Medical Sales Reps’ Favorite Feature of Their Jobs

An annual survey of medical sales representatives finds that a majority are satisfied with their profession. What do they like most about the job? Hint: it’s not money.

Marie Thibault

It’s not all about the Benjamins.

It might be easy to assume that money is the top reason driving a medical sales rep’s happiness with his or her job. After all, sales reps are incentivized using commission and pull in a healthy average annual pay of $141,464, according to the 2015 Medical Sales Salary Report by MedReps.com.

But results from MedReps.com’s 2016 Medical Sales Rep Job Satisfaction Study show that money isn’t even one of the top five reasons reps say they like their job.

What is number one? “Relationships with providers and patients” took the top spot, with 21% of survey respondents citing this as what they liked most about their sales job. Other big factors include “Autonomy/Flexibility,” “Ability to Make an Impact,” “Colleagues,” and “Product.”

Money was the sixth factor listed, with 6% of reps saying this is the biggest reason they like their job.

Conversely, money was the second highest reason reps cited for not liking their jobs. While most medical sales reps are happy at work—MedReps.com notes 72% of those surveyed said they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied—14% of respondents said “Management/Leadership” is what they like least about their jobs and 9% said “Money.”

What’s behind the negative focus on money? According to the analysis by MedReps.com, “Respondents giving this answer often expounded by describing a particularly limiting commission structure or a product/territory/management policy/etc. causing them to earn less than they feel they would be earning in another job. These added details suggest that money is usually a symptom of a bigger problem rather than the primary source of dissatisfaction.”

The Job Satisfaction Study was part of the 2016 Best Places to Work Report by MedReps.com. More than 1400 medical sales reps participated.

Click here to enlarge the infographic below to learn more or access the survey here.

Curious to learn more about how your salary compares to that of your peers? Download MD+DI’s 2015 Medtech Salary Survey. 

Marie Thibault is the associate editor at MD+DI. Reach her at [email protected] and on Twitter @medtechmarie. 

[Image courtesy of PAKORN/FREEDIGITALPHOTOS.NET ]