The year 2020 was supposed to be a year of optimism for the Philippine pharmaceutical industry. Planning managers from Multinational and local companies painted a bright future for the industry and every strategy was laid down to the sales force during their respective national business conferences. Then Covid-19 happened.

As we continue to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, we also must deal with other diseases that cannot be ignored, like diabetes and heart disease. And doctors still feel the need to stay informed by pharma companies, when it comes to their choice of treatment.

During the lockdown, pharmaceutical companies are those among the few essential industries that are allowed to operate. Sure, deliveries of medical products were not hampered by the pandemic, and sales operations were done by phone and electronic means. But what about promotions?

With the majority of the personnel in sales and face to face interaction were limited, how did pharma companies reached the eyes and ears of their intended customers?

Here are some official and unofficial activities Medreps did during lockdown:

Text Messages - Sure it seems rude and unprofessional, but it is also the cheapest means to get your message across. Whatever way you look at it, and even in the guise of a friendly message, promoting via text message, or even reminding them about your products, only reserve to those who developed a real friendship with their clients.

Phone Calls - The same with text messages, but at least, phone calls are way better than promoting your products via text messages. Yet, the same with text messages, phone calls are reserved for people with established friendships. 

Video Conferencing - Product managers from MNC loved these. It uses technology to promote your brands in the guise of a CME (continuing medical education). Of course, food is delivered to the doctor's house or office, and professional fees are paid to the top specialist speaker.

Food deliveries - Medreps had been doing food deliveries like, since forever. But now, they get the services of a food delivery service provider. Even though there are no brand stickers on the food packaging, there will always be a "THANK YOU TO FRONTLINERS" caption then the company logo.

Servicing - This is reserved for those few brave and bold Medreps. Yung mga walang takot sa Covid-19.

Groceries - Because doctors had no time getting groceries on their own, especially if they are on duty, and some Medreps are willing to go the extra mile. But Medreps don't need to do this on their own, there are a lot of delivery services out there that do this for you. 

Pharmacy Visits - What can you do if you can't visit the doctors? Pharmacy visits had become crucial during the lockdown because it allows you to determine how doctors prescribe. It also ensures that stocks are ordered and replenished. 

These are just a few of the things Medrep did and are still doing. Did you do anything special to communicate your brands? How different will be our industry many months from now? What changes do you think will affect our industry? What permanent shifts will we see in the future?

The job of a medical representative is complex enough, demanding much of your time and effort to succeed, especially if you're just starting. But once you get the hang of it and you finally have your rhythm, you'll be able to get the most of your job with minimal effort. That is working smart, not hard. And your salary plus your incentives will be able to sustain your lifestyle.

But what if the salary and the incentives are not enough? Great if you're single and you only have to worry about yourself. But what if you are starting a family or have to support family members? You just can't rely on salary loans because you have to pay it back eventually.

Fortunately, Medreps are really smart! There are several ways for a Medrep to earn extra cash without resorting to selling his samples, which by the way, is illegal, and can get your fired. So, huwag mo na isipin mag-salya ng samples!

Without further ado, here is the list of side jobs a medrep can do to earn extra money without sacrificing his or her main job:

Online Selling - Selling online is now virtually free! You can sell via facebook and sell stuff to your friends. You can also sign up and create an account with Shopee.ph and offer your customers free shipping and cash-on-delivery options. There's also OLX.ph which is also a platform to sell second-hand items. But what to sell? Look around your house, there may be a goldmine hiding there! Are there any unutilized items that you think people will pay to buy? I once sold an old baby carriage to a young couple. If you have talents or hobbies such as creating items like fancy jewellery, bags, clothes, etc., you can profit with that by selling it online.

Teach English - If you can spare four hours of your time each day, you can be a part-time English language teacher and teach Chinese, Japanese or Korean kids! There are several platforms out there, such as 51Talk, Acadsoc, NativeCamp, Bizmates and several other companies, with the pay ranging from about $2 to $4 per hour. That's as high as P800.00 per day or P16,000.00 per month for 20-day work per month!

Earn from your talent - Do you know photoshop or know how to code website and apps? Then there's Freelance, Fiverr or Upwork for you! Just create a profile and list your talents to start, and if you are hired to do a job, you can do it on your spare time and earn from it!

Start a business at home - If you have somebody in your household, like your wife, siblings or parents, that can help run the day-to-day operations, then, by all means, start a business. You can start a small business right from your own homes, such as a sari-sari store or a food cart.

Rent out your stuff - People will rent items they themselves don't want to buy. If you have videoke machines, LED projectors, sound system, a passenger van, extra bedroom (via AirBnB) or hell, even your internet (via a vending machine), you can rent it out and earn from it!

Become a Tutor - Medreps are smart people. And can handle people really well regardless of age, even kids! Even though you did not take education in college doesn't mean you cannot tutor kids. How hard could it be? You only need to stick to the books and the lessons provided by the teachers, break it down and make sure the kids understand it. Then give him a quiz to verify understanding, then voila!

There are a lot of "jobs" that you can do and there are a lot of platforms out there (eg. network marketing, putting up a business, etc.) but I have not included the side jobs that can potentially get you out of focus from your main job. After all, these jobs should only serve to augment your income and your primary focus should be your job as a Medical Representative.

Attention fresh grads and career shifters: Do you want to be a Medrep? 

Did you ever wonder why Medrep's dress really nice, drive the latest car models and have the extra money in their pockets? Well, those are the "perks" of the job and each pharma company have different ways of "pampering" their best salespeople.

Now, did you know that the Philippine pharmaceutical industry is worth P164 billion and has grown significantly year after year? It is one of the fastest growing industry in the country now and has generated tens of thousands of jobs.

You can search the world wide web and waste long hours just to get information that may not be applicable to the Philippine setting. Why not get The Filipino Medrep Guidebook instead? 

This guidebook "So, You Want to be a Medrep?" will give you an overview of the job itself and it is designed for people who just graduated from college, regardless of their degree, as well as those who wanted to shift careers. Topic by topic, you will be given a glimpse of how this industry works and how you will be able to join this industry and be a successful Professional Medical Representative.

To buy the guidebook, click here: 

Hindi ka na maiinip at hindi na rin mauubos ang data mo sa kapapanood ng YouTube habang nag hihintay ka sa coverage!

ABS-CBN just recently launched a portable version of their best selling digital television device, TVplus. This dongle attaches itself to the micro USB slot of your android device, which allows you to watch ABS-CBN channels anytime, anywhere, free of charge.

Channel list includes:

1. ABS-CBN channel 2
2. ABS-CBN S+A
3. DZMM Teleradio
4. Cinemo
5. YeY!
6. Knowledge Channel
7. MYX
8. AsiaNovela channel
9. Movie Central
10. Jeepney TV
11. O Shopping

ABS-CBN TVplus Go is now available in Cellboy and Celltime branches in SM malls around the country.

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.

Your manager will assess you quantitatively and qualitatively. In the quantitative aspect, you will be evaluated for your over-all sales performance. How does your territory fare versus your sales target? Aside from the total sales, you may also be evaluated on a per product basis.

Call performance is also evaluated. Your call rates determine if you are promoting to the right customer with the right product using the right promotional strategy. The proper use of the promotional fund is evaluated by comparing it to your sales. It’s called expense-to-sales ratio. This is a little bit tricky. Every company has different ways of computing this.

In the qualitative part, you are evaluated on the way you do things. This is based on the concept that if you do what is expected of you better than the standards set, the result will be positive. Written examinations and detailing exercises are recorded and improvements or lack of it are included. The quantity and quality of prescribed marketing and promotional activities compared to the standards are also reviewed. Your behavior is also reviewed by means of your 201 file.

The ratio or percentage between the quantitative and qualitative parameters may differ from company to company. In a sales-oriented company, they put more weight on sales performance, say 70%-30% in favor of sales. In other companies, they tend to have a balance between the two.

Sex is a wonderful thing. It connects both men and women deeply across their physical, emotional, and some say spiritual levels. Sex provide your body with several benefits the same ways as exercise, such as boosting your heart's health, immunity and lowering blood pressure. But the key here is to have sex as often as possible.

More sex may mean fewer sick days for you and your partner. There are several studies about comparing couples with frequent sex and those with fewer sexual intercourse. Couples with regular sex (at least once per week) can boost your health and wellbeing.

Sex is a form of exercise, and there are a lot of studies linking exercise with improving your health. According to the American Heart Association, sexual activity is equivalent to moderate physical activities like brisk walking. The movements during sex can help tone abdominal and pelvic muscles and can burn approximately 200 calories every 30 minutes of sex.

Frequent sexual intercourse can have some great effects on a man's semen quality. Semen health was found to be best if it is replenished in less than ten days. Meaning, you better get rid of all that semen in your sac so that fresh new semen can replace it, especially if you’re trying for a baby. Frequent sex can keep sperm fresh by having sex at least once or twice a week, and not only during the time of your partner's ovulation.

The high sexual activity allows your body to release pheromones, the chemicals that enhance your sex appeal. The more sex you have, the stronger your desire will be to have sex with your partner again. Frequent sex and orgasm increase the levels of the hormone oxytocin allowing you to feel more empathically connected to your partner.

Lastly, frequent sexual intercourse can help improve your mood and relieve you of stress. The hormones that are getting released during sex can help alter your body's state, allowing you to feel relaxed, happy and sleepy.