How COVID-19 Changed Pharmaceutical Sales | SMR Group

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had lasting effects on the way we live, work, shop, and spend time with others. It has also reshaped pharmaceutical sales in key ways.

Pharma sales teams that understand the pandemic’s effect on their work gain insight into the “new normal” – and the resilience to address any new challenges on the horizon.

How Did Covid-19 Change Pharmaceutical Sales Industry?

Face to Face Has Gone Virtual

Before the pandemic, face-to-face interactions were common in pharmaceutical sales. Sales professionals would visit potential or current customers directly to share information, learn about new issues, and offer solutions.

Today, pharmaceutical customers are still likely to see a sales representative’s smiling face. They’re just more likely to do so via teleconference than in person. Sales reps that adapt their strategies to take advantage of new technologies gain an edge over those still stuck in the face-to-face-only era.

Pharmaceutical Concerns Have Changed

For nearly two years, the entire pharmaceutical industry focused its research and development power on one question: How to respond to COVID-19.

Many R&D teams continue to seek new and better vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. As pharmaceutical companies return to their work on other medical challenges, however, sales teams’ attention will need to shift as well. Prepared pharmaceutical sales reps will ready themselves for a flood of new information on new products in the coming years, as R&D completes projects it had to postpone for the pandemic.

There’s A New Emphasis on Science

Medical providers and pharmaceutical reps have always understood the importance of science and evidence in their work. Science communication during the pandemic, however, gained new audiences. Today, both pharma teams and medical providers are under new pressure to offer science- and evidence-backed explanations for how treatments work.

This new demand for information benefits pharmaceutical sales professionals who understand the science behind their products. Teams that embrace their role as science communicators are likely to gain an advantage.

Are You Looking for New Talent?

Looking for sales and marketing talent that can weather the challenges of the “new normal”? Talk to the recruiters at SMR Group Ltd. Our experienced staffing partners specialize in connecting biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies with the best sales and marketing talent available. To learn more, reach out to us today.


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