All account managers in the pharmaceutical industry know how important sales figures are to career success. If you cannot impress your company’s leadership with your sales results, you will never build the momentum you need to climb the ranks to a top position in your organization.
Thankfully, sales ability is a skill – and just like any skill, it can be honed with the right approach. The following expert tips will help you reach those high sales benchmarks with ease.
1. Set Clear and Specific Goals
All career improvement begins with a set of clear goals. Goals give your efforts focus and make it easier for you to chart a course to achieve them.
Use the SMART goal setting framework to establish your new objectives. Your goals should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Actionable
- Realistic
- Timely
For example, a good starting goal might be to close 3 new sales with existing accounts by next quarter. It would be challenging to do this, but it is definitely possible with the right approach.
2. Develop a Strategic Action Plan
Strategic planning is key to securing high sales numbers in the pharmaceutical industry. Because each deal you close has such high stakes for both you and your customer, you cannot afford to head into negotiations unprepared.
Instead, approach each lead armed with a strategy crafted based on the following questions:
- What are your customer’s needs?
- How can your company’s products meet those needs?
- What do your products offer that no other solution on the market can match?
Use the answers to develop a concise yet hard-hitting sales pitch that provides clear personalized value to each lead. Consult the latest reports from pharmaceutical market research companies during this process to ensure that your market knowledge is up-to-date.
3. Continuous Learning and Skill Development
The pharmaceutical industry is always changing and evolving. Sales professionals in this industry must engage in continuous learning or get left behind.
To keep your professional development on track:
- Use e-learning courses to fit bite-sized bits of learning into your busy schedule.
- Identify any gaps in your skill set and fill them in with sales and account management training courses that focus on those particular skills.
- Take courses that prepare you for the positions you want to obtain, such as healthcare executive leadership training.
- Don’t forget about the importance of networking. Make time to collaborate with others in your field and learn more about their techniques.
4. Stay Focused and Maintain Motivation
Maintaining success in pharmaceutical sales requires both drive and resilience.
To keep yourself motivated:
- Recognize and celebrate your successes. Even small improvements are positive steps toward larger goals.
- Focus on your efforts, not necessarily on the results they bring. It may take dozens of failed attempts to land that one big account you’ve been covering.
- Share your progress with your coworkers. You’ll build accountability and gain new perspectives on what success looks like.
Boost Your Sales Today
Don’t let high sales goals become a barrier to your career progression. With the right preparation and follow-up, you can build a stellar track record that will catapult you to the top of your organization’s ranks. Put these tips to work in your own professional endeavors and watch your sales numbers rise.