Reuters Events | Pharma

Thought leadership and innovation for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Strong leadership is needed to maximize the potential of field sales forces.

By Adam Hill on Jan 19, 2016

The rise of digital is starting to change the way pharma companies interact with stakeholders, but some things remain constant. “The old saying still applies,” says Karina Rogers, Marketing Manager at Aurobindo Pharma. "People buy from people". This being the case, companies still need sales reps – but they also need to get better at managing them. 

"Retention is a big factor,” she suggests. “It often costs five times more to replace than it does to retain because those who leave take their knowledge of the business, working relationships and sales with them when they go".

Big implications

That has significant implications for costs and Rogers is going to be speaking on some of the issues around this at eyeforpharma’s Commercial Excellence & Market Access South Africa conference in Johannesburg in March.

Her presentation will deal with understanding the effects of transformational leadership on a salesperson’s intention to quit and the impact this has on the bottom line. “Sales reps are still very relevant,” she begins. “Most pharma companies in South Africa employ field forces for face-to-face sales with their target market. Consequently, they make up a large portion of costs. Upskilling and training also comes at a considerable cost.”

No loyalty

The big problem, she says, is that reps are jumping from one company to the next every few years to get an increase in salary and benefits. “There is no more loyalty,” she argues. That being the case, Rogers outlines three things that pharma companies should look at:

• How strong is the sales reps’ job satisfaction?
• How committed are they to going the extra mile?  
• Are they aligned to the company’s goal and vision?

“When the sales rep is no longer satisfied in their job role, or they are no longer committed to their organization or their organization’s ethical policies, or a combination of these parameters, the rep starts job seeking,” Rogers explains. “And when that happens, it tends to mean that something is not right in their job. This is where there should be a large element of leadership – do you feel cared for? Does your employer plan your career, your growth and advancement? Do you feel valued?”

Maximizing potential

Since a company’s leadership is ultimately responsible for maximizing the potential of sales reps, they should strive to create a win-win scenario for the company and the individual, she says. “It has to be down to management to do this – the sales rep is subordinate and, therefore, looks to his or her line managers for guidance, validation and support.”
The role of senior management is, therefore, crucial – and from this stems another problem. “Anyone can be a manager but not everyone can be a leader,” says Rogers, who urges pharma to look at the credibility of the leaders being employed and investing in them to ensure they have the right skills to fulfil their leadership role.

Ethical climate

Your reps, sales managers and so on must understand your strategy and want to implement it. That’s where you start to see the benefits, by shifting the parameters from management to leadership.

Companies also need to align the ethical climate they have on paper with what they are doing in real life and, above all, they need to listen to reps and respond - not just in terms of improving financial rewards but in terms of encouraging personal development and motivating teams as this tend to filter down to the customer. Transformational leadership has to be all-inclusive. “It’s not about making dictatorial decisions, you must have buy-in from your stakeholders,” she continues. “Your reps, sales managers and so on must understand your strategy and want to implement it. That’s where you start to see the benefits, by shifting the parameters from management to leadership.”

Points of difference

These benefits could be particularly strong in South Africa, where generic medicines are becoming increasingly important. This means that the reps who sell your company – as well as your products – have the potential to create points of difference between you and the competition.

There is a shift taking place, from sales representative to business consultant.

“Pharma is a highly sensitive industry and buyers’ decisions are based on more than safety, tolerance and efficacy of medicines,” Rogers points out. “When it comes to generics, for example, they are much of a muchness – so why choose your drug over someone else’s? All products are already approved so the buyer decides based on a relationship with the organisation, through the rep – how knowledgeable they are about the product, the disease, competitors, their company and the customer’s business as a whole. There is a shift taking place, from sales representative to business consultant.”

Pole position

Doing this sort of homework would put them in pole position, Rogers argues, since physicians are in the main quite jaded by the approaches of reps. “Doctors don’t like reps because, in many instances, the reps add no value to their practice,” she says. “The doctor’s day is full of seeing patients, compounded by a lot of admin and having to deal with other stakeholders, such as medical aids, colleagues, councils, etc. There is also an increased pressure to see more patients. As a consequence, doctors are overworked and overstretched: they have a business to run and there is stress associated with that. So if the rep does not add value, they will be an unwanted visitor – they are just taking up the doctor’s valuable time.”

Uncertain future

This needs to change, not least in a country where there is a degree of uncertainty about the future. The big question mark in South Africa at present is exactly how the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme is going to work and what impact it will have. Meanwhile digital marketing, while still behind Europe and North America, is gathering pace and Rogers predicts that by 2020 there will be “a significant shift and trend towards digital marketing when it comes to interacting with the pharmaceutical target market”.

Some basics do not change, however. “Reps are fulfilling much more than a standard selling function, they are becoming business consultants,” Rogers concludes. “The rep needs to know and understand the customer’s business and find opportunities to add value.”

Get this right and the rewards will follow.

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Karina Rogers will be speaking at Commercial Excellence & Market Access South Africa, 8-9th March. For more details, click here.