Where do you want to be in the next five years? Sure, everybody wants to be promoted. How do you see yourself? You can be a District Sales Manager and have your own people or you want to enter the complex world of strategic marketing and be a Product Manager. Or if you like training and development, why not be a Training Manager? You like planning and implementing events? Try to be a CME Manager. The opportunities are endless. And the salaries and benefits also grow with the position.
You may want to be promoted as a District Sales Manager. District Sales Managers have several Med Reps reporting to them. Being promoted from rank-and-file to management position means you have what it takes to manage and develop your people. The combination of the sales targets of your people is your target. Likewise, the qualitative performance of the group reflects back to you. District Sales Managers are middle managers, meaning, they serve as the conduit between the management and the field personnel. The next level of promotion would be as Regional Sales Manager and National Sales Manager.
If marketing is your forte and has excelled in program conceptualization and implementation as a Med Rep, you may want to be promoted as a Product or Brand Manager. Product Managers are responsible for the strategic direction of a product, or in the case of a small organization, the company’s whole product portfolio. They coordinate with the Medical Director or a group of medical advisers on how to properly promote the products to their colleagues.
Being able to develop people and eliciting top performance in terms of product knowledge, marketing knowledge, and selling skills is the job of a Training Manager. In collaboration with Human Resources, Training Managers analyzes training needs, design training programs and facilitates its implementation. They are sometimes sent to expensive training programs, here and abroad, and cascade those training to the people.
CME Managers, on the other hand, are those who facilitate continuing medical education of the target customers. Basically, these are lectures or presentations that involve the company’s products and its impact on the quality of life of patients. They usually accompany the lecturer on such events. These lecturers are also doctors who are highly respected members of the academe or are Key Opinion Leader (KOL) in the field where the drug is promoted. CME Managers are also responsible for the company’s participation to medical conventions, making sure that such participation will allow greater exposure of the company and its products to all participants.
