medicinman april 2012 issue

Vol. 2 lssue 4

Editorialwww.medicinman.net April 2012

According to an excellent must-read Booz and Company’s Pharma Sales and Marketing Trends Report, 68% pharma executives believed that the present pharma business model was broken and needed significant repairs.

I wonder what an India specific survey would reveal. Most consulting com-panies are busy trumpeting the huge potential of Indian healthcare market without saying much about the current business models and practices. The busi-ness part that needs the most repairs is Sales Force Management and Front-line leadership development.

In this issue, MedicinMan looks at the last mile challenge from several angles and perspectives. First, there is an excellent lead article written by industry veteran Vikram Munshi who has worked in sen-ior positions in pharma giants, GSK and Ranbaxy.(http://in.linkedin.com/pub/vikram-a-munshi/5/168/141)

Vikram’s article echoes the voice of thou-sands of front-line managers on whom new and newer strategies are thrust without addressing their basic need of quality front-line people. Concepts like SFE, KAM, CRM make eminent stra-tegic sense. However, they fall flat at the ground level. And that is how good concepts like SFE, KAM and CRM get a bad name and are discarded/misused or made into our own brand of khichdi; instead of what Hanno Wolfram writes in his excellent article –

“Understanding and Aligning SFE with Commercial Excellence”. Read Vikram’s and Hanno’s article and send us your feedback.

Then there is the MedicinMan Poll on LinkedIn, which has received excel-lent response – 90 votes in 10 days and counting (Booz and Company surveyed 150 pharma executives globally). This Poll is to identify the learning needs of pharma front-line managers. Five skills were listed – see Poll and Participate - http://linkd.in/yJ2HVZ

1. Managerial Skills of Planning, Organizing, Execution and Monitoring

2. Creating Trust & Building Relationship

3. Spot, hire, motivate and engage talent

4. Build skills of team members

5. Effective communication

Except for managerial skills, all others require significant amount of emotional intelligence and leadership learning. And it is clear from the comments that very little learning and development happens at the front-line. Everyone ex-pects the front-line manager to perform like an expert juggler who can balance several roles and responsibilities simul-taneously. But an expert juggler learns, trains and practices like hell before he performs before the crowd. Significantly, Effective Communication Skill received the least importance – does this reflect on the underlying problem of poor

communication, disengagement and at-trition?

The article by Jitendra Singh gives front-line managers five simple steps to cope with the current challenges till the Indian pharma leadership steps in and addresses the issue holistically.

Srinivasan’s article on facing interviews should help Medical Reps as well as re-cruiters.

Dinesh Chindarkar and Dr. Neelesh re-port on Health 2.0 India. A very interest-ing and new frontier approach to health-care issues. These new approaches could hold some answers to fixing the pharma business model.

Encouraged by the success of Brand Drift for pharma brand managers MedicinMan is partnering with Knowl-edge Ventures to produce an event fo-cusing on Sales Force Management, specifically on enabling front-line managers to unleash the FORCE in the FieldForce. Call us if you want to part-ner with us.

We look forward to your feedback and support in our efforts to foster Field Force Excellence.

Front-line Manager - The Last Mile Disconnect in Pharma Strategy

MedicinMan Vol. 2 lssue 4

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MedicinMan Poll on Competencies for Pharma Front-line Manager

Deep Bhandari

As the name indicate this is first management position, hence, not an easy one. The first time manager’s need to transition into first line manager is not natural as expected. Often they all have wrong role models. First line management is about managing a team of people to produce a set of business outcomes, which are at least, acceptable to the employing company. Essentially there are two types of sets of skills and competencies that are needed to produce the requisite results. The first sets of skills are those that involve being able to understand and act on, from a commercial perspective, the business and the environment you are working in. We come across FLMs who continue to focus on same work values, skills set and time application what made them successful as Reps and get frustrated when they and organization don’t get the desired results. The second set of skills and competencies are around being able to manage a team to produce the required results. These tend to be skills and competencies such as motivation, interpersonal skills, communication skills, and leadership, developing others, working with people and performance management.

Comments

Rajiv Sharma

The pharma industry today as graduated from scientific to service oriented selling as there is very little to offer to their customers by way of their products . It is the people and their skills that is going to make the difference in the clinic . Therefore, it is best to have those who have the skills to train and develop sales personnel; they must get the opportunity to lead the team of sales personnel not the ones who are star performers in terms of sales only .

For more comments see pages 12 & 13 and details of the Poll go to - http://linkd.in/yJ2HVZ


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SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line ManagerA Specific Resource for Developing Pharma Front-line Managers

“The book “SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-Line Manager” is a must read for all pharmaceutical Sales Reps who are aspiring to become Front Line Managers and thus further their career. It begins with a bang, as it portrays the targeted readers in good light with the potential of the industry and them-selves. The writing style is quite easy to read, the quotes in every page add exquisite flavor to the point of discussion and the cartoons are apt & humorous. I recommend this book in my training programs for Senior Reps who are aspiring to become Front-Line Managers as well for Managers new to their role.”

Senior Manager - Training and Development, Eli Lilly

SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager is a necessity for the Pharma Indus-try. There are number of books and publica-tions available on top management functions but hardly, we come across books on basics for the basic functions – like Strategic Phar-ma Selling for MR and FM. SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager should be textbook for all aspiring and practicing MR and FM. I am sure it will help them to understand and develop leadership skills. Finally, what our country needs today and more for tomorrow is ‘Sells PULL’ than ‘Sells PUSH’. Hope your book will contribute to-wards this objective.

SanjoyMitra, Managing Director, SMSRC

I personally find SuperVision for the Super-Wiser Front-line Manager extremely valu-able for FLSMs and MRs who want to build their career in Pharmaceutical sales. Chapter on EQ and MI are been very interesting. En-tire efforts have been very effective yet sim-ple. I recommend SuperVision for the Super-Wiser Front-line Manager for all the pharma professionals.

Training Manager; GSK, India

Although the first-line manager’s job is very important, a great majority of FLMs do not have clarity on their roles. Even after years, they function as super-medical representa-tives. The transition period is infinite. In light of this, the delightful book by Anup Soans would serve as a guidebook to many FLMs. I have not seen many such books by Indian authors. I recommend that SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager should be a part of the welcome-kit whenever any medical representative is promoted as first-line manager. Needles to mention, all senior first-line managers should read and absorb the material from this book

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi

“Supervision for the superwiser front-line manager written by Mr.Anup Soans is must for all front-line managers of every pharma companies. It is tailor-made to Medical Reps to transform to leadership position.”

Head- Sales Marketing, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

To avail of special offers on SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager, call 9342232949 or email - [email protected]


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Dear Sir,

I want to share my honest thoughts with you on the roll out of the Corporate SFE program. The chances are that after I pen down my thoughts, I may not have the courage to send you this mail. But let me cross the bridge when I come to it. Sir, I want to ask you 3 questions.

My first question: Why is it that not a single Corporate SFE Team Member is a field sales manager? Sir, I do not appreciate people coming and tell-ing me what to do when they have no idea about the realities we face in the field. Yesterday’s group had a senior HO manager who worked in the field 15 years ago. Does he know that in the last 15 years, there has been a sea change in the kind of talent attracted by the Industry? Pharma industry is not a preferred employer now and I have to recruit whoever I find. Do you expect miracles from this kind of talent? Even if I try to mould and develop, the new Medcial Rep takes it as harassment and resigns even before he is confirmed. Do the Corporate Team members have any idea about the kind of talent we are

Heart to Heart - From the Front-line Manager

dealing with? I do not think so. You might tell me to focus the roll-out of the Corporate SFE program on my ex-perienced team members. Let us take Vikas, my team member for 3 years. A good performer, but egoistic. You know he delivers results but always has his way of doing things.

My second question: If you were in my place, how would you roll-out this program to Vikas? The moment I start questioning his doctor list, he will get offended and may even go to the extent of pulling his performance down to show his displeasure. At the end of the month, I am caught between the devil and the deep sea. Do I focus on SFE or do I meet my end of the month com-mitment? Will you as my boss accept reasons like this for not delivering my numbers? I know you will not. I simply cannot take this kind of risk with my performance.

My third question: Sir, Are you con-vinced that the SFE roll-out will en-hance our territory performance? During the entire meeting I could see that you were saying the right things

in front of HO. Things they like to hear. But I could see that your body language lacked conviction. I have been working with you for the last 5 years and I know when you are convinced and when you are not. I also overheard you speaking to your colleagues in the washroom during the tea break. You said that this initia-tive is needless and will lead to unreal-istic expectations from HO. If you as my leader are not convinced how do you ex-pect me to be convinced?.

Sir, I am feeling much better after writ-ing down what was in my heart. But I have decided not mail this to you. My job is important to me and I do not want to jeopardise my career by speaking out. Rather, I too will make all the right nois-es which HO wants to hear while I con-tinue to guide my team the way I have been doing to maintain the current level of performance.

Please forgive me.

Warm Regards,

Vikram

Field Sales Team HO Team

Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done. Peter Drucker

The Strategy Execution Last Mile Disconnect


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Hanno Wolfram

Understanding and Aligning SFE with Commercial Excellence

It is very clear that the first two letters of SFE stands for Sales Force. The 3rd letter is not clear at all! The letter “E” stands for Effectiveness or Efficiency or Excellence.All three meanings are used in pharma companies. Often within a company, SFE might stand for any or rather all of the three meanings indicated. In the latter case con-fusion will eat up a lot of energy and time. A clear idea of what a word means is essen-tial for human communication. Within a pharma company, the “idea” must not only be clear but the meaning must be common and the same for all. Why? Because other-wise you would never know what your boss or colleague would mean when he says: “You did an excellent job!” Actually SFE as a concept triggers many details in a company. For example KPIs will be influenced by SFE. Many metrics and measures are decided us-ing the “E” in SFE as a starting point.

Peter Druckersaid, Effectiveness stands for doing the right thing. Efficiency stands for doing things right. “Excellence” we need to define ourselves and I would suggest using the vote of clients - client rating on a scale of 1 to 10. A rating of ‘10’ would imply –“I was served in an excellent way”.Then we have a metric for “excellence”. GSK is doing this in the US after abandoning revenue related KPIs for Medical Reps.

The key message from all three “E-words” is contained in the sentence: “You can only manage what you measure and what you measure gets done!”

We all know this: if you measure calls, you get calls. If you measure mileage you get mileage, if you measure round table discussions, you will get them. From our daily life we all know this phenomenon: setting a computer on your car to display “fuel consumption” will influence the way you act. If you set your car display to “average speed achieved” you will try breaking records. There are plenty of ex-amples in work and family life. This is the reason that a clear, coherent definition and understanding across the company is mandatory.

SFE Summary:

• Sales Force Excellence must be some-thing decided by clients. • It can be measured as GSK is doing. “Client satisfaction” is the key metric driving bonus payments and “excellence awards”.• If the “E” stands for “effectiveness” a medical rep would make many calls. One of the subsequent KPI is “calls / day”. In many cases this metric / KPI is seen as be-ing from the past.• If the “E” stands “efficiency” a medical rep would make impactful calls to high potential physicians and one of the KPIs could be “revenue increase per call”.

Commercial excellence leads one step further into the future, but ….only if it is defined properly! Establishing and run-ning a company only has one core pur-pose: gaining more return on your capital. Anything that contributes to this purpose

can be called “commercial excellence”. Commercial Excellence covers and is an issue for the whole company and in a pharmaceutical enterprise must be seen as something, which is related to every single “client facing” part. Com-mercial Excellence in the future will mean:1. Healthcare stakeholders see us as acting in a commercially excellent way (this means giving and taking!)2. Our clients will like the way we run our commercial operations3. The shareholders or the balance sheet will deliver proof of our excellence

The most important part in defining what Commercial Excellence means in your company is the fact that Com-mercial Excellence does not allow the old rules of departmental thinking. Remember that the word department comes from “depart” and not from “cooperate”. Commercial Excellence, if understood the way indicated above, can be achieved only by joint effort within your company to achieve the commercial results. One of the major consequences could be that the core KPI is “bottom line results”. To achieve Commercial Excellence, departments like Market access, Pricing & Reim-bursement, KOL management, Key Account Management, OTC field force and Rx field forces must work together in a unidirectional way.


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1. Gain Role Clarity: The challenge for Front-line Managers in Pharma industry is to understand and execute their their Role and Responsibility correctly. Firstly, it is important to understand their Roles clearly and it is equally important to execute the same. In absence of Role clarity, Regional Manager does the job of Area Manager who in turn does the job of Medical Reps.

2. Set Objectives and Manage: Begin by setting clear objectives for you and your team members that is in line with the company’s goals for your territory. In order to set objectives and achieve them, managers need to manage their time effec-tively. They have to take various steps to achieve the objectives within specified time-lines, while keeping their team motivated and engaged. Manager should understand the importance of actions that help them to accomplish their task effeciently. Often, a lot of time is spent in meet-ings without achieving the meeting objectives. Web conference is a new technology, which helps managers to conduct short meeting with individuals. These meetings are also very focused and effective as compared to group meetings. It also saves time and travelling costs.

3. Adapt to Changing Dynamics: During 80’s and early 90’s the approach of Pharma Managers was to improve the knowledge and skill of his team members, as the promotion of the products was scientific. Hence it was very important for the pharma executives to deliver their message and doctors listened to them. However the dynam-ics of the pharma industry started to change in the 90’s and now it has totally altered to engaging doctors with brands and companies. Scientific discussions took a back seat and is no more the prime area of expertise required from a Medi-cal Rep. In the present market situation gaining access and enlarging the window of in-clinic

interaction and turning corridor calls with doctors into purposeful meeting are key skills to ensure success.

4. Hindsight or Insight: Today, the manager has too many things to do and their focus shifts from one task to another. It is difficult to stay focussed and perform their Role and Responsibility correctly, which requires dedi-cation and involvement. Technology has made the task of Managers simpler. However, un-less data is analyzed properly and acted upon quickly, it is merely hindsight. Managers who analyze the data and gain insight can take pro-active actions. They will progress in their ca-reer and contribute to their company’s success.

5. Focus on People and Customers: Focus is the key to win. List down the tasks you need to undertake daily, weekly and monthly. Take out the time to study the data, which is required to accomplish the task, prepare the action plan and evaluate its implementation and progress. Today’s manager needs to lead his team and serve his customers well. The right approach should be team and customer centric.

Jitendra Singh is a senior field sales manager at a leading pharma company in Mumbai with success-ful track record of nearly two decades. He can be contacted on: 9867780819

5 Steps for Better Field Sales Management


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Brand DriftFirst-of-its-kind Pharma Branding Event

Brand Drift broke new grounds in the Pharma Branding space and will continue the trend by creating new events that will enable pharma managers and service providers to share insights and scale new heights. The next event will focus on Field Force Excellence and will bring together leaders from Sales, Marketing, SFE, HR, L&D in June 2012.

MedicinMan - Getting Ready for the Next Event

Brand Drift – Stimulating Young Talent to Scale New HeightsArvind Nair, Conference Director

– Finally the Applause!

Advanz101 Systems Pvt Ltd (ASPL) is the Business Intelligence (BI) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) solution provider focused on the field of Ethical Pharma Domain.

Our BI product (C101RxBI) enables top and middle management to analyze their daily, monthly and yearly performance and identify areas of improve-ment in Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Product Management. C101Rx-BI utilizes the concepts of drill down, summarization, navigation, slicing & dicing to reveal hidden intelligence from data obtained from various data sources like Primary & Secondary Sales, Finance, Expenses and MR’s Daily Call Reports.

Our SFA product (C101RxSFA) enables MRs to enter Daily Call reports, Tour programs, Stock and Sales Statement, Leave, CRM Activities, Sample Requisition, Expenses etc. via mobile or internet. AMs, RMs and Top man-agement can review and approve DCRs and Tour Programs via Internet. C101Rx Alerts delivers actionable information to all users on a daily basis in the form of SMS or Email. “There is a lot which Indian SME in Pharma field can get in terms of directions from analytics. In the coming time, it is more important than ever to use their resources optimally for best results. Using latest analytical technologies will keep them ahead of competition.” - Bhagyesh Dwivedi, Director at ADVANZ 101 Business Systems Inc

Brand Drift Associate

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Pharma Field Force Excellence 2012First-of-its-kind Pharma Sales Force Event

DATE : June 2nd 2012

High Attrition - Low Attraction.The challenge faced by the Indian Pharma industry is at an all time high. Issues like high sales force attrition,low attraction at the entry level, poor quality Medical Reps and Front-line Managers, stringent MCI guidelines, new DoP guidelines, thinning lines of product differentiation,scarcity of time with doctors are the key concerns that affect all pharma companies without exception.

Knowledge Ventures, producers of Brand Drift 2012 and MedicinMan, India’s 1st magazine for Field Force Excellence partner to create Pharma Field Force Excellence 2012 to engage the key stakeholders of pharma industry to focus onenabling the Front-line Manager to Unleash the FORCE in the Field Force. Pharma Field Force Excellence 2012 is a focused Pharma Sales Force management event conceptualized and organized to bring together thought leaders and experts to deliberate, interact and discover new ways of improving ROI of Field Force for companies and satisfac-tion for field sales people.

Benefits of Attending Pharma Field Force Excellence 2012

Pharma Field Force Excellence 2012 will kick-off with a CEO Round Table to ensure the involvement and inputs from the top leadership.

This will be followed by insightful sessions from leaders in Sales, HR and L & D to reinvent the Front-line Manager and “How to Enable the Front-line Manager to Un-leash the FORCE in the Field Force”.

For Details conatact – Arvind Nair, Conference Director - 9870201422 at Mumbai and Anup Soans, Editor – MedicinMan at Bangalore – 9342232949.

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Health 2.0 - an international meeting of minds, made its maiden entry to India through a memorable event in Delhi on Jan 30, 2012. Health 2.0 India, addressed the impact of emerging media and tech-no-wellbeing on the future of healthcare in India. Professionals from technology, pharma, media, advertising, social media, physicians, bureaucrats and NGO came together to share their opinion and experi-ence to design, develop and direct the fu-ture of healthcare in India.

Health 2.0 India was a celebration of entre-preneurial spirit in every sense. Speakers from diverse fields shared their common interest - the future of Indian Healthcare. Veterans like Som Mittal from NASSCOM inspired the audience with anecdotes drawn from their vast experience. And youthful pioneers ensured audience en-gagement with their outstanding innova-tions.

Health 2.0 India was not just another conference, but a memorable experience, which threw light on opportunities and challenges likely to be faced by health-care professionals and patients. Veter-ans shared their rich experience and the geeks showcased their innovations and expertise. It was this coming together of experience and innovation that made Health 2.0 India very unique. A collective vision for the health of Generation Next emerged at Health 2.0 India.

With a 360 degree exposure to new ideas and innovations, the expert panel and very capable moderators took the dis-cussion on Indian healthcare to the next level of empowering patients to make informed choices and connecting stake-holders by using the latest and the best social media.

Health 2.0 India focused on rural Bharat in a big way - the inspiring presentation of Anil Swarup, IAS and his dedicated enterprise - Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana won ap-plause and appreciation of all.

It is time for Indian Pharma to revamp its agenda and partner with innovators like the ones showcased at Health 2.0 India; to be-come healthcare companies that can delight patient and physicians.

Above all Health 2.0 India was a great net-working opportunity and the conversation continues on Facebook - www.facebook.com/Health2.0IndianChapter

Report by Dinesh CHINDARKAR, VP-Operations, MediaMedic Communications

Health 2.0 Comes to India

Anil Swarup; IAS, Making a Passionate and Brilliant Case for Health for All

through RSBY

Dinesh Chindarkar – Health 2.0 Panel Discussion.

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Healthcare has changed dramatically, but this was not a sudden shift. This change from traditional healthcare to Health 2.0 has been a slow drift and it has been creeping in on us since 1945. When the Allies defeated the Axis powers in WW2, a fundamental shift oc-curred in prevalent human thinking. Power ceased to remain in just a few powerful hands. The world’s best NGOs - WHO, UN were formed after WW2. The universal declaration of Human Rights set the bar for civilization. The American model of individualistic, people-centric and technology-enabled development was accepted as the roadmap. World leaders worked towards creating an inclu-sive society with basic human rights for all. Right to health and patient empowerment were the next logical steps. The arrival of the Internet in mid 80’s was another watershed movement in the evolution of human thinking. Now, Social media and wireless devices have started converging in healthcare for patient empowerment. Patient communities, medical forums, collaborative research and mobile medical applications on hand-held devices are ways in which health care has changed. This technology enabled collaborative care model is Health 2.0. No widely accepted definition of Health 2.0 exists. A wordle image of the Wikipedia article on Health 2.0 throws up the most widely accepted associations of Health 2.0.

Health 2.0 – A New Approach to Healthcare

The most common associations for Health 2.0 are:1) Web 2.02) Collaboration between Patients and Healthcare Providers, Participatory Medicine3) Use of Technology and Data4) Sharing of Information5) Use of Internet and Digital ToolsWith the ubiquitous hand-held devices (like smart phones) and 30% of world’s population being online, the delivery and acceptance of healthcare has also changed. People want to be involved in their healthcare and they expect to be helped in this by healthcare providers. Numerous apps and websites have made healthcare data rich and participatory. Healthcare delivery now need not be limited to medical visits but can be present 24/7. Health 2.0 has given hospitals, doctors, pharma companies and patients a chance to combine forces to improve healthcare. In fact, Health 2.0 is just a “nerd”ic expression of the often misunderstood Health Rights. Health rights are broadly evaluated on Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Quality of healthcare. And Health 2.0 fulfills all the requirements for being classified as a fundamental health right. A few common uses of Health 2.0 include medical education, managing a particular disease and sharing of data for research.Health 2.0 takes the principles of a free progressive post WW2 society and applies it to healthcare. Health 2.0 is a democratic alternative of the traditional and feudal healthcare delivery system of the older times.

Social Media Samurai – Jini Mathew and Dr. Neelesh – Delighted to Meet Offline

By Dr. Neelesh Bhandari, MD; CEO: Digital MedCom Solutions http://www.twitter.com/edrneelesh

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Manan Joshipura

The current senario is such that the FLMs are sandwiched between the two layers, first of their field force and second of the higher authorities....he cant explain the field force as most of the time they do not listen and when there is no result even the higher authori-ties are not ready to listen to him. What all want is result, but no one thinks of putting their own effort. Effort from the marketing team, efforts from FLMs and efforts from the medical rep as well.

Ankur Sharma

A 1st line manager is the vital connect between Field Force and Senior Management, important characteristics for a good Front-line Manager are- 1. A good listener- it has been seen that most of the issues of Field Force gets over if you give a patient listening. 2. People friendly and having trust in senior management and able to transfer the same trust to field 3. A good coach and a situational leader. 4.Analytical and achievement orientation.

SrinivasanVenkatraman

Front-line Manager must be able to bring out the best from each one of his team members through proper induction, on the job training, monitoring the implementation of marketing strategy, monitoring the field workings of his team members, motivating, and guiding them to success, and make them earn incentives and ensure that the best ones in the team are rewarded with career growth at the right time. This should be success mantra for any Line Manager. Managers who implement the above relentlessly have tasted suc-cess. Those who do not implement the above fully, though they may talk so many things, but they ended up as me-too managers only.

Joachim Hirt, Dr.

The front-line manager must have a clear understanding of his role. In my experience as a Front-line manager, as a sales manager, as a field coach and a executive coach, this is the key success factor to develop and train the people. Most of you know the quote: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” (Antoine de SaintExupery)

Venugopal Kusumanchi

All skills are required but he must develop trust and relationship with his subordinates to mingle with them and develop personal relation with them then subordinates will obey him and follow him.In my opinion, Front-line Manager must be a leader not a boss.

Kapil Garg

In today’s scenario, I think Planning and Organizing is highly needed. Working smart and hard is critical for reaching any objective. A manager who can plan right, can do right. Teams members are young, they have lot of energy, intelligence & enthusiasm; what they need is the right commands, mature and unbiased guidance. So a manager with clear objectives and proper planning always achieves.


What They Have to Say About Front-line Managers

Hot on Linked

As seen on Indian Pharma Connection

MedicinMan Poll on Competencies for Pharma Front-line Manager

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NITIN NIGAM

Building Trust is the foundation.People today are ambitious; they understand Manager’s Intention. Only with right Intention one can achieve long lasting success, else it’s all short term.

Hariram Krishnan

As the saying goes” The tail trails the head”. Hence FLM is an extension of the sales management and a very vital one as he is directly responsible in orchestrating a revenue generating team that directly interphases with the customers. With his experience in selling, he is expected to keep the sales team sharpened in their day-to-day skills and knowledge. How much of this he does by ON THE JOB COACHING and TRAINING is the deciding factor of his team members remaining engaged in their work. So as much as we talk about a BRAND MANAGEMENT strategy, do we chalk out a SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT strategy??? If strategies can take care of building brands, then we can also look at strategies for building GREAT FLMs. Are we inclined towards this? Or is this a LIP TALK in most organizations!

Prof. VivekHattangadi

People are the building block of any commercial organization and are also an important element of the marketing mix. Remember, people like and are also loyal to people from whom they can learn. So the attitude, skills and appearance of all first-line managers need to be first class so that they earn the respect and loyalty of their reportees. So it becomes vital to develop them so they in turn can strengthen their people. The owners and entrepreneurs should take a note of this. All first-line managers should be looked-up as future general managers, vice-presidents or CEOs and should be treated and groomed up that way. This can have a great impact on the success of the company. Pharma companies need to model on the lines of Unilever where every employee is looked upon as a future CEO.

SanjeevDeshpande

Generally companies do NOTHING to develop Front-line Managers. This is because the leaders/higher up authorities do not feel the importance of this investment. If they look into themselves they are also equal contributors to attrition. Just see a situation, today if any company launches Amoxy+Clav combination, it may be possibly 300th brand. What is that a MR can communicate to doctors about the product? Will scientific knowledge training alone make them productive? Certainly not. Hence the concept of training and development needs to begin at the top level. In fact the time has come that top-level people revisit school. Possibly then if they practice good values and look at people as investment rather than cost, things will start changing.

Milind Mangle

The reason I chose spot, hire, motivate and engage because 1. Attrition is here to stay as long as economy is growing, so it is better to equip a manager to spot & hire candidates and keep the pipeline ready 2. For motivating and engaging team members a manager needs to develop trust, skill & relationship.

Rajneesh Sharma

Spotting, hiring and engaging the performers lays down the foundation of a sales team. Of course all other skills are equally impor-tant. Managers are not necessarily doing the things that matter most. The actions that correlate the most with high engagement are not always the ones that receive the most favorable ratings. And in some regions relationships trump skills, that is, employees’ knowl-edge of their managers as “people” behind their titles appears to impact engagement levels more than manager’s actions.


Pharma Companies are always on the look out for candidates with the right attributes. However, even good candidates may not get through unless fully prepared. Here’show you can prepare well and get into the plum job you always wanted.

• Your CV should be brief,well formatted and ideally two pages.

• Understand the nature of the job, its requirements, and then if you are confident, apply. This will help to design your resume andprepare for the interview. • Attend interview informal attire, anecktie and neatly polished formal shoes.

• Don’t carry your certificates in a plastic carry-bag; carry a neat bag or file/folder.

• Hair should be trimmed and combed. • Smile is the most important part of your attire.

• Be on time for the interview. This conveys the impression that you are punctual.

• If you are asked to wait, be professional and avoid casual talk with others. If you want information,askin a professional way.

• If you feel tense, compose yourself, and try to remain cool. Tell yourself that you have done everything to win it.

• Be brief about your family background. Talk about your qualifications, achievements in extra curricular activities and then your job experiences, your achievements supported by proof like sales data, appreciation letters, proof of incentives and justification for job changes. These things can be practiced before hand and then you can finalize what to say and what not to say on these issues.

You can highlight how you have converted important customers to your products, how you have established new products.Your high call averages (both Doctors and Chemists), Average POB values, Your performance in training programs, promptness with which you have been conducting market survey (RCPA) to show that you have been promoting right products to right and potential customers will make the interviewer under-stand your capability to contribute to the business of the organization.

Keep all testimonials/certificates, sales data, appreciation letters, proof for having earned trophies/incentives, etc. latest salary slip, jobwise, so that during interview you are able to take it out and show to them in an or-derly manner without wasting time. This will convey a message that you are better organized. Be ready to practice the given detailingwell within a short time. This is a very important criterion in the selection ofa Medical Rep.

Don’t ever pick up any argument/heated exchanges during interview, even if you are provoked. However you have the right to express your views politely.

Medical Reps - How to Win in Job Interviews


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V.Srinivasan is a Sales Admin & HR expert. He has worked in reputed Pharma Co’s in India and abroad. Reach [email protected] or Mob: 8056168585.

At the end of the interview normally you will be asked to indicate your salary expectations. Go fully pre-paredto answer such questions. You can keep a minimum salary level; for example 25% more than current salary. This will help you to make decisionscorrectly and quickly. Similarly if the job involves relocating,it should be planned, so that you can say yes or no.Collect as much information as possible through their website, their sales picture, whether their brands are fast moving, the kind of daily allowancesetc;to help you to take a decision based on merits. Don’t hesitate to seek such details politely during the interview. Read HardKnocks for the GreenHorn – The Best Way to Prepare for Job Interviews for Medical Reps.


Read SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager – The Best Way to Prepare for Job Interviews for Front-line Manager.

Read Repeat Rx – The Best Way to Prepare for Job Interviews for Key Account Manager, Second Line Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, Sales Training and other Field Force/SFE related jobs.

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