As a Professional Medical Representative, your immediate superior is the District Sales Manager. District Sales Managers usually handle about three or more territories. Their job is to manage you to perform your best and deliver the sales.
Salesmen are your counterpart in the field. You create the demand; they will deliver the products and collect the payments. Some companies outsource the sales part and some don’t. The popular sales business outsourcing companies are ZuelligPharma and Metro Drug.
But you must not rely totally on your salesman. Some salesmen have other principals or companies that they serve. When I was a Medical Representative under Merck Sharp and Dohme, my salesman has more than twenty principals! The salesman cannot give preference to all of you at once. Just like you, he has his own monthly quota. He or she may prioritize fast moving products and those products are not necessarily yours.
The District Sales Managers are the mini-bosses. They have a team of Medical Representatives working for him. They do mostly coaching and support in order for each of their people deliver the sales. District Managers report to the Regional Sales Manager (if it is a large organization) or directly to the National Sales Manager (in the case of a small organization).
Product or Brand Managers are the brand champions. They provide the whole marketing strategy for the assigned brand. They plan and strategize the whole marketing concern: from the number of MedReps needed, how many doctors to cover and what type of promotional tools to use in order to achieve the target. After all, the sales target for the whole brand is on his shoulder. In a complex organization, Product Managers report directly to the Marketing Manager or Group Product Manager.
In some companies, training is also handled by Product Managers. But with big companies, there is a specific group that handles it. The training and development group is a collaboration of Human Resources, Marketing Department and Medical Affairs which makes sure that the field force, from line managers to reps, has adequate training in the field of business and medical science.
There is a special position that specifically handles Continuing Medical Education. They are called CME Managers. They facilitate the planning and implementation of scientific lectures and roundtable discussions. They also coordinate with key medical societies when it comes to participation to some of its programs such as regional or national conventions. The CME Manager may advise people who are interested in continuing education to find out more about Healthcare Degrees on Guide to Healthcare Schools.
Local companies have a far simpler structure. Usually, the owner sits on the top, juggling General Manager, Sales Manager and Marketing Manager functions, where District Sales Manager, and sometimes Professional Medical Representatives, report to them.
