Medical sales, 5 simple access tips to earn more bonus.

Medical sales is no different, but sometimes it's that eagerness to achieve, the desire and sometimes desperation to eclipse your peers that can be your downfall

The temptation is to look for short cuts, that one killer technique that nobody else has found that will rocket you to the top. In practise, this is unlikely to deliver what you want. After years of medical salesmanagement, my conclusion was that it was simply the ones who followed a few basic rules with discipline who came out on top. Here's some tips I think you should consider.

• Appointment booking. Always book every appointment available on your territory all of the time. We all know that sales is related to the volume of quality activity. Appointments are usually good quality calls available for free that minimise the time you have to spend speculatively looking for calls.

Never leave an appointment without booking your next one. It's so easy to be in too much of a

hurry to get to your next call, but then you are out of that appointment cycle and it may be

weeks before your back. In reality you'll waste no more than a minute re booking your next

one before you leave. Even better, use the wait before the call to get it out of the way. Do this

religiously and you'll make more quality calls, and make more sales as a result.

• Always get individual call backs after a group meeting. In medical sales it's sequential calling that sells, not one off calls or group meetings. When you conduct a meeting, create a reason to call back on each individual attendee, and book it there and then. It could be to deliver a relevant clinical paper, or a freebie that's due to arrive soon, or it could be to individual's feedback on your products use and performance. Ask them to sign a register for attending and add a column 'Date/time when I can call'? If you're buying them lunch, they're going to have to be rude to avoid giving you an appointment. Do this religiously and you'll make a lot more sequential calls, you'll sell more as a result.

• Don't take a lunch break at lunchtime If you're looking for extra quality calls lunchtime is the time to do it. After morning surgery most Gps are milling around the reception area picking up post and messages. All the other medical sales reps are in Sainsbury’s getting their lunch and the Gps are relaxed and breathing a sigh of relief after surgery. Now is the time to chance your arm on a few extra calls. Make sure you have a reason for your call, an interesting new clinical paper to show them, or perhaps a free item to give them, or call to book an appointment and ask to see them while your there. Do this everyday and you will pick up several extra calls per week.

• Never give up on surgeries that say they don't see reps. Always schedule a visit to reception every time you visit the area, things do change, a new GP arrives, and old one leaves, the practise manager changes, or even a rep they didn't like retires. Unless you stay in touch, when a surgery does open back up you won't be on the scene to benefit, and your circle of surgeries will only be getting smaller.

• Keep a record of appointment times in all areas and speculatively call in if you have a gap. this is cheeky trick that works really well. When medical sales reps are under pressure to activity targets, appointments are assumed to be certain calls, consequently, reps are often late trying to squeeze extra calls in elsewhere. If you happen to poke your head around the door at the appointment time on the 'off chance the rep didn't turn up as you have something of the Dr' I reckon you will get at least an extra 2 to 3 calls a week from this trick. You may no make friends with your fellow reps, but then they shouldn't be late should they!

Be disciplined with these tips and you'll not work any extra hours but you will make more calls, and sell more of your products.