In the world of pharmaceutical sales, few know more about what it takes to succeed than Sarah Taylor. A top performing sales representative and trainer who went on to write the best selling Secrets of Successful Pharmaceutical Salespeople (Taylor Presentations, 2004), Taylor understands that sales professionals play a critical role in greasing the wheels of the health care system to help physicians provide patients with the best possible care.

In an effort to uncover and disseminate "best practices" across the pharmaceutical sales field, Taylor recently launched "Success Stories," a series of articles for Pharmaceutical Representative Magazine featuring interviews with top performing representatives, managers, trainers, managed care specialists, or even doctors, highlighting "which habits, traits, and competencies propel a rep to the top of his or her company."

One recent interview subject, Shawna Hankins, is an area sales manager for InVentiv Health who has been recognized as a Circle of Excellence award winner for her team’s sales performance and her consistent ability to hire exceptional representatives. Asked by Taylor for the best predictor of success in a prospective sales representative, Hankins didn’t hesitate before coming up with an answer: past performance.

"Regardless of whether the candidate has been in pharmaceuticals or in sales, [past performance] is a strong predictor of success," Hankins says. "If a person’s past performance has been consistently exceptional, then the likelihood of future success is high."

Once a rep is on board, Hankins says there are two key attributes that she finds in virtually all of her top sales performers. The first is a trait she refers to as "fluidity."

"Fluidity is the ability of the representative to ‘go with the flow’ and not become disrupted by constant change, such as new target lists, reporting criteria, access issues, and managed care," Hankins says. "The fluidity of exceptional reps allows them to discover opportunities regardless of the objections they receive, while others often get caught up in variables that are out of their control."

The other key attribute Hankins identifies is passion. Whereas reps who tend toward complacency typically experience average or below average market share growth, she says, those with a passion and confidence in their products are substantially more likely to enjoy provider buy-in. "In my experience," she says, "there is a direct correlation between representatives who passionately sell their product through science, build relationships, and maintain a positive attitude and those who become award-winning representatives."

Despite the turmoil facing many in the industry, and in particular the new PhRMA guidelines that went into effect earlier this year, Hankins believes that these same traits will continue to produce success among pharmaceutical sales professionals. In fact, she says, the new guidelines should help top performers all the more, by allowing the most talented and capable reps to showcase their ability to articulate scientific information, cultivate relationships, and actively listen for the underlying concerns that providers genuinely care about. Whereas more average reps, who relied on giving away premium items or treating physicians to expensive meals, won’t be able to maintain even their current performance levels, she argues.

"Honestly, it’s a pleasure to go ‘back to the basics,’" Hankins says, "when all a representative had to sell with was a package insert. The bottom line is that doctors prescribe products from representatives whom they trust and respect, and who can demonstrate how a product will bring value to their patients. Delivering value is really what the PhRMA guidelines are all about."