How to Negotiate a Medical Sales Job Offer

You've been offered the job. The company wants you, you're interested in the opportunity, but there's one final question to deal with: is the package right?

Negotiating a job offer doesn't have to mean playing games, automatically asking for more or trying to squeeze every last pound out of the employer.

Sometimes the offer is fair and there's nothing to negotiate. Sometimes there's a genuine gap between what has been offered and what you would need to make the move worthwhile.

The important thing is to understand the whole package, know what you've already discussed during the recruitment process and, if you do want to negotiate, have a clear reason for what you're asking for.

Start With the Whole Package

Basic salary is important, but don't look at it in isolation.

This is particularly relevant in medical sales, where two roles with the same basic salary can have very different overall packages.

Depending on the position, you may need to consider:

• Basic salary
• Bonus or commission
• How achievable the bonus is and how it is calculated
• Company car or car allowance
• Pension
• Private healthcare
• Annual leave
• Other benefits
• Travel and overnight requirements
• Home, field and office working arrangements
• When salary and bonus are reviewed

If you're comparing an offer with your existing package, compare like with like.

A higher basic salary doesn't necessarily mean you'll be financially better off if you're giving up a strong bonus, valuable benefits or a company car. Equally, a similar basic salary could represent a worthwhile increase if the overall package is stronger.

Know What the Market Is Paying

It's useful to have a realistic idea of what similar roles are paying before deciding whether an offer is competitive.

Job adverts and online salary information can give you a starting point, but MedTech salaries can vary considerably depending on the role, product area, level of experience, geography and type of business.

A specialist recruiter who regularly works in your market should also be able to give you an indication of the salaries and packages they're currently seeing for comparable roles.

Market information is useful context. It isn't proof that every employer should pay exactly the same amount.

A Territory Manager with an established high-value territory may have a very different package from somebody joining a business to build a new territory from scratch. Two jobs with similar titles can involve very different levels of responsibility.

Use market information to establish whether the offer is broadly reasonable rather than simply finding the highest salary you can find online and using it as your benchmark.

Remember What You've Already Said

This is one of the most important parts of negotiating an offer.

Salary expectations are usually discussed long before the offer stage.

If you've told the recruiter and employer throughout the process that you would be happy with £55,000 and the company offers £55,000, suddenly asking for £60,000 is likely to raise a reasonable question: what's changed?

There may be a perfectly good answer.

You may have learned more about the travel involved. The bonus may be lower than you originally understood. Your current salary may have changed during the process. You may have received another offer. Or the responsibilities may have turned out to be broader than they initially appeared.

If something has changed, explain it.

What causes problems is moving the goalposts at the end of the process without being able to explain why.

Don't Negotiate Just Because You Think You're Supposed To

There's plenty of career advice suggesting you should never accept the first offer.

We don't think it's that simple.

If you've been clear about what you want, the employer has met or exceeded it and the overall package is competitive, you don't have to ask for more simply to prove that you can negotiate.

There is nothing wrong with accepting a good offer.

On the other hand, if the offer is below what was discussed, the package is different from what you expected or you've identified something that genuinely changes the value of the move, it's entirely reasonable to have a conversation.

Be Clear About What You're Asking For

If you do want to negotiate, decide what you actually want before starting the conversation.

Don't simply say:

"I was hoping for a bit more."

Explain what you're asking for and why.

For example, you might have discovered that the role involves considerably more travel than your current position, or the bonus opportunity is lower than your existing scheme.

You may feel your experience puts you towards the upper end of the range discussed for the role.

Whatever your reason, keep it relevant to the opportunity and the package rather than turning the conversation into a list of personal expenses.

And be realistic. Negotiating from £55,000 to £57,000 is a very different conversation from trying to move an employer from £55,000 to £70,000 after completing the entire recruitment process at the lower figure.

If You're Working With a Recruiter, Speak to Them First

If a recruiter has introduced you to the opportunity, talk to them before going directly back to the employer.

They may have information that you don't.

They might know whether there is flexibility in the salary range, whether you're already at the top of the approved budget or whether another part of the package has more room for negotiation.

They can also give you an objective view of the offer.

Sometimes we'll tell a candidate that we think there is a reasonable case for asking for more.

Sometimes we'll tell them the opposite: the employer has offered what was discussed, the package is competitive and we wouldn't recommend pushing it simply for the sake of negotiating.

Having that conversation before responding can prevent misunderstandings on both sides.

If the Basic Salary Can't Move, What Else Can?

Sometimes an employer simply can't increase the basic salary.

That doesn't necessarily mean the conversation is over.

Depending on the company and role, there may be flexibility elsewhere in the package.

You could ask whether there is any movement around:

• Car allowance
• Bonus or commission arrangements
• Annual leave
• Working arrangements
• Start date
• A future salary review
• Training or professional development

Not every employer will be able or willing to change these either. The point is to understand what matters most to you rather than focusing automatically on basic salary alone.

If you're agreeing to a future salary review, make sure you understand when it will happen and what it will be based on. "We'll look at it in six months" is much less useful than a clear agreement about the timing and criteria.

Don't Let a Small Difference Derail the Right Move

Salary matters. So does knowing when a relatively small difference has become disproportionately important.

If you've found a role that gives you the products, territory, manager, progression, working environment and earning potential you're looking for, think carefully before walking away over a small gap in basic salary.

Equally, don't accept a package that you're genuinely unhappy with because you're worried that asking a reasonable question will make the employer withdraw the offer.

Look at the move as a whole.

Will the role take your career in the direction you want? Is the earning potential realistic? Are you comfortable with the travel and territory? Do you believe you'll work well with the manager? Are the products and company right for you?

The best-paid job isn't automatically the best career move, but neither should you ignore a package that doesn't reflect the role you're being asked to do.

Get the Final Offer Confirmed

If anything changes during negotiation, make sure the final package is confirmed clearly before you resign from your current role.

Check the details rather than relying on assumptions, particularly around bonus or commission.

If you're unclear about how the scheme works, ask.

Understand when you're eligible to earn bonus, whether there are thresholds, when payments are made and whether any part of the scheme is discretionary.

The same applies to car arrangements, benefits, working patterns or anything else that matters to your decision.

You should know what you're accepting before you hand in your notice.

A Good Negotiation Shouldn't Feel Like a Battle

By the time an offer is made, both sides should want broadly the same thing: to find a package that allows the candidate to accept the role and feel comfortable with the decision.

That doesn't mean every request will be agreed.

It does mean you can have an open conversation about what you need, what the employer can offer and whether the two are close enough to make the move work.

Know the market. Understand the whole package. Be consistent about your expectations and, if you ask for something different, explain why.

And remember that successful negotiation doesn't necessarily mean getting the employer to increase their first offer.

Sometimes it means looking at everything on the table and recognising that you've already been offered a good deal.