B2B Markeplace

All the work that you put into creating and positioning the product will be of no use unless the pharmaceutical company can successfully market its products to the end-user. The selection of a productive sales and marketing team is critical to the survival of the company and this team must be adequately trained in not only the value and benefits of the product, but the techniques, initiatives and strategies necessary to go out into the marketplace and actually sell. Sales force effectiveness is of such critical importance, yet it is often poorly reviewed or supervised. Generally, pharmaceutical consultants have the desired levels of training to be able to motivate the company sales force, resulting in considerable financial gain due to elevated efficiency.

One well-known football coach once claimed that “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” This is a mindset that a sales and marketing executive should retain at all times. After all, a sale is either won or lost and a lost sale is of no value whatsoever, experience gained and contacts made notwithstanding.

Motivation is so important and a pharmaceutical consulting firm will help create an array of appropriate measurement tools. It is important to remember that activity levels are not the “be all and end all” of sales. It should be remembered that sales volume by itself is not an indicator of efficient activity by the sales executive, as it must be related to value. If a valuable relationship is not established between all principals concerned, then the account may not necessarily be seen as successful, as we need to judge more than the actual dollar amount involved. It is important to align the buyer’s strategy and position with the company’s. Sales people should not be incentivised unless there is a clear gain for the company and the client achieves value, thereby cementing the relationship.

Incentivisation requires the creation of meaningful benchmarks and goals. There must always be something for the salesperson to reach and always a further incentive throughout the sales structure. If the sales executive is able to “get” to an end result, then he or she will not be adequately motivated to reach even further and keep working.

Time management is essential and while a sales manager will undoubtedly have administrative elements to take care of, the company should make sure that he or she is able to complete these as efficiently as possible, using provided, high-efficiency tools as needed. Did you know that many sales executives actually spend less than 25% of their time in direct communication with clients?

We can see that for the sales team to be effective, each member must be adequately trained and furthermore must engage in a process of ongoing training. This will include not only product education but also sales technique and delivery elements as well as time management and application theory, with the science of personal inter-communication. Bring in pharma consulting experts to get the mix right.

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.