Thirty-six companies participated in the new PharmaTimes Sales Awards, which encompass PharmaTimes Sales Representative of the Year and PharmaTimes Business Manager of the Year competitions, with the winners announced at a presentation ceremony in London.
Top wins went to Roche with Andy Simpson named specialist care representative of the year and LEO Pharma’s Hena Manna-Rahman named primary care representative of the year. A full list of winners can be found here for the sales managers and here for the sales representatives.
The sales representative competition in the PharmaTimes Sales Awards is the only customer-mediated salesforce effectiveness exercise where doctors are the key determinants of success. Physician portals, Doctors.net.uk and Binley’s facilitated more than 1,200 doctor nominations for the best representatives in primary and secondary care with finalists participating in a customer assessment exercise organised by PI Partnership through its network of trained NHS physician assessors.
The business manager categories – for first line managers and key account managers – saw finalists present to a judging panel made up of senior pharma industry sales directors and NHS leaders, with the finals day in June organised by The MSI Consultancy.
Chris Wilkinson, national sales manager at Galderma UK and member on the PharmaTimes Sales Awards steering committee, said the industry must work hard to continue to attract the best people into sales representative roles. “The NHS has evolved and our industry along with it. Gone are the days of transactional GP calling with a basic detail aid talking purely efficacy and cost. It’s much more about win-win-win now, with all stakeholders an inclusive key to success. Many industries benchmark themselves against competitors and I believe that the PharmaTimes Sales Awards provide the most comprehensive way of assessing core sales ability. For the awards to remain relevant, they must test the skills relevant to the new NHS and the new environment in which we find ourselves.
Representative motivation and recognition is as important as it ever was and, speaking from personal experience, there is no better recognition than the PharmaTimes Sales Awards.” Sean Morgan-Jones, commercial director at PharmaTimes and chairman of the competition executive steering committee, said: “This year, the competition attracted more entries than in any of the previous 12 years with 36 companies represented. This makes it the largest cross-industry benchmarking occasion ever conducted. Results from this competency-based, customer-centric assessment will not only recognise outstanding industry professionals but also share important insights for the wider industry fraternity.”
The PharmaTimes Sales Awards aim to help develop and improve industry’s medical representatives and first-line managers through benchmarking data and qualitative feedback, as well as recognising excellence at all levels of career development.
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE YEAR
Overall Primary Care Representative of the Year
Hena Manna-Rahman, LEO Pharma
Overall Specialist Care Representative of the Year
Andy Simpson, Roche
Dermatology
Clara Whitfield, Galderma
Endocrinology & Diabetes
Selena Meechan, Novo Nordisk
General Psychiatry
Mark Bradley, Shire Pharmaceuticals
Geriatric Medicine
Claire Smith, Boehringer Ingelheim
Haematology
Cheryl Sayer, Novartis
Neurology
Alexandra Arnold, biogen idec
Oncology
Andy Simpson, Roche
Gastroenterology
Emma Gullivar, Shire Pharmaceuticals
Paediatrics
Sungeav Verma, Shire Pharmaceuticals
Ophthalmology
June Ashwell-Fletcher, Alcon
General Medicine
Yvonne Carter, Archimedes Pharma
Respiratory
Liam Clutterbuck, Chiesi
BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Aspiring First Line Manager
Sandra Collins, Ferring
First Line Manger
Samantha Williamson, Novartis
Aspiring Key Account Manager
Alison Gale, Napp
Key Account Manager
Jack Hadfield, Actelion
Sales Company of the Year
LEO Pharma