RISING CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT costs, coupled with declining drug discovery success rates, are causing productivity levels in the global pharmaceutical industry to fall. The imminent patent expiry of several major blockbuster drugs and the related rise of cheaper generic alternatives are further exacerbating the situation. Despite this, the global pharmaceutical industry offers significant growth opportunities for companies that can develop new strategic business models for a changing market.
Estimated at USD 554 billion in 2004, the global pharmaceuticals market is forecast to register an annual growth rate of 8.2% from 2004 to 2011, reaching USD 967 billion. This forecast can only come true, however, if pharmaceutical companies are able to adapt to changes in the patient population, targeting diseases where there is an unmet medical need in order to maximise their revenue potential.
For example, an ageing global population will increase the need for ways to treat conditions such as macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. Drugs that address rising multifactorial disorders such as cancer, as well as lifestyle-related disorders such as obesity, are also likely to experience strong revenue growth.
A broader scope
Moreover, as patient groups become more fragmented and diagnostic methods improve, the demand for personalised treatments based on the evidence of individual case histories is likely to increase. “It is essential for major pharmaceutical companies to move from the blockbuster model and adopt new strategies that cater to specific disease areas and populations,” notes Frost & Sullivan (http://healthcare.frost.com) healthcare analyst Phil Webster. “To grow in this new era of evidence-based personalised medicine, companies should generate a sustainable product pipeline characterised by improved productivity and diversity.”
Pharma companies need to replace their dependence on a limited number of highly lucrative drugs with a more comprehensive and diverse product portfolio. Innovative products that focus on areas of unmet medical need and cover a broad range of disease indications are likely to underpin a stronger, more sustainable product pipeline. Furthermore, companies need to examine possible reformulations and investigate new indications for existing ‘blockbuster’ drugs.
Marked to succeed
At the same time, the use of computer modelling and biomarker discovery to aid the discovery of promising drug candidates is likely to facilitate an enhanced understanding of the clinical development process, and thus help pharmaceutical companies to make better-informed investment decisions.
“Less investment will be lost through late stage drug candidate failures as more compounds succeed in the clinical development process,” explains Mr. Webster. “More novel techniques to identify toxic or ineffective drugs early in the development process, such as the use of biological models, bioinformatics and biomarkers, will drive down development costs, increase revenues and improve overall industry productivity.”
As large pharmaceutical companies try to enhance their drug development pipelines, mergers, acquisitions and licensing agreements for individual compounds are likely to gain appeal. Mergers and strategic collaborations to invest in existing leads are also likely to diffuse the cost of potential failures, thereby preventing the draining away of company resources.

The future is now

If you are interested in an overview and analysis of world clinical development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry, send an e-mail to ‘Katja Feick – Corporate Communications’ at katja.feick@frost.com with the following information: full name, company name, title, contact phone number, e-mail. Upon receipt of this information, an overview will be e-mailed to you.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has worked with clients to develop innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company’s expertise combines growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training.
Frost & Sullivan offers a comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective, with up-to-date analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.frost.com

HAVE YOU EVER WALKED into a presentation to see a sea of uninspired faces gazing back at you? The Practice Manager is looking repeatedly at her watch, one GP has already rushed in and out of the door twice, and everyone else is staring longingly at the sandwiches – knowing that they will have to sit through your presentation before they are given a few precious minutes to eat?
Faced with the adversities of diverse audiences and strict time limits, you may feel uncertain or anxious before you start your presentation. So it is important that you send out the right signals when you begin, in order to create a friendly environment that allows you to build rapport with your audience.
Remember: You are your best audio and visual aid. Your audience pick up signals from how you present yourself, your voice and your body language. You need to project yourself in a positive way in order to influence them. Although some people are naturally good communicators, everyone can learn communication skills and use them to their advantage.
Command with your voice
Most people rarely use the voice to its full potential as a means of communication. When they start to make more use of the voice, they are surprised at how empowering this feels in helping them to influence and engage with their audience.
The starting point for anyone working on their voice is to create a relaxed physical state, since any tension in the body inhibits vocal power. Before starting your presentation, take a couple of deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. As you breathe out, think of releasing tensions with the breath. This simple breathing technique will also encourage you to slow down – which is very helpful at the start of a presentation, when your nerves can easily make you go too fast.
Your voice should command your audience as soon as you say the first words. To provide your voice with support, it is important that your posture is strong. Always check that you are standing with both feet firmly on the ground – or if you are sitting, that the small of your back is firmly supported by the back of the chair.
Pace yourself
A complaint I often hear from medical sales representatives is that they are always fighting against the clock. They struggle with the strict time limits imposed on them, especially when lunch has to be included in the time slot. So there may be a tendency to speed up in order to get all the information across. But this is counter-productive. Too much information given too fast can overwhelm your audience, resulting in a complete ‘switch-off’. Restrict the amount of information the audience have to take in: limit your presentation to no more than three key messages.
Keep the pace of your delivery steady by inserting pauses into your presentation. Pauses act as a brake pedal to stop you ‘free-wheeling’. Try to pause for three seconds after your first sentence to help you control your pace at the start. You will be less likely to speed up as you continue speaking.
Enhance your messages
Another challenge is holding everyone’s attention and interest for all of the time. It is important that you speak with passion, even if you have delivered the presentation many times before.
When you speak, emphasise your most powerful words to help you sound more convincing and have greater influence over your audience. Emphasise the first word of your sentence to grab their attention, and emphasise the last word to help you avoid trailing off and losing energy. If you feel that someone has ‘switched off’, try emphasising your next word while looking at them. This will help to regain their attention and make them feel more included. Our moods are expressed through our tone of voice. You may be giving a presentation late on a Friday afternoon, when you are tired – and your voice will sound flat, dull and lifeless. You need to put more energy into your voice, so that it sounds enthusiastic and is more likely to inspire the listener. One way to help influence your tone of voice is to adopt a role. For example, a highly successful approach is to take on the role of a storyteller and imagine that your message is an exciting story. This will help to ‘lift’ your voice and create greater energy and variety in your tone. Finally, always remember to smile: when you smile, your voice smiles! This is always a good way to build rapport with your audience.
Look good, feel good
Body language is important to consider when you want to send out the right signals. We all subconsciously read the body language of others – their posture, facial expressions, gestures and eye contact – and react accordingly. If you slouch, avoid eye contact and speak with an impassive or stern face, your audience may conclude that you are unmotivated or impatient, and be unlikely to receive your presentation with any enthusiasm.
You want to aim for a relaxed but professional image. To achieve this, make sure that your posture is strong without being tense. Share your eye contact around the audience to help you connect with them. A useful rule is to give three seconds to each person at any one time. This will allow you to engage with individuals and keep them all involved in the presentation. Try to use gestures while you are speaking: this helps to create a stronger presence, and enhances your voice. When you use a strong gesture with a powerful word, you cannot help putting greater emphasis into your voice.
Polish the practicalities
You also need to think about practicalities in order to ensure a polished, professional performance. Five key points to consider are:
1. Clearly state your schedule at the start. It will help you to control your audience if they know how long the presentation and the following lunch break will be. You must then stick to your times in order to keep their attention.
2. Be conversational with your audience – ask them a few questions at the start to ‘open them up’ and find out more about them. This will help to create a more personal, relaxed environment, and you will be able to pitch your presentation more effectively to those present.
3. Make it clear at the start what you hope your audience will gain from the presentation. Ask yourself Why should my audience listen to me? What are the key benefits to them?
4. Ensure that you are properly set up before you start – don’t waste precious presentation time setting up equipment while your audience are waiting
5. Try to walk around the presentation space before your audience arrive.
This will help you to feel more familiar with the space, and to look as though you have ownership of it.
Finally, enjoy your presentation. A presenter who looks as if they are going to enjoy the meeting will send out the right signals. And if you enjoy it, your audience are more likely to do the same!

Skillstudio Limited is a specialist communication training consultancy that uses a highly effective combination of proven theatrical techniques with a pragmatic, business-focused approach to help develop clients’ presentation and communication skills. You can find further information on all Skillstudio courses on their website at www.skillstudio.co.uk or call +44 (0) 8456 444 150

Once upon a time a Contract Services Organisation (CSO) was regarded aded as the natural habitat of the trainee sales representative seeking a stepping-stone to a ‘proper job’ in pharma. Over the past few years however, the squeeze on profits and the raft of mergers and acquisitions within pharma have shifted perceptions of employment security, and have elevated pharma’s own relationship with quality CSOs from the tactical to the strategic. These days the gap in employment security between pharma and CSOs has all but disappeared, whilst pharma’s increasingly strategic use of outsourcing means that CSOs of standing have a burgeoning range of specialist opportunities on offer. Small wonder then that at the Bracknell head office of the country’s largest and most established CSO, the phones ring continually with former employees seeking the opportunity to ‘come home’ to Innovex.
Akin Sawyerr, Innovex Regional Business Manager (pictured left), is a classic example of this phenomenon within pharma. Akin’s working relationship with Innovex began back in 1995 when he returned to the UK from his home in Nigeria, looking for an opportunity in pharmaceutical sales. “At that stage” says Akin, “Innovex offered me excellent training and a foothold with our pharma customer, to whose headcount I transferred some eighteen months later.” It was Innovex that provided Akin with his next step up the pharma sales ladder too, when the company welcomed him back in 1999 and gave him his first line management opportunity. “The experience I gained as a regional business manager with Innovex was particularly attractive to pharma,” Akin explains, “so I had no difficulty finding the management opportunity I wanted in pharma when I left Innovex next in 2003.” Within a year though, Akin decided to follow his heart and chose to come back to Innovex, rejoining for the third time in 2004. “I’ve come home to Innovex because it is fun, exciting, varied and resultsfocused,” says Akin.“
Innovex is uniquely peopleoriented because people, rather than products, are at the heart of its business.
Innovex invests heavily in its people and prioritises their development and welfare, which is why people who have worked for this company never lose their loyalty to it.” Innovex is uniquely people-oriented because people, rather than products, are at the heart of its business The people and the culture at Innovex are the constant theme underpinning former employees’ desire to return to the company’s fold. It’s a message echoed by Caroline Barlow who joined Innovex as a trainee sales representative before moving across to customer headcount, and finally returning to Innovex as a nurse adviser in 2001. “I did learn a lot from the year I spent in pharma,” Caroline confirms, “but I never felt as at home there as I do in Innovex. The thing I missed most was the personal touch,” she adds. “Overnight my environment completely changed and I really missed the feeling of being part of something unique.”
This personal touch is steeped in Innovex’s culture and comes right from the top as both Innovex’s trans-national parent Quintiles, and the company’s UK Managing Director Alison Clough, are passionate about recognising and rewarding Innovex’s outstanding people. Whether it’s hosting anniversary breakfasts, treating the company’s outstanding performers and their partners to dinner and an overnight stay at a country house hotel, or simply meeting and greeting them in the corridors, Alison and her Leadership Team ensure that they are always personally involved. “There are no closed doors within Innovex,” confirms Paul Herrington, an Innovex Regional Business Manager who spent ten years working in big pharma. “The company abounds with nice personal touches that make you really feel at home – such as a card on your birthday, the company’s five and ten year awards, the Employee Appreciation Day – and this recognition and celebration of success permeates the whole company. When my colleagues and I recently won the team award at the PharmaTimes RBM of the Year, for example,” he adds, “I was stunned to receive an absolute wad of emails from Innovex colleagues I’ve never even met, expressing their delight and pride in our success.”
Innovex is passionate about recognising and rewarding its outstanding people

Whilst there can be no doubt that Innovex comes up trumps every time on all the soft measures of employee satisfaction, very often this is the ‘icing on the cake’ that tops off the exceptional opportunities and the quality of managerial support that draw people back to the company. Innovex has dominated the outsourced pharmaceutical services market for the past twenty-six years: a feat which the company has achieved by successfully anticipating pharma’s evolving needs, and ensuring that its people and its services are continually developed to meet them. Long gone are the days of ‘rent-arep’ as Innovex’s unique range of analytics, its customer focus, and the sheer quality of its performance have earned it a place in the strategic plans of the majority of big pharma. This translates into an unparalleled depth, breadth and variety of opportunities for Innovex people, across the whole of pharma, in both primary and secondary care, and in all therapy areas. So it is no coincidence that these days 60% of the company’s annual intake are experienced representatives, whilst its rates of attrition are at an all time low.
Fast and furious change is part and parcel of the Innovex experience. As Akin Sawyerr explains: “Things move so much faster in Innovex, which makes for a ‘buzz’ about the business that is addictive and hard to replicate elsewhere. The pace of change at Innovex not only accelerates and extends our individual learning and development, it also continually throws up new opportunities throughout the company for can-do, competent people.”
It’s a measure of Innovex’s unique culture that the company will let you go with a smile, and welcome you back with open arms.
Akin Sawyerr, Regional Business Manager, Innovex
Ensuring those people are fully supported and adequately equipped to take on new challenges is critical to Innovex’s sustained success, which is why the company is renowned for its focus on, and investment in, training and development and the quality of its first line management. Structured career pathways, individual career development plans and rapid redeployment between projects are the everyday fare of this highly people-focused business. As Innovex’s PharmaTimes Representative of the Year finalist, Gill Nicoll, comments: “My Innovex managers have provided me with such outstanding support that I once turned down an extra £10,000 to leave Innovex – I’ve learned at first hand that the quality of your manager makes or breaks your job and your career development.”
The last word on coming home to Innovex though goes to Akin Sawyerr who says: “The energy of this company and the commitment and quality of its people are irresistible. It’s a measure of Innovex’s unique culture that the company will let you go with a smile, and welcome you back with open arms.”

PEOPLE DRIVING on company business run a 40% higher risk of being involved in a crash than the general public. This increased risk also extends to non-work driving, which suggests that overall driving style is influenced by work. The risk varies according to the type of vehicle and the nature of driving, with company cars and sales staff at relatively high risk. This reflects the pressures experienced by representatives when their income and job security are performance-related.
Current changes in the law on corporate manslaughter will place a greater weight of corporate responsibility on the company and the representative. The three million company cars and five million other vehicles used for business driving are responsible for a third of the 3500 (2003) road fatalities each year. With new technology allowing representatives to be contacted through mobile phones and laptops while driving, pressure is mounting on representatives to focus not only on the journey, but on its outcome. The higher the emphasis we place on the outcome of our journey, the greater the risks we are prepared to take in order to get there.
This is a management issue as well. Pharma companies need to look at all aspects of road risk management in order to help their drivers focus on getting through the journey safely. Companies that simply implement practical on-road training are unlikely to see major benefits. In order to manage at-work driving risk successfully, they need to provide training that addresses specific, identified risks and implements operating practices and procedures that encourage representatives to drive safely. As with any other workplace health and safety issue, road safety needs to be addressed through a formal company policy. The management of driving at work needs to integrate the contributions of fleet managers, insurers, health and safety advisers, directors and representatives.
Streets of fire
The word ‘territory’ can be as complex for medical representatives as it was for medieval soldiers. In a working day, you may be contending with business rivals, heavy traffic, awkward receptionists and the clock. You may well be targeted on the number of calls you make per day. The routine of card-drops, call-backs, agreed visits and speculative calls requires you to drive, park and move on many times in a morning. If the territory is unfamiliar, you will also have to negotiate the route while rushing from place to place.
GP practices and hospitals are always on major bus routes, making it difficult to slow down, manoeuvre and park. Once found, a parking space may be exposed to other drivers, putting you in danger every time you take materials out of your car. Waiting for a quieter moment is rarely an option. Companies investing in vehicle tracking systems may seem rather like Big Brother; but installing tracking systems in company cars will enable companies to manage their fleet vehicles and drivers more effectively. If the reasons for tracking are agreed at the outset and the data are managed correctly, it can help with route planning and ease time pressures.
Driving under pressure of work consistently places you at risk. Strategies to alleviate such pressure require forward planning, so they are often viewed as a waste of precious time. However, they improve efficiency as well as safety. If you know that parking will be an issue, allow more time for travelling; this can be established by a simple call before arriving for a meeting, and sometimes prearranged parking can be agreed. To help you overcome the problems of unfamiliar territory and map reading, invest in a GPS navigation system with postcode option.
Stuck in the middle
Most representatives use a hands-free mobile phone while driving. But although dialling or holding a phone is a major distraction, any kind of phone call means that your attention is focused remote from the driving task. Research has shown that attention levels can be affected for up to 20 minutes after a mobile phone call.
You have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that any vehicle you drive is fit for the purpose, adequately insured, taxed and in a roadworthy state, and that you are licensed for that category of vehicle. The legal issues relating to a representative involved in a crash are the same as for any member of the public: ultimately, the driver is responsible for their vehicle and their own actions.
However, your employer can be held accountable for pressures placed on you, such as unrealistic time constraints or encouraging the use of mobile phones. Companies that expect representatives to drive for extended periods of time while under pressure of work will suffer consequences, both at the level of individual workers and at an organisational level.
Thunder road
Driving in different seasons brings different problems. In winter, various conditions may be experienced within a day: snow, ice, rain, fog and wind. This can lead to poor visibility, trouble with starting and increased risk of breakdown. Make sure that you and your vehicle are up to the driving task. Spring brings strong winds, more vehicles on the road, holiday traffic and more cyclists.
Summer brings an increased risk of skids: sudden downpours after dry spells bring the dust and grease out of the micro-structure of the road surface, so a damp road can be more dangerous than it looks. Also, long traffic queues in hot weather lead to cars becoming overheated and their occupants becoming frustrated. Summer sees an increase in drunk-driving incidents, as opportunities to meet up for lunch or spend evenings at the pub are often spontaneous rather than planned as in the winter. Autumn brings falling leaves and slippery roads, earlier dark evenings and a lower sun (affecting visibility).
Highway blues
Driving is one of the most risky activities that most of us will undertake in the course of the working day – not only in terms of potential crashes, but in terms of vulnerability to crime.
When driving on the motorway, make sure beforehand that the vehicle is fit for motorway driving. Do not avoid or put off comfort breaks, as this will affect your concentration and attention levels. In the event of a breakdown, move to the left-hand hard shoulder; drive or roll to a phone if safe. Exit the vehicle by the left-hand door. Do not leave passengers in the vehicle. Use a motorway phone rather than a mobile phone. Sit on the bank to the rear of the car, so that in the event of a collision debris is not projected towards you. If you feel vulnerable, you could sit in the passenger seat with the door open to give the impression that others are nearby.
Vehicle care and security must be prioritised at all times. Make sure that the tyre pressures and all fluid levels are correct. Doors should remain unlocked unless you feel vulnerable (they can be unlocked when you feel safer). Avoid leaving bags, phones or laptops on the passenger seat or back seat, as doors can be opened and windows smashed: put all such items out of sight. Keep the windows up if you feel vulnerable in built-up areas, and keep the doors locked. Prepare your vehicle for any adverse conditions (such as winter driving): carry some spare clothing, rugs, a torch and easily storable food (e.g. chocolate bars).
Personal safety and security are equally important. Both male and female drivers can be vulnerable to robbery and attack. If you feel vulnerable while driving, make sure you undertake training in parking skills, so that you do not need to park in the emptier but more dangerous areas of car parks. Make sure you have appropriate breakdown cover. Carry a mobile phone. Motorway phones provide direct contact to the police, and they will pass on a message for you if you ask. If you feel at risk, tell the emergency or breakdown services – they will give you priority.

For further road safety information or training programmes, contact UK Road Safety Ltd. Tel. 01454 423163 (fleet) or 01454 423160 (general). Websites www.uk-roadsafety.co.uk and www.childcare-ontheroad.co.uk

THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY’S approach to sales and marketing is in need of an urgent overhaul. One major reason for this is that the structures of, and the environment for, decision-making are changing radically within the ‘new’ NHS. For example, in general practice, doctors are by no means the only decision-makers: nurses and dispensary managers (where relevant) have an influence as well. With the introduction of PCO-led formularies and the GP contract, the autonomy of the average doctor is waning. The decision-making dynamics of the new NHS are complex. Under the new GMS contracts introduced in April 2004, a PCO contract is with a practice as a whole rather than an individual practitioner – which is a strong reason to expect prescribing choices to be made at practice level. While some PCOs (most notably those in Scotland) expect doctors to comply to the letter with central guidelines, others have a more relaxed approach. Furthermore, due to the increasing number of PCO mergers (which may reduce the number of PCOs from 300 to as few as 100), it will be a major challenge to maintain real insight into the decision-makers or Key Opinion Leaders and their influence on doctors throughout the PCO.
If pharma companies are to achieve any traction within PCOs and with doctors, they need not only to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of each PCO and practice, but also to develop new ways of interacting with healthcare professionals. To be effective, it is vital for our marketing departments to know their new targets. In view of the rise of the practice formulary and the new contracts between PCOs and practices, much promotion will need to occur at account rather than individual level. To maintain access, sales representatives will need to demonstrate that they can help healthcare professionals to achieve the targets they are measured on rather than just promote the latest wonder drug. This requires the pharma companies to understand in detail the roles and objectives of the individuals involved in healthcare provision.
There are several strategies that we can employ to put the right information in front of the right people. The ability to map networks of KOLs requires significant research, but repays the effort by allowing more effective targeting and segmentation. Some companies have gone for a complete restructuring of the sales force, or even its replacement by other methods. Collaborative approaches, where the company funds education or nurses, have proved a successful way to reach decision-makers, but may be beyond the reach of smaller companies.
Technology can help companies to evolve and execute new marketing strategies. The reformulation of targeting and segmentation is made much easier if we are able to map networks of influence, backed by up-to-date databases that allow us to create profile and identify links between individuals. Without doubt, the working lives of pharma sales professionals are going to change dramatically. Detailed collaboration and a shared focus on outcomes will still require a large number of people, but they will be more a field force than a sales force: from highly-skilled, highly-paid key account managers undertaking PCO liaison to GP-focused representatives delivering information to match the evolution of patient-centred care. With the evergrowing emphasis on disease prevention, the field force must be able to demonstrate a drug’s role both throughout the patient life cycle and within a complete treatment programme.
The changing nature of the NHS gives pharma companies an opportunity to provide support and in-depth education for GPs and practice-based specialists, tailored in line both with the strategies of the PCO and with the doctor’s perceived response and commitment to autonomy. As the influence of the PCOs continues to grow and the financial pressures imposed by the GP contract and Practice Based Commissioning are experienced, only pharma companies that can align their products with the longterm goals of the NHS (particularly in the management of long-term conditions such as diabetes and hypertension) will succeed in giving doctors the support they need in an increasingly challenging NHS.

WHILE JUDGING for this year’s Pharmaceutical Sales Awards, I had to role-play a GP. As I have been a medical sales representative, a regional business manager and a director of sales training, it wasn’t too difficult – but it was a revelation to observe the different approaches taken by a cross-section of medical representatives. I began to see why doctors behave the way they often do, which I have always thought of as defensive behaviour. Now I think I understand their response with more empathy. The pressure on the representative is always to deliver key messages, and often they know that their call will be monitored by DFUs (Detail Follow-Ups) . . . so they do what their employer requires, regardless of the doctor’s level of interest. We all know that it is important to uncover the doctor’s needs, so questions are asked – but often in a manipulative manner, and when no rapport has been built. Therefore, the response from the doctor is often “Just tell me about your product and don’t ask me any questions,” because they know that their views will then be disregarded during a manipulative presentation of the representative’s product.
None of us like to be told what to do, and so this manner of presenting is off-putting to the customer. Of course the key messages need to be delivered, but what is often forgotten is that how they are delivered is the key to achieving a successful outcome, i.e. the prescribing of the representative’s product.
Let’s talk this over
There are two types of representative. The first – let’s call him Fred – carries out a one-way ‘tell sell’, doesn’t listen, interrogates, gives mostly irrelevant information and focuses on his own agenda. The second – let’s call her Freda – engages in a two-way conversation, listens, ensures that her questions are linked, provides information relevant to the customer and focuses on her customer’s agenda or interests.
Let’s consider Fred’s approach for a moment. What does this look like from the doctor’s point of view? In other words, what behaviour does the doctor see in that sales person? An approach that is sending out the message: “I’m here to make a sale.” The doctor will see a pressuring, pushy person focused on himself as opposed to the customer. He is hurried in his responses, not listening, and manipulative.
On the other hand, let’s think about Freda’s approach: “I’m here to help the doctor and to sell my products.” This representative comes over as one who’s interested in what the doctor wants. She asks questions, solves problems, listens and provides information about how others have solved these problems. She demonstrates honesty, integrity and patience.
The focus for Fred is on the product; but for Freda the focus is on the doctor. Freda’s purpose is actually to sell solutions, but her objective is to sell the company’s products through a problemsolving approach that also provides solutions.
Freda’s approach is much more likely to be successful. It’s a ‘win-win’ approach, which means that both the sales person and the customer benefit from the solution. This attitude will be at the forefront of the sales person’s mind, and thus easily read by the doctor.
You’ve tried the rest . . .
When thinking about product features and benefits, let’s go back to a few basics that usually get forgotten when a representative launches into a tell sell. Your role is to help your customers buy what they think will satisfy a particular need.
Those needs are likely to be:
     • efficacy
     • safety
     • compliance
     • cost.
Now here’s a thought – every product on the market offers these features and the associated benefits, which is why your product will never sound different to the doctor. So how can you make it sound different?
Look at your watch. All watches serve the same purpose – i.e. they tell you the time! So what persuaded you to buy yours? Brand, quality, reliability? People buy particular watches for many reasons. Would it have helped you in any way if the salesperson had informed you that a particular watch told the time and looked nice? No – so we also need to make the product features and benefits sound more personally appealing.
To do this, we need to make sure that the presentation of your product or solution is tailored to what the doctor wants. We can only do this if we enter into an adult-to-adult conversation, and we can only do that if we have demonstrated the right kind of behaviour from the start of the call. If we go into the call to tell the doctor why what she has been prescribing is wrong, and that we know best, we don’t stand a chance regardless of the key messages!
Before any brand managers threaten to kill me, let me reassure them that it’s not the delivery of these key messages I oppose: it’s the manner in which they are delivered. I asked a brand manager from a large pharmaceutical company for his view:
“I think [your] views are a bit hard-hitting, but in fairness, maybe that’s what’s needed in the current environment. Our representatives probably deliver the key messages too soon, before a relationship has been established, which is why they don’t always have the impact that I’d like to see. Also, I think that there is a lack of intelligent questioning, i.e. ‘What can I tell you about this product that would be of genuine interest to you?’” I agree with this perspective!
The sordid details
I’ve been training sales people this week, and I asked for their views. Here are a couple of typical responses:
“We know what we should be doing, but we feel compelled to deliver the key messages. So we deliver them, but we know that they often fall on deaf ears.”
“A doctor will say ‘Don’t ask me questions, just tell me about your product.’ So we do, but we know that we haven’t really sold.”
I then spoke to the most important people – our customers. The GPs I spoke to are used by In2Focus for their Sales Force Effectiveness events. These GPs are experts at assessing the representative behaviours they consider effective in persuading GPs to prescribe a particular product.
Dr Carl Dunford from London told me: “I see representatives quite frequently who just tell me their key messages. I become quite impatient with this as they don’t seem interested in, and don’t regard as important, what my practice is or my prescribing habits are.”
Dr Raj Sekhon from Horsham echoes this view: “I appreciate representatives have a certain agenda, but they do need to take into account a doctor’s needs. If these are not met, the doctor will not be ready to prescribe that particular product.” When asked what makes for a poor detail, GPs often say something like “Lack of flexibility in tailoring information to needs, no rapport building, speaking as if by rote, pushiness.”
Good selling skills are defined by Dr Jeremy Wheeler from Maidenhead, who comments: “To have good selling skills you need to have good listening skills. Representatives need the ability to take on board what they have heard me say and then adapt their messages to it.” Thus the doctor’s perspective is clear: sales representatives need to be able to tailor their messages to each particular customer’s needs and interests, and to deliver the information in a way that the doctor is comfortable with.
Get the message
Finally, I asked Gary Killington, the Sales Force Effectiveness Business Development Director of In2Focus, what he thought pharmaceutical companies needed to do in order to raise their game.
Gary said: “Our analysis of sales forces shows clearly the absolute link between understanding the doctor’s needs and the willingness of the GP to commit to increasing his prescribing. To improve sales force effectiveness, companies should use their own customers to assess and measure the skills used by representatives. When you measure the skills objectively – for example, using our ICQ process – you can use the data to help train and develop an individual, knowing exactly what that individual’s strengths and areas for development are. However, it is crucial that pharmaceutical companies help their managers and field trainers to diagnose accurately what is happening in a call. How can we expect coaching to have any real impact or consistent direction if the vital step of correct evaluation of the representative’s call is missing? Ability to evaluate a call is critical – after all, if representatives knew how to improve their performance by themselves, most would do it instantly. Quality coaching in the right areas will make a huge difference to performance.”
These are interesting views. The onus, it seems, is on all parties – not just the representative, but also those involved in coaching and training – to help ensure that selling skills are consistently measured, monitored and improved in order to achieve tailored message delivery and thus increase sales.
Why not share?
So although we are often faced with a GP who just says, “You have two minutes,” remember that we can talk . . . but we won’t sell. We need to use those two minutes to build rapport, perhaps by asking “How can I fill these two minutes in the most useful way for you?” If you get more time, then use it to build a genuine rapport with your customer. We all know that people buy from people, and we need to gain their respect instead of just vomiting our key messages.
When we deliver these key messages, let’s do it in a way that is meaningful to the customers. We can only do that if we know something about their individual concerns, and the only way we can find that out is by building rapport. That is why our interpersonal and communication skills are the key to our success.
It’s possible to build rapport in the first minute of a call – we have all done that. However, we need to have the confidence to do the same thing every time. So don’t forget the reason why you were given the job in the first place: make sure that you deliver your key messages in a way that is interesting and relevant to your customers. By doing so, you’ll avoid the big turn-off!

In April 2005, Miles White, Abbott’s CEO, summed up the previous year’s performance in one word – “Excellent”. Five years ago, it was clear that the company would have to reposition itself yet again in order to ensure a future as successful as its past and to carry on Abbott’s legacy for all those who depend on the company – from patients to staff and beyond.
Abbott rationalised its business structure for focus and performance, pulling together the pieces of pharma business that used to be spread across different organisations. Today, Abbott is working as a global team and focusing its discovery resources on five integrated core therapeutic areas – immunology, infectious disease, diabetes/ metabolism, oncology and neuroscience/pain management. Abbott is driven by a straightforward purpose: to focus on serving patients with superior science across a broad base of technologies and businesses.
The company has an enviable robust pipeline, with a stream of drugs lined up for market introduction within the next few years and a total of 120 candidates in the advanced preclinical stage. Abbott has been achieving top-tier financial performance, and its success is being recognised – by industry observers, by its stakeholders, by its peers and by investors.

“Abbott’s mission is to create a top-tier global pharmaceutical business capable of consistently discovering, developing and marketing breakthrough drugs to improve patient health. This will deliver sustained double-digit sales and margin growth for Abbott.”
                                                                                                                              – Jeff Leiden
                                         President and COO, Pharmaceutical Products Group, Abbot

Building Abbott’s Research and Development
In the past five years, Abbott has increased its R&D investment significantly. In 2004, Abbott spent $1.7 billion on R&D and there are more than 5,000 scientists and engineers at work, pushing the frontiers of its fields and developing products that fill the unmet needs of patients, healthcare professionals and consumers. Abbott’s investments are already producing results. In 2004, Abbott completed a number of significant development programmes. Its Pharmaceutical Products Group submitted seven regulatory applications to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new medications – a record for Abbott.
Abbott’s science has been raised to a new level across its entire range of technologies and businesses and has challenged the company on all fronts.
Abbott has worked hard to build a world-class global R&D function in recent years, investing in advanced technologies that support faster discovery, development and approval of new medicines. Led by Dr Jeff Leiden, President and Chief Operating Officer of Abbott’s Pharmaceutical Products Group, Abbott took a strategic decision to Building Abbott’s Research and Development focus its R&D effort on fewer therapeutic areas for the more productive use of scientific resources.
“We’re focusing on developing breakthrough drugs rather than ‘me too’ drugs,” says Dr Leiden. The areas of focus narrowed from thirteen to five, concentrating on where the company has extensive expertise and where it can make the greatest impact in bringing forward important new medicines for patients.

Shorter R&D Timeframes
With a greater focus on quality going into the pipeline and optimising R&D processes, Abbott is already reaping the rewards with compounds coming through development in much shorter timeframes. Kaletra® (lopinavir/ritonavir), for example, was licensed for use in the UK only six years after it was discovered, and HUMIRA® (adalimumab) had been in development for only seven years when it received EMEA approval in 2003 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Pharmaceutical Innovation
Within this new business framework, Abbott plans to launch five new products or additional indications in the UK over the next three to four years, which should boost sales at Abbott UK by around 70% by 2010.

The first half of 2005 has seen a number of impressive developments that demonstrate how far Abbott has advanced in recent years. In May 2005, Zemplar® (paricalcitol injection) was launched in the UK for the prevention and treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in dialysis patients with end stage renal disease.
Three months later, the European Commission approved HUMIRA for the treatment of:
     • severe, active and progressive rheumatoid arthritis in methotrexate naïve patients
     • active and progressive psoriatric arthritis in adults when response to previous disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy has been inadequate.
Over the next several years, Abbott expects to file for use of HUMIRA in Crohn’s Disease, ankylosing spondylitis (arthritis of the spine), psoriasis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
In the second quarter, Abbott submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA for the approval of a new, more convenient formulation of Kaletra to allow patients to take fewer tablets per dose as part of their treatment regimen. Following this, an application was made to the EMEA in June 2005 for this new formulation, which will not require refrigeration.
On the oncology front, Abbott received permission from the FDA to initiate an expanded access programme for XinlayTM (atrasentan) for men with metastatic, hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Xinlay is currently under FDA review and will be discussed at the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) meeting this September. Its potential benefit is also being investigated in other cancers, including ovarian, brain and renal cell cancers.
Abbott is completing its clinical development programme for Simdax® (levosimendan), a novel therapy for the treatment of congestive heart failure. All in all, an enviable programme of product development.
“We continue to believe Abbott’s pipeline remains under-appreciated.                            
                                                                 – Bank of America Securities 
Abbott is entering the 21st century as a dynamic company with much breakthrough innovation still ahead. Abbott sees its staff as critical components of its business and encourages the sharing of knowledge and interaction of disciplines, and it believes transparency and collaboration are key to industry success. Indeed, Abbott’s staff are the key to the pipeline’s success and pioneering spirit. Abbott’s strength comes from the three key determinants of success it sees in the years ahead: business breadth, superior science and taking action to help patients access its medicines. Now you know a little bit more about Abbott, and if you are interested in a career with the company, please call the HR Department on 01628 773355.
“We continue to believe Abbott’s pipeline remains under-appreciated.” – Bank of America Securities Shorter R&D Timeframes Pharmaceutical Innovation September 2005 Pharmaceutical Field 17 “. . . Abbott’s promising pipeline of experimental drugs and medical devices . . . should ensure double-digit earnings growth through 2007.” – Reuters
Now you know a little bit more about Abbott, and if you are interested in a career with the company, please call the HR Department on 01628 773355.