How do you see your sales reps, are they underachievers or overachievers? Do you motivate them enough or too much? Do you understand that in many circumstances they represent the most important link in your entire product chain? Get ready to answer a number of these questions as the pharmaceutical sales industry undergoes a process of reinvention. Salesforce effectiveness and the importance of effective implementation are more valuable than ever and a critical analysis by the pharmaceutical consultant must be made, of all practices employed hitherto. It’s time to realise that we must be more focused when it comes to communicating with the professional end user, but we also need to look inwardly and reinterpret the role of the sales rep as an individual contributor, taking into account all the different motivators and the things that drive them forward, professionally.
Many companies think that they should deploy their sales representatives with as tight a focus as possible. Pharmaceutical marketing training revolves around specific products and given approaches. Why is it that some companies believe that their sales representatives are incapable of “multitasking,” as if their efficiency trails off when they have to focus on more than one product? From listening to the professional prescriber, the pharmaceutical consultancy knows that they often complain about being overloaded, having to meet with too many of these various sales representatives and as a consequence feel that the entire process is not personal enough. Remember, that the doctor has an enormous number of different products to focus on and therefore it would be far more productive if the meeting with the pharma sales rep was able to cover a broader range of product solutions. It’s up to the pharmaceutical consultancy to help the company move towards this different approach. Of course, this might not work in every market, or even within certain routes or product areas, but a process of analysis must be undertaken to see what can be done.
Each member of the sales team must be analysed to see what makes them work well. Compensation is of course a powerful motivator, but unless you know what makes them “tick” and what is important to him or her, there’s a danger that you can completely miss the target with compensation. The uniform package will definitely not work and you should avoid an “adequate” approach at all times. If targets and bonuses are within easy reach of the individual, that person is not likely to be sufficiently motivated to help the company reach its absolute goal. While compensation is a very big issue for every organisation, it must be approached very carefully.
It’s also essential to treat a sales representative carefully, as very often the personal inter-communication between this person and the healthcare professional can make a difference in total productivity. In most cases, pharmaceutical marketing training should be able to reveal each individual’s dominant strengths and work to support them by providing the necessary resources and products. The pharmaceutical consultant should analyse the interaction with the end-user, to provide the information necessary to make this kind of decision.
Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.