A pharmaceutical company can spend a considerable amount of time and effort developing and bringing new products to the market and be rightfully proud of its contribution to the healthcare industry. Such a company can spend enormous sums of money and many a late-night hour as it deals with the necessary consultation and lobbying, just as it puts up with endless layers of bureaucratic red tape. Ultimately, success boils down to the importance of effective implementation at the sales level. At the highest level of a pharmaceutical company, resources should be set aside to engage a pharmaceutical consulting firm, enabling you to focus on implementation and the achievement of meaningful results. The senior executives of the parent company are much better off allocating their precious time to product development and legal issues, leaving pharmaceutical consultants to help with specific training and methodology.

One of the primary reasons why a sales team member may fail to consummate a deal with the prospect is due to a lack of understanding of the potential client’s problems, issues and concerns. He or she should remember that financial details associated with the sale are not to be treated as primary, yet much further down the list. Today, the marketplace is very competitive and it’s not realistic to assume that a product will be sold just because it is available. On the contrary, many questions arise and all issues must be dealt with before the front-line professional will be at all ready to even trust the business, let alone engage and move forward. A hard approach to selling will definitely not work in this arena and any sales executive who comes to the business from other industries should be given specific attention by the pharmaceutical consultant.

When interacting with the client, pitching the benefits of the product must await its particular time and place. Due to unwelcome hard sales tactics deployed by old style salespeople, a certain lack of professionalism and the emergence of years of distrust, a degree of hostility can be expected in any potential relationship at a primary stage. This is a significant barrier to overcome and the establishment of trust is one of the primary keys to help build the executive’s ratio of effective implementation.

These days, pharma consulting firms are well versed with the difficulties ahead, have considerable practice in the industry and know how to overcome the expected barriers. This will require a focused approach, the training of adequate sales techniques, an understanding of territorial application and time management and, of course, product education, as without all these the sales closure ratio will be poor. As margins are so narrow, the company does not have the luxury of padding in this area and must ensure that the pharmaceutical sales team is as prepared as humanly possible to engage in bringing results.

Motivation is important when it comes to the sales team’s results, but financial remuneration or a convoluted bonus structure should not be primary, rather job dedication and performance satisfaction should be powerful incentives themselves. Financial remuneration alone will always tend to skew the executive’s approach to the task and he or she may not view the consummation of the deal as a two-way and ongoing relationship with a new 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.

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