Mapping the Sales Journey: Understanding the Obstacles Medical Representatives Face During Physician Engagement in Legazpi City

Abstract

This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study mapped the physician sales journey of medical representatives in Legazpi City and examined the obstacles, contextual variations, adaptive practices, and developmental meanings that shape physician engagement. Sixteen actively practicing medical representatives were selected through purposeful criterion-based and maximum-variation sampling. Data were generated through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, demographic questionnaires, field notes, reflexive journaling, and research memos, and were interpreted through thematic analysis supported by phenomenological reduction, bracketing, within-case analysis, and cross-case comparison. Obstacles occurred across the entire journey: preparation was weakened by information and time limitations; access was constrained by physician time, institutional gates, and competition; face-to-face detailing required compressed communication; follow-up was affected by structural and information gaps; and prescription conversion encountered loyalty, habit, and evidence barriers. Public hospitals presented stronger administrative barriers, whereas private settings intensified competition for physician time. Representatives responded through cognitive resilience, behavioral adaptation, and organizational navigation. Novices tended to personalize rejection and reported more limited networks and confidence, whereas experienced representatives interpreted barriers more systemically and used broader, proactive coping resources. The study concludes that physician engagement is a cumulative relational process in which professional resilience and identity develop through repeated experience. The findings support structured mentoring, field coaching, ethical scientific communication, standardized access procedures, and resilience-oriented professional development.