Pharma reps: scientists or salespeople?
What do household appliances and H2 antagonists have in common? Both need to be sold with a combination of knowledge and passion.
By on Jan 8, 2010What do household appliances and H2 antagonists have in common? Both need to be sold with a combination of knowledge and passion.
Recently, I was asked to be part of a panel to discuss whether pharma representatives are best trained and deployed as scientists or salespeople. I clearly remember my first district manager railing against those representatives who were purveyors of scientific information, but were ineffective salespeople." That was in 1975, and still the question remains todayscientist or salesperson?
To a large extent, the issue has been decided by regulators, who dictate the rules of the game. Sales representatives are strictly bound by the approved labeling of the product they sell. Too often, this is interpreted to mean that the representative can only communicate exactly what is in the package insert in a very dry manner, much the way scientific information is communicated at conferences and symposia. Marketing departments are all too glad to accommodate this scenario by crafting sterile messages they can get approved by medical-legal and that will pass muster with regulators. Add to this the information that is required to balance the content, and providers receive little more than information they could easily get by reading the prescribing information.
Is there a better way? One place to start is with the training that representatives receive. Approved labeling for legend drugs is based on clinical studies, safety data, pharmacokinetics, and dosing recommendations. How many representatives are properly trained on how to interpret clinical studies? Do they understand P values, statistical power, absolute vs. relative risk, and primary vs. secondary endpoints?
Beyond product information, how much training do they receive on disease and diagnosis? Diagnosis is by far the larger consideration in deciding which therapy is appropriate and which therapeutic class to use in a particular patient. It can be complicated by a dizzying array of other factors such as other drugs the patient is taking, co-morbidities, cost of therapy, reimbursement, and compliance. The representative who merely parrots the three approved messages provided by the marketing department misses an opportunity to engage the physician in a more meaningful discussion about the needs of the patient and the ability of their product to satisfy those needs.
Knowledge of scientific information is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for optimal discussions with providers. This information must be communicated in a clear and persuasive manner. In order to accomplish this, representatives must have a thorough understanding of their product, the disease, and how their product differs from other chemical agents. Training on competitor's products, alternative therapeutic classes, and alternate therapeutic modalities enhance the representatives ability to sell. It allows representatives to engage the physician, enhance the quality of the discourse, and bolster their own credibility.
So now we have three dimensions of the ideal pharma representativein depth knowledge of the science that supports the product, the ability to place that knowledge in the larger context of disease and/or diagnosis, and the communication of this information in a persuasive manner.
Are we there yet? Not quite. The representative that possesses knowledge without passion is like food made from the finest ingredients but without added spices. Enthusiasm coupled with knowledge is a dynamic combination. I once heard Zig Ziegler, the great motivational speaker and sales coach, say, Selling is merely the transference of feeling. This is true whether you are selling household appliances or H2 antagonists. Knowledge builds confidence, and passion transfers that confidence to the customer.
So now, what is the answer? Salesperson or scientist? The nature of pharmaceutical products dictates a strong grounding in science and the nature of the job as a representative dictates strong selling skills. One is knowledge-based and one is skills-based. Not having one is analogous to flying a two-engine aircraft on one engine. It can be done, but not as well as having both engines fully functional. Therefore the question is mootthe descriptors are competencies. A good pharma representative needs to be both!