Corporate Sales in Medical Industry (Hospital)

The Job Application
Well, I have always been fascinated with the medical industry and hospitals. Which was why when I spotted job openings for this relatively-new and posh hospital in town, I sent in my application as a for corporate sales / services positions.

The job sounded important - to acquire and grow corporate clienteles for the hospital, managing the portfolio, and servicing the accounts under me. I never knew that hospitals actually had sales teams, and hence had thought this role was rather new. I was excited to develop business for such a pioneer role, and was sure I could convince the companies to sign up with this hospital.

I got the job after two rounds of interviews, so I was elated. The pay was not much to speak of, honestly, but I would be drawing commission on top of the basic package, right?

First Day of Work
Like the law firms, the hospital appeared elegant and posh from the exterior, even at lobby level (think marble floors, gleaming elevators and a grand piano) - ok, the wards looked good too. However, the working area was just another cluster of tables, folders and wooden cabinets.

There was an entire department doing this, and we were divided into sections covering different parts of the country - north, central, east and west zonal segregation. Newbies like myself were placed into an orientation cum welcome program that lasted for a few days, in which we would familiarize ourselves with the different departments in the hospital, the key persons in each department that we had to take note of, product and services knowledge, and of course our individual job roles.

I made quite a few friends at this program.

The Days Went By
With orientation completed, it was time to put me out into the field - oh well, after setting up my desk and computer systems, of course.

So I had to update the company's internal system with protocols and instructions for all the clinics across the country to follow. It was an integrated system, and ours was a medical facility with many clinic branches outside of this hospital building itself.

Then I paid social visits to the existing clients under my portfolio to introduce myself. After that, they would start addressing their queries or complains to me, which I would handle accordingly.

I also had to upsell them.  For instance, if they have signed up to use our services, their staff need not make payment on the spot. We would consolidate the medical chits and send invoices to clients accordingly. But the package most companies signed up for were usually the basic services such as consultation and medication, and maybe hospitalization benefits.

It was my job to persuade the clients to add on to their suite of services - such as annual healthchecks, various immunity vaccinations, or to include dental check-ups as benefits too.

The best part of my job, though, was to handle complaints or complications. These cases required me to do investigation, and I could get creative. Then I would harass the other departments for clarification before drafting reasonable settlements or furnishing explanation to clients.

Besides taking care of existing clients, I also had to source for new corporate clients through online research or referrals. For the prospects who were currently under other medical groups, we would attempt to pry their business over. After all, we were an established group.

When the important guests such as CEOs and directors of companies, or High Net Worth clients came for their healthscreening or consultations, I would also arrange for the proper "meet and greet" services to be engaged, ensuring they had a pleasant, smooth and flawless visit. If they were warded, we would pay courtesy visits as well.

The End
I mingled with my own teammates after a short period of isolation so as to observe them. Our department was rather close-knitted, so whenever any of us were coming back from appointments, we would buy snacks for the department.

It was also vital to build really good relationships with the people from other departments. We liaised with them very frequently, especially when our clients had special requests or negative feedback. I loved the efficiency at which we operated.

I also learned a lot from this job, especially understanding the medical procedures, tests and medicine names. It left me disenchanted though, that the medical industry was no longer a noble profession about saving / healing people. I learned that many of the departments and clinics tried to hardsell extra services (i.e. healthscreening packages or aesthetics services) or supplements to patients so as to boost up sales figure.

Yes, we are talking about medical centres and profits these days.

I guess that is what every corporation is about these days.

Anyway, I have completed my part-time degree, and the department had new heads who tried to flaunt authority around. Hence, I left for better paying career that would give me more attractive career advancement as well.

It was fun while it lasted, though, if I may say so.