Affiliate Silver Bullet Review

Maybe for the first time, the pharmaceutical company can no longer depend on the phrase “bigger is better,” as it once was the case that the more people who heard the message, the greater the return. At one time, pharmaceutical companies used to look at each other and judge effectiveness based on how big the workforce was, as more volume would undoubtedly lead to enhanced revenue and a more than fruitful rate of return at the bottom line. All this approach resulted in was market saturation and this occurred even as the market was reinventing itself, anyway. There is more emphasis now on “niche” products and marketability and as such there is more demand for dedicated training and focus, rather than a blanket approach to the issue. As we come to the stark realisation that sales force effectiveness is far more important than sales force size, we realise that if we don’t take action, such inefficiency could prove highly detrimental.

These days, pharmaceutical sales training falls into two definite categories — education relating to the product itself and technical training in the area of sales and marketing technique, with the emphasis on the latest cutting-edge approaches. The salesperson should not forget that the ultimate goal is to win, but it’s no good accepting a signature on a sales contract at whatever cost. The value of the new contract must be assessed in terms of its strategic goal and logistical impact, quite apart from its economic benefit. Sometimes, a profitable sale “on paper” might turn into a very different outcome, when other factors are assessed.

These days there is not so much difference between success and failure, as margins are so thin and therefore sales force effectiveness is a highly important metric. Knowledgeable consultants understand how important this element of pharmaceutical sales training is and how they should focus on high levels of morale, productive engagement and less waste among the sales force. Remember that correct motivation involves far more than just the establishment and availability of monetary bonuses. Indeed, sometimes financial compensation is not a primary driver and the organisation must be able to determine what really pushes each individual on the sales force. Be careful not to set a goal that is deemed to be relatively easy to accomplish, as a salesperson might subconsciously “throttle back” as significant progress is accomplished.

Sales force effectiveness can have a high impact on not only volume, but thin margins and high costs, so individual performance can have a ‘knock on’ effect in other areas. An organisation can start by assessing its current situation, looking at the metrics used to determine success or otherwise and how these very metrics may, by themselves, be contributory to the problem. Correct sizing of the sales force is so important, with territorial allocation and parameters such as “share of voice” optimised. How many sales calls does the salesperson make on any given day and is an inordinate amount of time spent travelling or on other non-productive activities?

Every moment that a salesperson spends with the client, whether detailing or otherwise, should be optimised as part of a revised approach to key account management training.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

To establish market superiority in the pharmaceutical sales business requires a large degree of analysis and the establishment of certain criteria to enable the training consultant to analyse effectively and to get the most out of the sales force resource. It’s certainly possible to achieve significant and top class performance, so long as the client listens to the consultant and defines important benchmarks and abilities. Accurate measurement must be possible, otherwise abilities cannot be assessed, goals may not be set and individuals will be left floundering. It is therefore important that the pharmaceutical company understands and helps to develop the framework at the outset.

When certain sales targets have been identified, marketing positions that are specific to those goals must be designed. It is important to understand what is expected of each role and to clarify the individual’s responsibility and methodology. It is likely that each role within an organisation will retain certain uniform competencies, which could be regarded as core principles, but it is very important to accurately define the competencies that are specific to the role and thus must be mastered by the individuals so assigned.

As a rule of thumb, pharmaceutical sales training should take into account cutting edge methodology and utilise the experience and ability of the consultant organisation to best effect. Selling skills have become more advanced and rely less on pure number crunching and goal orientation, but rather focus on personal interaction with the buying entity. To pick up specific product knowledge, pertinent to the individual’s objective, requires a salesperson to have a clear understanding of the buyer’s position and the variety of external factors that could influence his or her decision, when it comes to decision time.

The salesperson must be fully aware of where his or her employer stands from an overall perspective, certainly in relation to the brand position and this is where pharmaceutical sales training comes into its own. The consultant imparts to the salesperson how the market is made up, how certain levels of strategic marketing can best push the brand and how the most modern communication methods can help.

Today’s salesperson must be very good at communicating and understand the intricacies of public relations. We could go so far as to say that the relationship between the buyer and seller in the modern pharmaceutical industry is based more upon an exchange of information. Often, very subtle and difficult to determine factors may influence the buying decision, and the salesperson must try and understand these.

As an account is designated as principal and very important for the pharmaceutical company’s ongoing performance, key account management training must ensure that those individuals who deal with that particular account are trained in the intricacies. Standard sales and closing skills will not be sufficient alone and more focused and specific skill sets could be required. The pharmaceutical company must understand that the key account is looking for more than might be immediately obvious and that a straightforward, two-way interaction is not sufficient for success. Other than the particular person responsible for face-to-face relations with the key account, everybody involved must understand the delicacy of dealing with the account and that there may be some special techniques needed, if an ultimately successful relationship is to be enjoyed with this client.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

Are we to believe the analogy that “the customer is always right,” under every circumstance? To extend this analogy we could assume that we need to pay an equal amount of the utmost attention to every client, all the time? A considerable amount of resources are necessary to service accounts that we would ultimately classify as “key,” and if we believe our first statement, we should put all this effort into each and every account. Of course, in reality, not all accounts are created equally and some accounts will mean more to the organisation than others. We could go so far as to say that some accounts are not really critical to the survival of the business, but that others are fundamentally so. The quandary that we face is to accurately determine the correct position of each account. How is it possible to accurately determine and consequently service, allocating resources correctly and effectively? We know that key account management is a skill that must be mastered, but in truth many organisations do not have the skill set, experience, education or resources to be able to identify and consequently manage these clients.

There are many definitions of key account management but fundamentally it is the process of handling significant accounts by offering them a consistent package of products or services that are entirely tailored to their requirements. This sounds rather simplistic and in truth is dependent on many rather complex and interrelated factors. Many a sleepless night could be spent by a company executive, when trying to establish a set of factors that determine how to progress effectively. For example, some customers could be seeking additional value as a consequence of selecting preferred suppliers. As they do this, they seek information that could help them strategically, look for partners to help them with certain projects, or sophisticated levels of economic financing. Ultimately, they may also be looking to find suppliers who are as equally sophisticated as they are and who may be able to engage operational, delivery, sales and accounting methodology according to their demand.

It is unlikely that two key accounts will have similar make-up, structure and behavioural characteristics and it is likely that each will have specific demands, putting considerable strain on the pharmaceutical company, from a logistical and resource allocation perspective. Expect to come across complex demands, ensuring that sophisticated techniques must be initialised before the client can be classified as satisfied. At the end of the day, does the client consider that it is the pharmaceutical company’s “most important” account, as this may be the goal to strive for?

The pharmaceutical sales training company will discuss and deploy a number of sophisticated techniques during key account management training, and while many of these techniques may be confidential to the company, the end result of this planning and deployment will be an increase in reputation for the company. Some external parties may view the relationship as a successful and developing one – and as such, key account management deployment can be beneficial in terms of attracting the attention of new clients, in the future. So, we can see that there are many different ways of looking at pharmaceutical sales training.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

Clients of a typical pharmaceutical company often have a choice when it comes to selection of business partners and may look for a distinct type of relationship in return for further patronage. Therefore, the pharmaceutical company must really comprehend the value that the business of that strategic account imparts and must realise that when it designates “key account” status, a certain level of quality control should ensue and measurable results be expected.

Key account management is not something to be designated and reviewed at some later stage. It must be essentially dynamic and while certain elements of such an association will mean different things to different staff members, the overall goal must be the same – to ensure that the client and all its executives are happy and wish to remain.

Clients are often “turned off” by a failure to recognise the importance of key account management and by an inability of the organisation to step up to the plate. The key account expects a pharmaceutical company to be proactive and not simply to react when any events take place. It’s important for the client to see that the company is acting in its best interests and, most especially in this field, keeping abreast of developments within the industry.

In certain circumstances, the client will be looking to the pharmaceutical company to help it develop its strategies. While there can be many different levels of key account designation and there can and should be variations across client levels, the pharmaceutical company must ensure that its staff at all levels are trained to recognise particular needs. The company must intimately know the client and this does not necessarily mean socially. It might be smart for the company to send certain executives to work directly “in the field” with the client, as this will also help to provide a certain level of “intelligence” for the company’s future needs.

In certain circumstances, the pharmaceutical company may want to perform some work for the client at no charge and this should be assessed at individual level, again showing the need for each client to be treated separately. There is no such thing as a stock approach to key account management and pharmaceutical consulting firms should be engaged to help educate all levels of staff in the finer subtleties of these arrangements.

When it comes to the release of information that could be seen as proprietary, pharmaceutical companies may find themselves in a difficult or delicate position. In this kind of business, information can be very powerful and while the client may be looking for added “value” from the company through the passing of information, this element is best handled at the senior vice presidential level, in consultation with the company’s pharma consulting firm.

The pharmaceutical consultants will help ensure that the company is going above and beyond, over-delivering its part of the equation. If the key account truly is key, all the way down to the bottom line, then a fruitful relationship for the future can be assured.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.