It’s very difficult to get ahead of the game in the pharmaceutical sales business and a training consultant must be able to look at a whole list of different criteria in order to motivate the sales force to succeed. It’s certainly possible to achieve significant and top class performance, so long as the client listens to the consultant and defines important benchmarks and abilities. Without the ability to measure these competencies, goals cannot realistically be set and individuals may not aspire to meet them. It is therefore important that the pharmaceutical company understands and helps to develop the framework at the outset.

Specific marketing roles must be developed according to specific sales targets. It is important to understand what is expected of each role and to clarify the individual’s responsibility and methodology. There are almost always core principles within each identified role within the company, but any competencies that are very specific must be made clear to the attending individual, so that they may be understood and mastered.

Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical sales training uses the latest strategies and theory, as well as experience gained by the consultant and his organisation in the process of building ability. Selling skills are very sophisticated these days, and rely on personal interaction rather than a straightforward focus on the achievement of goals. To pick up specific product knowledge, pertinent to the individual’s objective, requires a salesperson to have a clear understanding of the buyer’s position and the variety of external factors that could influence his or her decision, when it comes to decision time.

These days, pharmaceutical sales training will help to instil the company’s brand strategy and overall objectives, so that the salesperson fully understands what the company is trying to achieve from a broader perspective. The consultant imparts to the salesperson how the market is made up, how certain levels of strategic marketing can best push the brand and how the most modern communication methods can help.

The salesperson of today must be a public relations expert and be very adept at interpersonal communication. The buyer/seller relationship in the modern pharmaceutical business can often represent more of an informational partner exchange. Often, very subtle and difficult to determine factors may influence the buying decision, and the salesperson must try and understand these.

If an account is determined to be principle and essential to the pharmaceutical company’s existence going forward, key account management training must ensure that the individuals responsible for handling these accounts are up to speed. These individuals will require specific skill sets, which will undoubtedly extend far beyond typical sales and closing skills. The pharmaceutical company must understand that the key account is looking for more than might be immediately obvious and that a straightforward, two-way interaction is not sufficient for success. Other than the particular person responsible for face-to-face relations with the key account, everybody involved must understand the delicacy of dealing with the account and that there may be some special techniques needed, if an ultimately successful relationship is to be enjoyed with this client.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

You need a specific type of skill, a great deal of information and an ability to calculate potential to find out whether a sales force is truly effective, or not. Essentially, the amount of selling time available, based on a realistic allocation of hours and multiplied by the number of people on the team, can be combined with an assessment of market potential to create a market response matrix. Certainly this used to be a very cumbersome process, prone to errors as it was developed using a spreadsheet and multiple interaction, and this has thankfully given way to more productive methods in modern times.

It’s essential to align territories correctly if a sales force is to be effective at all. This will involve the definition of boundaries, bearing in mind balanced workloads, compact and contiguous territories and a minimisation of travel time. Even though this may sound fairly clear, it’s often not so, and unless the sales executive’s time is protected from waste and fully optimised, the company simply won’t achieve its full potential. Unless the territory is correctly aligned, a sales executive could find that he or she is faced with the prospect of too many potential customers. This will undoubtedly result in a net loss in terms of productive time, as the high workload will result in ineffective interaction with individual clients. Conversely, if there are too few customers according to the allocated executive, the potential of the executive can be wasted in this situation and this can be aggravated if some of the people with the best track records are underutilised.

Without a comprehensive roadmap showing it the way to go, the pharmaceutical company should not deploy its sales force. This can be especially challenging for the business executives as they have so much on their plate to start off with. It goes without saying that the business chiefs are interested in sales force effectiveness, but they should get help from pharmaceutical consultants to help them prioritise effectively. A pharmaceutical consulting firm is fully cognisant of the need for adequate preparation, planning and optimisation of a sales force workload. Building on years of experience, industry insight, education, training and street smarts, pharma consulting will certainly help the parent company to prepare for battle.

A company’s sales force should not be deployed unless a number of criteria have been met, including strategic alignment, both current and future, goal and objective auditing, data incorporation and resource deployment, human and otherwise. This is where an honest assessment should be made of the potential, along with the anticipated workload for each individual. Any current deployment of resources should be highly criticised to expose any inequities in territory alignment.

In an ideal world, members of the sales force should each have a excellent and very productive track record. Remember that it’s not up to the sales executive to solicit improvements in territories or necessarily to find new clients. Rather, with help from pharmaceutical consultants, the pharmaceutical company executives must set targets and goals and have created the perfect matrix to enable them to solicit the greatest gains, whether profit or otherwise.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

The pharmaceutical product marketing industry is very large, estimated at more than $25 billion per year and this emphasises the need for a pharmaceutical company to be active and effective in the arena. The organisation can be as creative or as ground breaking as it likes as it brings new products to the marketplace, but without sharp attention to its marketing operations it may falter in an ultra-competitive marketplace. There is no doubt that the healthcare industry will continue to grow even in a downturn, but increasing amounts of highly motivated competition is evident and the company overlooks its marketing initiatives at potentially high cost.

The healthcare industry touches almost every individual in the country at some stage and due to its sheer size, drug spending is always a subject of great attention. Within the healthcare industry, the total amount spent on pharmaceuticals accounts for 15% of the entire budget and it therefore follows that due to the high stakes associated, a lack of marketing proficiency can have significant repercussions.

For the pharmaceutical company, its sales force is at the sharp end and spends much of its time interacting directly with the professional, the practitioner and the advisor. Positive interaction between the sales executive and the professional is essential for progress. As the executive engages with the professional, a lot of time and effort can be put into trying to achieve a result, but as the practitioner is often turned off to marketing practices and advances, this can be a ‘tough nut to crack.’

Often times, the healthcare professional, being highly educated and focused, wants to rely on scientific papers, advice from colleagues within the industry, or his or her own training and first-hand experience. There is a danger that he or she could believe that the pharmaceutical company sales executive has but one motive in mind and as such, the sales executive requires fairly advanced communication and marketing skills to succeed.

The pharmaceutical industry is maturing constantly and with advances in medicine comes the need for a much higher level of education at the sales executive team level. This level of complexity can be worrying to the senior management of a pharmaceutical company, as they have enough to worry about with regard to political lobbying, the enforcement of regulations, development of products and numerous economic issues. It is at times like these that they should turn to pharmaceutical consulting firms not only to advise them, but to help educate and direct their sales forces.

Generally, pharmaceutical consultants have a great deal of first-hand experience within the market and specifically with regard to dealing first-hand with professionals and end users. They can advise about correct motivation and the proper balance of training versus direct, “feet on the street” time. Most pharma consulting experts will help to ensure that the sales staff member realises the urgency required, while bringing all members of the team together into a cohesive unit. The executive must not only work with the best interest of the employing company at heart, but must seek to engage the acceptance and trust of the end-user professional at a critical stage in the product life. Applying the correct amount of direct motivation and training smarts represents the required balance.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

So much is at stake, that senior management should really focus on the organisation of the company’s sales force, being fully aware of its effectiveness and be ready to make changes whenever necessary to maximise performance; it’s not acceptable to take a back-seat approach to this type of organisation any more, if a company is to survive at all. It is said that the actual cost of a sales call is in the region of $400 or more and as there’s so much at stake, the sales executive must be fully efficient in everything they do, without question.

While it goes without saying that the sales executive should be a highly skilled individual, trained in the intricacies of closing sales, a first-class communicator and people person, if poor methodology is used by the pharmaceutical company, all his or her skills could be wasted. Look at what’s at stake – poor deployment could mean the difference between merely surviving or enjoying the many benefits of the company’s ongoing endeavours.

The good news for the pharmaceutical company is that by leveraging existing assets, a significant difference could emerge. It’s amazing how small improvements in significant areas can result in big profit gains. Very often it may not be immediately obvious to the untrained eye that the sales force is working inefficiently, and this is where highly skilled pharmaceutical consultants can really help the organisation move forward.

Sales force effectiveness is about many different facets. For example, optimal sizing of the workforce, optimal allocation of individual efforts and optimal alignment of sales territories, all play the part. A pharmaceutical consulting firm knows through experience how important it is to optimise, drawing on experience gained in business over all the years, through case studies and by an ongoing review of policies, procedures and advancements. No longer is sales force optimisation an exercise to be conducted with pen and paper, but rather digital products and software solutions should be engaged with potentially powerful results. While plans are being incorporated, internal intelligence should be brought in and everything incorporated prior to the actual launch.

Looking back, workload allocation data from previous seasons and historical performance charts can help to reveal the optimum size of the sales force. This should be engaged with market conditions, both current and projected and also fine-tuned according to the company’s product mix and plans for expansion.

Generally, pharma consulting covers many different facets and, of particular interest to the company, should help to reveal the best time management practices for the freshly optimised sales force. One of the first tasks should be to ensure that schedules are optimised as well as theoretically possible, and individual operatives within the sales force team are trained to take advantage of every moment of time available to them. Once the company can be sure that it has eliminated travel overlaps and balanced its workloads, it can be ready to send out its focused sales team on the road to best effect. The cost of a sales call is not going down by any means, so it makes sense to contain costs as best as possible.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.

It can be a tough life for pharmaceutical companies sometimes. Just think how many different bosses they have to answer to, some of whom have very little to do with a bottom-line result. It is not enough trying to focus on the generation and development of good relationships with top clients, but they also have to work out how to assess key account management while dealing with the difficult demands of regulators, auditors and others.

The pharmaceutical company must understand that key account management tactics are very important, while also requiring a dynamic approach, flexible positions and creativity. The key account sometimes has several different points of communication within the pharmaceutical company and this can lead to a certain amount of confusion if not handled correctly. However, it is also true to say that these individual “points” could view the key account from different perspectives, depending upon the job level and/or driving force.

Invariably, pharma consulting tells us that the front-line sales executive may or may not be motivated by revenue levels and there is danger that he or she may not have the ultimate interests of the employer, the company, at heart. This is often not a cut and dried situation but rather very subtle, and can nevertheless have an effect on the overall relationship between the two organisations.

Key accounts provide a level of cash flow-based stability to a pharmaceutical company that is difficult to replicate. However, the designation of “key account” status should not be given lightly. It should never be decided based on scale alone, and many other factors must be taken into consideration. It is possible that a high-volume could result in a low bottom-line return, due to the cost of servicing the needs of the client and razor thin margins.

A well-known metric is applied in most business situations, telling us that 80% of the value is often supplied by only 20% of the clients. Insofar as this is true, a potential “key” account should be categorised and understood before an approach is determined. A number of different layers of key account management could exist within a typical organisation and all tiers of management, especially those who regularly interact with clients, must receive correct training in the techniques required to handle every level and type of account.

Many different ways exist to segment and categorise a client, when it comes to the designation of key account status and these include the company’s growth rate, its percentage allocation of profits, total annual sales and peer-to-peer comparison.

The pharmaceutical consulting firm will be the first to tell the company that no two clients are alike and furthermore that no two key accounts can be treated the same, either. In most cases, pharmaceutical consultants have seen how to handle these different levels of accounts successfully and can help to tutor the company’s various staffing elements accordingly. It is best if the pharmaceutical company develops a critical statement outlining the terms of the relationship with each and every client. The company should never possess a standard description of any kind, fully recognising that the key account is so important to the company’s long-term viability, thereby resulting in all staff members being fully trained to recognise the significant difference between an “orange and an apple,” so to speak.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

If you have not engaged in something like this before, buying business assets can be quite a daunting prospect. While it may be somewhat easier than establishing your own operation from scratch, understand that you are taking on, in many respects, the liabilities of somebody who is a complete stranger to you. You can certainly reveal many of the inner workings of the business for sale and consult numerous documents to help you understand what it is all about, but you must be able to read between the lines, and this is exactly why you need a due diligence checklist.

Many of the business owners you will come across are diligent and enthusiastic people, are justifiably proud of their creation and really want their baby to be nurtured and cared for by a new and careful owner, but you cannot assume that this is always the case. This is not to say that you have to assume the worst at all times, but you can never take any statements at face value and always have to be sure that there is proof to back up any claims made. Always ensure that you employ the services of expert analysts as required when you buy a business, including accountants, financiers and business experts.

Primarily, you are now engaged in the process of setting value. Undoubtedly, each of the parties – the buyer and seller, will have a different interpretation of the value of the business. You will not come to an agreement or deal unless both parties are happy, but always bear in mind that you have to set the specifics under which a deal is likely to be made.

When you buy a business, there are numerous steps that you have to take as you proceed through your due diligence checklist, and all of these will help you to reveal the inner workings of the business in question. You may hear references made to industry benchmarks, and they may be useful for information gathering but you should not rely on them. In the majority of cases you will always want to rely on the most recent data and while there are many documents to check, the financials are of paramount importance. You may look at a particular business asset and think it is very interesting to you, but you should not skim over some of the less palatable figures that you are presented with under any circumstances.

When you’re looking at the value of a business for sale, some of the more important factors include the scale and the level of services available, the potential for business expansion, the age of the organization and the reputational impact in the marketplace. Calculate the level of competition, both industry-specific and geographically and in many cases the most important of all, its location. You may be considering purchasing an Internet-based business or one that does not have a “bricks and mortar” location. Certainly, a physical location is not important in this situation, however you may have to undergo an even more thorough process of due diligence.

Time spent going through this process of revelation as you work your way through your due diligence checklist, will be well worthwhile. This entire process may take you weeks rather than days, especially if you need to analyse daily operations, client interaction and staff behaviour, for example. Be prepared for a lengthy process and you will not become overly anxious to consummate an early deal.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

After thirty years of marriage, Evelyn discovered herself along when her husband asked her for a divorce. She had not seen it coming and after dealing with the first wave of panic she decided she had to get a grip and see how she could cope with her new situation. Evelyn had not worked in years because she had stayed home while the children were small and was content being a housewife. This life suited her well for all of that time but now how was she going to get along when the children were grown and lived away and her husband had chosen to leave her? The one talent she had nurtured was to create hand sewn items and donate them to charitable causes such as the school fairs and hospital fundraisers. As she pondered her situation she came up with an idea that she felt would be a good fit for working from home and still making money to help with expenses. She decided to form her own company making custom bags that could be ordered over the internet and delivered through the mail. She also specialized in creating large event bags that were often given to attendees at special affairs so they could fill them with samples and business cards from vendors. She discovered this was a business that filled a need and she soon had to bring on more help to meet her orders.

The above story illustrates how a person can develop a business to become more financially secure but there are additional positive outcomes as well. The ability to come through crisis well changes the way a person views his or her ability to cope with life. If the outcome is a good one then these positive feelings are created:

• Confidence in decision making: Frequently someone has not had the chance to make large decisions and this can be a fearful thing to do. When someone steps out on faith and takes a chance it can greatly impact their self confidence positively when that choice is proven to be a winner.

• An increase in self awareness: People have reported that starting a business has hugely added to their talent of thinking things through in a whole new way. The challenge and hard work it requires to begin and continue a business can build an environment for self-knowledge and new perceptions.

• A new vitality about life: There is something very stimulating and satisfying when a person knows that they have met a challenge and have been able to overcome it. Even if that predicament has been presented as a very real crisis and perhaps especially when it is presented in that way. A crisis helps a person find strengths that he did not even know he had possessed prior to the incident.

• An appreciation for life: Interestingly, as a crisis begins to abate, it creates an appreciation and enjoyment that many times was lacking in our lives prior to that time.

During the serious recession of 2008 and 2009, the healthcare industry was one of the few actual growth areas, just as the USA was in the news due to the president’s intended healthcare reform and the consequent, lengthy delays in Congress. During Pres. Obama’s successful campaign, the healthcare business was much in the news and upon inauguration he pushed both houses of Congress to act quickly and with credibility. It appears as if we are poised on the edge of a momentous change in the industry, which will affect everyone involved from healthcare providers through hospitals, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. In these tumultuous times, the role of healthcare and pharmaceutical consulting organisations will be pivotal and all the skills possessed by these companies will be necessary as changes are processed and results analysed.

Healthcare will be a growing industry for the foreseeable future, especially as the generation known as “baby boomers” comes of a certain age, representing a strain on the overall health care system. This will call for innovation and the provision of additional services and products by the pharmaceutical company. The marketplace is sure to get more and more competitive.

A spotlight will always be trained on costs and the role of the insurance company as intermediary between both ends of the spectrum. Healthcare professionals will be under more and more pressure to correctly advise their patients, especially in the light of new legislation and new rules. All in all, a great period of uncertainty can be expected in what is already a pressure filled industry.

In the future, pharmaceutical consultants, already in high demand, will be even more valuable as the role of pharma consulting extends to decipher these new rules and implications. Training of the company’s workforce is best engaged with the help of consultants, who provide an extra layer of expertise, experience and training themselves. Executives from the parent company must spend as much time as possible dealing with the principal concerns associated with production and regulation. They should devote valuable time to staff administration, maintenance and training. The pharmaceutical consulting firm is ready and able to take on this element of the organisation and to ensure that sales executives implement correctly and bring as valuable a return as possible to the company’s bottom line.

The healthcare business is one of our most dynamic industries and pharmaceutical and healthcare consulting is a critical internal component. Not all organisations interested in the development of a pharmaceutical company can be classified as “friendly” and this puts significant pressures on the company. A pharmaceutical consulting firm is best positioned to advise the company’s executives, by interpreting each position and working out how to approach and handle each party from a position of strength. Make no mistake, there are challenging and risky times ahead, yet these times could also be potentially lucrative and the consultant can be an additional pair of ears and eyes, together with a valued resource. It is certainly best for the company to take on a long-term engagement with a pharmaceutical and healthcare consulting firm, to achieve the best possible returns.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

Any organisation involved in today’s cut throat world of business, knows how important effective implementation is and how those slim margins determine whether or not an organisation will sink or swim. There are so many potential stumbling blocks that even the most experienced sales executive can miss the target, and yet it’s still important to focus on each one to move closer to a higher closing rate. When the sales executive is in the field, there is little that the business chief can do to alter the closing rate, but there is much to do in preparation and this should be a major area of focus.

To start off with, a sales executive must work to build the trust of a client. He or she must earn the trust and must do everything in their power to create the right impression, both personally and professionally. It will likely be necessary to engage, with numerous visits and interactions and be consistent at all times. Never forget that the executive must always be prompt for any scheduled meetings, must be good at following up and must always call back on schedule. The executive must always be prepared with the right information and must generally appear to know what he or she is talking about, as a professional will be always expecting results. Remember that in the pharmaceutical industry, front-line professionals have seen it all, may be somewhat jaded and expect the pharmaceutical sales executive to promise everything but not come through. They are hesitant because they tend to believe that the representative is interested in sales and sales alone, and the barriers that may be established before the first meeting may be an additional hindrance to the establishment of this trust.

Once a position of trust is established and the potential client actually believes in the executive and sees potential for a future, there is more than just a foot in the door. This is not to say that sales will be a guarantee, but unless you reach this critical position you have very little chance of ever reaching the “Holy Grail.” A sales executive should never be afraid to call in testimonials from other established and happy customers, especially if the target has a personal experience with the provider.

These days, pharma consulting organisations know all about the importance of effective implementation and are up-to-date with the various tactics required to convince the prospect to say, “yes.” A modern-day sales executive should move away from any old-fashioned high-pressure tactics. After spending so much time building up trust with your prospects, trying to use any pressure tactics to exert sales, be they subliminal or not, can be disastrous. Time is so important and effective use of this resource will surely tell whether the sales executive’s day will represent success and profit to the employer, or not. It’s no surprise that pharmaceutical consultants know all about the various sales techniques required, especially whether they are pertinent to the industry or not. A pharmaceutical consulting firm is of great potential benefit to the parent organisation and can often help to ensure that effective implementation is front and centre to the sales executive’s approach.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.

Is it possible for senior management figures within the pharmaceutical company to be fully efficient while they have, literally, too much on their plate? An organisation’s shareholders may not be able to realise the best return on the equity that they have invested unless the company’s senior staff are focused on the things that really matter. The pharmaceutical and healthcare business is one of the most challenging industries of all, as complex market forces interact to push an organisation that is not sufficiently focused off course. During times of rough weather, an experienced pharmaceutical consulting firm can assist the company to convert the promise of highly developed products into actual cash revenues to ensure longevity.

Financiers, regulators and special interest groups abound and all contribute to the pressure packed environment surrounding a pharmaceutical consulting company’s clients. The company is working to provide critical products which can literally mean the difference between life and death, yet must be keenly aware of the way that it operates and be careful not to step out of line in any way. If this is not pressure enough, the company must then venture into a marketplace which is full of additional pitfalls and loopholes, is highly competitive and is subject to a whole new raft of external forces. The smartest organisations will engage the services of a pharmaceutical consulting firm to help them survive and prosper. These firms fully understand the difficulties faced by the parent company and will be dedicated to helping it achieve success. As such, pharmaceutical consultants employed by the assisting company are hand-picked to represent experience, knowledge, expertise and ability. These are not fresh-faced individuals with no experience of working on the streets, but can bring real world knowledge to bear on any given situation.

The pharmaceutical company executive does not have any spare time available due to a complex roster of tasks that must be addressed every day, so the consultant’s assistance in helping oversee sales force effectiveness is valued. The consultant will help to set up territory boundaries, to organise and motivate the sales team and to generally ensure that the entire operation is successful. Time management is of critical importance to the sales team, which already has precious little time to spend face-to-face with clients and potential customers. Once this primary time is established to best effect, training will ensure that the consulting firm will help to prompt the sales executive with the best strategies. Almost all pharma consulting firms are well aware that an agreement between the pharmaceutical company and medical professionals is a complex and two-way street and that financial considerations do not represent the entire game.

The consultant can play a pivotal role in the success of the company as 2010 unfolds. In the U.S., legislation will bring considerable additional challenges as the industry works out exactly what is happening. This is certain to be one of the most difficult periods for any company involved in the business, but one which could be especially lucrative for those well prepared. The consultant will help to ensure that the pharmaceutical company’s glass is always more than half-full for the target company.

Alan Gillies is the CEO of L2L Consulting, a cutting-edge pharma consultancy firm which specialises in optimising productivity and performance within international companies by applying tailored organisational strategies.