Apodi’s Jan Cox discusses four vital stages to ensure your next job provides everything you could have wished for this Christmas. 

For the employer and employee alike, stability can be a dangerous illusion, particularly in the current economic climate. It is inevitable that markets and organisations will change and adapt in response to the economic, commercial and political pressures that exist – and this will impact on both the recruiting organisation and the candidate.

In my previous article, Stability: a dangerous illusion?, I stressed that: “For a lot of people, the pharmaceutical industry has provided a stable career over many years. For example, there are many sales representatives who have had a successful career fundamentally doing the same job in the same way and often for the same employer. Whilst there will always be a need for sales representatives within the industry, the number has fallen and will continue to fall. And for many, the role itself will change and demand the acquisition of new skills and knowledge.

Some companies are addressing the need to change rather quicker than others. Those that are slow to act may be creating a situation where some employees still feel they are operating in a relatively stable environment. This may be a dangerous illusion because it is almost guaranteed that the changing environment within the industry will impact on most employees – and probably sooner rather than later.”
From my experience I believe there are four key stages for employees to build a successful career and secure the RIGHT job in such a dynamic marketplace.

STAGE 1: Assessing what companies want
World class organisations understand the importance of the recruitment process and the need to find the right people. Jack Welch, one of the most famous business leaders of the 20th century, stated: “nothing matters more in winning than getting the right people in the field. All the clever strategies and advanced technologies are nowhere near as effective without great people to put them to work.” His company, General Electric, had an extensive recruitment process which tested for integrity, intelligence and maturity. Its hiring framework focused on finding people who had positive energy, the ability to energise others, the courage to make tough ‘yes or no decisions’, the ability to execute and get the job done and finally passion.
Conversely, McKinsey, the world renowned consulting organisation, looks for people who:

• Are of above average intelligence
• Possess a record of achievement at a good university and business school
• Show evidence of achievement in all previous jobs
• Demonstrate extraordinary analytical ability

Clearly there are different themes running through the recruitment requirements of these two companies, and naturally so, given the differing nature of the services they deliver. However, it is possible to find differences even when looking at the recruitment process for similar roles in competing companies in the same industry sector.

For example, pharmaceutical companies often look for different attributes when recruiting for sales representatives. A typical job advert may stress the need for the following from applicants:

• Experienced sales representative with at least two years’ experience in similar roles
• University degree
• Sales to be delivered through the company’s selling process/model

Interestingly, the Gallup Organisation has found in extensive studies that education has often little, if any, influence on an individual’s ability to sell; the learning curve in most sales jobs is relatively short and only rarely is there a correlation between experience and results; and that the most successful sales people sell in different ways using different strengths – following a strict sales process/model is more likely to hinder top performers than to help them.

Therefore, many companies are looking for more innovative and different assessment criteria when recruiting for sales roles. It was for this reason that my own company, Apodi, developed the recruitment model above. This model primarily focuses on a candidate’s:

• Talents/strengths
• Competencies
• Cultural fit
• Mental toughness

It is clear that companies are often looking for different things even when recruiting for similar roles. In some cases, even the most sophisticated companies will be looking for attributes that don’t, in fact, have a significant influence on a person’s ability to perform the job effectively. However, at this stage of the process, all applicants can at least find out what really is important in each company’s assessment criteria before they apply. This can be done by contacting the agency involved or the company itself. Also, in this age of networking and social media it should not be too difficult to contact people who are current employees of that company.

STAGE 2: Preparing for success
In this rapidly changing marketplace all employees should understand that planning for success and finding the best career does not start simply a month before the decision to find a new job. Building a successful sales career depends on a long-term view of career development and should include the following:

• Find out what your underlying strengths are. For long-term career success these are much more relevant than your education or experience. The Gallup Organisation identified 34 different strengths – each one of which may play an important part in a sales process depending on the role itself. The key for each individual is to understand what those strengths are and which selling roles will best suit them
• Take charge of your own personal development. Most companies now ask representatives to have a sound knowledge of the changing NHS and how that impacts commercially on the pharmaceutical industry
• Prepare a CV that stresses the following:
• Your key strengths and why this has ensured success in the past
• Your knowledge of the changing NHS
• Experience, education etc – whilst these are not necessarily predictors of success, employers often still stress the need for them
• Undertake market research. Research which companies are most suited to you. It would not be too unfair to suggest that the world of the pharmaceutical sales representative is quite incestuous and most representatives are prepared to give their opinion and information on current and past employers

STAGE 3: Sourcing the appropriate job
Most prospective applicants are well versed in the various methods of sourcing jobs. These include registering with agencies, searching through job sections in newspapers and magazines, online searches and approaching companies directly. A direct, personal approach can be very powerful. One of the greatest leaders in American sport, basketball coach, John Wooden, gave the following advice to organisations: “When hiring, be diligent in discerning what the individual’s motives are. Be alert for those who express a strong desire to join and contribute to your team and have some understanding of who and what your organisation is all about. Recruiting should be a two way street.”

STAGE 4: Choosing the right opportunity
Hopefully, the above process ensures that an applicant has a number of choices when deciding on their next career move. Typically, the final decision will involve factors such as remuneration, benefits, training and development, and promotion opportunities. There are also some other considerations that are often overlooked.

Many companies’ mission statements and credos state something along the lines of: ‘The company wishes to attract, develop, motivate and retain exceptional people.’ Despite this, the rigour companies apply to the recruitment process differs significantly from one business to the next. Consider choosing the company that takes recruitment seriously – it almost certainly reflects the fact that they really stand by the mission statement, rather than just talk about it.

Also, judge the company by the manager you are going to be working for. Managers have a huge influence on your career, your motivation and your ability to do the job – a good one will take you to the stars, a bad one will stifle you.

Finding a job is tough; but finding the right job is even tougher. If you are focused on developing a successful career you must give it the attention and energy it deserves. Judge the role on how it fits with your talents/strengths and assess the company’s ability to let you utilise these to maximum effect.

Jan Cox is the Resourcing Director at Apodi and can be reached on jan.cox@apodi.co.uk

An increase in pharmaceutical jobs in Europe helped the total number of life sciences roles increase by 3.7% in the first three months of 2012, according to a report.

ZRG Partners’ Life Science Hiring Index found pharmaceutical jobs increased by 25% in the first quarter in the EMEA region, despite a reduction in sales and marketing and R&D positions.

Job growth in the global medical device industry also increased by 6.8% as roles in the Asia Pacific region jumped by 102% – mainly due to recruitment by Philips and Siemens.

But the report found that outsourcing and CRO positions fell by 5.7% after roles in North America were substantially cut and jobs remained flat in Asia Pacific.

Hiring activity in the Americas decreased by a tenth, however it still recorded its highest level in the past two years, research found.

The EMEA region reversed a trend in the past six months as overall positions increased by 18% with a rise in pharmaceutical and outsourcing roles; medical device positions remained flat.

Regulatory, clinical and quality positions made up more than a third (36%) of jobs in EMEA, followed by IT, finance and general administrative positions (31%). Research and development roles made up nearly a fifth (18%) of overall positions with sales and marketing jobs making up 11% and manufacturing accounting for just 4% of all roles.

Emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region again helped boost the global outlook as the amount of jobs also increased by 18%, despite outsourcing/CRO remaining flat and pharmaceutical jobs falling.

Despite the US already cutting 4,800 jobs this year, according to outplacement consulting firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, the Index found that the Americas still account for 51% of global life science roles, followed by EMEA (28%) and Asia Pacific (21%).

Novo Nordisk is planning to expand its US workforce by nearly 15% to support its business model and create a structure to meet the needs of its clients after a sustained period of growth.

The Danish-based company has experienced approximately a 10% increase in its US employees in the last five years and is now recruiting further across a number of specialities.

Jerzy Gruhn, President of the Novo Nordisk US affiliate, said the move reflects the “strength” of Novo’s business model, the “increasing demand” for its diabetes products and the “steady output” of its pipeline.

Currently, the company has three regulatory submissions being reviewed by the FDA and several other products in phase II and III clinical trials.

While the majority of pharma companies are downsizing, Novo plans to strengthen its sales team with medical liaisons, diabetes educators and field management positions also available.

In addition to the sales and medical operations opportunities, Novo continues to recruit for scientific positions in its new type 1 diabetes research centre in Seattle, Washington, and in its manufacturing facility in Clayton, North Carolina.

As the industry switches to a key account approach and individuals are given more responsibility, medical sales professionals are basking in the additional accountability now placed on their shoulders. Pf asks why.

Autonomy has always been one of the most important satisfying factors throughout the history of the Pf Survey. Always included in the top five factors yet historically never reaching the podium, it’s officially the nearly man, or woman, of the survey. However, last year, things started to change for pharmaceutical sales representatives.

For the first time in more than a decade the additional responsibility and freedom placed upon the shoulders of sales representatives was finally appreciated. Autonomy was voted as the third most satisfying aspect of the collective field force. It had finally made it. Tears were shed as it stood on the Pf Survey’s satisfaction factors podium listening to the national anthem of ‘belief in present products’ – needless to say, it wasn’t listening to ‘The Final Countdown’.

This willingness to take on more responsibility may have come with the average age of respondents creeping up. In the 2006 Survey, those aged between 25 and 34 ruled the roost. At the turn of the decade, an older, possibly more mature, age group had emerged. Jaeger Bombs for lunch had been replaced with a latte from Starbucks – until the expenses account was closed down of course!

Yet there has been a requirement for medical sales executives to become more streetwise. As the industry has shed jobs in the last few years, employees have been forced to take on additional duties – whether they like it or not.

There’s also the psychology behind it. The more responsibility and duties you’re asked to take on for your boss and the company as a whole, the more you believe you’re trusted. It’s easy to overlook the fact it’s either you given the task of managing and working on an important key account or a colleague who still struggles with the Sat-Nav.

Whilst autonomy can now call itself a leading light in the satisfying stakes, it’s hardly breaking any records in the motivational factors. Last year’s entry in tenth position shows that it’s nice to feel wanted but it isn’t everything when it comes down to it. In fact, it even dropped a position from its listing in the 2009 survey.

But with the announcement from industrial giants that further job cuts are to come as pharma continues to tighten its belt in the face of generic competition on major brands and healthcare budgets being reduced, the responsibility placed upon pharmaceutical sales reps looks set to increase again.

Whether those with added pressure placed upon them still appreciate this responsibility remains to be seen. As does whether autonomy will again take home a cheap bunch of flowers and a medal filled with chocolate around its neck. There’s only one way to find out. Have your say here.

The number of global pharmaceutical sales jobs fell by nearly two per cent (1.8%) last year as the industry faced a challenging twelve months, according to new research.

An audit by Cegedim Strategic Data (CSD) found the number of sales representatives fell from 421,223 in 2010 to 413,565 last year.

However, the decline in medical sales positions would’ve been far more had it not been for an increase in pharmaceutical sales jobs in emerging markets such as China or Brazil.

CSD research found that the US had the most pharmaceutical sales representatives (73,762), despite losing 7% of roles compared to the previous year.

China followed with more than 65,000 sales roles after it continued to enjoy double-digit job growth creating an increase of 18.6% in jobs last year. Japan ranked third with 54,236 jobs, despite seeing a decline in pharma jobs of 10%.

France saw the biggest decline in sales jobs in Europe as roles notably declined by 12%. Jobs were also down in Germany by 2% and in Italy by 1.7%. But markets in Spain and the UK remained relatively stable.

The news was much better in Brazil where field force levels increased by 3.5% in 2011 and saw the country have the fifth most pharmaceutical sales jobs of any country.

The audit also found that sales reps preferred detailing to healthcare professionals as the main channel for communicating promotional and clinical messages, and that sales representatives accounted for more than 60% of global marketing investments in 2011.

A lot of noise has been made about the needed switch from a traditional pharmaceutical sales model. Apodi’s Tony Swift questions whether the complex sales models now in place are delivering and suggests a simplified alternative based on delivering value to customers.

For a number of years now it has been acknowledged that the traditional sales model needs to change. Access to GPs through the long-established sales route is increasingly difficult with more doctors closing their doors to the conventional representative detail.

Pharmaceutical companies have embraced this and reduced the number of traditional sales representatives that they employ. Furthermore, the environment in which companies are promoting products has, in recent years, become increasingly complex with the emergence of new stakeholders requiring additional market access, specialist expertise and key account management skills.

Pharma’s response
Clearly, pharma companies have responded to these dynamics in different ways depending on their individual circumstances. It is, however, possible to draw some general conclusions. The response has tended to be the establishment of complex sales structures involving a myriad of roles aimed at mirroring the complex structures of the customer: the NHS.  Most companies will have structures including some, if not all, of the following roles: business managers, regional managers, traditional representatives, key account managers, strategic account managers, market access specialists, medical liaison specialists and so on.

On paper, these structures are difficult to criticise given that they are aimed at addressing the apparent needs of ALL stakeholders within the customer environment. The real problem is that due to their complexity they are almost impossible to manage effectively. Cohesion, coordination and communication in structures of this nature are extremely difficult and companies that go down this route often find that improvement in performance – namely in the sales of product – is difficult to achieve.

Such structures can be expensive and companies find that savings made by reductions in the number of sales representatives are merely diverted into the new structure. Indeed, these are often more expensive than the old traditional structures. Although companies are also looking at less costly ways of detailing, such as e-detailing, and tele-detailing, most commentators believe there is no real substitute to face to face interactions.

Simplify, simplify, simplify
Whilst every company is different, they should all follow the principle that the simpler the sales structure, the easier it is to manage and the higher the probability of driving high performance into it. It is hoped that the much heralded simplification of the NHS, which puts money and power into the hands of the GP and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), may encourage pharmaceutical companies to simplify structures, making them more effective and less costly. So, for those companies looking to simplify ineffective and inefficient structures, what general principles should be followed?

Don’t turn the noise off
Many commentators suggest that the ‘noise’ model is dead and that companies need to look elsewhere to drive sales performance. In my view this is misleading. Creating noise is hugely important in any sales environment – the key is the content and whether or not it is effective.

The traditional representative is finding access increasingly difficult as GPs face growing patient demands and administrative burdens. GPs often see many interactions with representatives as providing little, if any, value and are simply not willing to spare the time to listen to a detail. Where GPs do perceive there to be value, they are more likely to open their doors and consequently there is more likelihood of changes in prescribing behaviour and resultant market share.

Simply put, many pharmaceutical companies should be looking at a sales structure model that encompasses the following characteristics:

NOISE + VALUE = EFFECTIVENESS.

We envisage this structure being driven by an ‘engine room’ consisting of Key Account Managers (KAMs), focused on strategic key accounts, and Customer Account Managers, driving key messages and value to the larger targeted population of healthcare professionals (HCPs). A KAM structure without Customer Account Managers in the new world of CCGs would need to rely on an effective platform of communication within the CCG from the strategic levels through to individual HCPs – this often does not exist in an effective form and much decision making will still be made at the individual HCP level.

Building the structure
In my last article, Moving on up, I noted that, ‘some observers believe that the pharmaceutical sales representative is one of the world’s most underutilised resources’. For most companies, their representatives are still the people who interact with customers far more than anybody else. These customers – the GP and CCG – appear now to be even more important in the buying process and therefore, common sense would seem to indicate that the role of the representative is more important than ever – not less so.

The only way that this can be the case though is if the role of the representative changes from delivering a detail to delivering value to customers – otherwise customers will continue to refuse access and react negatively to any interaction. Therefore, I believe that in many cases the sales representatives will, in the future, be better termed as ‘Customer Account Managers.’ This is not just changing the title of the person but involves a real change in the role which will include:

• Intelligent conversations with customers about the care pathway with, of course, the role of product within that pathway.
• Consulting to, and with, the customer about therapies and disease areas.
• Advocating improved patient outcomes and assisting GPs in delivering them.
• Providing additional value, based on the individual preference of the customer.

In existing structures this will require a transition phase as representatives increase knowledge, particularly around care pathways, therapies, diseases and improve interaction skills.

The engine room

Customer Account Managers should form the foundation for many promotional sales structures. Above them is the Key Account Manager role, and together, these represent the ‘engine room’ of the promotional sales structure. The role of the KAM is now well known to pharma, involving as it does, segmentation of the customer base, allocation of responsibilities – particularly between the KAMs and the Customer Account Managers – and promoting to key and more complex stakeholders. KAMs should also be able to assess if there is a need for more specialist help on particular accounts.

For many readers, this structure may appear as a dramatic over simplification of what is required to meet the demands of a complex customer – and perhaps it is. But it has been presented as such to be in stark contrast to the over complex and costly structures that many companies deploy. In fact, in some such structures, the role of KAMs sometimes gets lost and in some, the role of Customer Account Managers actually does not exist.

Mass customisation
A key role of the engine room is to provide value to customers, that is, value over and above that provided by competitors and so enabling the company to grow market share. Historically, much promotional activity to GPs has been based on a key fact – that all the customers are the same. This is obviously not the case.
However, marketing departments wishing to provide customised value are often unable to do so for a number of reasons:

• Representatives and others are not skilled in, or indeed tasked with, identifying individual value requirements of customers.
• Technological solutions have so far been found to be ineffective or companies have failed when attempting to execute them.
• The role of creating value propositions that can be tailored to individual needs often gets lost in the complex structures existing within pharma.

And yet the concept of mass customisation is very common in other industries. There are many examples of collaborative companies who conduct a dialogue with individual customers to help them articulate their needs and then customise the offering to them.

It could be argued that pharmaceutical companies sell a standardised product – the drug is the drug. However, it is important to realise that where companies cannot customise a product per se they can still customise what they offer and thus build learning relationships where their knowledge of the individual customer increases exponentially.

For a pharmaceutical company to do this effectively, it needs to visualise its offering in the broadest sense not simply as a product but as an object that provides a service, solves a problem or meets a need. Therefore, the total value offering includes:

• The core product: clearly this is a hugely important part of the overall value proposition, including the drug’s capabilities, safety record, treatment characteristics etc.
• To the GP there will be other enhanced value solutions which can be of enormous value – these can include: additional services, promotional and marketing communication, patient and clinical help lines, product support, access to Key Opinion Leaders, staff training, services that improve the patient experience and so on.

To provide this value in a customised way, companies needs to find out from the customer what value means to him/her, collate the information effectively and deliver the value. Many readers will be sceptical that this is deliverable – how delivery is achieved will be discussed in the next article in this series.

Conclusion
Simplified sales structures including the reinvention of the traditional sales representative role could be of real value to all stakeholders, including the representative, the GP, the patient and the pharmaceutical company. By placing the provision of value to each and every customer at the very heart of the company’s promotional activities, companies can be truly aligned to the NHS agenda and perfectly positioned to meet the needs of the turbulent market conditions that exist today.

Tony Swift is the Managing Director of Apodi. He may be reached on tony.swift@apodi.co.uk.

Improving regulatory compliance in the wake of global legislation around anti-corruption has emerged as one of pharma’s key challenges for 2012.

A 2011 Cap Gemini report on impending change within life sciences showed that only addressing ‘fragmented business processes’ and a ‘lack of access to business critical data’ rank higher as the most critical issues for the sector.

But despite widespread recognition of the importance of business transparency in all interactions with customers, a recent study shows that 44% of pharma companies are still using manual paper-based systems to record promotional spend with HCPs.

The survey, European Trends in Aggregate Spend, Transparency and Disclosure, conducted in December 2011 by Cegedim Relationship Management, shows that life science companies are making real progress in their attempts to become more compliant. 94% of respondents report that their company enforces corporate standards for spending on HCPs, and over half (54%) indicate that their company already has a project team in place to address compliance issues.

But, despite 64% believing that the implementation of a unique spend data reporting and disclosure solution is an ‘absolute requirement’, a high number of European companies are using traditional methodology to record activity.

“Europe is at a pivotal moment as it approaches an enforcement model increasingly similar to the US,” explained Bill Buzzeo (pictured), Vice President of Global Compliance Solutions at Cegedim Relationship Management. “Companies are making essential strides at self-enforcement, but according to the 2011 survey, most respondents are reliant on inefficient manual and Excel spreadsheet reporting mechanisms.”

Faced with managing relationships within an already complicated customer jigsaw, medical sales professionals can ill afford the administrative burden of paper-based systems in the modern era.

The increased focus on transparency and disclosure follows the global development and enforcement of regulation and guidance to counter bribery and corruption across business sectors. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act impose criminal charges on companies that breach the law, and have already led to some high-profile casualties in the life science sector. In 2011, Johnson & Johnson were fined $70 million after admitting that the company bribed doctors in Europe and paid kickbacks to win contracts and sell drugs and artificial joints. Integrated technology company Siemens paid $1.3 billion following a bribery case that scarred its medical division, following violations in its healthcare unit.

With further, hard-hitting legislation expected in other parts of Europe this year, companies are being forced to assess their ability to achieve better transparency of aggregate HCP payment data – which in turn is having major implications for the industry’s sales and marketing strategies. Companies in Europe must not only track a complex matrix of marketing and promotional spending, but also keep track of, and uphold, each country’s unique reporting standards.

The Cegedim Relationship Management survey concludes that the US model of operational compliance serves as “the handwriting on the wall”, but warns that European organisations, uncertain as to how to approach transparency in the future, must act quickly to ensure they avoid paying a much higher price.

The UK industry has worked hard in recent years to improve its reputation with customers, and the issue of building trust with HCPs remains a high priority for companies. Medical sales professionals will continue to play a prominent role in achieving this.

A former US sales representative for Roche has won more than $1.8 million in damages after a Las Vegas jury ruled he had been subject to age discrimination.

Randy Dossat was awarded $168,000 in lost pay and a further $1.7m in damages for pain and suffering after he alleged he was repeatedly targeted due to his age after the appointment of a new sales manager.

Roche said it was disappointed with the verdict and plans to “appeal and vigorously defend ourselves”.

The lawsuit claims that Mr Dossat was aged 55 when a new manager began to repeatedly call him “old school”, commented on his “tenure” at Roche and claimed he didn’t fit in with the “new environment” under their leadership.

When Mr Dossat complained at his treatment, senior managers at Roche did not conduct a thorough investigation, the lawsuit claims. He was then punished for his complaint, the suit adds.

Mr Dossat’s representative commented: “This verdict sends a clear message to employers that they should not retaliate against employees for complaining about discrimination in the workplace.”

The Swiss-based company, which says on its official website it employees around 80,000 globally, insists the discrimination case has “no merit”. “Roche is committed to ethical and lawful personnel practices... [and] to providing an environment where each individual is respected and supported, and is rewarded on the basis of personal achievement and contribution,” said a statement.

With so many pharmaceutical companies undergoing some sort of restructuring plans as a result of mergers, acquisitions or simply cost-cutting measures, field force worries immediately turn to job security. Apodi’s Tony Swift discusses valuable ways to ensure your job isn’t one under scrutiny the next time the axe is wielded, and how to progress in the new pharmaceutical world.

In the past a competent sales representative could look forward to a long and secure career in the same or similar role, often with the same company. For the more ambitious representative it was also possible to climb a well-defined ladder towards seniority – as field trainer, sales manager, sales director and beyond.

However, much has changed. Sales representative positions have reduced dramatically and the ladder to seniority appears far more difficult to climb. Job security and traditional long-term career planning is disappearing into oblivion. The situation is just as precarious for those half way up the ladder, in first or second-line management roles, and restructuring is affecting job security and career planning throughout companies in the industry.

These seismic changes are not temporary. We are seeing a transition to a new world order in the pharmaceutical industry where:

• Traditional career paths are disappearing
• Management roles are fewer and are just as susceptible to restructuring
• Employees can no longer rely on the organisation to develop their careers – career and personal development is an individual’s responsibility
• The company needs to provide support and experiences to individuals to learn new ways of adding value to the customer and the company itself
• Creative expertise to address the new NHS is in huge demand by pharmaceutical companies. This presents an enormous opportunity for representatives and managers who may currently be worried about their long-term future in the industry.
  

Personal development
I recently interviewed a number of successful pharmaceutical industry executives to assess how they addressed the issue of personal development. Almost all of them stated that they could not have solely relied on the organisations they had worked for to either fully develop their skills or, indeed, their career.

In the majority of cases these successful individuals had made a decision to take personal charge of their careers. By keeping abreast of changes in the industry, anticipating new developments and consistently reviewing and updating their skills and relationships, when changes did occur in the industry or company, they were often well placed to take advantage of the new opportunities these presented.

At Apodi, our resourcing division sees first-hand the changing dynamics of the marketplace. Quality market access and key account managers are much in demand and are, at times, very difficult to recruit. There are also lots of sales representatives looking for jobs, with many believing they now have to look outside the industry to secure their future. However, representatives who are aware of the changing dynamics and have adapted their skills are now often successfully obtaining those market access and KAM roles.

Taking charge
One conversation with a successful executive led to a more in-depth discussion about what sales representatives can do if they want a long-term career in the pharmaceutical industry. The executive detailed the steps he had taken, and I believe this serves as an interesting case study for those unsure about their prospects in the industry. He said: ”It quickly became apparent to me that to take charge of my career I had to focus on a number of key areas.” To summarise, these were:

• To develop a clear view of the future of the industry and the likely impact of this on an existing position and potential future roles
• Be successful in a current role –  believe that new opportunities will only arise following success
• Find a systematic way of increasing knowledge, skills and relationships – do this to differentiate yourself from colleagues.

The future
In a previous article, Leading the way – Pharmaceutical Field, September 2011, I mentioned a couple of quotes. One was from a leading member of the NHS responding to how pharmaceutical companies could more actively engage with the health service. They said: “Don’t just bring pills and gadgets in the future, bring us value added solutions that drive the QIPP agenda with a documented and robust cost/benefit analysis.”                                   

The other, by Sir Ian Carruthers, NHS Chief Executive Innovation Review Team, stated: “The pharmaceutical industry needs to think more in terms of working in partnership with the NHS rather than just sending in the sales force… the NHS needs your disruptive contribution to help NHS reform, but too few companies are coming forward.”  

Despite such prominent views from the NHS, many companies are still sending out sales representatives with a very limited agenda – primarily delivering some key messages about a particular product. Indeed, some observers believe that the pharmaceutical sales representative is one of the world’s most underutilised resources! And, given the limited ambitions of each visit, it is perhaps not surprising that HCPs are continuing to reduce access.

To counter this, companies are deploying key account managers whose role is to provide value over and above the ‘noise’ associated with a traditional rep visit. We believe there will be a gradual merging of the functions of sales representative and KAM in the future. This means that everyone representing a company in the field will need to operate to KAM principles and provide significantly more value than before. Indeed, our research shows that historically excellent representatives have effectively operated to KAM principles, irrespective of the training and direction received from head office.

Current success
Whilst each sales representative has key performance indicators (KPIs) to meet – often merely call rates, we believe that individuals need to focus on providing added value to their customers and their companies irrespective of their targets. By taking a more strategic view, identifying the key stakeholders, delivering and developing solutions with the help of their company’s marketing, medical and promotional functions, representatives will become a more valued partner to both parties.

Representatives can only do this if they are experts in their products, the therapy area concerned, the care pathway and the local healthcare economy. Additionally, they will need knowledge of best practice and potential solutions.

Unfortunately, to some this may be perceived as going ‘beyond brief’ and will sometimes result in knockbacks. However, we believe the risks attached to this are far less than continuing with the limited role noted above. The risks of a representative failing to distinguish themselves and failing to provide real value will leave them susceptible at times of restructuring, and with fewer skills needed to attract jobs in the new healthcare economy.

Using initiative 
Fundamental to taking charge of your career is to take responsibility for personal development. A colleague told me about how he had done this successfully with a process that included the following:

A) Yearly audit – produce an annual plan that addresses the following:

• I am currently known for…
• Next year I want to be known for…
• My personal development last year included…
• I currently differentiate myself from my colleagues by…

B) Quarterly plan – each quarter produce an action plan:

• I aim to develop a more in-depth knowledge of the product, therapy area, care pathway and local healthcare economy by…
• I will develop closer relationships with key stakeholders in my company by…
• I will develop closer relationships with key customers by…
• I will develop a better understanding of best practice and consider the most appropriate solutions for my customers’ problems by…

C) Quarterly assessment – assess the potential to drive value into internal/external customers against the following parameters:

• Do I demonstrate more than financial value to key accounts?
• Have I increased the number of internal/external relationships where I add real value?
• Do I possess specialist knowledge that I can share with colleagues/customers to add value?
• Have I influenced any changes to the benefit of the company or customers?

This learning and knowledge was primarily delivered through personal research using books, magazines and the internet. My colleague also constantly suggested projects that he could work on, even in his own time, that he felt could transform the value being provided to customers. Many of these were rejected, particularly initially, but eventually he developed close enough relationships with people in the company who recognised the value these projects might create. These projects were a very valuable learning tool and a superb way of displaying his talents.

In summary
Pharmaceutical companies are looking for new and innovative ways of providing value to customers. As decision making within the NHS increasingly shifts to those regularly interacting with the end user (patients), the opportunity for primary care representatives to adopt a more customer-centric approach based on KAM principles grows exponentially.

The advantages of this may lead to less complicated field force structures, reduced costs and additional value added for customers. With such developments, companies will be in a better position to assist each individual in developing their careers to meet the demands of the new healthcare economy.

Tony Swift is the Managing Director of Apodi. He may be reached on tony.swift@apodi.co.uk.

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“How can our investment in coaching be seen to produce the results that will justify the amount
spent”?

This is a key question for most organisations when they consider acquiring coaching for their people. Carpe Diem takes a different approach to coaching which helps to provide solid answers. First, it acknowledges the hidden cost of coaching - time. Whether face to face or over the phone, to take a key individual away from the business for sometimes hours at a time is a huge expense that is often overlooked.

Secondly, there’s the reporting back to the business and confirmation of tangible results achieved on a daily basis which gives a clear sense of return on investment.

HOW IT WORKS

In just 7 minutes of your time each day, the OTD Carpe Diem Coach will inspire you to:

> Focus on what is truly important for you to achieve that day
> Stretch your goals to achieve even more
> Take on and deal with the challenges you are reluctant to face, yet are key to your success.

Once a week you will invest 16 minutes to set strategy for your subsequent calls and focus on personal development to enable you to grow your skills and deliver even more results.

In total, the time invested equates to just 44 minutes a week. The coaching is supported by goal-tracking software via which the ‘coachee’ receives daily updates and links to a rich library of AV media support.

BIGGEST BENEFITS

Less time away from the business.

> Bite size coaching chunks create a buzz
> Proven track record - different applications
> Focus on tangible reported results
> Return on Investment to the business
> Quality coaching for less investment.

Client Testimonials
“Within days, the success of this coaching approach became very apparent. The results spoke for themselves. I was very impressed and have come back many times to get more coaching for my team. Carpe Diem really works...less is definitely more!”
Thomas Delabriere, Marketing Director, Innocent Drinks, 2011.

“Pound for pound, the best investment in training I have ever made for one of my team.“ Andy Gilroy, Head of Commercial Operations, Derma UK Ltd.

BOOK A TEST DRIVE AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CARPE DIEM CALL OTD LTD ON 01527 570999.