At AACC, I had the pleasure of a long conversation with a national sales manager of a $30M company (10 sales reps and 10 technical support folks) where I discovered his opinion that “revenue reps those days just aren’t as strong as they used to be.” I said, “Really? I’ve found that sales reps are [...]
Posts from ‘July, 2009’
AACC Review – Companies like Abbott, Beckman, Roche, Thermo, and Ortho Clinical were there….
AACC was in Chicago this year….I always like Chicago as a trade show location. The AACC usually draws 20k + visitors, but I thought there were fewer attendees than usual.
I agree with Robert at the Dark Report – the mood was somber. I saw unemployed candidates looking for jobs who said that they weren’t seeing the career opportunities they [...]
AACC Review – Companies like Abbott, Beckman, Roche, Thermo, and Ortho Clinical were there….
AACC was in Chicago this year….I always like Chicago as a trade show location. The AACC usually draws 20k + visitors, but I thought there were fewer attendees than ordinary.
I agree with Robert at the Dark Report – the mood was somber. I saw unemployed candidates looking for jobs who told that they weren’t seeing the jobs they [...]
Medical Sales Jobs: Salary and Commission Packages
Here’s an interesting article from The Ladders on Negotiating a Bigger Sales Package. It includes definitions of eight types of revenue and/or commission packages, talks of the pros and cons of each, and negotiating tips for improving your deal:
Straight commission – just like it sounds…you get paid for what you sell
Variable commission – commission varies [...]
Laboratory Sales Jobs: Salary and Commission Packages
Here’s an interesting article from The Ladders on Negotiating a Bigger Sales Package. It includes definitions of eight types of revenue and/or commission packages, discussions of the pros and cons of each, and negotiating tips for improving your deal:
Straight commission – just like it sounds…you get paid for what you sell
Variable commission – commission varies [...]
How to Prepare for a Pharma Sales Position Interview
Jobs in laboratory revenue, medical sales, biotechnology revenue, clinical diagnostics revenue, laboratory device sales, imaging sales, hospital equipment sales, laboratory sales, and other healthcare sales are fairly competitive to get into (you’re going to got to put some effort into it), but worth it in terms of compensation, commissions, and extras. Plus, it’s an exciting [...]
How to Prepare for a Behavioral Career opportunity Interview in Pharma Revenue
A behavioral job interview is a popular interview tactic in the medical sales arena. It focuses on finding out how the candidate handled (behaved in) specific job-realted situations. In healthcare sales, medical revenue, clinical diagnostics revenue, medical device sales, biotech sales, laboratory sales, imaging sales, or pharma sales, customer interaction is key—so how you handle [...]
Hiring Medical Revenue Reps? First–Review Your Current Team
Are you hiring sales reps for pharma sales, pharma revenue, medical diagnostics, imaging sales, medical device sales, biotech revenue, pathology revenue, surgical supplies sales, hospital equipment sales, laboratory sales, or other healthcare revenue? Your first step should be to review your current team: What works in your sales reps and what doesn’t? Then you can [...]
Big Twenty Pharmaceutical Company Changes Over the Last 18 Months: How They Affect Pharma Sales Reps
In 2008, these were the Major 20 medical companies: Top 20 Medical Companies 01
Pfizer
$44,424 02
GlaxoSmithKline
$38,501 03
Sanofi-Aventis
$38,452 04
AstraZeneca
$28,713 05
Merck
$26,532 06
Novartis
$25,477 07
Johnson & Johnson
$24,866 08
Roche
$21,998 09
Eli Lilly & Co.
$17,638 10
Wyeth
$17,179 11
Bristol-Myers Squibb
$15,622 12
Abbott Laboratories
$14,632 13
Schering-Plough
$12,773 14
Bayer Schering
$12,294 15
Boehringer Ingelheim
$11,103 16
Takeda
$10,626 17
Astellas*
$8,530 18
Daiichi-Sankyo*
$7,382 19
Eisai*
$6,250 20
UCB Group*
$4,370
The list looks a little different those days. For instance, Pfizer purchased Wyeth in January 2009, Merck purchased Schering in March 2009, and Roche signed a leading deal with Genentech…confirming for many a trend toward [...]
So Your Revenue Manager is Younger Than You…
Used to be, seniority counted. For a lot. It was an orderly progression up the career ladder, many times within a single company, and if you were good at your career opportunity, you’d likely get your turn in management. Not anymore. For one thing, career paths aren’t what they once were–it’s more common to not only job-hop, [...]

If you are a sales professional or want to become one, or if you are looking for a new sales job, you will face one of the toughest interview processes of any job seeker.