# Why are pharmaceutical sales staff all attractive women? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967 "2010-12-21T16:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/21 "2010-12-21T20:23:08Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > On what street are you hanging out? “Pssst…them pharma babes are HOT!! Pass it on!!!” > > Being a pathologist, I don’t get to see drug reps, but there are lab equipment and supply reps occasionally passing through, few if any of whom could be considered especially attractive. Except maybe for that one woman who worked for the cytology company, and I’m not sure what advantage that would have provided the firm, seeing as how most cytotechnologists are women and pathologists are getting to be fairly evenly split between men and women. But you buy the equipment, right? If the salesman job is to close deals, that skill is going to count for a lot more than looks. If the job is to get in the door and make you remember the product, then looks will count. Like car dealers. People go to a car dealer because of the car, not because a hot saleswoman is standing on the lot. / ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/22 "2010-12-21T20:23:26Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Given that the doctor has not _seen_ the salesperson yet, how is her being hot going to help there? Most doctors and staff know the reps by name after a few visits. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/23 "2010-12-21T20:47:35Z")
I wonder how much looks actually count for sales. I suppose they might have a slight edge, but I wonder if a lot of it is just “we want beautiful people selling beautiful things”. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/24 "2010-12-22T00:43:31Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I wonder how much looks actually count for sales. I suppose they might have a slight edge, but I wonder if a lot of it is just “we want beautiful people selling beautiful things”. Having attractive saleswomen doesn’t always work, though- I’m in electronics (and have been for some time) and there is definitely, in my experience in this part of the world, an attitude (from entirely too many people, including women) that electronic stuff is a male interest and that women don’t know anything about it. Obviously that’s not true, but I’ve worked in places with attractive female staff and it was worrying how often we’d get customers asking if “there was a man they could talk to” (we usually made sure there wasn’t), or saying to the saleswoman “No thanks, I’m just loo… hey, excuse me Mr. Salesman passing by at the same time, can you help me with this product?” The other thing which- and I know this isn’t going to be popular- but I haven’t met that many “Smoking Hot” women (as in, smoking hot to the average man on the street in a general context, as opposed to smoking hot to male gamers and computer geeks) who are actually seriously into games and computers. Many of the young women that I’ve met that are computer geeks and gamer chicks _tend_ to have a snarky/sarcastic/caustic attitude (or some other similar “major malfunction”) which can be funny, cute, or endearing if you like “Alternative Gaming Chicks”, but isn’t really suited for retail at a “mainstream” retailer. Obvious disclaimer time: I know that not all, or even most, gamer/computer chicks are anime obsessives with snarky/caustic attitudes who wear thick rimmed glasses and a lot of black T-shirts from bands no-one has ever heard of. But it’s certainly a popular perception and one that, IME, isn’t _completely_ unfounded. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/25 "2010-12-22T01:02:34Z")
I agree that this is the “word on the street”–that is, that there is a common notion that pharmaceutical reps detailing drugs to physician offices are frequently attractive young women. It’s not true that they all are or that it’s an absolute; some of our favorite reps in years past were simply personable, or capable, or set up nice lunches. 😉 Being attractive gets your foot in the door, in pharmaceuticals as well as many other sales industries. It’s different from a car dealer, where you go to the dealer. He is already in the room. In recent years, alas, the (literally) free lunches have mostly disappeared. Another sad story, and I’m sure all those folks who thought I was actually swayed by them so that I’d write a script for $60 instead of $6 can now rest in peace. FWIW, you need a lot more than your own “precious existence” as a beautiful young woman. If you are not articulate and bright and knowledgeable, your eye candy worthiness is not going to get you very far in the sales world, anywhere (but perhaps especially in the skeptical world of physicians). Attractive and well-dressed folks of both sexes are a nice start, though, in sales. Sorry about that, you hearty-eating, poorly-dressed, billy-bob teethed, comb-overed and seedily-tattooed wanna-bes. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/26 "2010-12-22T01:10:11Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > …Obviously that’s not true, but I’ve worked in places with attractive female staff and it was worrying how often we’d get customers asking if “there was a man they could talk to” (we usually made sure there wasn’t), or saying to the saleswoman “No thanks, I’m just loo… hey, excuse me Mr. Salesman passing by at the same time, can you help me with this product?”… I used to work at a discount department store which had a female hardware/automotive dept _manager_. I never worked in that department and didn’t have a clue about any of the merchandise. Even in the 21st century there are alot of men (especially older men) who’ll ignore the middle-aged woman (wearing a nametag saying _manager_) to ask a random teenage stockboy or cashier a bunch of technical questions. I’d politly tell them “I’m sorry I don’t know, why don’t you ask _her_ (while pointing), she’s a manager”. :rolleyes: Sometimes they’d get upset and just leave (or complain that I was “useless”). ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/27 "2010-12-22T02:17:47Z")
I know the pharma industry intimately, and the simple answer is the correct one. Getting time to see a doctor is a lot easier if the rep is attactive. Period. Male doctors for the most part like attractive females, and female doctors like attractive males. There are very few reps over 35. They are out there, but they are also very attractive 35 year olds. It is an unwritten, but strickly followed industry rule. Why? Because it works. Sex sells. And remember kids, in a capitalistic society, it’s \*\*\*always \*\*\*about the money. How this has never been a subject of a discrimination lawsuit amazes me, but I suspect the plaintiffs would not want to be known as too ugly/fat/old to be a sales rep. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/28 "2010-12-22T02:33:09Z")
Fact of life is that super attractive people are always more attractive and more memorable than run of the mill looking people. If that is the only difference, and you are trying to get noticed and remembered, it is a no brainer. It’s true in every walk of like, except when casting monsters for monster movies. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/29 "2010-12-22T02:39:44Z")
My mother is a physician, and she would say things like “I don’t care how good looking or persuasive you think you are, I don’t have time for most of this” they started sending good looking male reps to her, so plenty do exist. All were under 40 and they were all extremely good looking - conventionally good looking. All white. ETA: > [@Philster](#): > > Men selling Pharm to women docs and to get time from woman staffers: LUNCH. Bring in big lunches. Indirectly the staff is a customer, too. When in doubt, bring grilled chicken salad. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/30 "2010-12-22T13:39:04Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Fact of life is that super attractive people are always more attractive and more memorable than run of the mill looking people. If that is the only difference, and you are trying to get noticed and remembered, it is a no brainer. It’s true in every walk of like, except when casting monsters for monster movies. If being memorable is an important attribute of pharm reps, [this guy](http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/Young%20Frankenstein.jpg) missed his calling. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/31 "2010-12-22T13:42:42Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > But you buy the equipment, right? Nope. I have some input but the hospital (including women execs) makes the decision. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/32 "2010-12-22T13:52:53Z")
A friend of mine is a pharma rep. She’s a cute little thing (with huge… tracts of land). And she sold hard-on pills very successfully before being promoted. Coincidence? Doubt it. I should also add that she’s a type-A personality and deceptively intelligent (if you buy into the hottie=idiot paradigm). This chick will talk biochem with the best of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/33 "2010-12-22T13:55:25Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Having attractive saleswomen doesn’t always work, though- I’m in electronics (and have been for some time) and there is definitely, in my experience in this part of the world, an attitude (from entirely too many people, including women) that electronic stuff is a male interest and that women don’t know anything about it. I see that in management / technology consulting as well. Firms will hire attractive young women mostly as window dressing, but we don’t really expect them to actually do any real work. One firm I worked for in the 90s hired a lot of attractive HR reps and “culture directors” (sort of like a “nerd wrangler” I guess). Using attractive men and women to represent your company isn’t exactly about selling sex. At least not directly in a “this person will have sex with me” way. It’s about painting an image that this company or product IS sexy. That it reflects the lifestyle you want to be a part of. The flip side of attractiveness is that sometimes people don’t take you seriously as anything but a pretty marketing rep. At my old firm, the partner who ran my group was one of the models they use for the 8’ tall carboard advertising cutouts and magazine ads. You know, the ones where they show some attractive man or woman in a suit staring up at a ladder, shaking hands or looking thoughtful with captions like “integrity”, “quality”, “handshakitude” below them? Well, the staff would routinely take his ad photo and replace the caption with amusing words like “facial hair” or “handsomeness”. And for all intents and purposes they should have had his billboard lead the practice as effective as he was. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Many of the young women that I’ve met that are computer geeks and gamer chicks _tend_ to have a snarky/sarcastic/caustic attitude (or some other similar “major malfunction”) which can be funny, cute, or endearing if you like “Alternative Gaming Chicks”, but isn’t really suited for retail at a “mainstream” retailer. > > Obvious disclaimer time: I know that not all, or even most, gamer/computer chicks are anime obsessives with snarky/caustic attitudes who wear thick rimmed glasses and a lot of black T-shirts from bands no-one has ever heard of. But it’s certainly a popular perception and one that, IME, isn’t _completely_ unfounded. As attractive as she is, IRL, companies don’t really want a sarcastic, acerbic Ellen Page character. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/34 "2010-12-22T14:10:52Z")
I seem to recall reading somewhere that pharma companies often try to recruit reps who’d been college cheerleaders, male and female, as they’re generally not only physically attractive, but also bubbly, outgoing, engaging, well groomed, wholesome looking, etc. Makes some sense I guess, since the office staff they have to get past to see the doctor is still usually female. If you’re super hot but can’t connect w/people you might not get too far. Of course showing up w/ breakfast/lunch for them must help too, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/35 "2010-12-25T14:55:10Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I used to work at a discount department store which had a female hardware/automotive dept _manager_. I never worked in that department and didn’t have a clue about any of the merchandise. Even in the 21st century there are alot of men (especially older men) who’ll ignore the middle-aged woman (wearing a nametag saying _manager_) to ask a random teenage stockboy or cashier a bunch of technical questions. I’d politly tell them “I’m sorry I don’t know, why don’t you ask _her_ (while pointing), she’s a manager”. :rolleyes: Sometimes they’d get upset and just leave (or complain that I was “useless”). The exact opposite happens in libraries all the time. People will sheepishly come up and ask me “Where’s the lady who’s _supposed_ to sit here?” When I explain that I’m in charge and I can answer their question, they freak out and a lot of them just leave. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/36 "2010-12-25T15:08:10Z")
I have a niece who is a pharm rep and she is not only gorgeous, but charming and it all helps. Her mother–my sister–is also gorgeous, although a bit long in the tooth these days. She sells jewelry and one year was the top selling salesman in the entire Caldwell chain. Men would come into the store to ask for her (and sometimes the other salesmen would tell them she was no longer there). She is also charming. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/37 "2010-12-25T17:32:34Z")
I have only ever known two pharma reps. They were both attractive women in their twenties who openly admitted to taking the job becuase they wanted to marry a doctor. Not girls I hung out with much, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967/38 "2010-12-25T21:50:01Z")
My organization trains pharmaceutical reps in OIG guidelines, and it is true that pharma (and it is ‘pharma’ not ‘pharm’ guys) reps are generally more attractive than average, slightly taller, predominantly caucasian, under 35, and relatively well-spoken. And while not all reps are women, the majority are. One of the most difficult parts of a rep’s job is getting his or her foot in the door, and that is only becoming more difficult. Physical attractiveness, sex appeal, whatever you want to call it, is the primary weapon in most rep’s arsenals to ensure they get in the door. However, sex appeal aside, a doctor, or his or her AA, is more likely to say yes to a visit during a cold call if the rep is a woman, even if the doctor is a woman. Because of restrictions on gifts, extravagant lunch spreads, and drug samples, pharmaceutical companies are looking for innovative ways to promote and detail, and are reducing the number of reps in their stables. Those who remain will be the ones with the best numbers, and the ones with the best numbers are the ones who have what it takes to get their feet in the door in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pharmaceutical-sales-staff-all-attractive-women/564967.md?page=1)