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For many years, the main approach to selling pharmaceuticals was geared around a Share of Voice Model, which focused on frequency and coverage as the main drivers of sales.

For many years, the main approach to selling pharmaceuticals was geared around a Share of Voice Model, which focused on frequency and coverage as the main drivers of sales. Until recently, it was true that increasing the number of sales reps, and therefore the number of details done by a sales force, did indeed increase revenue and sales.

More recently, changes in the market place, particularly in the major Western European countries, have driven a shift in how companies are approaching their customers. As healthcare costs rise and governments become increasingly reluctant to pay for these increases, attempts at rationalizing or standardizing prescribing have increased. The main aim of these approaches is to increase the prescribing of generics and drugs that are perceived to be more cost effective.

The effect has been to reduce the freedom of individual physicians to prescribe what they think is the most appropriate drug and to, instead, prescribe from a formulary or restricted list. Within the industry, there also has been a shift in research and development toward more specialized and niche products, which do not require huge multi-detailing sales forces Instead, such products demand an approach that moves away from only considering individual doctors to treating physician practices and hospitals as accounts.

These changes mean the role of the sales person has evolved to a model which requires talking to multidisciplinary teams about, not just the individual drugs, but therapy and disease areas. This does not mean that we no longer need to call on individual prescribers, but that we should call on a number of different customers within a hospital or practice who have a hand in the decision making process around what drugs are prescribed or placed on formularies. No longer is it the decision of any one individual as to what drugs are used; it is down to many individuals acting as teams with many factors influencing their decisions. The role of the Account Manager is to ensure they know who the relevant individuals are, the parts and roles they play, and the influences and factors that help them develop their views and opinions, which ultimately lead to their role in the final decision or outcome.

This Account Management approach now means that the representative can, and should, call on a number of different customers within the hospital or practice, including nurses, pharmacists, specialists and general practitioners. The desire is to ensure that everyone in the account has the required understanding and information about the companys products to allow them to make an appropriate and well informed decision about which drugs become the drugs of choice in that particular account.

Fundamental to a successful Key Account Management strategy is the effective utilization of the resources that the company wishes to deploy. In order to make sure that the company and your own resources are most effectively used, it is crucial that we ensure we are communicating appropriate and differentiated messages to the right customers in the priority accounts.

This has meant an evolution of the role of the sales person from being highly knowledgeable about a small number of drugs or products to increasingly becoming disease area experts and highly effective at building rapport and relationships across multidisciplinary groups in the relevant accounts. The focus is now on building and developing effective relationships with the right accounts, rather than a Share of Voice approach. This means that the Account Manager has to be able to first, identify the correct accounts from the territory and focus the appropriate level of time and investment on the accounts which are going to drive the biggest ROI.

The messages that need to be given may differ. For example, a different message may be required for doctors compared to nurses or pharmacists. It is vitally important to understand the customers individual needs and wants, and tailor the approach to this at all times, keeping an eye on the bigger picture at an account level.

Key Account Managers need to understand the bigger picture and wider implications of the impact of other groups such as payers on the decisions that are being made in the modern health services.

What this means in practice is a move away from armies of sales representatives purely focused on detailing products, towards a focus on building and managing long term relationships with an account, be that a practice, hospital or a group of practices or hospitals on a territory. The key challenges will be ensuring that we understand enough about the customers and the influences in each account to ensure that we utilize the appropriate level and mix of resources be that our time, money, sponsorship, support or education for each account. And ensuring that we look to maximize the ROI and return on the efforts we put in.

Successful companies and sales people in the pharmaceutical industry going forward will understand the value in identifying the accounts that will generate the greatest return on their investment and will be able to develop and maintain commercial business relationships that generate mutual trust and value for all parties, including patients.

The mindset change that is necessary when moving from 1:1 selling to Key Account Management can best be summed up with the following diagrams

Traditional selling takes the form of the bow-tie model, with the focal point of the interaction between the organizations being that of the sales rep directly to the healthcare professional. It predominantly manifests as a very transactional relationship. This model leaves the sales relationship between the company and its customers weak and extremely vulnerable to competition. This is highly typical of the old, representative-to-GP or hospital representative-to-consultant model. Because the only meaningful point of contact is between the sales representative and a handful of customers within the account, the relationships tend to be weak and limited.

We can differentiate ourselves with key customers and maximize our key customer relationships by moving from bow-tie models to diamond models of customer relationship. In this relationship model, the account manager interacts with the departments in the hospital, using all of the company resources that are available to them. This overcomes many of the drawbacks of the traditional approach by involving a whole range of customers who can influence your business in many ways.

This type of relationship involves the hospital much more closely with the company. It does not stand or fall on the relationship between perhaps only two individuals, and is extremely powerful. Key Account Management done correctly takes a longer time to achieve and is most definitely not a quick-fix. It is, instead, an approach that seeks to build longstanding relationships between the account manager and those customers that are most important to their and the organizations long-term success.

Key Account Management requires very different skills compared to traditional selling, with the emphasis being on accurate targeting, long term relationship building and strategic thinking. It moves away from the old approach of detailing individuals, to a multi-faceted approach that takes into account all customers, rather than just clinicians, and also has a broader more business-focused view.