the collection of data on a daily basis whilst the Innovex NHS Network, which consists of some 2000 active prescribers across 750 sites, means we can get rapid feedback for customers on programmes and further develop our people by using them for representative assessment.

We have evolved our business model from being exclusively people based to people plus information - the smarter solution - in answer to both market and environmental needs.

So tell me more about Innovex Sales Solutions

So why don't pharmaceutical companies recruit, train and manage their own sales teams?

And what do our pharma customers want from an Innovex sales team?

So what's it like being a Sales Representative at Innovex?

What kind of people become Innovex Sales Representatives?

Will it be the right career move for me?

What is the commitment like when you are an Innovex Representative?

Tell me more about training at Innovex

The Training Resource Centre (TRC)

Representative Standards Programme

I'm ambitious and quickly want to progress into management

How long does all this take?

Our guarantee to you

Actually, I'd like to be a representative for a few years and not progress too quickly

Tell me more about how Innovex works with its customers

What happens when the contract (between Innovex and its customer) is over?

Let's consider some of the myths you may have heard about Innovex

So tell me more about Innovex Sales Solutions

'One of the clearest descriptions of what Innovex Sales Solutions does is that we recruit, train and manage sales teams on behalf of our pharmaceutical customers'

If you have not worked in this sector, you may ask, ' What does that mean exactly?' In broad terms, there are times when pharmaceutical companies seek to add weight to their sales effort - in particular this can be to:

• Launch a new product
  
• Increase sales of an existing drug
  
• Provide either a tactical or strategic competitive manoeuvre to gain market advantage.

At these times, customers will approach Innovex since we have extensive experience and expertise in recruiting, training and managing teams of medical sales representatives who will work on behalf of pharmaceutical organisations.

Let me give you some idea of the size of this part of our business - we have in excess of 1000 representatives, over 120 first and second line managers (Regional Business Managers and Sales Directors) and have provided sales teams for the Top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

Innovex not only provides sales teams in the UK but also on a European and world-wide basis. In the UK between 25-30% of our sales force operate on a reduced hours basis.

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So why don't pharmaceutical companies recruit, train and manage their own sales teams?

Outsourcing is where a company has decided, usually for a number of reasons, to buy-in services which they would previously have undertaken themselves. By doing this companies are able to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the outsource supplier allowing them to concentrate on their core activity.

From the perspective of the pharmaceutical company, they will use the Innovex sales team in order to:

• Supplement their own sales team
  
• Provide added sales effort at key times e.g. seasonal activity
  
• Work alongside the Innovex team before taking the decision to recruit it onto their own headcount.

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And what do our pharma customers want from an Innovex sales team?

• A well-trained force with knowledge of GPs and other healthcare professionals
  
• A fast and efficient force which can be deployed at short notice
  
• A team with a flexible and receptive approach to learning about new drugs and therapy areas.

'20 years ago a drug would have enjoyed exclusivity in its therapeutic class for 10 years, now it's usually between 2 and 6 months before a competing drug emerges into the market'

In summary

Innovex has built some 60 salesforces for customers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis, and Merck Sharpe and Dohme. Innovex has been a leader for over 25 years, has in excess of 1000 representatives in the market and employs some 13% of the representative workforce in the UK.

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So what's it like being a Sales Representative at Innovex?

• As with any other field sales career:
  
• You are consistently measured against personal and team targets
  
• You work on your own for much of the time
  
• Not everyone wants to see you - it's up to you to persuade them.

But, the upsides are many and include:

• You will be working in a challenging environment and selling to professionals
  
• You'll manage your own time and be part of a team of 9 or 10 with a dedicated Regional Business Manager (RBM)
  
• You'll receive training in sales and pharmaceutical products - and the benefits package includes car,
  
• pension and private health insurance.

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What kind of people become Innovex Sales Representatives?

Interestingly, some 25-30% of the Innovex workforce work reduced hours - this being a method of working particularly well suited to people with family commitments, individuals studying further education or professional/semi-professional sports people.

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Will it be the right career move for me?

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What is the commitment like when you are an Innovex Representative?

You could easily have 20 days away in your first year since the induction training is usually 2 full weeks.

After that it is difficult to define and depends on your team but it is likely to be 12-15 days clearly, this depends on team, training commitment, briefing meetings and customer issues.

And the first three months:

'It's absolute immersion - set your expectations that you'll work 12 hours a day for the first 6 months and you may pleasantly surprise yourself that, on reflection, it was only 10!'

• So, what makes it so time-consuming? Well, there are a lot of new areas to come to terms with:
  
• New products and new therapy areas to learn and for many, mastering structured selling skills
  
• Finding your way around your territory, your GPs and the company reporting methods
  
• Learning to use the company's systems and processes - for those without strong PC skills this is a steep learning curve
  
• The immersion of the Initial Training Course (ITC), update training and preparation for reviews and coaching with your manager
  
• The variety of people you meet - customers, colleagues and GPs.

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Tell me more about Training at Innovex

Innovex training programmes are designed to work in partnership with each representative.  We are able to identify individual training needs, areas of growth and address these with made to measure courses, online training and continual support through mentoring and coaching.

The tailored approach is driven by our exclusive industry-leading field-coaching system, Innovex InnSight.  Supported by sophisticated technology this provides more than just support for coaching practices, it also offers the ability to measure progress and promote comprehensive follow-up.

In parallel, a global online portal - Learning Curve - gives all our employees access to over 4000 online training courses and modules.

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The Training Resource Centre (TRC)

You are allocated three days training per year and this can be taken as either formal classroom training or distance learning through the TRC. The TRC offers various learning formats including workbooks, CDs, videos, tapes and workshops - we appreciate that different individuals have different 'best ways' of learning new material.

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Representative Standards Programme

This is a set of standards (designed by Innovex) and takes a new representative through the first 24 months of working with us - it focuses on skills, techniques and competencies and, as you progress, you will achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold awards in key areas. After the two years, it integrates with a Vocational Standards Programme which will take you into either Senior Representative level or training for management.

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I'm ambitious and quickly want to progress into management

Well, that's just fine but like any other profession it takes time to fully learn the job of the sales representative and also excel in all main areas including:

• Delivery or over-delivery on sales targets
  
• Planning and forecasting
  
• Territory and time management
  
• Understanding your customer base
  
• Understanding current and critical areas of health authority structures.

And when you've really mastered the role of the medical representative, you need to spend time with your manager and draw up a plan to help you develop towards a role in management. There are many areas you can concentrate on here but they should include:

• Coaching and training
  
• Regional budgeting and forecasting
  
• Presentation skills and meetings management.

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How long does all this take?

There will be instances where fast-track individuals can achieve all of the above in a shorter period of time - including gaining rounded business planning skills, coaching and development and managing all the human issues of a team of 8 or 10 representatives.

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Our guarantee to you

However fast you progress, you will work closely with your RBM on setting out a structured training and development plan which matches your abilities and aspirations - and this will involve both formal and informal training.

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Actually, I'd like to be a representative for a few years and not progress too quickly

That's fine too - we have many representatives who are the core of our sales team - high energy individuals delivering first-class business results and they make a major contribution to our organisation.

But they don't want to take a management role and we have the infrastructure and flexibility to make that work for both them and us.

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Tell me more about how Innovex works with its customers

Innovex has two main ways of working to deliver the agreed business and sales objectives for its customers:

• Project

An Innovex Project team works on behalf of only one customer and sells their products. Innovex are remunerated on a day-rate basis. In project teams the manager may be from either Innovex or the customer company depending on the nature of the solution.

 

• Syndicated

Within a syndicated team the representative will sell a number of products, usually three - this part of the process is termed 'detailing' and so you will detail three products from three different customers.

Syndicated teams are all Innovex-managed and the company is remunerated on a fee per call basis.

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What happens when the contract (between Innovex and its customer) is over?

You'll hear quite a lot about redeployment in Innovex and it's all about moving from one team to another at the end of a contract. What it means to you is it provides the chance to:

• Learn new drug and therapy details
  
• Move from project to syndicated and vice-versa
  
• Gain new skills and knowledge
  
• Revitalise the energy and input you bring to your territory
  
• Experience different customers and management styles.

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'Innovex is a recruitment agency isn't it?'

Innovex Sales Solutions recruits, trains and manages sales forces for top pharmaceutical companies. Most pharmaceutical recruitment agencies have annual turnover under £3m, employ under 100 staff and have been in business for less than 5 years.

'Innovex is your stepping stone into the world of 'real pharma''

It's absolutely true - many of Innovex's best representatives leave to join pharma companies - such are the training, abilities and skillsets they have gained. You will become a very attractive individual for the research-based pharmaceutical companies.

However, over the last few years we have seen a steady flow of talent, originally trained and developed by Innovex, returning to us. The culture of Innovex is often missed, as is the variety and the very strong focus on people which Innovex offers.

In Innovex there are over 1000 representatives and 50 Regional Business Managers. The size of the Innovex sales force means there are excellent career opportunities. Linked to flexibility, speed and change this makes for a dynamic environment in which to 'grow your career'.

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