How To Become A Clinical Sales Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a clinical sales specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. John Hansen

Primarily, clinical sales specialists sell medical devices to healthcare providers. They travel to healthcare facilities to introduce products to prospective clients. They liaise with internal departments on the product features and functions. Furthermore, they train individual product users, professional teams, or healthcare departments on how to use the product. Additionally, they sign sales contracts, draft purchase orders, and oversee supply. Also, they maintain a network of existing customers and keep them updated about the product lines.

A minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent can get you qualified for the job. However, a bachelor's degree in a related discipline will be advantageous. You must have at least two years of sales experience in a related field. Key skills include communication, sales, presentation, and interpersonal skills. You may also need a valid driver's license. Clinical sales specialists earn an average salary of $53,130 annually. This ranges from $29,000 to $96,000.

What general advice would you give to a clinical sales specialist?

Dr. John Hansen

Professor and Director, Center for Sales Leadership, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Regarding the third question, the only real way to maximize your salary in sales is to perform well against the success metrics in place in your role. Sales is, for the most part, an outcome-based profession, meaning that pay increases (or decreases) based on outcomes attained. Whatever the success metrics are in the position one is currently in, they will maximize their income to the extent that they perform well in relation to these success metrics.

ScoreClinical Sales SpecialistUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,301

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.12%

Black or African American 3.81%

Hispanic or Latino 14.06%

Unknown 3.71%

White 73.07%

Gender

female 50.33%

male 49.67%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a clinical sales specialist

Explore clinical sales specialist education requirements

Most common clinical sales specialist degrees

Bachelor's

76.9 %

Associate

10.3 %

Master's

8.4 %

Start to develop specific clinical sales specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	15.02%
Customer Relationships	9.09%
Customer Service	9.01%
Healthcare Professionals	8.15%
Sales Process	5.94%

Complete relevant clinical sales specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New clinical sales specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a clinical sales specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real clinical sales specialist resumes.

Research clinical sales specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage central Texas territory, selling cardiovascular and diabetes medications to physician specialists and healthcare institutions.
Call points include: orthopedic surgery, general surgery, oncology, pulmonology, internal medicine/hospitalist, and pharmacy.
Provide account management for product portfolio in hospital-base environment; service cardiology, pulmonology, and psychiatric markets.
Develop territory from grind up and maintain effective customer relations in the Neuroscience market.

Prepare your clinical sales specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your clinical sales specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a clinical sales specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable clinical sales specialist resume templates

Build a professional clinical sales specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your clinical sales specialist resume.

Apply for clinical sales specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a clinical sales specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do clinical sales specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

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1 star

Clinical sales specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

I like helping people and physicians find out about products that can improve their lives. Company car is great too.

Cons

Some offices are just rude

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019