The success of their individual companies is greatly influenced by medical sales agents. Successful medical sales representatives will boost sales and expand the companies they represent. Their businesses can find it difficult to sustain net positive growth if they are unsuccessful, particularly if their client turnover rates are high.

For a company's field sales personnel, medical sales become even more difficult during pandemics like the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. What difficulties do pharmaceutical sales face during a pandemic? More significantly, how can your field sales team get beyond these obstacles in order to connect with physicians and other healthcare decision-makers?

The Difficulties of Selling Medicines in a Pandemic

For many field sales teams, sales outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic has been significantly more challenging than in the past. For instance, physicians who previously might have been open to meeting in person—the go-to strategy for many pharmaceutical sales representatives—may now be hesitant to do so.

Just 13% of doctors polled during the epidemic said they intended to meet in person with a pharmaceutical sales representative within the next 30 days, according to data from a June InCrowdNow survey. 25% indicated they would not think about such a meeting until 2021, 9% said they would in the next 60 days, and 12% said they would in the next 90 days. "It's unnecessary to bring someone into the hospital, especially when they're going from facility to facility — I'm concerned for vector," said one poll participant from the 2021 category.

In recent years, medical sales representatives have found it more and more difficult to meet in person with physicians and other important decision-makers, even in the absence of the coronavirus threat. In recent years, field sales teams have faced a number of problems and difficulties, some of which include:

• The potential for infectious disease transmission. According to one participant in the InCrowdNow study, they were "concerned for vector" because the medical sales representative might spread illness. Many physicians and other decision-makers turn down invitations to face-to-face meetings during a pandemic because of this risk.
• The Scandal Perception. Some pharmaceutical sales teams have been accused in the past of bribing physicians to prescribe their drugs by offering them free lunches, samples, and pleasures. Doctors frequently turn down meetings with medical sales representatives in any capacity because they don't want to be seen as involved in controversies that could cost them patients.
• Decision-makers and doctors are too busy to meet in person. Two percent of doctors polled by InCrowdNow during the coronavirus pandemic said they would never feel comfortable meeting in person again. One example respondent gave the rationale as "[There are] no benefits to in-person." They interfere with my schedule, and it is impolite to have a patient wait longer to hear what is, regardless of how it is presented, advertising.
• The public is becoming more conscious. In order to save money, a lot of health insurance companies aggressively educate their clients on how to seek generic versions of name-brand drugs. Pharma sales representatives may find it more difficult to prescribe more costly drugs as a result.

What steps should healthcare organizations take to get ready for the future of pharmaceutical sales? Sales managers can use these pointers to help their workers become the finest pharmaceutical sales representatives.

Advice for Medical Sales Representatives on How to Communicate with Physicians During the COVID-19 Epidemic

So, how can medical sales representatives get in front of physicians and other healthcare decision-makers? Here are some helpful hints:

• Extend training programs for medical sales representatives. Training programs for medical sales representatives can assist salespeople hone their abilities and stay current with industry-compliant tactics and trends. Training in pharmaceutical sales is now more accessible than ever thanks to the internet. E-learning platforms, for instance, give "opportunities for our sales representatives and sales managers to access important knowledge-based information on demand via the internet from any location," according to articles on Pharmavoice.com. To help field sales teams improve as sales representatives, it's also critical to evaluate them on a variety of abilities. "The wise trainer assesses his or her students on a broad range of skills throughout the training process,".
• Determine and concentrate on the needs of the prospect. How can your goods and services meet the wants of the potential customer? Sales representatives must be able to respond to this fundamental query. Ultimately, the prospect—whether a physician or another decision-maker—is the one whose medical practice is at stake, and they will not be interested in the products or services being promoted if they don't assist. To maintain the prospect's interest, it is crucial to determine their wants and concentrate on how the offered good or service meets those needs.
• With prospects, use a variety of communication channels. These days, there are a lot of ways to connect with physicians and other important decision-makers in the healthcare sector, and some prospects could react better to certain forms of communication than others. Phone calls, emails, conventional mail, in-person and virtual meetings, text messages, and faxes are a few examples of communication channels. One route of communication may be more effective than another when it comes to a possibility. Therefore, it's crucial to use a variety of communication techniques with every prospect before giving up and claiming the lead is "lost."
• Inquire about the needs of potential customers. Asking a prospect directly is the quickest way for a field sales representative to find out about their requirements and problems. Field sales staff can learn how to tailor their approach and make the prospect feel more valued by asking questions like "What's your most frequent diagnosis?" or "How do you prefer to be contacted?" These questions can help to improve long-term business relationships. Furthermore, decision-makers may have different priorities during events like the COVID-19 outbreak than they did before the outbreak. Medical sales personnel can create a better, more tailored sales pitch and process for healthcare companies affected by the coronavirus by asking about the effects of recent events on their company.