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What’s in store for pharmaceutical sales reps? Are their roles likely to change significantly and, if so, how?

Baba Awopetu, Manager of Brand Strategy, EMEA at Stryker, says a review of recent media reports on the pharmaceutical industry confirms that future sales force models continue to dominate industry debates. But it’s certainly not a new discussion.

Awopetu says one article he read recently talked about growth in the number of sales reps, access to doctors, quality of representatives and “over promotion” of products. “This excerpt could have been taken out of dozens of articles on the sales force, except for the fact that this particular one was published in the New York Times in October 1960,” he says. “Evidently, the sales force has been a focal point of discussion for a while and I suspect will continue to be so for a while yet.”

Although much has changed about the industry since 1960, in many cases it is still looking for new solutions to some old problems.

Is it time for a rethink of the sales organization? Will we even have sales reps in the future? Or will the rep be the brand of the future instead of the products?

New climate, different challenge
Awopetu says that despite the similarity of the challenge the industry faced in the 60s, in reality, the current climate makes the challenge significantly different.

“Today our pipelines are increasingly specialized, new customer groups are emerging, decision making is increasingly fragmented and we face a tougher regulatory process,” he says. “The sales organization of the future must help in creating its own fate, not just managing it.”

Awopetu says that active participation by the sales force in building the industry’s reputation is required. An ability to simply deliver key messages will not suffice, he warns.

A recent study conducted by IMS found that 77% of pharma research executives expect a significant reduction in sales force size. And although the assertion is probably true, Awopetu says even though a reduction in sales force size might ease some of the financial pressures on the industry, it still fails to improve value delivery.

“We know that customers continue to vote with their time by shutting their doors or decreasing the time they spend with reps,” he says. “Why? Surely, it is because they do not see any value in their interactions with sales reps. It appears that what the ‘arms race’ achieved with increased numbers was offset by lower quality. And now we’re feeling the pain of the short-term perspective we’ve taken.”

Ripe for change
That leaves the sales organization ripe for change and Awopetu says that while not all change leads to improvement, without change there certainly are no gains.

“Tackling the complex customer matrix of the future will require a new level of sophistication,” he says.

Future sales organizations will be tailored to fit portfolios, lifecycle stages, customer needs, competitiveness and relative advantage, Awopetu stresses. And size, skill set and focus will differ by therapy area and region as “the fragmentation of decision making continues to impact the health care environment,” he says.

Awopetu believes the “detail man’s or woman’s” days are numbered.

“In the future, being able to deliver key messages will merely be an entry ticket to the game, not a source of differentiation,” he says. “The representative will cease to be a walking advertising board and become a more valued partner. Key messages will still be vital, but only those that are adding value will get the opportunities to deliver and reinforce their key messages. Moreover, those messages will be more tailored to different segments of customers as the drive to demonstrate value accelerates.”

As the interrelationship between stakeholders becomes more complex, Awopetu says it will become increasingly difficult to serve single customer groups. Sales reps, he says, will need to take a more strategic view of their territory, maneuvering to take advantage of local nuances.

“Decision makers and influencers will vary by therapy area, region and lifecycle stage more so than today,” Awopetu says. “Therefore, representatives will need to become savvy at identifying key stakeholders and delivering a compelling message to them.”

As a logical follow-on, performance management, he says, will move beyond call rates, as the quality of call activity becomes the leading key performance indicator. During the infamous “arms race,” call rates were crucial, but overcrowding has bred serious inefficiencies, Awopetu points out. And as customers increasingly vote with their time, adding value and meeting customer needs will be critical, he says.

Underutilized resource
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, reps will need new skills to fit their new role. Although relationship building and persuasiveness will still be paramount, only those sales organizations that can combine these skills with scientific knowledge and an understanding of the evolving healthcare climate will survive, Awopetu says.

“In the future, the opportunities to stand out will exist only for those representatives that are able to not only communicate the benefits of a particular drug, but assist their customers in diagnosing and treating their patients,” he concludes.

Awopetu suggests that the pharma sales rep currently is possibly one of the world’s most underutilized resources.

“For bright, young, enthusiastic graduates, the likely change in their role will be welcomed,” he predicts. “Unfortunately, the current situation does not aid the morale of the sales organization. They want to feel they are making a difference and two minutes of discussion with a distracted doctor does not help. The enrichment of the role, albeit inspired by the changing environment, will be a win-win situation for customers and the industry.”

Until we accept that the sales rep is our most vital tool to deliver customer service rather than lip service, Awopetu says, we will continue to receive negative feedback from customers.

“True customer centricity needs to be more than a slogan – it needs be a culture, which for many means significant cultural change,” he says.

Author: Lisa Roner, editor, eyeforpharma

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