What makes a pharma sales rep?

By Tracy Staton 

It's not selling--at least not the same old, same old selling, according to Eye for Pharma's latest Healthcheck survey. More than half of respondents said the ability to sell is no longer the most important skill for a rep.
The survey of industry leaders found that pharma sales is a completely different proposition now than it was just a few years ago. Obvious, of course, what with doctors limiting face-to-face meetings and companies turning to gadgets and data for marketing power. "The rep today is doing almost everything different than they've done in the past," Lundbeck Canada's senior sales director, Domenic Maccarone, told the researchers, adding that Skype, Face Time, and other technology will change the job even more in the near future.
In fact, 58% of survey respondents agreed that technology is a sales tool, not a distraction. But it's not just technology that's revamping the sales-rep role. Pharma sales folks have to be able to talk science, not just promos. Treatments are more complex--with an increasing number targeted at particular genetic mutations--which means explaining how they work and how to use them is complicated.
"As products became more technical and backed by more science, an in-depth scientific and medical knowledge has become mandatory," Pierre Morgon, Cegedim's chief marketing officer, offered as commentary to the survey.
Plus, marketing means explaining not only to doctors but also to increasingly resistant payers--to make sure that reimbursement gatekeepers are on board with a new drug. If insurers raise big hurdles to patients starting a new therapy, it's hamstrung from the start.
"It's increasingly a market access approach," Morgon went on to say. After companies lay the groundwork prelaunch, reps have to work with medical science liaisons and key account managers "to ensure that the novel product is used by the largest number of eligible patients."
Add in a new focus on complying with marketing rules, and these are the "more advanced skills" that reps need now, Actelion Pharmaceuticals commercial chief Christoph Schmidt pointed out. But at bottom, pharma salespeople still need to know how to sell, he said. "Selling skills are still a critical success factor," Schmidt figures. And as Morgon adamantly stated, "[T]he ability to sell … remains critically essential!"

Evolution of Pharma Marketing

Pharma Times | Matt Lowe

Recently I attended an event listening to some very bright and accomplished individuals share award-winning campaigns for major brands such as Sony PlayStation and Durex.

It occurred to me that the disciplines required to create and execute these campaigns are no different from those required to compete in the highly competitive pharmaceutical sector, where the brands are equally impressive but considered harder to market. Why is this?

One of the presenters, fresh from the SXSW conference, mentioned that within digital the power lies with a few – the Googles of this world – but is provided by the masses.

For me, there are a number of parallels within pharma.  The disciplines required to co-ordinate marketing and PR activities, as well as orchestrate and execute a complex digital strategy, are owned by a few but tasked to the masses.

This poses a number of tough questions for industry. We can’t assume that digital is a passion for the traditional marketing head. Being tasked to implement complex digital tactics across a multitude of platforms and channels, while setting up and tracking goal conversions and analytics in order to refine and provide agile content, can be quite daunting. Most would accept they need to learn a new set of skills.

Έρευνα: Οι προτεραιότητες των φαρμακευτικών εταιριών στην περίοδο της κρίσης

Θα χρειαστείτε μόλις δύο λεπτά για να συμπληρώσετε το ερωτηματολόγιο της έρευνας μέσα από τον υπολογιστή σας.

Η έρευνα διεξάγεται με σκοπό να ανιχνεύσει τις προτεραιότητες των φαρμακευτικών εταιριών που αφορούν κυρίως στην εμπορική τους δραστηριότητα κατά την τρέχουσα περίοδο της οικονομικής κρίσης.

Η έρευνα που πραγματοποιείται για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα έχει σχεδιαστεί με απόλυτα επιστημονική μεθοδολογία και σύμφωνα με τους διεθνείς κανόνες ερευνητικής δεοντολογίας. Η έρευνα είναι ανώνυμη. Δεν καταγράφει προσωπικά στοιχεία ερωτωμένων, ούτε εταιριών.

Η συμμετοχή σας στην έρευνα είναι σημαντική γιατί με τις απαντήσεις σας θα συμβάλετε στο σχηματισμό μιας σφαιρικής εικόνας για τον τρόπο που λειτουργεί ο φαρμακευτικός κλάδος στο πεδίο της αγοράς, στη διάρκεια αυτής της κρίσιμης περιόδου.

Παρακαλούμε να σημειώσετε ότι η έρευνα είναι πιλοτικής μορφής. Εκτός από τα άμεσα αποτελέσματα που θα προκύψουν, τα ευρήματα της θα χρησιμοποιηθούν ως οδηγός για την δημιουργία ενός νέου ερωτηματολογίου με σκοπό την διεξαγωγή μιας μελλοντικής έρευνας, μεγαλύτερης κλίμακας, που θα «φωτίζει» σε μεγαλύτερο βάθος την εμπορική καθώς και άλλες λειτουργίες του φαρμακευτικού κλάδου στη χώρα μας.

Με την ελπίδα ότι θα θελήσετε να συμμετάσχετε πρόθυμα στην έρευνα που αφορά μια σημαντική λειτουργία του κλάδου στον οποίο εργάζεστε, σας καλούμε να συμπληρώσετε το online ερωτηματολόγιο πατώντας στον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο. 

http://survs.com/survey/0m21e0swjj

 

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να επικοινωνήσετε με τον υπεύθυνο της έρευνας.

nkazazis@pharmamarketing.gr

 

What Does ‘Off Label’ Mean in 2014?

PharmExec | Tom Norton

Years ago, while sitting in an Rx company lunch room, I was listening to one of the company’s top sales reps discuss the commercial progress a recently launched prescription was making. The rep said that the product was selling “OK” under its FDA approved, indicated therapeutic area. However, he quietly said, “It’s not the approved indication that going to make this drug a winner.”
I had heard of non-approved usage of Rxs before, but this was first time I had learned of anything quite this specific. Curious, I probed a bit further and asked, “What do you mean?” He looked at me directly and said, “You know, it’s all the other ‘off label’ medical issues that the docs believe this drug will address.”

Traditional “Off Label”

Through the years the US drug industry has experienced a lot of this sort of thing. Although companies make an enormous effort to obtain an FDA approval with a very specific indication, it always comes as a bit of a shock to learn that the medical community is not only using the product for that hard to achieve FDA approval — but also for several other non-approved indications.