NEW DIMENSIONS FOR PHARMA SALES MANAGEMENT
- The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is undergoing drastic transformational change.
Shrinking margins, increasing pressure from regulators, demographic shifts, expiring patents,
focus on generics, growth of bio-similars, addressing ethical concerns, tackling emerging markets and
leveraging technology including digitization are just a few of the issues that pharmaceutical companies are grappling with.
- These challenges are impacting organizational strategies, systems and processes in a big way and are making it
imperative for companies to have the right organizational structure and appropriate skills in place. In a highly cluttered and fragmented market,
the need to select, train, engage and retain the right people assumes great importance.
- Many companies are investing in upgrading the competencies of the front-line sales team to map customer potential,
expand the prescriber base, develop new markets, aggressively push new products, strategically sell to large institutions, focus on
retail penetration, tackle local companies who offer huge deals and discounts as also match the innovation and scientific prowess of multi-national corporations.
- Sales Managers will need to focus on enhancing the scientific
knowledge and communication skills of the field force to ensure a good in-clinic
persuasion factor and a high impact sales call. Most doctors are getting selective
about the number and kind of sales professionals they interact with and look for the right return on time invested.
- Certain sales territories that were performing below par in the past were largely ignored since the overall going was good for the company.
However with the increase in pressure on margins, the focus will shift to turning around these weak territories by identifying and addressing the challenges and opportunities,
and working out specific and focused action plans with aggressive time-lines.
- The attrition rate of medical representatives in the first year continues to be high and managers will need to identify and eliminate the obstacles faced by them,
cultivate the spirit of ownership and nurture the thought that that they need to give more than they get even as they strive to build a career in an industry that offers tremendous opportunities
to demonstrate and harness leadership potential for future success.
- To generate the right return on investment on training budgets, Sales Managers will need to provided inputs on Performance Coaching to develop the Front-Line Managers and improve
the on-field performance capabilities of the not-so-effective team members on pre-determined metrics including higher sales achievement, better brand performance, improved processes, increased call coverage, reduced attrition, etc.
- As pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations enter unchartered territory in a changing marketplace, they will seek strategic counsel and capable teams to identify suitable responses and sustainable models of growth.
For some the challenge will be too great; for others, this period of change will mark the beginning of a new journey of growth.
