PHARMAFI E LD.CO.U K
November 2018
SALES EXCELLENCE SALES EXCELLENCE November 2018 PHARMAFI E LD.CO.U K
CO M I N G U P I N TH E N E X T
PF MAG A Z I N E S PECIAL E D ITI O N …
THE STATE OF AFFAIRS Predictions for 2019: – The Brexit effect – NHS & healthcare Tech & Innovation Pharma careers of the future.
MAKE YOU R VO I CE H E ARD Our Pf Magazine Special Editions cover the issues at the heart of the pharmaceutical sales and marketing environment, including expert intelligence, comment and analysis from industry insiders. We are looking for key opinion leaders and influencers in the pharma sphere to provide industry intelligence for the next Special Edition, covering The State of Affairs in pharma and healthcare. If you would like to contribute an article or expert comment, contact amy@pharmafield.co.uk or call 01462 476119.
PHARMAFIELD.CO.UK
INTRODUCTION
HEAD OF CONTENT
Emma Morriss emma.morriss@pharmafield.co.uk SPECIAL EDITIONS EDITOR
Amy Schofield amy@pharmafield.co.uk C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R
Emma Warfield emma@pharmafield.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Hazel Lodge hazel@pharmafield.co.uk D I G I TA L M A R K E T I N G E X E C U T I V E
Emma Hedges emma.hedges@pharmafield.co.uk NEWS DESK
Hannah Alderton newsdesk@pharmafield.co.uk FINANCIAL CONTROLLER
Fiona Beard finance@e4h.co.uk P f AWA R D S
Melanie Hamer melanie@e4h.co.uk PUBLISHER
Karl Hamer karl@e4h.co.uk www.pharmafield.co.uk | www.e4h.co.uk @pharmafield | @pharmajobsuk HEAD OFFICE
Spirella Building, Bridge Road Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 4ET United Kingdom The content of and information contained in this magazine are the opinions of the contributors and/or the authors of such content and/or information. Events4Healthcare accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss, cost, claim or expense arising from any reliance on such content or information. Users should independently verify such content or information before relying on it. The Publisher (Events4Healthcare) and its Directors shall not be responsible for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies within the publication, or within other sources that are referred to within the magazine. The Publisher provides the features and advertisements on an ‘as is’ basis, without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose, other than those warranties that are implied by and capable of exclusion, restriction, or modification under the laws applicable to this agreement. No copying, distribution, adaptation, extraction, reutilisation or other exploitation (whether in electronic or other format and whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes) may take place except with the express permission of the Publisher and the copyright owner (if other than the Publisher). The information contained in this magazine and/or any accompanying brochure is intended for sales and marketing professionals within the healthcare industry, and not the medical profession or the general public.
A
Hello.
s markets shift rapidly, sales models in the pharmaceutical industry are constantly being forced to evolve and change. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and the potential implications of this for industry, on top of a shifting healthcare environment, mean that the challenge of adapting your commercial models to achieve a competitive advantage has never been greater. This Special Edition is devoted to Sales Excellence, and addressing the challenges of the current healthcare landscape. Here you’ll find expert opinion, analysis, and insight from pharma industry thought leaders, including intelligence on the power of data and analytics, addressing the challenges of the post-blockbuster age, how to empower your sales team to meet the increasing demands of savvy buyers, and why “No” doesn’t mean the end of the conversation. The Pf Awards are the pinnacle of sales excellence, celebrating the successes of the pharma sales professionals at the top of their game. In September, previous Pf Award winners gathered together at the third Pf Award Winners Club, to mark their achievements and provide an opportunity to reflect on how winning has changed the course of their careers. You can read all about their experiences on page 18 – perhaps it will inspire you to enter the Pf Awards 2019, now open, and find out for yourself how becoming a Pf Award Winner could transform your future. No one said a career in pharma sales was easy, but with the right skills mix, deep insights, and a proven methodology, there are still many opportunities for you and your sales team to excel, add value, and develop that competitive edge that leads to true sales excellence. Enjoy this Special Edition, and if you would like to have your say on anything you’ve read, get in touch with us at hello@pharmafield.co.uk.
Pf Magazine is published monthly. For a free U.K. subscription visit www.pharmafield.co.uk/subscribe
H AV E A N O P I N I O N O N S O M E T H I N G YO U ' V E R E A D I N P f M A G A Z I N E ? @Pharmafield
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 1
CONTRIBUTORS
MARTIN ANDERSON
Following a career in pharma sales and marketing, Martin founded Carrot Pharma in 2006, offering a very specialised, high quality service to clients and candidates across the entire product lifecycle. The excellence toolkit, page 11. CHRIS CALKIN
Chris has worked in the NHS for over 38 years holding senior positions in Finance & Information and General Management, the last 20 years at Board level. He has a depth of understanding of the strategic and operational issues facing NHS organisations. How the money works, page 12.
R I C H A R D H I LTO N
TO N Y S W I F T
Richard is Managing Director EMEA at Miller Heiman Group. He has a track record of driving meaningful growth in the sales performance industry. His passion for generating results through innovative products and delivery methods enables customers to achieve increased revenue and efficiencies. A changing sales landscape, page 32.
Tony is Managing Director, Apodi. He has had a hugely successful career both as a top sportsman and as a highly successful business leader, and he passionately believes in the model which Apodi is bringing to the pharma/healthcare sectors. Added value, page 24.
A DA M K N I G H T S
Adam understands the challenges that individuals face in today’s sales environment and through KAMClinic.com is able to support teams to achieve their goals as a result of over 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry. The gift of the ‘no’, page 30.
Emma is Head of Content at Pharmafield and E4H. She's an experienced editor and content strategist with a background in health and social care. Celebrating success, page 18.
J U L I A N TO M P K I N S
Julian is President of Ashfield’s Commercial and Patient Solutions businesses worldwide. He joined the industry in 1982, working for GlaxoSmithKline and Innovex (Quintiles) in a range of sales, marketing and senior business development roles. Selling with digital, page 16.
S I M O N TOY
Dr Schweiger is Vice President for Medical Affairs Strategy, Europe, at Pharmaspectra (formerly Medmeme), and has led medical affairs and clinical development for both multi-national and small pharmaceutical companies. Transform your sales approach, page 14.
Simon is Managing Director and Founder, Performance Associates. As MD since 2001, Simon helps turn soft skills into hard results for many blue-chip organisations, specialising in the importance of Emotional Intelligence for leaders, managers and sales professionals. Coaching, Leadership & Emotional Intelligence, page 28.
PAU L S I M P S O N
C H R I S WA D E
Paul is the Head of Contract Sales and Medical Solutions at IQVIA. He has extensive pan-European & US experience of pharma/biotech commercialisation and has held senior roles in marketing, sales and general management. The right stuff, page 4.
Chris works as part of Veeva’s Commercial Strategy team in Europe, and is focused on leading the company’s multichannel strategy in the region. He has deep experience of CRM, business intelligence, and business consulting. Intelligent engagement, page 08.
DR CHRISTIAN SCHWEIGER
TO N Y C OX
D UA N E L AC E Y
Tony is Innovation Director for Wilmington Healthcare and a former Head of Marketing for a pharmaceutical company. He joined NHiS, part of the Wilmington Group, in 2013 and uses his wealth of experience to lead the way in innovating Wilmington’s data and insight products. Digital evolution, page 7 & Tools of the trade, page 27.
Duane is Managing Director of The Healthcare Partnership, a company specialising in enhancing salesforce effectiveness resulting in acceleration of commercial ambition realisation. He has over 20 years’ experience in supporting marketing campaigns for healthcare companies. Optimise your impact, page 34.
2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO. U K
EMMA MORRISS
MAGA ZINE SPECIAL EDITION
Sales Excellence INTELLIGENCE
DIGITAL
FUTURE
The right stuff: Key issues influencing sales force structure Paul Simpson
Digital evolution: Creating compelling propositions with digital tools Tony Cox
Intelligent engagement: The critical role of the representative Chris Wade
14
16
Transform your sales approach: Rewards of working with MSLs Dr Christian Schweiger
Selling with digital: The value of data & analytics Julian Tompkins
CONTACTS
24
27
Added value: Developing a value-based promotional model Tony Swift
Tools of the trade: Have CRM systems moved on from their original reporting function? Tony Cox
04
30 The gift of the ‘no’: What makes a great sales call? Adam Knights
32 A changing sales landscape: Tips for selling to savvy buyers Richard Hilton
07
PF AWARDS
18
Celebrating success: Rewarding excellence at the Pf Award Winners Club Emma Morriss
08
36
Directory
“It may take a few years for the switch to digital-led HCP engagement to fully take hold – but it will happen, subtly and then all at once” Julian Tompkins, Selling with digital, page 16.
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 3
THE RIGHT STUFF What are the key issues influencing sales force structure?
A
side from the current uncertainty pharma faces on the impact of Brexit for UK and EU launch plans, a constant challenge for industry centres on questions that seek to determine how to make the most impactful use of promotional resources: • How can we launch effectively in the current UK healthcare environment? • How should we navigate the payer and clinician interfaces to ensure the right patients get access to appropriate medications? • How can we make the sales team more efficient? • And, once a patient starts on therapy, how can he/she be supported? In short: how do we use true insight to shape a commercial strategy that means having the right people in the right place doing the right activities?
4 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
TRENDS TH E S E ARE TH E G EN ER AL TRENDS IM PACTIN G SALE S FO RCE D E S I G N :
INTELLIGENCE
Increasing levels of governance: Top-down pressure on spending and increasing assertion of control over prescribing-choice by policy makers/payers means a more complex interaction between policy maker and prescriber. Less time for traditional personal selling: Pressures on clinical time and a proliferation of new information sources have reduced face-to-face time and driven a general change in the way in which both physicians and patients consume healthcare information. ‘Beyond the pill’ support: Innovation continues to move away from large population blockbusters in Primary Care to more specialised medicines (e.g. medicines for severe asthma, orphan diseases, oncology, etc.) which are initiated only in secondary care and typically subjected to stringent NICE or NHS England clinical commissioning policies. This trend often requires adaptation or complete re-engineering of existing service design to ensure patients get access to the right medications. So, is it still logical to deploy traditional sales resources, or are there better ways of meeting the needs of the target healthcare professional (HCP) audience? In particular, how does pharma move away from ‘selling’ to ‘serving’ – and realise the aspirations of improving healthcare outcomes?
“ Deeper insight into the patient journey and which decision points must be influenced is needed to properly understand the impact of your sales team”
Pharma ROI: Downward pressure on prescribing of new and high-cost products in the market conflicts with the need to drive revenues that will fund future innovation. So how do we invest commercial resources wisely to ensure optimum patient care through access to new medications, while also generating the revenue needed to support the research and development that will advance healthcare? Considering that the cost of deploying a single traditional sales representative averages around £80,000 a year, will this investment deliver a positive outcome in the environment described above? • What does the next generation of customer engagement really look like? • What kind of skills mix is required? • What kind of activities must pharma deliver in order to reach the desired outcomes? Data driven insights: Answering these important business questions well requires a strong evidence base. This starts with converting the best quality data into deep insights about the market environment, understanding your patients’ journeys, and being clear on where and how your brand can have the greatest positive impact. Achieving this level of insight will help you design an evidence-based solution that makes optimal use of your promotional spend, and in particular the sales force deployment element of that budget.
WORDS BY
Paul Simpson
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 5
INTELLIGENCE
FLE X FOR SUCCE SS
D
esigning and implementing the right commercial organisation requires a shift away from the ‘one size fits all’ mindset of the past. The variation in how local healthcare environments are managed means that the next-generation commercial organisation must be able to flex and adjust to local conditions to be successful. Take the example of a clinical commissioning group (CCG) or integrated care system (ICS) which runs its catchment area with strict formularies, driving GP practices’ adherence through either prescribing incentives or restrictions. If your brand is not approved on such a strictly controlled formulary, the deployment of any traditional sales force would produce no significant return on investment, and effort would be better spent working at a CCG/ICS level to effect change in policy. Once positive policy has been achieved in the same CCG/ICS, the commercial organisation must flex to a different deployment model: traditional salespeople, customer service specialists, and/ or nurse educators who can educate and support patients with adherence issues, understanding their disease and its potential progression. The analysis underlying these decisions has evolved as well – higher quality data and better analytical approaches can produce very different and more effective solutions than simple sales force sizing analyses. If you understand the needs of your customers and their stakeholders better and have a more complete
“ Next-generation commercial organisation must be able to flex and adjust to local conditions to be successful” Paul Simpson is the Head of Contract Sales and Medical Solutions at IQVIA. Go to www.iqvia.com
6 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
view of the market potential, then you can build solutions with a more appropriate mix of skills that yield better outcomes for lower cost. So, where in the past the decision may have been to deploy 40 traditional sales people, understanding the above could perhaps enable a team of 20 sales people to achieve improved outcomes if patients and HCPs are supported by 10 service specialists, two nurse educators, and two market access specialists.
KE Y S KI LL S
A
s with analysis and insights, the skills mix required for salespeople to succeed in today’s environment has also moved on. HCPs now routinely operate in an interconnected healthcare delivery system (with ScriptSwitch and medicines optimisation dashboards now commonplace) and consume their information through many different channels. As a result, there is a greater requirement for account management skills and an ability to use multiple channels for sharing information, rather than just relying on face-to-face contact. Having the understanding and capability to orchestrate these different channels effectively will undoubtedly have a strong impact on the acceptance and adoption of medicines. Whilst much of this skill must lie with the sales force, there is much that technology can do to help salespeople to understand how, where, and when to use the available channels to fit the information needs and preferences of the HCPs they interact with. Further complexity arises when trying to monitor the performance of a sales team. Simple sales lines may not be the complete metric of success they once were – deeper insight into the patient journey and which decision points must be influenced is needed to properly understand the impact of your sales team. IN SUMMARY, time and effort invested up front to understand the environment and dynamics of a therapy area and marketplace can deliver a more complete promotional effort, tuned into the needs of the broader range of interconnected HCPs, resulting in greater effectiveness and higher efficiency.
D I G I TA L
W
WORDS BY
Tony Cox
hen pharma companies first began to introduce digital strategies into the marketing mix, they relied heavily on e-details, which simply enabled them to highlight the facts, features and benefits of a brand or product online. However, digital tools have rapidly evolved since then, enabling pharma to access a wealth of real-world information at the touch of a button, and incorporate it into personalised, interactive electronic resources, such as iPad applications. These resources can go way beyond a simple product description to highlight the impact of a disease on a local health economy and show how a therapy could save money and improve patient outcomes.
“ A rmed with this indepth level of insight and understanding, pharma can begin to assess how a therapy can add value across the whole care pathway”
DIGITAL EVOLUTION How can digital tools help pharma sales representatives to take a more holistic approach to sales?
For example, digital tools now enable pharma to assist their customers to quickly search a wide variety of data within a sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) footprint to identify the needs of a particular patient population and determine how value can be increased through transformation. They can also compare and contrast how any particular local health economy compares against another, or indeed against ‘best practice’ for their organisational footprint.
I D E N TI F Y O V E R S P E N D Pharma can also compare the cost of current and alternative treatment scenarios over a defined period of time using electronic budget impact models. This can help them to assess the effect of a disease on a local health economy and identify where there is overspend and poor outcomes. These insights can be enhanced by realworld data from freely available sources - such as NHS RightCare, which is helping clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify where they are wasting money on sub-optimal healthcare and define how products and services could be changed in order to improve outcomes and save money.
A D DI N G V A L U E Armed with this in-depth level of insight and understanding, pharma can begin to assess how a therapy can add value across the whole care pathway or even help the NHS to save money and improve outcomes by changing the way care is delivered. This might be due to a reduction in side effects, or because it can be administered in a patient’s home. When thinking in this way, pharma should also consider the use of digital tools and educational resources for patients – such as glucose monitoring kits for diabetics and mobile apps that promote healthy lifestyles – and how they could add wider value by helping to monitor and prevent diseases. In essence, digital tools are helping pharma to take a holistic approach to sales and develop compelling propositions that demonstrate a strategic understanding of where a product fits into the overall care pathway, and how it could bring cost savings and improve patient outcomes in the long run. Tony Cox is Innovation Director at Wilmington Healthcare. Go to www.wilmingtonhealthcare.com
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 7
Intelligent ENGAGEMENT How will the pharma sales representative of the future engage successfully with customers in a multichannel world?
WORDS BY
Chris Wade
8 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
T
he life sciences industry is entering a new phase of intelligent engagement, in which field and medical teams can better use data and insight to drive value-based conversations with customers, through the channels they prefer. Within this new commercial model, the role of the representative is evolving. The representative of the future will use data to decide when and how best to engage with the customer, and via which channels. As organisations seek to deliver smarter, informed interactions, this new style of representative will be key to helping pharma better align its approach to shifting customer needs. M OV E TO M U LTI C H A N N E L An increasing number of healthcare professionals (HCPs) are now digital natives – in fact, by 2020, close to 70% will have studied medicine at a time when the internet was already well established. Empowering representatives to use various digital channels to reach and engage HCPs is therefore fast becoming a priority across the industry, but progress has been inconsistent. While channels such as representative email and remote engagement are now enabled through CRM, adoption across the industry varies. For example, e-detailing has become a standard approach (used by 84% of companies) and representative email adoption has risen to 49%, with another 38% planning or currently running pilots. However, only 17% of companies say they are currently integrating cross-channel campaigns as standard practice, although 56% plan to pilot this approach.
FUTURE
D I G ITAL B U D G E TS AR E CO NTI N UALLY I N C R E A S I N G Since 2016, digital budgets of marketing teams in pharma companies have increased by 33.8%. This trend suggests that adoption of digital channels is gaining traction in an industry that has long relied on traditional channels.
THE FACTS HCPs AGED 30 & UNDER
40% spend about
24%
20%
16%
more time online for PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES THAN THEIR COUNTERPARTS
12%
and above
50
+
THOSE AGED
PREFER FACE-TO-FACE
CHANNELS for both medical & promotional content.
65% of digital natives
UNDER 35
PREFER A MIX OF FACE-TO-FACE AND DIGITAL CHANNELS.
Source: Across Health
18.9%
+13.7%
18%
14%
AGED 60
21.5%
22%
16%
14.8%
15.6% -2.5%
+8%
15.7%
15.1%
+20.1%
+4.2%
-3.1%
n for 2018 = 73 European Scope
10%
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Source: Across Health, 2018
DEMAND FOR DIGITAL A survey by Across Health asked HCPs about their digital experiences with pharma and found that almost half (48%) still have ‘monochannel’ experiences, with no engagement with representatives through other digital channels. Only 6% said they engage on all three levels – representative, representative email, and remote engagement. Of these last two channels, email is the most used, with 43% of HCPs engaging with representatives through email versus remote engagement (12%). Digital provides the life sciences industry with a greater opportunity to reach and engage with HCPs through the channels they prefer, especially those that typically don’t engage
with representatives in person. For example, 13% of HCPs who meet with representatives face-to-face engage with pharma companies through other digital and non-personal channels, while 20% of HCPs do not engage with pharma at all. This signals a tremendous opportunity to interact through digital channels.
“ In the new, multichannel world, a key part of the representative’s role will be to understand what channels will work best to deliver the optimal customer experience”
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 9
FUTURE
RE L ATI O N S H I P S E E K E RS ARE LOS I N G G ROU N D Survey results show that relationship-seeking HCPs, the traditional target group of pharma companies, are losing ground. Independents and knowledge-seeking HCPs now constitute two-thirds of specialists in Europe. As the preferences of these groups of HCPs vary significantly from their relationship-seeking peers, engaging with these groups requires a more specialised approach.
10%
39% INDEPENDENTS
• Do not place much value on interactions with pharmaceutical companies • Rely on evidence-based materials • Tend to be slower to try new medication
T R A N S AC T I O N A L S
• Only value samples from pharmaceutical companies • Cost conscious • Most receptive to patients' preferences • Tend to be slower to try new medication
27%
24%
K N OW L E D G E S E E K E R S
R E L AT I O N S H I P S E E K E R S
• Interested in educational programmes being offered by pharmaceutical companies • Do not value informal talks or samples • Least receptive to patients' preferences • Tend to be early adopters and pro-pharma
• Look forward to interactions with representatives and pharmaceutical companies and with other clinicians • Value samples and education from pharmaceutical companies • Tend to be early adopters of new medication
THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FUTURE
I
“ In the new, multichannel world, a key part of the representative’s role will be to understand what channels will work best to deliver the optimal customer experience” 10 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
n the new, multichannel world, a key part of the representative’s role will be to understand what channels will work best to deliver the optimal customer experience for each individual HCP. Research shows that 75% of HCPs aged 50+ are reached through representatives, as opposed to just 59% of those under 35. Interestingly, figures for email are consistent across all age groups, ranging from 43% (50+) to 45% (35–50 years old), with under-35s in the middle, at 44%. Remote detailing has its highest impact in the youngest age category, but even in older groups it has a similar score to that of representatives. 50% of HCPs find the timing of face-to-face meetings inconvenient. Veeva Engage remote meetings tend to last 15 minutes (three times longer, on average, than face-to-face visits1), and 90% of those that take part in remote meetings do so again.
Considering this, the opportunities for remote detailing are clear. Combining them with other, face-to-face engagement channels is therefore the perfect way to maximise their impact and boost the customer experience. In short, as life sciences seek to meet changing customer needs and deliver a better, more tailored experience, the role of the representative is as important as ever. The representative of the future will play a critical role in the effective execution of multichannel strategy. To learn more, download Veeva's whitepaper on Intelligent HCP Engagement in Europe: The Multichannel Rep. Chris Wade is Director, Multichannel Strategy, Europe, Veeva Systems. Go to www.veeva.com/eu 1. Source: Veeva Engage product team, July 2018
ADVERTORIAL
“Embracing new ways of working and having an open mind make a sales representative more sought after”
THE EXCELLENCE TOOLKIT: Martin Anderson, owner of Carrot Recruitment, on how to negotiate your way through a changing landscape.
T
oday’s pharmaceutical and healthcare field teams are operating within increasingly challenging business environments, as companies relentlessly pursue new ways to optimise the commercialisation of their products. Alongside the deployment of a true multichannel approach, the ‘field-based representative’ needs to be a highly skilled operator, capable of interacting with and influencing a broad, diverse, evolving customer group involved in deciding which treatments are truly accessible to appropriate patients. Internally at Carrot Pharma we have noticed that clients are typically looking for
individuals who can clearly demonstrate a solution-focused approach to dealing with local patient access and sales challenges. What does this mean? They will have high levels of business acumen, as well as possessing a strong clinical background, however, they also need to be innovative in sourcing ways to enhance the impact that they have for their customers in delivering consistent levels of commercial excellence. How do they do this? More than ever, sales and market access field professionals need to be resilient to change. They should expect and anticipate change and know how to deal with it in an expedient and effective manner.
With clinicians’ workloads continuing to increase, quality time invested in engaging with our industry can often be at a premium for them. Hence the commercially excellent sales representative needs to make an impact quickly and make sure their value proposition is economically viable for all parties as well as clinically sound. Embracing new ways of working and having an open mind make a sales representative more sought after. They will routinely co-create solutions with their customers to enhance patient outcomes. From the company perspective, this is where taking an agile approach to sourcing talent, alongside having a deep understanding of what drives value amongst stakeholders, can differentiate and help maintain that competitive advantage. A flexible approach to recruitment adds an extra string to the bow. Traditionally, permanent hires have been valued over using flexible hires for sales forces. However, Carrot has access to a candidate-rich market of highly skilled sales and market access professionals available for shorter term hires across a plethora of different therapy areas. An increasing volume of senior and highly skilled candidates has shifted to working in more flexible roles, using the variety of contract roles to help broaden their skill sets further. With long-term cost awareness on the board room agenda, flexible hires through vacancy management can provide quality and low risk talent solutions. Without compromising on quality, pharmaceutical companies can respond to the market speedily, adding a burst of energy to a growing or declining product, or acquiring a necessary skillset vital for the success of a particular project. At Carrot we have identified candidates that have developed the necessary skills to thrive in the current, more commercially focused environment, with high calibre skillsets and networks across a variety of therapy areas in sales, market access, marketing and field based medical teams. Carrot Pharma Recruitment is a specialist recruitment agency covering jobs in pharma, healthcare and biotech. With over 12 years of success in the pharma, healthcare and biotech industries, we are growing yearon-year. Carrot Flex is a flexible resourcing service within Carrot Pharma that provides key talent sourcing, vacancy management solutions and team build partnerships across a wide range of disciplines. To find out more, contact Martin Anderson on 01625 541 030 or email martin@carrotpharma.co.uk. Go to www.carrotpharma.co.uk
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 1 1
How the money in the NHS system works How does the money flow through the NHS? Here’s the inside intelligence. WORDS BY
T
he complicated structure of the NHS is often impenetrable, even to those who work in it. Yet through the dedication of those same people it manages to deliver a world-class service, whilst spending less of the gross national product (GNP) than countries from its peer group. NHS finance professionals play a big role in ensuring that patients receive the best possible care and money flows effortlessly in this complicated system. At the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), we are passionate about making NHS finance more accessible to healthcare professionals without a finance background. An understanding of how finance flows through the system is also vital for pharmaceutical professionals.
“Balancing competing clinical, operational and financial pressures will always be a challenge, which is why the concept of value is gaining popularity”
1 2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
Chris Calkin
PE RCE NTAG E MARK E TI N G BU D G E T Table below shows how money flows from Parliament, through the Department of Health, to the front line in England.
PA R L I A M E NT
G OV E R N M E NT
Secretary of State for Health
Department of Health (incl. Public Health England & other arm's-length bodies)
Local authorities (incl. health & wellbeing boards)
NHS England
Local healthwatch
Clinical Commissioning Groups
NHS improvement Sector regulator
Contracts
Care Quality Commission (incl. Healthwatch England)
Providers
PATI E NT S A N D P U B L I C
Funding Licensing & Registration Accountability
ADVERTORIAL
“The Department of Health currently retains responsibility for specialist services”
WHAT I S TH E S E RVI CE LO O K I N G FO R? In one word, value. The definition of value is outcomes divided by resources in the table below.
VALU E = O U TCO M E S
P
roviders that deliver care include acute hospitals, GPs, mental health and community services. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for most contracts with providers. The Department of Health currently retains responsibility for specialist services. This is because of the low numbers and high costs for providing these specialist services.
W H AT I S YO U R VA LU E P R O P O S I TI O N? A value proposition tells prospective customers why they should do business with you. It makes the benefits of your products crystal clear from the outset. Some key elements pharmaceutical professionals need to consider in their value proposition are care outcomes, patient experience and safety. If you can satisfy the top part of the value equation, the challenge now is the resources required and specifically the revenue cost of picking one drug over another. The intelligence regarding cost pressures or indeed savings opportunities is key in your value proposition. Savings may occur not only as reduced cost, but also as reduced length of stay, reduced time in theatre or a move of treatment from inpatient to outpatient. W H O M A K E S TH E D E C I S I O N? The decision to use a particular drug will and should always be a clinical one. The director/head of pharmacy has a key role, although different trusts will have their own process for approving changes in drug expenditure.
CARE OUTCOMES
PATIENT EXPERIENCE
SAFETY
eg. population health, survival rate, extent of functional recovery
eg. comfort, treatment by staff, waiting time, ease of access
eg. diagnostic error, post-operative complications, infections
RESOURCES REVENUE COSTS
CAPITAL COSTS
eg. income, time, salaries, system maintenance, facilities
eg. investment in infrastructure/equipment
Consultants may also have some latitude to introduce new drugs. In a small number of cases, especially where the drug is expensive or is for an unlicensed use, authority may be invested in an individual consultant or the medical director. TH E R O L E O F TH E F I N A N C E D E PA RTM E NT The director/head of pharmacy has a significant amount of data and invaluable pharmaceutical knowledge that are key in building a case for the introduction of new medicines. However, when working on new schemes they often need the support of the finance director (FD) or the wider finance team. It is important for you to understand the pressures that FDs face. Key concerns for them are future trends and opportunities. Intelligence regarding the pharmaceutical market, and currently the potential impact of Brexit, will be high on their agenda. The HFMA is a unique network that allows finance staff to share best practice and learn about the latest developments in healthcare finance. With a community of over 14,000, it provides a platform to network and influence strategic decisions. Anyone can join the association from as little as £3 a month.
TH E N H S I N 2 0 1 8 & B E YO N D The structure of the NHS is in a constant state of change. Balancing competing clinical, operational and financial pressures will always be a challenge, which is why the concept of value is gaining popularity. One of the tools that HFMA has developed to help organisations understand how these pressures can be managed is the NHS Operating Game. Several commercial companies have already found it to be a valuable way of gaining an appreciation of the challenges confronting the modern NHS and are reviewing the way in which they are doing business with the NHS. ‘Our market access team recently played the acute version of the NHS Operating Board Game – it was a fantastic training session. The team of facilitators at HFMA really know how NHS finance works and enhanced our understanding of the competing priorities faced by senior NHS professionals,’ says Tony Meredith, National Market Access Team Manager, Allergan. Find out more about the HFMA and the NHS Operating Games at hfma.org.uk. Chris Calkin FCMA is a former president of the HFMA and a former NHS Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive. Go to www.hfma.org.uk
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Can close working between medical science liaisons and sales representatives help to strengthen relationships between pharma and key opinion leaders?
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edical Science Liaisons (MSLs) are harnessing the power of big datasets to help sales teams identify clinicians and other key opinion leaders (KOLs) and develop communication strategies that are tailored to their individual needs. To achieve this, they are not only gathering valuable historical data; they are also obtaining real-time information on everything from a new abstract published by a KOL to the latest clinical usage data on a specific drug. Until recently, obtaining this level of insight was virtually impossible owing to the sheer volume of global data that is being created – much of which is scattered across thousands of siloed or incomplete sources, or not even in the public domain.
YOUR SALES APPROACH
INTELLIGENCE
I DE N T I F Y I NG T H E R IGH T KOL s
G AT H E R I NG PRODUCT I N SIGH T
A BET T E R U N DE R STA N DI NG
Identifying the right KOLs and engaging with them in a scientifically credible way, based on their body of work and clinical interests, enables pharma to take a holistic and tailored approach to KOL management. This is a key advantage as securing meetings with time-pressed clinicians and other KOLs is becoming harder. MSLs can now obtain comprehensive background information on an individual KOL at the touch of a button, ranging from their clinical qualifications and specific areas of interest and expertise within a disease and therapy area, to the committees they sit on and the professional associations to which they belong. This enables pharma to see a KOL in the context of their entire scientific network, including peer groups. It is highly beneficial to back this up by tracking a KOL’s research in real time, including abstracts and non-peer reviewed papers. Such documents may not be published in a journal for up to another two years – since the time gap between abstract and full publication is variable. However, they could contain insights into the latest thinking on a disease and therapy area and may provide starting points for valuable conversations. Similarly, pharma should find out about any talks given in the past two years by a KOL, how they are rated as a speaker and the impact of a specific conference. If they are unable to find any relevant research or speeches for an individual, then engaging more widely among a peer group can provide valuable intelligence.
It is, of course, essential that sales teams keep abreast of the latest clinical usage data on their drugs and know what is being said in real time about specific drugs and their competitors. Big datasets now enable pharma to measure the amount of scientific activity and discussion around any product or disease area globally, regionally, or even within a specific conference. This helps market access and sales teams gauge how well they are doing competitively and also where their scientific information can best be disseminated. It is also possible to measure the quality of product mentions in a journal, conference, institution or by an author. So, pharma can assess whether a KOL is highly relevant to a particular therapeutic area or drug, enabling it to measure the true impact. This helps sales teams to identify the most influential experts at meetings and conferences. It also highlights the need for a more educational approach if their drugs are not being mentioned by those experts.
The completeness and consistency of data that is now available is helping pharma sales teams to better understand their customers and anticipate their wants and needs. This is vitally important in an era where securing faceto-face meetings with time pressured clinicians and other KOLs is becoming increasingly difficult. The ability to construct a rounded view of a KOL – from their area of expertise to what they are writing or saying about a specific drug or therapy area in real time – can transform the way that sales teams engage with customers and enable them to make the most of every interaction. The ultimate goal of any interaction is to provide valuable information and create a long-term relationship built upon scientific credibility. Dr Christian Schweiger, MD-PhD, is Vice President for Medical Affairs Strategy, Europe, at Pharmaspectra ( formerly Medmeme). Go to www.pharmaspectra.com
WORDS BY
Dr Christian Schweiger
PE R S ONA L SE RV IC E If a KOL has a question about a therapy area or drug during a sales meeting, there is a golden opportunity for an MSL to research the answer so that the sales representative can feed it back in a scientifically credible way. This type of personalised service can really help to strengthen relationships between pharma and KOLs. It does, of course, require close working between MSLs and sales representatives. In fact, pharma could go one step further and conduct a gap analysis to anticipate a KOL’s data needs. For example, it is possible to find out which university research databases particular KOLs use, and what they are likely to feature. If a critical abstract or non-peer reviewed paper is not likely to appear on that KOL’s database for a few months, a sales representative could alert them to it and offer to supply it. This could lead to partnership working and even joint publication, if a KOL or member of their team was publishing a paper on a relevant theme.
“ IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT KOLs AND ENGAGING WITH THEM IN A SCIENTIFICALLY CREDIBLE WAY, BASED ON THEIR BODY OF WORK AND CLINICAL INTERESTS, ENABLES PHARMA TO TAKE A HOLISTIC AND TAILORED APPROACH TO KOL MANAGEMENT”
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SELLING WITH DIGITAL What is the value of data and analytics in digital selling? WORDS BY
Julian Tompkins
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he pharma industry is increasingly expected to offer flexibility in the way it engages healthcare providers while meeting an increased demand for demonstrable value of drug products. What challenges do pharma sales teams face in the post-blockbuster age?
PH A R M A’ S ‘N E W ’ CH A LLENGE Advances in diagnostics and the efficacy of treatments means people are living longer and better than ever. Growing expectations and dependency on medication and the fact that fewer people are funding healthcare is causing funding issues. Pricing, reimbursement and market access therefore remain the pharma industry’s core challenges. In recent years, blockbuster products have been the foundation of big pharma business. The success of such products means they have dictated a simple, catch-all approach to commercial models. This is being challenged in two fundamental ways.
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Firstly, the blockbusters of tomorrow will look different to those of yesterday. The market opportunity for drug makers is in immunology, oncology, rare diseases and orphan indication, with much of R&D spend happening in the specialist space. Invariably these treatments come with substantial price tags, creating an inherent conflict between the need for these drugs and the burden on healthcare economies around the world when it comes to managing the affordability of the treatments. The pressure on pricing and margins is growing. Secondly, some blockbuster drugs are facing real competition for the first time from biosimilar developers. The challenge for pharma businesses is to manage these conflicts and sell in the emerging space. Traditional commercial models are no longer as fit for purpose and drug companies now need to demonstrate the real impact of their products in new ways to a range of stakeholders with unique wants, preferences and regulatory constraints.
D I G I TA L A TA I L OR E D A PPR OAC H
I N T E G R AT E D MOD E L S
The holy grail for pharma sales teams is to comprehensively understand the multichannel engagement mix for each individual customer and create tailored approaches that maximise return on investment (ROI). The more customised a sales journey is, the greater the profitability it will offer. It is this desire that is fuelling the focus on digital selling as it inherently offers more and better data, more quickly. With drug makers migrating into the same highly competitive space, they will be competing for marginal gains across new product portfolios. In this increasingly competitive environment, the differentiator for pharma businesses will be in the marketing and supporting services they offer. This requires a move away from a simple commercial model that focuses on brand awareness. The sales representative backed with adverts and promotional materials that communicate a product’s value proposition is gradually being replaced with multichannel, often digitally enabled models.
Many companies have started to adopt this multichannel approach and incorporate more digital activity including the use of social media, online, mobile apps and email into sales activity. However, few are integrating their efforts and fewer still are using data effectively to inform their campaigns. Commercial models rely on a multitude of roles, and they all need to function collaboratively to be at their most effective. Everyone from primary care representatives and patient service teams to contact centre operators and trainers need to be similarly specialised. Commercial teams need to be more astute at acquiring, interpreting and circulating data to inform a more nuanced approach and understand what is working, and in which markets - ultimately this information will influence budgetary decisions and the approach that a sales team takes. Flexibility and scalability are pillars on which every commercial model will need to be built. To make best use of marketing assets, pharma businesses need to be able to develop and respond to insights on products and market performance. This means that the ability to significantly scale back or ramp up specific activity is essential.
“ It may take a few years for the switch to digital-led HCP engagement to fully take hold – but it will happen, subtly and then all at once”
F U T U R E OF C OM M E RC I A L MOD E L S Businesses that are slow to adapt may not have any immediate problems; it may take a few years for the switch to digital-led HCP engagement to fully take hold – but it will happen, subtly and then all at once. At that point, the traditional one-size-fitsall approach will lead to reduced uptake of new products and a rapid marginalisation of legacy products. While some larger companies have the resources to trial different models, specialist commercial service providers are positioning themselves as strategic partners that can accelerate experimentation with digital selling models and identify ROI more quickly by integrating campaigns and providing analytical tools. Outsourced partners can be more responsive, often operate in more countries with greater market access and have more people in the right roles. Together, this means that in many cases they can provide a more cost-effective and efficient route to engaging HCPs with the optimal multichannel model. Julian Tompkins is President of Ashfield Commercial and Patient Solutions. Go to www.ashfieldhealthcare.com
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n 27 September, an exclusive invitation brought together Pf Award winners past and present to network, celebrate their well-deserved wins and reflect on the impact winning has had on their careers. They were joined by special guests, sponsors and Pf Awards supporters to be honoured, whilst building excitement for entries to the Pf Awards 2019, which are now open. The Pf Award Winners Club 2018, sponsored by IQVIA, was held in the iconic Tower Bridge. Attendees were welcomed by the most stunning sunset and London’s impressive skyline. One feature of the location was a glass floor which enabled guests to watch as the bridge opened to let through river traffic. Formally opening the event and welcoming everyone to this exclusive location above the River Thames, Karl Hamer, Managing Director of E4H, referenced the esteemed venue for such a prestigious gathering before sharing some interesting facts about the bridge, including that it was once jumped by the number 78 bus. Karl then introduced Melanie Hamer, Founding Director of E4H and the driving force behind the Pf Awards. Sharing her passion for the Pf Awards that is so evident, Melanie explained that entries are growing year on year, making them the largest pharmaceutical sales awards in the UK. With entries open for Pf Awards 2019 and with interest from many companies in being involved, Melanie shared how she is hoping it will continue to grow. As it was time to celebrate the previous winners in the room, Karl called them to the stage to receive their Pf Award Winners Club lapel badge. To much applause, winners extending back over a decade filed to the stage.
WORDS BY
CELEBRATING SUCCESS
The third Pf Award Winners Club brought together winners past and present to commemorate the accomplishments that embody true sales excellence. 18 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
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Emma Morriss
P f AWA R DS
“ W hen you make the effort to do something, that is when good things happen. Don’t stop short. There are no shortcuts to anything worth having”
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CAPTAIN KETCH After all previous winners had collected their lapel badge, accepted applause and congratulations, Melanie welcomed adventurer and ‘Ultimate Triathlete’ James Ketchell to the stage. James’ list of achievements is impressive, having rowed the Atlantic solo, summitted Everest and cycled around the world. Sharing his story, James explained that the catalyst for his adventures was a huge motorcycle accident which left him in hospital with multiple injuries and unable to even move for three months. Whilst in hospital, James reflected on his life and his childhood dream to row the Atlantic. He said: “Ever since I was a child, I had dreamt of rowing a boat across the Atlantic, but I wasn’t sure I could do it. I didn’t want to try it and fail. But that was the wrong way of looking at it. The crash brought into perspective the fact that I was unlikely to do these things again, which then became my aim for recovery.” Following two years of recovery, James achieved his dream and entertained the attendees with stories of flying fish hitting him in the face and being bitten by fish as he cleaned the bottom of his boat.
Sharing what got him through, James explained: “Rowing the Atlantic was easy; I was tired, I was hungry, but there was no skill involved. Believing in myself was harder. “I learnt that to row a boat you need to stay on an even keel. Things change a lot, but I was still progressing towards my goal. Like in life, things get rough, but it helps you to build confidence.” “Do something you haven’t done before and good things will come your way,” was one of many motivational soundbites from ‘Captain Ketch’. His next adventure was to climb Everest, a feat which James said: “Involves a lot of luck. You can be as fit as you like but it’s the low levels of oxygen that get you. The path up Everest isn’t straightforward, you climb it numerous times, going up and back from camp to camp. “From the experience, I learnt that when you make the effort to do something, that is when good things happen. Don’t stop short. There are no shortcuts to anything worth having." James’ other achievements include cycling around the world, during which he spoke to schoolchildren in each country he passed. James again intends to speak to children around the world when he undertakes the ‘last great aviation record’, flying a gyrocopter around the world. His parting words to the Pf Award Winners Club were: “Find what you love to do, take that and run with it.” He certainly left attendees motivated to follow their dreams and use their Pf Award win as a launch pad to the future.
1. Tower Bridge, London 2. Inside the north walkway of Tower Bridge 3. Ian Robinson 4. Ian Sampson & Ryan Wooller 5. Ruth Christer & Jonathan Walker 6. Greg Palin 7. Guest speaker James Ketchell & Manisha Raja 8. Bridget Logan 9. Paul Havron & James Muir, Dawn Havron & Dominique Muir 10. Guest speaker James Ketchell
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ON REFLECTION With so many fantastic winners in the room, Pf Magazine took the opportunity to speak to some of them about the Pf Awards they’ve won, and the impact it’s had on their career. Phil Unsworth of Novo Nordisk Ltd and Helen Thornton, Clinical Nurse Specialist for Children and Young People, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, won the 2017 Joint Working Award, sponsored by Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Phil attended the Winners Club with his wife Gail. Phil said of his win: “Our Pf Award win in 2017 has had a real impact. I work in the non-promotional side of the company, and it has really elevated the nurse team profile. Since winning the Pf Award, our work has been adopted nationally through the Children and Young People’s National Diabetes Network. The Pf Award gave a boost to the project. It was fantastic to be recognised and we’ve never lost the focus on why we do it. There can be some real misconceptions between the NHS and pharma, but our project is a great example of how both systems can work together to change things for patients, and in this case children and young people.”
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“ IQVIA is proud to sponsor the Pf Award Winners Club 2018 at the stunning Tower Bridge. Seeing so many highperforming members of our industry come together to celebrate their achievements, network and discuss the impact their win has had on their careers was fantastic to be involved with” 2
Elizabeth Stacey, who won the 2016 Team Manager Award, sponsored by LEO Pharma Ltd, said: “The Pf Award Winners Club is lovely. I’ve been in pharma for a long time, and it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet old friends and some new faces. I was six months pregnant when I won my Award. I had previously won internal awards, but when I was entered for the Pf Award I wasn’t expecting to win. It was such a lovely surprise. “I have now left pharma and set up as a coaching consultant. It has been a great opportunity to reinvest in myself; and do more of what I love.” Raheel Mirza won the Learning and Development Initiative Award, sponsored by Excel Communications, at the Pf Awards 2016. Raheel explained: “My Pf Award win was a real springboard. I have been in the industry for 20 years and my career has rocketed since I won. I have reflected on my win and my career progression and it clearly correlates. I would encourage everyone to apply and I would like to enter again in the future.” Kashif Yaqoob, Winner of the Primary Care Specialist Award, sponsored by Forte UK at the Pf Awards 2017, didn’t quite believe that winning a Pf Award would
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change his career and life. “My Award win helped me to move on my career. When I won, I was extremely emotional. At the time, Melanie told me that it would change my life, and I didn’t expect it to happen. But it has made a huge difference. It was a massive achievement for me and has made a huge difference to my prospects.” Greg Palin of Star was Joint Winner in the Emerging Talent Award, sponsored by IQVIA at the Pf Awards 2018. His win had an immediate effect on his career. “Since winning my Pf Award, I was quickly promoted, and the win definitely helped. It gives me weighting and credibility.” The Pf Award Winners Club was sponsored by IQVIA, who said of the evening: “IQVIA is proud to sponsor the Pf Award Winners Club 2018 at the stunning Tower Bridge. Seeing so many high-performing members of our industry come together to celebrate their achievements, network and discuss the impact their win has had on their careers was fantastic to be involved with. “We are proud to be able to support such a fantastic mark of quality in pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Congratulations to all winners, past and present, and best of luck to everyone entering Pf Awards 2019.”
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As the evening drew to a close, thoughts turned to the Pf Awards 2019. Pf Award sponsors in 2018 and 2019, Andy and Chris Anderson of Evolve Selection, said: “This is our second year supporting the Pf Awards and it’s lovely to be back. The Pf Awards raise awareness of the talent in the industry and we enjoy helping to recognise the hard work and achievements of everyone who enters. “The winner of the Award that we sponsored in 2018 was also the Pf Awards 2018 Outstanding Performer Award Winner. This was such a fantastic achievement and we were proud to have been the sponsor of that Award. Good luck to all the entrants and finalists in the Pf Awards 2019, we can’t wait to be there to support them.” Greg Palin then offered some final advice for anyone thinking of entering: “Throw yourself into it with no fear. I went in with nothing to prove but a lot to gain. It can really help your career. Even if you don’t win the experience is great, including the Assessment Day, it helps to develop skills and confidence.” Go to www.pfawards.co.uk
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1. Catherine Scott, Jeremy Pelton & Helena Jordan 2. Chris Phillips & Catherine Pollard 3. Elizabeth Collman 4. Louise Miller, Catherine Williams & Laura Rosenthal 5. Sue Russell 6. Pf Award Winners 7. Ramesh Majithia 8. Chris & Andy Anderson 9. Phil & Gail Unsworth 10. Mehrnaz Campbell & Mark Ward 11. Carmela Louise & Carmela Brewer 12. Kashif Yaqoob, Asad Ullah & Haroon Akram
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The Pf Awards 2019 are now open D O N ’ T M I SS TH E I M P O RTANT DATE S FO R YOU R D IARY
M O N DAY 21 JA N UA RY 2 019
Deadline for entries to Pf Awards 2019 TH U R S DAY 7 M A RC H 2 019
Assessment Day, King Power Stadium, Leicester TH U R S DAY 14 M A RC H 2 019
Pf Awards Dinner, Royal Lancaster London For more information visit PFAWA R D S .CO.U K or contact the events team on 01462 476120 # PFAWA R D S2 019
GOLD SPONSORS
S I LV E R S P O N S O R S
SPONSORS
WORDS BY
Tony Swift
THE VALUE-BASED MODEL Forward thinking brand teams are now developing these and other opportunities to promote products in a way which is perceived as offering real differentiation. Examples of such strategies include:
ADDED VALUE How can you promote your products in a way that offers true differentiation?
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n 2006, Michael Porter (in partnership with Elizabeth Teisberg) used his considerable expertise on competitive strategy to address challenges of the healthcare system in the U.S. with the publication of the book ‘Redefining Health Care’. This envisioned a healthcare system focused on improving value where all products must deliver better results or lower costs for the same results with ‘me too’ products either being improved, repriced or phased out. The book also identified new opportunities for suppliers such as pharmaceutical companies.
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Delivering unique value to patients over the full cycle of care – focusing on care not just product, through the support of patients and the heath care provider • Demonstrating value-based on studies of long-term results and costs of alternative therapies • Ensuring products are used by the right patients • Ensuring products are embedded in the right care delivery processes • Building promotional campaigns based on value, information and customer support • Offering support services that add value rather than reinforce cost shifting.
J U S T R E WA R D S Pharmaceutical companies that start to engage with the NHS by delivering real value to the health service will be rewarded with: Improved knowledge of the care pathway • A better reputation • The ability to deliver more differentiated services • The opportunity to develop better value products.
INTELLIGENCE
TRANSITION TIME The first step in developing a value-based promotional model is to decide on the appropriate value-based solutions the pharmaceutical company wishes to deploy for its customers. Once these are identified, the company can then set about transitioning its sales force structure and how it markets its products and services. Fundamental to the process of transition is an understanding of the competitive landscape. The move towards a value-based environment is taking time within the NHS. Therefore, it is important that companies pace their rate of change in parallel with the rate of change within the NHS. A mix of traditional and more value-based promotional strategies is likely to be most effective at the current time.
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Figure 1.
NOISE
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VALUE
EFFECTIVENESS
W H Y C U S TO M I S E D VA LU E W I N S
I M PROVI N G TH E VALU E O F N O I S E ’
Many commentators suggest that the noise model is dead and that companies need to look elsewhere to drive sales performance. This is misleading because creating noise is hugely important in any sales environment. The key is the content and whether it is effective. The traditional representative is finding access increasingly difficult as GPs face growing patient demands and administrative burdens. GPs often see interactions with representatives as providing little, if any, value and are simply not willing to spare the time to listen to a detail. In instances where GPs do perceive value is being delivered, they are more likely to open their doors and engage in a manner which presents an opportunity to influence prescribing behaviour. Put simply, pharmaceutical companies should be looking at a sales structure model that encompasses the characteristics in Figure 1 above. Some observers believe that the pharmaceutical sales representative is one of the world’s most underutilised resources. For most companies, their representatives are still the people who interact with customers far more than anybody else. These customers appear now to be even more important in the buying process and therefore common sense
would seem to indicate that the representative’s role is more important than ever, not less so. Yet the only way that this can be the case is if the role of the representative changes from delivering a detail to delivering value, otherwise customers will continue to refuse access and react negatively to any interaction. The footprint of a successful and valued HCP interaction should include as a minimum: • Intelligent conversations with customers about the care pathway with, of course, the role of product within that pathway. • Consulting to, and with, the customer about therapies and disease areas. • Advocating improved patient outcomes and assisting GPs in delivering them. • Providing additional value based on the individual preference and needs of the customer. As highlighted earlier, one of the key constants in the NHS going forwards will be enormous time pressure, and therefore any new role for representatives must also be supplemented with new ways of accessing customers, for example through multichannel processes which deliver engagement and value in an acceptable manner and at a time and place driven by customer preferences.
A key role of the sales force is to provide value to customers that is value over and above that provided by competitors and so enable the company to grow market share. Historically, much promotional activity to GPs has been based on a key fact, that all the customers are the same. This is obviously not the case. However, marketing departments wishing to provide customised value to customers are often unable to do so for several reasons: • Representatives and others are not skilled in nor indeed tasked with identifying individual value requirements of customers. • Technological solutions have so far been found to be ineffective or companies have failed when attempting to execute them.
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INTELLIGENCE
NEW RECRUITMENT & MANAGEMENT MODELS “In instances where GPs do perceive value is being delivered, they are more likely to open their doors and engage in a manner which presents an opportunity to influence prescribing behaviour”
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o support sales excellence in a value-based promotional model, new recruitment and management models need to be deployed to find the right people and ensure they are implementing the right things. In the face of overwhelming evidence, top performing companies have accepted that world-class recruitment processes are of strategic importance to their future and in driving sales excellence. The key issues in developing a strategic recruitment process in an organisation include: • The need for a holistic approach to recruitment; incorporating the recruitment process itself, retention strategy and the total package offer • The identification of the new skills required to perform in a value-based promotional economy • Assessing for those skills through innovative recruitment processes that identify talent, competencies, cultural fit and mental toughness. Similarly, new models of management are required to support employees to engage successfully in the new economy. These new models are outside the scope of this article, however a key determinant of success is an effective process that trains and develops people to identify and implement the most appropriate customised solutions for each specific customer. For example, key account managers who are promoting to clinical commissioning groups are faced with approximately 200 customers with very specific requirements, which requires a tailored approach. Many employees need extensive help in transitioning to this environment, which presents a considerable challenge to many management teams.
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AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION Sales excellence is the ability to engage with customers in meaningful ways which allow the customer to recognise the added value from the interactions they are having as well as the value being brought to their investment decisions around which therapies to recommend. Failure to do this will reduce customer access and open opportunities for the competition. All customer interactions should be delivered by empowered, informed and appropriate staff at the right time and with the right speed of delivery. In addition, all solutions deployed must be based upon delivering value initiatives which create success for patients, success for the NHS and deliver a reasonable return on investment for the pharma company. Tony Swift is Managing Director of Apodi. Go to www.apodi.co.uk
D I G I TA L
“ Cutting-edge KAM systems enable pharma companies to devolve marketing and communications responsibilities down from a central office to regional account managers� WORDS BY
Tony Cox
3 6 0 - DE G R E E V I E W These cutting-edge KAM tools enable pharma companies to keep a centralised record of all kinds of customer interactions and activities, from sales calls to research programmes and marketing campaigns. This helps to provide a 360-degree view of all the contact made with an individual customer, across all the different potential interactions. KAM systems can also keep track of the changing roles and responsibilities of key NHS decision makers and stakeholders; record details on how new NHS units work and provide an overview of the needs and priorities of regional NHS organisations. The ability to access this level of detail on a KAM system is critical as restructuring continues apace in the NHS with non-legislated bodies, such as sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs), becoming increasingly influential and the move towards integrated care systems (ICSs).
TOOLS of the TRADE Have CRM systems moved on from their original reporting function?
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ustomer Relationship Management (CRM) software was originally introduced to help pharma sales representatives log calls and comply with Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) requirements on contact frequency. Since then, CRM systems have attempted to move on from being a standard reporting function to providing Key Account Management (KAM) tools that can form a strategic link between sales teams, sales liaison staff and marketing departments, helping them to work in a more cohesive and joined up way. Some of these KAM tools can be too complex and clunky to work effectively in the real world, but there are some sophisticated, yet simple-to-use, systems on the market that have been designed around the customer.
Cutting-edge KAM systems enable pharma companies to devolve marketing and communications responsibilities down from a central office to regional account managers. This empowers regional account managers to control, within appropriate guidelines, the types of communication that will be sent to different customers, and when and how this will happen, enabling them to take an even more tailored approach. A good KAM system will allow them to view all of these interactions against key performance metrics, enabling them to see the impact of each contact and as a result transfer best practice throughout the company. Sophisticated KAM systems incorporate a wealth of customer information, but also form a strategic link between sales and marketing functions. This enables disparate teams to work together more effectively, take more responsibility for customer interactions within their regions, and develop tailored and personalised multichannel campaigns that resonate with the outcomesfocused NHS. Tony Cox is Innovation Director at Wilmington Healthcare. Go to www.wilmingtonhealthcare.com
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Coaching, Leadership & Emotional Intelligence
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ince 2001 Performance Associates (PA) has been working across a range of industries including pharmaceutical sales, healthcare, manufacturing, IT, finance, insurance and FMCG, helping clients to develop and enhance their coaching capability. B AC KG R O U N D Whilst coaching as a capability was definitely shown to unlock potential and deliver improved performance, it was a programme that PA delivered for a global healthcare provider in 2008/9 aimed at embedding coaching across the entire organisation, throughout Europe and the U.S, that provided the impetus for our shift towards a focus on creating a coaching culture, rather than just the development of coaching skills. It was discovered that any disconnect between an organisation’s leadership and its customer facing personnel with respect to the coaching approach led to a diluting of the coaching benefits. It was identified that for coaching to become culturally embedded, three elements needed to be present:
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1. T here was a need for good coaching training 2. I nternal coaching champions needed to be developed and supported 3. Senior leaders in the business had to be actively supportive of any coaching initiative. Following research conducted by our psychologists in 2012/13, including a metaanalysis of all available research relating to sales performance, PA was able to illustrate a direct correlation between high levels of certain Emotional Intelligence (EI) elements and the most successful sales professionals. Knowing the link between Emotional Intelligence and sales performance enabled us to further refine our approach towards coaching with our clients.
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
“Internal coaching champions needed to be developed and supported� WORDS BY
Simon Toy
ADVERTORIAL
TH E R O L E O F TH E L E A D E R The latest research into the impact of EI within organisations has highlighted the need to integrate the concepts into leadership and coaching models. Only when this philosophy is embraced do organisations realise the full benefits of EI, about which management gurus such as Warren Bennis have been quoted as saying: “More than any other asset, more than IQ or technical expertise, (EI) is the most
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orking with several clients since 2014 using an integrated approach, PA helps our clients to benefit from all that we have learnt over the past two decades as our understanding of how Coaching, Leadership and Emotional Intelligence combine to dramatically improve sales performance. The process starts by meeting with the key stakeholders in the sales leadership team to explain the EI principles that have the strongest correlation within a sales interaction. This meeting outlines how the EI principles are to be introduced to the salesforce and how the leadership team needs to use coaching to support the initiative. It is critical that there is full support and buy-in from the leadership team. They need to demonstrate the behaviours that should cascade throughout the organisation. An assessment of the coaching capability would be established with 1st line sales managers, with any training provided if required. The critical stage of the initiative is then to train the 1st line management
important overall success factor in careers… and accounts for 85-90% of the success of organisations and their leaders.” In essence, integrating Emotional Intelligence research with sound attitudinalbased coaching practice, and aligning this with effective leadership flexibility, is the only way to transform the softer art of coaching into the harder science of organisational sales results. This is now the cornerstone to PA’s approach to coaching.
community in how to specifically coach EI. Drawing on the latest research relating to the development of a ‘growth’ mindset, it is essential to both identify and challenge/overcome all barriers within this population. Without this step the approach will usually not succeed. The next phase is to introduce the EI elements to the salesforce themselves. As with the previous stage, if this is not done well the perception will usually be that it is ‘being done to us’ rather than being seen as an opportunity to develop. The final element of the puzzle has been the most critical element of embedding EI principles into the client’s own sales process. PA provides highly experienced EI Sales Coaches who are paired with an individual sales representative for the duration of the programme (usually a minimum of six months) and who spend one day per month conducting In-Call Emotional Intelligence Sales Coaching which augments the coaching provided by the 1st line managers.
It is vital to understanding the link between coaching and EI with leadership styles. Leadership is important at all levels within an organisation and a flexible leadership approach (that is to say using the appropriate style at the right time with the right person) hugely increases the likelihood that business results will be delivered, both now and in the future. There are six recognised leadership styles from an EI perspective and it is suggested that a flexible leadership approach positively impacts on the feel or mood of an organisation, which in turn impacts on longterm financial performance. Interestingly, although a coaching style is highly beneficial to organisational performance, research reveals that, when asked, colleagues’ feedback is that coaching is often the least effectively implemented style used by their managers and leaders. Simply put, if coaching is not used effectively as a leadership style, the likelihood of coaching delivering benefits to an organisation drops dramatically.
Our focus is not to provide a conventional sales model, but to work with the established sales model, specifically focusing on the EI elements of selling that have correlated with increased sales performance. We have run this type of initiative in a multinational insurance company, a global manufacturer, and a UK-based pharmaceutical company, on differing scales. All of them were on a shared risk basis with a commitment to increase sales above the projected sales trend by between 4 and 6% over six months or 8 and 12% over a 12-month period. This has been achieved in all of our collaborations. Simon Toy is Managing Director, Performance Associates. To find out how Performance Associates can help you achieve 4-6% growth in the next six months, contact us on info@performanceassociates.org. Go to www.performanceassociates.co.uk
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 2 9
THE GIFT OF THE ‘NO’ What makes a great sales call? It’s all about the before, during, and after. WORDS BY
3 0 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
Adam Knights
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hen it comes to assessing sales effectiveness, there are so many selling models now that the world is confused. At KAMClinic.com, we recently ran an audit and found 11 different sales models. The truth is, whatever model you deploy, there is a before, during and after phase with any call. All we work on is being able to have an incredible conversation through remote in-call quality coaching at the point of need. TH E B E FO R E This stage starts weeks before the call, often through well thought through semantic priming and engaging emails, along with a wider social intelligence that enables the key account manager (KAM) to walk into the customer’s environment with full confidence of an outcome. TH E D U R I N G This stage consists of three main phases: 1. The value introduction: a mini elevator pitch that frames the meeting or call as one of immense value to the customer. 2. Summarising joint actions: a neat way of closing and influencing with integrity, while using advance objection handling techniques. 3. Recency: a closing 60 second statement that leaves the customer’s little black book open with the KAM’s name at the top! TH E A F TE R In order to maximise impact in front of customers, the KAM needs to objectively assess their own performance to celebrate what they did well, and learn from what could have gone better. F R E E YO U R M I N D Taking precedence above all this is mindset. Belief systems in sales can be so limiting: “They don’t see us”, “They don’t like pharma”, “I have the hardest region!” I feel for many KAMs at the moment as the environment is tough – but it’s not impossible. Some companies have an incredible mindset and belief in their model.
INTELLIGENCE
P R O P O S I TI O N
FAST YES / SLOW NO Good proposition Low trust
Good proposition High trust
Slow yes
Fast yes
Poor proposition Low trust
Poor proposition High trust
Slow no
Fast no
TR U S T/L I K E
TH E ‘ FA S T N O’ For a great salesperson, a ‘fast no’ will happen frequently. The customer is comfortable to say ‘no’ quickly if the proposition is not right for them, which provides an opportunity to thank the customer and to clarify the objection. This helps to really understand what the customer is thinking, rather than constantly seeking agreement (most KAMs tend to do this, it’s easier). For a sales organisation, harvesting data on ‘fast no’ customers can provide invaluable insights to help refine propositions, target lists and call patterns. In one of my previous companies, we created the ‘getting to NO you’ list of target customers across the country who we knew always said ‘no’. This is a really powerful tool that we still produce today. On many occasions, we’ve gone in and actually said to customers: “It’s great to see you again. I have a feeling this may be a ‘no today’ and in truth, that’s okay as long as we can have a reasonable conversation, and if it’s a ‘no’, what would make it a ‘yes’?” Giving the customer the freedom to say ‘no’ often leads to a far more reaching sales call.
Data © KAMClinic.com 2018. All rights reserved.
At KAMClinic.com, we’ve designed a simple framework following many years of leading, developing and studying successful salespeople – Fast Yes v Slow No®. We’ve discovered there are two key areas that you really want to play in: the ‘fast no’ or indeed even the ‘fast yes’. Avoid the ‘slow no’! 1. The ‘fast yes’ Top performing KAMs build trust/like very quickly. If the company proposition is strong, sales nirvana has been reached – congratulations. 2. The ‘slow yes’ The proposition is strong but there is a low level of trust. The sales will happen in the end – it may take a while though. 3. The ‘fast no’ The customer trusts/likes the salesperson but the proposition is weak. For successful salespeople, the ‘fast no’ is better than the ‘slow yes’ – it’s indicative of a good relationship with the customer and a high level of trust. 4. The ‘slow no’ The proposition is weak and there is a low level of trust. This is the worst position to be in. Organisations know that nothing is going to progress yet they’ve invested so much time and resource already, they continue in the account hoping the position will change.
TH E ‘ S LOW N O’ First and foremost, you have to validate the ‘slow nos’. You usually get a gut feeling based on the time, investment and personnel you’ve put behind a project, and also the language that’s being used by an individual or salesperson: “There’s another meeting next month”; “The meeting has been delayed by two months”, “Someone new has moved into the role” etc. Poor salespeople often like to hide behind the ‘slow no’ box. It means they can create longevity to the project or problem that is developing locally. Business reviews are ideal in these types of scenarios. By writing down a list within the company of each ‘slow no’ and their value, you will drive huge efficiencies across the system by identifying which accounts are worth focusing on in terms of return on investment. Check the internal numbers to establish that something isn’t sticking somewhere, and secondly, go to see the customer or customer group to confirm how they view the situation. Sometimes a ‘slow no’ can actually be rescued.
W H AT ’ S H A P P E N I N G? Going back to the principles of Fast Yes v Slow No®, in this scenario, one of two things is happening: 1. The customer hasn’t understood the proposition properly and doesn’t know what it means for them. 2. The customer is struggling with the salesperson in terms of a trust/like factor. If the proposition is the problem, then it needs to be addressed as it clearly doesn’t fit that local economy or the customer’s needs. If the KAM isn’t landing the deal due to trust/ like, then there’s a training and development issue concerning the individual’s performance. Assess how many ‘slow nos’ they actually have or are in charge of in their area. Are they purposely creating ‘slow nos’ to create longevity? They might have just had a personality clash with the customer, which has led to this environment. Ultimately, all of this can be addressed through a decent business planning proposal and process. Remember – the gift of the ‘no’ is your opportunity to engage in the art of having a difficult conversation. Adam Knights is Founder of KAMClinic.com. Go to www.KAMClinic.com
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 3 1
A changing sales landscape Today’s sales representatives face a multifaceted set of challenges – how do you exceed buyer expectations to add value and be seen as a long-term strategic partner?
WORDS BY
Richard Hilton
3 2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
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he roots of the modern pharmaceutical industry can be traced back to the mid-1880s – so to say this market is mature is something of an understatement! However, this maturity brings a set of complex challenges including buyer apathy, brand loyalty and incompatible technologies. At the same time the industry is challenged by restricted budgets from private and public healthcare, which makes purchasing decisions cost-driven, and places higher demands on customer service, right through from orders to supply management. All of these factors culminate into a highly sophisticated and complex landscape for pharmaceutical sales representatives. So, how can sales teams be empowered to meet the growing demands of educated and product driven buyers?
INTELLIGENCE
I D E NTI F Y D E C I S I O N M A K E R S Initially, it is essential to identify and know the key decision makers involved as early as the qualification processes, in order to be able to bring value to a deal. According to The Growing Buyer-Seller Gap from CSO Insights, there are on average 6.4 people involved in a purchasing decision over an average period of five months or more. This is true in pharmaceutical sales, where sellers aren’t just pitching or meeting one-on-one with the key decision maker, they are usually selling to a group of councils, hospitals, doctors, or to an entire chain of public or private health facilities. This adds more than a few layers of complexity to the deal. It makes buy-in harder as there are more people to influence who are armed with product knowledge and who have relationships with other sellers. The focus is often on driving the prices down to meet strict budgets. The result? Buyer feedback shows that sellers are at best only meeting buyer expectations – but rarely adding value. To get better results sellers need to get higher up on the buyer hierarchy and shift their position to be seen as a strategic partner, not a product supplier. No modern seller wants to be seen as a carbon copy of another sales professional. Fortunately there is a proven methodology to overcome this, which ensures the opportunity to add value is built in from the outset. U S E A P ROV E N M E TH O D O LO GY Without a trusted method there is no process to track decision makers and conversations; no record of winning strategies; and no visibility for sales leaders looking to effectively manage their teams. When sellers adopt a proven methodology it is easier for them to view the status of deals as they progress through the pipeline. An effective sales methodology will ensure sellers: • record prospect objectives • meet and track quotas • learn where they can add value and when they are most likely to close. It gives organisations a repeatable, consistent and scalable approach to implementing successful sales strategies. According to CSO Insights, over a fifth of sales professionals (21%) that set their priorities based on a long-term vision and a clearly defined strategy, achieve a quota attainment of 68%.
A D D VA LU E F R O M TH E F I R S T M E E TI N G If sellers don’t provide value, buyers will identify their own needs and define solutions for themselves. To overcome this, a strategy with perspective should be developed, helping sales teams to understand the customer’s business and objectives in a deeper way. Perspective could be data, insights or information that helps buyers see their challenges and solutions in a new way. This could be challenging a customer’s assumptions, providing an unanticipated solution, or talking to clients about the obstacles they will face post-decision. A sales analytics platform stores all of this intelligence in one place and enables sales operations to be seen as a long-term strategic partner. It enables teams to extract actionable insights to transform how opportunities and sales performance can be improved, recommend the next steps sellers should take to close a deal, or suggest training.
“ The only thing that can reliably change behaviour is a proven methodology for sellers to follow that is based on solid data and insights”
E F F E C TI V E SA L E S TE C H N O LO GY E N A B L E S S E L L E R S ne of our pharmaceutical predictive manner with perspective clients in Poland is constantly from other deals and industries adapting to the changing market, enables our clients to remain the whether it be adjusting their preferred business partner. product portfolio, go-to-market Fundamentally, the only way strategy or customer models. to effectively drives sales results This is because their customers' is to embody the right seller markets are affected by a number behaviour. And the only thing that of external factors including can reliably change behaviour is a the increasing role of insurers, proven methodology for sellers to regulators and patient demands. follow that is based on solid data This means buyer expectations and insights. This formalisation are much more complicated, of the sales process gives less related to products themselves pharmaceutical sales teams a and more focused on a broader competitive edge to achieve better value proposition. results and develop a relationship As a result, adding value, cutting based on more than a product. out complexity and applying Richard Hilton is Managing Director advanced technologies are essential of EMEA at Miller Heiman Group. traits for our sales analytics Go to www.millerheimangroup.com platform and training to provide. Working in this reactive and
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M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 3 3
Optimise your impact Duane Lacey, Managing Director, The Healthcare Partnership, on how telemarketing support boosts your sales team’s performance by enabling improved access to healthcare professionals (HCPs). INTERVIEW BY
Amy Schofield
3 4 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
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ow does your telemarketing support enhance sales performance? There is a recognised need now to deliver results from brands rapidly. Our telemarketing support spans the full product lifecycle and enables companies to optimise impact at all stages. With quality compliance a priority and a team with extensive healthcare knowledge, we work to increase brand performance through creating enhanced HCP access. Our services are also key during formulary/ clinical commissioning group prescribing green light pull through/switch notification success, through our ability to have dialogue with primary/secondary care key and periphery contacts. Maximising return on investment (ROI) is crucial. Our telemarketing helps to fit into this window of opportunity in a timely, responsive and cost-effective manner. We have seen commercial ambitions and brand success becoming a reality more
rapidly through the significant field force time and costs savings we help our customers achieve, from gathering brand and contact intelligence to helping maximise salesforce results through setting up appointments. What are the major challenges that your clients face in today’s marketplace? As we know, access to HCPs is becoming increasingly difficult, with access to many via conventional channels reduced. Coupled with the desire to create effective multichannel marketing strategies that are challenged by local variations in both funding flows and understanding of key customer groups, it makes it very hard to create relevant target lists and maps of influence. Doing more with less to achieve ROI and hitting rapid post launch break even all prove to be challenging. What do you do to ‘go beyond the brief’ for your clients? Over the years we’ve identified many ways to positively influence campaign outcomes above and beyond the initial brief.
ADVERTORIAL
We provide internal expertise and insight to clients which can enhance the campaign brief. Our skilled team also regularly feeds back on potential strategy changing insights during campaigns. What does your partnership working approach involve? Our partnership approach is built on collaboration with the client and working together to achieve agreed shared goals. Trust and overall transparency create strength in insights and we achieve stretch goals much faster this way for clients. We aim to be an integral part of the brand team and hence HCPs perceive our collaboration to be seamless, ensuring maximum value and confidence in the campaign is delivered. How does your support help clients to understand their customers’ needs? Weekly insights uncovered are captured in the CRM, clients can regularly review, react and fine tune campaign activity and messaging accordingly. The frequent campaign reports enable clients to identify and review trends fast. Our goal is to maximise insights gathering to deliver continued additional value.
“Access to HCPs via conventional channels is becoming increasingly difficult which is driving the desire to create effective multichannel marketing strategies”
What sort of feedback do you get from your clients? Feedback has been very positive to date. Here are some examples… “Good to catch up just now. I’ve included below the data which shows what a great job you’re all doing and the positive effect it’s directly having on brand sales (*12% increase in brand sales during telemarketing activity). Thanks very much for all your hard work.” “I’m just emailing to congratulate you and your team on not just hitting the target of appointments but smashing it. So far you are 137% of target with just 59% of time gone. This is a great result. So far, we have got over 100 appointments both face-toface and departmental meetings. We have used other companies in the past and have not seen this amount of passion and professionalism and of course success.” “Working with you over the last two years has helped us achieve numerous objectives and has directly increased sales across various product ranges from the activity completed. The team are very professional with their approach and interactions with our target customers. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with the team.” How do you address the issue of trust between HCPs and industry? Our people are professional, empathetic, deliver on promises, are polite, share feedback openly and efficiently and follow-up. It is an intrinsic part of the fabric of what we do, our people need to meet the strict levels of quality compliance that both us and our clients expect. Get in touch with The Healthcare Partnership on 03300 526526 to arrange a brief exploratory call or coffee and discover how we can increase HCP access, increase engagement levels and revenues and generate quality appointments for your salesforce. Go to www.The-HCP.com
“We aim to be an integral part of the brand team and hence HCPs perceive our collaboration to be seamless, ensuring maximum value and confidence in the campaign is delivered”
TH E H E A LTH C A R E PA RTN E R S H I P ' S TO P 5 TI P S
1.
Identify and build rapid rapport with HCPs and peripheral contacts who are able to assist in the most efficient route to engagement using a multichannel approach, identifying advocates as quickly as possible.
2.
D evelop effective questioning to understand needs in order to be able to provide a suitable solution, and never assume GP/consultant access will achieve all of your objectives.
3.
Understand who the key customers are in the respective practices/ hospitals for specific therapy areas.
4. 5.
Ensure access coverage across multiple job titles in the practice/hospital.
A dd value to the customer and glean value and progress from every connected call.
Salesforce Effectiveness Enhancement – Increasing HCP access, engagement levels and revenues and generating quality appointments for your salesforce. www.The-HCP.com | 03300 526526
M AG A ZI N E S PECI A L ED IT I O N | N OV EM B ER 2018 | 3 5
SALES EXCELLENCE DIRECTORY
APODI Driving Access Solutions: Identifying and implementing the most effective solutions to drive access to our clients’ medicine(s). www.apodi.co.uk info@apodi.co.uk 01628 500890
ASHFIELD Ashfield, part of UDG Healthcare plc, is a global leader in commercialisation services for the healthcare industry. We partner with our clients to build creative, scalable and tailored health solutions, to deliver positive outcomes for patients and add value to your business. www.ashfieldhealthcare.com web@ashfieldhealthcare.com 0870 850 1234
CWC CONSULTANCY LTD Experienced business and management consultant supporting the pharmaceutical, healthcare and contract services sector. Specific expertise in vaccines, pharmaceuticals and launch excellence. www.cwcconsultancyltd.co.uk colinwatson2003@yahoo.co.uk 07525 046644
E4H E4H is an industry leader in medical education and partnership working. We work closely with our clients, healthcare professionals and patients to understand and provide the right solutions. www.e4h.co.uk enquiries@e4h.co.uk 01462 476120
3 6 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K
IGNIFI We’re an independent creative and marketing agency. You might not have heard of us, but you’ll know many of our clients – brand leaders and challengers in human and animal health. From digital to design, branding to sales collateral, we combine a flexible, friendly attitude with the expertise and grit to get things done. www.ignifi.co.uk jan.reiss@ignifi.co.uk 07595 413 948
I QV I A IQVIA provides information, technology solutions and contract research services dedicated to using analytics and science to help healthcare stakeholders find better solutions for their patients. www.iqvia.com
K A M C L I N I C .CO M A live, remote and on demand sales coaching system that delivers expert advice and supports key account managers to have an amazing call. Whatever you do, make the next call count. www.kamclinic.com info@KAMClinic.com 020 7101 0678
MILLER HEIMAN GROUP Providing the sales training, consulting, technology and research sellers need to stay one step ahead of disruption. info@millerheimangroup.com 020 3744 9020 www.millerheimangroup.com
P H A R M A B I L IT Y CO N S U LTI N G LTD Specialising in building customer excellence through insight driven solutions and support. Passionate about first line manager capability including optimising the coaching of in-call performance. ian@pharmability.co.uk 07801 857169
P H A R M A S P E C TR A ( FO R M E R LY M E D M E M E ) World’s most comprehensive, continuously updated and integrated online repository of disseminated medical science information. www.pharmaspectra.com info@pharmaspectra.com +1 212 725 5990
TH E H E A LTH C A R E PA R TN E R S H I P Working in partnership with pharma and med device clients we provide industry specialist telemarketing and business support services to extend reach and maximise salesforce effectiveness. www.The-HCP.com duane.lacey@The-HCP.com 03300 526526
W I L M I N GTO N H E A LTH C A R E Providing data, insight and intelligence across the healthcare community. www.wilmington healthcare.com info@wilmingtonhealthcare.com 01268 495600
Looking for a role in sales? All the best roles from the top recruiters, in one place. Taking the first step is easy – visit pharmajobs.co.uk. Looking to recruit? Get in touch on 01462 476119 or hello@pharmafield.co.uk to discuss your online recruitment strategy.
PHARMAJOBS.CO.UK
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