Some of them look intimidating with their Hi-Tech gadgets waiting in line to see the medical practitioner. But don't let the looks fool you because they are there just to promote medicine or ‘drugs' that cure diseases or relieve ailments.

That's all they do.

If you're familiar with names like Roche, Pfizer and Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK) then these are some of the big companies that employ people to sell their products which include pharmaceutical products.

They targeted specific medical area like Cardiovascular, Internal Medicine or Intensive Care. And for every area there is selected drug and people promoting it. Maybe for smaller pharmaceutical companies, fewer people sell more products and cover larger areas of specialties.

That is common. And many of these Sales Rep are driven by money: high salary, higher incentives and multiple perks, and that's why many of them, during their working life, jump from company to company going after the bigger and better Pay Master.

But reward is just simply the result of effort.

Many did not realize this. That's why they keep searching for the next best Pharma Company and the next best salary offer.

In ancient wisdom, it's like putting the cart before the horse. And that's against common sense.

I have been in and out of several companies myself during my 12 years of service (or ‘rapping' as they like to call it). Average years I've spent with one company is about 5 years, and that according to my humble judgment is long enough to learn specific ‘competencies'.

For example, I stayed with Roche Pharmaceuticals for 5 years. During these years I served mainly the Government and Private Hospitals sectors. I cover almost every main clinical specialty like Cardiovascular, Psychiatric and Geriatric. And then I make my move to Pfizer where there was an opening for General Practitioner and Retail Pharmacy sectors.

I spent another 5 years there.

But the best thing is, due to my competencies and attributes which I acquired previously, I was promoted to managerial level right after my first year service.

That would not have happened if I didn't gain anything from my previous employment with Roche selling pharmaceutical drug. Obviously that experience counts.

And that's common sense.

The result that I've produced speaks for itself. It's a proof that I'm capable. And I can proudly say that many of my top selling pharmaceutical products achievements happen without ‘hard-sell' tactics.

And again that's common sense too.

I know I need to hit my budget and please my often ‘pushy' bosses but it never crossed my minds putting my interest before my customers'.

If I do thing, always it is because of my customers' interest. I find that by doing this sincerely and with persistence, the result and the incentives follow. I just take care of the horses and the cart just moves along smoothly.

I am proving it again with a new company I joined early March last year, selling medical diagnostics products. And I'm happy to report that by the end of 2008, even though I joined the company a quarter later, I brought back 70% of the incentives allocated.

All by just sticking to the basic and what makes sense.

I strongly believe if you just stay with the basics and apply the common sense test every step of the way, you can climb the ladder to success in selling pharmaceutical products.