Kramer Pharmaceuticals Inc

8/12/2019 Kramer Pharmaceuticals Inc

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Bob Marsh – Kramer Detailer – considered hardworking, loyal,

dedicated, with good rapport building skills – worked withKramer for 12 years

Bob Marsh was fired after 12 years of services on grounds of nonperformance

After his dismissal – company received a number of letters andcalls from pharmacists and doctors in the territory of Bob Marshexpressing surprise, perplexity and disbelief at Kramer’s decision

Rare case – customers are seldom seen to react in this manner inresponse to an employees dismissal

Sales Vice President decides to look into the case in detail sinceKramer’s reputation in the industry for the practice of enlightenedmanagement techniques seems to be in question and at stake

Case Summary



Manufacturer(Kramer)

Wholesalers Drugstores

GeneralPublic

Hospitals

Physicians

Distribution Chain at

Kramer



Sales Vice

President6 Zone

Managers

35 DistrictMangers

500Detailers

Sales Force at Kramer

6

6

14.58



Responsible for about 200 physician and hospital accounts in

an assigned geographical territory

Expected to make 6 – 9 doctor or hospital calls every dayDescribe the product line of Kramer to these doctors and

medical personnel and persuade them to use and prescribenew and existing Kramer products

Were usually pharmacy school graduates who had joinedKramer after a few years as registered pharmacists in retaildrugstores

Job Description of

Detailers



Age (in Years)

Less Than 30

30 - 40

More than 40

Age profile of Detailers



Experience (In Years)

Less than 5

5 to 10

More than 10

Experience Profile of

Detailers



Total earnings ranged between $20,000 - $36,000

Received 15% of total sales as corporate sales

Attrition levels very low – 8% every year – due toresignations, discharges, retirements and deaths

Detailer Remuneration



Each new Kramer Detailer received a month long

training in product characteristics and selling skills

at company headquarters in Denver Both new and existing detailers received on-the-job

training from 35 district managers

10-15 days of field visits every year depending onexperience and performance

All Kramer representatives returned to headquartersregularly for continued training throughout therecareers

Detailer Training



Evaluated both in terms of sales volume as well asimprovement in relationships with customers

Evaluation done by – District Manager Frequency of evaluation:

(a) Formal – Once a year

(b) Informal – Whenever required

Quotas established yearly – stimulate properconcentration of detailing efforts

Detailer Performance

Evaluation



32 year old at the time of joining Kramer – Manager of the

prescription department in a major drug store in Toledo,

OhioGraduated from top flight pharmacy school in 1960

Experienced U.S. Naval pilot with fine officer service record

Joined Kramer in 1966 after a few rewarding but unexciting

years in retail pharmacy, at a salary of $14,000 – below hissalary at the drugstore – was assigned to a territory in Toledo

Was interviewed by John Meredith - District manager inToledo – who was very impressed by the skills of Bob Marsh

and expected him to do very well as a Kramer detailer

Bob Marsh



Supervisor Period Salary ($) Performance Observations

John Meredith 1966 14,000 Excellent (Entry) Meredith felt that Bobwas loyal anddedicated and wasvery well received byphysicians – indifferent towardsorganisation,

judgmental andunorganised – however, finally ratedhim as completelysatisfactory

John Meredith 1967 15,000 Below Standard

John Meredith 1968 16,000 Below Standard

John Meredith 1969 17,000 Standard

John Meredith 1970 18,000 Above Average

Bob Marsh – Life and

Performance at Kramer




Bill Couch 1971 20,000 SatisfactoryGave Bob satisfactory

ratings across theboard with theexception of planningand record keeping – impressed withattitude and the

reception Bobreceived byphysicians – happywith improvement insales

Bill Couch 1972 21,000 Satisfactory

Bill Couch 1973 22,000 Satisfactory

Bill Couch 1974 24,000Well AboveAverage






Jim Rathbun 1975 24,000 Satisfactory

Dissatisfied withBob’s record in

establishing newproducts – put onprobation of 90 days – probation removedlater as performancefound satisfactory

Vince Reed 1976 25,000 Satisfactory

Initially was happywith the performance– later gave acompletelyunsatisfactory ratingand put bob onprobation






Tom Wilkens 1977 25,000CompletelyUnsatisfactory

Probation evaporatedby default

Tom Franklin 1978 25,000 Asked to resign

Quite unhappy withBob – chalked out arehabilitation routinefor him – weeklyreports, readingassignments,

questionnaires – however found Bobto be moody,lethargic, unfriendlyand indifferent – finally asked him toresign





High grasping power – grasped all facets of jobquickly

Was received well by physicians and hospitalpersonnel – excellent customer rapport

Was received well by peers

Was willing and open to criticism and change

Good in personal selling – sales showed significantgrowth

Strengths of Bob Marsh



Lack of attention, planning and organisation

Irregular at following up

Unplanned approaches

Tendency to question the logic of the company’spromotion programmes

Deciding himself which products to promote

Less focus on the promotion of new products

Tendency to pre-judge

Weaknesses of Bob

Marsh



1 district manager has approx 14.6 sales reps tosupervise

Each sales rep has 200 accounts and 7.5 calls per day The district manager is ultimately responsible for:

14.58 X 7.5X 200 calls = 33,930 calls per year….

1.69 million calls per year for Kramer!

Sales Management Policies

at Kramer Pharma



1 district manager has approx 14.6 sales reps to supervise

Each sales rep has 200 accounts and 7.5 calls per day ~1688 calls per year is 8.44 calls per account/per year ~every account is visited once in 27 days (250/8.44)

The district manager is ultimately responsible for:14.58 X 200 X 7.5 calls = 21, 780 calls per day….

5.25 million calls per year


at Kramer Pharma



1 district manager makes 12 field visit perrepresentative per year

No of field visit days per year = 12 * 14.58 = 183 days

Total number of working days available in a year =52 * 5 = 260


at Kramer Pharma



Person Experience Role Evaluation

John Meredith High Benefactor Low –ok

Bill Couch High Manager Ok-high Jim Rathburn Low Investigator Ok-prob-ok

Vince Reed Low Persecutor-1 Probation

Tom Wilkins Low No action Prob evaporates

Ted Franklin Medium Persecutor- 2 Fired

Pete Mallick High Historian Fired

Marsh’s district Managers





Management was unwilling to compromise on rules and methods

of selling

Frequent change of management – sometimes managers younger

and less experienced than Bob Marsh Continuous focus on shortcomings – key strengths not developed

and achievement of growth in sales ignored

The increment system was used as a tool of reward or punishmentnot as a tool for motivation

Did not consider moving Bob Marsh to a different territory

Did not make efficient use of the database Bob Marsh had builtwith over 12 years of personal selling experience

Did not realise what an asset Bob Marsh could be to competitors

Management’s Handling

of Bob Marsh



Bob was a good personal seller – this should have been used

for company’s leverage – Bob should have been constantlytrained in introducing new products and through him newproducts should have been introduced to existing customers

He should have been moved to new areas to build customerdatabase

He should have been used to get on board new clients and

then follow up could have been handed over to someone elseHe should have been kept under a constant mentor if

possible who was capable of constantly honing his skills

He should have been continuously monitored and told – heperformed well under constant training and supervision

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Kramer Pharmaceuticals Inc

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