The new era of the pharmaceutical sales professional
My thoughts in discussions about pharmaceutical sales professionals in reference to performance and customer satisfaction
By on Jul 24, 2009I have been participating and sharing my thoughts in discussions about pharmaceutical sales professionals in reference to performance and customer satisfaction. My goals are to share ideas, experience and give my contribution to improve and have a more effective and qualified pharmaceutical sales professional in the field, who will be able to establish a rapport with health care providers and other customers at the level that the pharmaceutical industry expects and requires.
The Pharmaceutical Sales Industry is a field that I am really interested in and the focus of my career as it plays an important and significant role in the Medical Industry. Here are some of the roles the pharmaceutical sales force play: Consultants, Facilitators of Customer Development, Source of Reliable Information to Customers, Vehicles of Promotion and the Connection between Customer and Industry. Therefore, the importance of having a qualified sales representative with broad skills, who is well prepared to be in the field, is crucial.
Another important factor about pharmaceutical sales is having a cost efficient and effective team since we are going towards a new healthcare era where costs are taken into very high consideration.
Pharmaceutical Sales Professional: Old Model versus New Model.
We all know that in the past there were several pharmaceutical sales reps calling the same doctor for the same product. There was an inflated hiring process in the industry, and the quality of sales was not growing. As a result, pharmaceutical companies started to lay off the high number of sales employees at the same time that generics were growing in the industry.
Time for health care providers is valuable and when a rep has the opportunity to develop a rapport with them, it needs to be addressed properly, requiring the representative to have broader skills than what the Old Model professional offers.
I discussed widely the perfect background for the sales rep in this New Era and the new model of pharmaceutical sale professional: I first had the opinion that this professional should have medical knowledge, such as a bachelor in sciences, nursing or any other, masters degree etc plus experience. In fact this is very helpful, if the professional has the knowledge, experience and he/she is really involved in his/her career. Being a New Model sales rep is something that flows naturally because there is a real involvement of the professional in her/his Career.
I also think that there are reps who don’t have a medical background and experience in the medical field, however, they work very hard and have the ability to grasp the medical concepts so they are very successful and also belong to the New Model of Pharmaceutical Sales Professional
After discussing the conclusion was that, in fact, any better training will improve the representive's performance.