Leverage The Power Of A Sales Force In Three Steps

An Ipsos Minute with Elys Roberts, President and CEO, Ipsos Insight Health

Q: Regarding the “patient as consumer” how do pharmaceutical companies connect with this patient as consumer?

Elys: As mentioned, there’s an explosion of medical information – so much information, so many studies, so many new medications, treatments, and therapies, new disease areas that are starting to be understood, new mechanisms, new systems, etc. –and there’s a limit to what consumers can absorb. Physicians continue to bridge the gap for many consumers. 

Much of pharmaceutical companies’ marketing tactics are directed at physicians who in turn connect with their patients – who now play an active role as health consumers.

Q: Is sales force effectiveness a priority for pharmaceutical companies today?

Elys: Definitely. Five to seven percent of pharmaceutical companies’ total revenue goes to supporting their sales forces – about $875 million per year. Some companies individually spend as much as $2.5 billion.  The sales force is a substantial investment for these companies and, obviously, it’s a huge priority for their sales team to be as efficient and effective as possible.

The size of sales forces has increased over the years, so it’s more difficult for pharmaceutical reps to get time with physicians, and they’re often promoting within highly competitive therapeutic areas. It’s very important that sales reps make the most efficient use of the little time they have to deliver their message.

Companies are using different approaches to get their message across – some are tailoring messages to specific groups of physicians, some are using electronic detailing approaches and others have tailored roles for specific representatives.

Q: What should pharmaceutical companies be doing to make their sales forces more effective?

Elys: What’s critical is determining the most effective strategy to use in physicians’ offices and then tracking sales force performance on key detailing tactics. Not all elements of the detail are equally effective. 

Companies need to know what is driving field force success and ensure they stay competitive. They also need to continually gauge how they are performing relative to competitive field forces.

To do this, they need to assess the effectiveness of their messages and tools at communicating the benefits of their product, determine whether or not their messages are being conveyed, and ascertain whether physicians remember these messages. It is also important to determine how their sales force is performing in terms of relationship building and overall service delivery; whether physicians think the sales reps are staying on top of the latest developments, providing superior service and knowledge, building a solid rapport, and whether the sales reps are using physicians’ time productively.

Finally, it’s also critical to consider the perspective of the field force members themselves. Sales force effectiveness hinges on the buy-in of reps and district sales managers. Understanding how the sales force feels about the messages, tools, and tactics they’re employing – to what degree they feel ready to deliver these messages, whether they feel adequately trained, and to what degree they buy into these messages – is invaluable in determining whether the field force is using the detailing tactics and strategies effectively.

Q: How do you advise clients who want to monitor and improve the performance of their sales force?

Elys: What’s critical is determining the most effective strategy to use in physicians’ offices and then tracking sales force performance on key detailing tactics. Not all elements of the detail are equally effective. 

Companies need to know what is driving field force success and ensure they stay competitive. They also need to continually gauge how they are performing relative to competitive field forces.

We help them look at sales force effectiveness from three different vantage points, so they can discover what is working and what isn’t, and isolate solid and appropriate tactics to better equip their sales forces.

• The first vantage point is via post detailing surveys with physicians. We contact physicians within days of a sales rep’s visit to examine the degree to which the messages are remembered, how the tactics and tools were employed, and the physician’s perception of their rep’s performance.
• The second view is a detailed look at the relationship between reps and physicians. We’ve done a lot of qualitative research to determine critical areas for rating a sales force versus competitors to identify areas for improvement and training.
• The third vantage point is through a rep readiness examination that looks at representatives’ perceptions of sales messages, tactics, and tools.

Regardless of the vantage point, we feel it is critical to determine the importance of each element of the detail in drive field force success. We have an overall measure of sales force performance that takes into account the relative importance of these tactics. This performance measure is normative, trackable and adapts to the changing nature of companies’ Plans of Action. 

Clients can benchmark sales force effectiveness against key competitors, against other internal field forces and track sales force performance over time.

Q: How can pharmaceutical sales forces keep up with the changing environment in pharmaceutical drugs?

Elys: Where there is some sort of market disruption, such as a new entrant into the category, negative product or category publicity, or other competitive threats, the best tactic is to investigate ways to adjust the messages being conveyed by the sales force.

Finally, in the pharmaceutical arena, you should know what works and what doesn’t in terms of message delivery, sales force effectiveness, and how to convey strategic messages for different products. You need to look at the issue from multiple vantage points and your analytics should allow you to look beyond the surface to determine what is truly important in detailing.  Also you should understand the need to have a summary measure of sales force success that adapts to changes in messages, tools and tactics.

(Abstract from the source: “Leverage the Power of a Sales Force in Three Steps” │An Ipsos Minute with Elys Roberts, President and CEO, Ipsos Insight Health –www.ipsosight.com │Ipsos Minute – February 2008)