Crucial Tips On Why New Sales Skills Are Required

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September 12, 2010

Will the pharmaceutical sales team of the future be composed of people who sit behind a computer terminal for the majority of their time, only making “road trips” when they are almost guaranteed to be highly productive? After all, this is what the Web 2.0 revolution is supposed to achieve for us, isn’t it? Couldn’t you argue that this is counterproductive to the concept of sales team effectiveness, which is supposed to be based around complex, interpersonal bonding between the rep and the end-user? Doesn’t pharmaceutical marketing training revolve ever more around the one-on-one communication, and a real understanding of what drives the end user’s buying decision? A pharmaceutical consultant really understands how much of the buying decision is based on a relationship between the company and the buyer, which is enhanced by the interaction between the sales rep and the doctor. If we look at how culture and society works in some countries and regions, especially Latin America or Spain, for example, we see that business decisions are often highly biased, according to the strength of the interpersonal relationship.

Just as companies are coming to understand the value of the information that they can pick up through social media interaction with clients and prospects, so we should be able to envisage a wealth of information from healthcare prospects and clients, to enable the company to make far more targeted approaches and decisions. Virtual communication is going to be of far greater importance going forward, so it is up to the pharmaceutical consultancy to work out how the value message is going to be incorporated. It’s important to analyse every aspect of information that is gathered in this way and to develop simple, yet effective ways of communicating with a prospect or client to generate this intelligence. Schedules and travel constraints being what they are, that when a meeting takes place, face-to-face time between the doctor and the sales rep can often be hurried or take place in a less-than-perfect environment. As such, a virtual style of communication could be seen as far more productive, as it would fit in with the schedules of each individual far more efficiently, by definition. There are a number of different styles of new communication available, including webinars and other multimedia approaches. Studies conducted by some pharmaceutical consultancy experts reveal that this can be a highly efficient way of reaching clients and of course it would be far more cost-effective as it cuts out the significant costs associated with travelling, together with the productivity trail off that is endemic. In the future, costs associated with the generation of sales could be reduced significantly, freeing resources to invest in virtual communication tools and software for both the company and its clients.

Pharmaceutical marketing training is beginning to change to take into account the latest communications methods. The pharmaceutical consultant must accelerate the sales rep’s education, but it is also important to introduce these strategies to the client at a pace which is appropriate for the individual end-user. While personal communication will always be an important ingredient, we can look forward to a time when productivity will be increased substantially as a consequence of the new virtual styles of communication.

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.

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