Understanding the Question

When an interviewer for a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative position asks, "How do you prioritize your targets and manage your territory?", they're inquiring about your strategic planning, organizational, and time management skills. Specifically, they want to know how you identify which healthcare professionals or pharmacies are most likely to prescribe or stock the pharmaceuticals you're selling, how you plan your visits and manage relationships across a defined geographical area, and how you adapt to changes in the market or your company's strategic goals.

Interviewer's Goals

The interviewer's primary goals with this question are to assess:

1. Strategic Thinking: How well you can analyze and segment your territory based on potential sales, prescribing trends, and other relevant factors.
2. Planning and Organization: Your ability to create a schedule that maximizes efficiency and effectiveness in covering your territory.
3. Adaptability: How you respond to new information, such as changes in product demand, market dynamics, or healthcare practices, and adjust your priorities and plans accordingly.
4. Goal Orientation: Your drive to meet or exceed sales targets and how you measure and assess your performance against those goals.
5. Relationship Management: Your approach to building and maintaining professional relationships with healthcare providers, pharmacists, and other stakeholders.

How to Approach Your Answer

To effectively answer this question, you should structure your response in a way that showcases your strategic planning and prioritization skills, while also demonstrating your adaptability and relationship management abilities. Consider using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to outline a specific example from your experience that highlights these skills. Even if you're new to pharmaceutical sales, you can draw upon experiences from other sales roles or relevant situations where you had to prioritize tasks, manage a territory, or build relationships.

Example Responses Relevant to Pharmaceutical Sales Representative

Experienced Representative:

"In my previous role, I managed a territory that included a mix of urban and rural healthcare providers. I prioritized my targets based on several factors, including prescription volume, the potential for new prescriptions, and the strategic importance of the healthcare provider to my company. Each quarter, I analyzed prescription data and sales trends to adjust my focus areas. For example, I increased my visits to clinics that showed a growing interest in our product line due to recent clinical studies. My approach was to schedule regular visits to high-priority targets while ensuring that lower-priority targets were still nurtured through monthly check-ins and digital communication. This strategy led to a 20% increase in prescriptions in my territory within a year."

New to Pharmaceutical Sales:

"Although I am new to pharmaceutical sales, in my previous role in retail sales, I managed a diverse product portfolio. I prioritized products based on seasonal demand, profit margins, and inventory levels, using data analysis to inform my strategy. I would apply a similar approach to managing a pharmaceutical sales territory by identifying high-potential healthcare providers and focusing my efforts on those accounts, while still maintaining a presence with lower-volume providers. My plan would involve regular analysis of sales data and adapting my strategy based on market trends and feedback from healthcare professionals."

Tips for Success

• Quantify Your Success: Whenever possible, use numbers to quantify your achievements, such as percentage increases in sales or prescriptions in your territory.
• Be Specific: Provide specific examples of how you've managed your territory, prioritized targets, and adapted to changes.
• Show Your Research Skills: Mention how you use data and research to inform your decisions and plans.
• Highlight Relationship Building: Emphasize your skills in building and maintaining professional relationships, as these are crucial in pharmaceutical sales.
• Demonstrate Continuous Learning: Show that you're proactive in staying informed about industry trends, new medications, and healthcare practices relevant to your products.