There are lots of terms that have different meanings depending on which context they are in and often the same phrase can be used to describe different things in different circumstances. The aim of this article is to provide some general outline of the phrases and terms you will encounter along with the way they vary in different situations.
Medical sales. This is a general title used to describe any type of selling to the medical and its related industries. Within different areas of medical related industries, the phrase for medical sales is again changed. For instance in the pharmaceutical industry the term ‘ethical’ sales is used instead of medical sales. This refers to the stringent regulations and rules that govern sales of prescription medicines. There is close regulation of sales ‘pitches’ and only claims that can be supported by hard clinical evidence are allowed. This eradicates the possibility of medical reps who are able to talk the talk persuading companies to go and give this great stuff a try just on their say so.
Pharmaceutical medical reps. There are many job titles attached to this group which include territory sales manager, territory business manager and territory manager. One exception is a renowned company that referred to its sales people as Medical salesman to set them apart form companies that prefer a ‘soft’ approach to sales that it had contempt for. Sales jobs in healthcare share often share the titles above in sectors such as wound care (dressings and bandages) and disposables (needles and gloves). They may also refer to them as area sales manager or regional sales manager. This is somewhat confusing since in pharmaceuticals both titles apply only to the sales managers heading up sales teams.
It’s possible for medical equipment sales to sit within this same bracket of healthcare sales roles. This umbrella term encompasses the sales of anything from surgical equipment right through to such things as x-ray machines and MRI scanners known as capital equipment.
Other sales roles within the pharmaceutical industry that have their own unique title are many. For instance NHS Liaison is the job title given to reps who sell to major organisations within the NHS this covers everything from PCTs through to Whitehall. Versions of this title include Healthcare liaison as well as business development positions.
There are also a number of possible titles for sales of generics into the supply chain. Retails sales representatives who sell to retails chemists are now virtually extinct. Those roles that do remain are re-titles National Account managers. The main focus is to develop sales in wholesalers as well as national chemists including Boots and Moss.
There is an equally varied selection of job titles for sales managers. These include BUM, that’s right! (Business Unit Manager); RM (Regional manager); ABM ( area sales manager) and RBM (regional sales manager).
It’s not only the obvious titles of hospital rep and hospital specialist that you’ll find in the area of hospital selling. Indeed there is quite a selection including Key account manager.
The last area that must be mentioned is Medical jobs. This sector encompasses pharmacists, nurses and doctors and since these roles provide healthcare is generally referred to as Healthcare jobs. The title Healthcare jobs can be interchanged however with that of Healthcare sales, a sector that was referred to earlier.
To summarise, since there is such wide use of abbreviations and jargon in these industries it is difficult to avoid confusion. The answer when applying for roles is to focus closely on the job description to assess its suitability, rather than to rely on the job title
