KAM – Career Growth Opportunity for Field Sales People
Career Growth Story
MR Strategy
MR TO MD
October 2011
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Vol. 1 Issue 3
MedicinMan
Editorial
www.medicinman.net
Clear Objectives & Metrics - Key to Success in KAM
MedicinMan did an exten-
sive survey to get a pulse of
Indian Pharma‘s under-
standing and use of KAM.
Their collective wisdom can
be summed up in the state-
ment – ―The Key to KAM
is that it should be built
around customers and
their business needs.
The company’s products
and services should be
aligned with these
needs. Key Account
Managers will play an
increasingly important
role in the Indian Phar-
ma business of the fu-
ture‖ The response
prompted MedicinMan to
focus on this important topic
because in addition to being
a strategic tool for Pharma
companies, KAM is a great
career development oppor-
tunity for field sales people
who understand and imple-
ment this Key Customer
focused strategy. The Sep-
tember MedicinMan, car-
ried an article on how MRs
and FMs can move to PMT.
Not all MRs can move to
PMT or become FLMs. But
many can acquire the skill-
set required to become Key
Account Managers. In the
future there will be a great
demand for KAMs and this is
an excellent pathway to ca-
reer progression.
Realizing the importance of
KAM, MedicinMan will be
conducting special programs
for MRs and FLMs who as-
pire to become Key Account
Managers (see P. 15). ▌
A new eyeforpharma (EFP) report suggests
pharma still has not transi-tioned to new measures that fully reflect the objectives and outcomes of KAM pro-grams.
One consequence of the shift to KAM in pharmaceutical sales and marketing has been to challenge received wisdom
Page 1
about how performance in the field should be defined and measured.
The eyeforpharma report Pharma Key Account Man-agement Report 2011-2012 shows that pharma still hasn‘t shifted to metrics that can accurately track the outcomes of KAM programs.
Surveys of the pharma com-munity revealed, for example, that only 14.3% of respond-ents were routinely using patient metrics.
Yet understanding patient-
level trends is crucial if com-
panies are to achieve genuine
synergy between KAM pro-
grams and local health system
needs.
Just 20% of respondents had
metrics implemented to meas-
ure changes in contact advoca-
cy ratings, the surveys found,
while only 33.3% were track-
ing changes in usage path-
ways.
Manoj Kumar on his Journey from a
Reluctant Salesman to a Global Manager (P. 3)
Insight Shared by:
EDITOR’S PICK
INSIDE MEDICINMAN
HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE FRONT-LINE MANAGER HITENDRA KANSAL
6
GETTING IT RIGHT WITH KEY ACCOUNTS RICHARD ILSLEY
11
INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADERS COMMENT ON KAM
12
SHAHRUKH KHAN MANTRA DR. HEMANT MITTAL 13
MUSIC, METRICS AND MANAGEMENT HANNO WOLFRAM
14
INDUSTRY VETERANS JOIN OUR BOARD OF
ADVISORS (P. 16)
(Cont. on P. 10)
Dr. Shalini Ratan on the Knowledge-Driven MR
(P. 4)
Shiv Bhasin‘s Story and Tips for Young Professionals (P. 8)
Reluctant Salesman to Global Manager Becoming a Medical
Representative was
not my first choice of
career. I became one be-
cause I was unable to land
another so-called better
opportunity.
However, I realized soon
that I had a flair for sales
and enjoyed interacting
with Health Care Profes-
sionals, stockists, etc. I
joined a company which
was famous for selling sci-
entifically.
After a rigorous training
for one month—my first
time in Mumbai—I com-
mitted myself to this job.
This was also the first time
that I travelled in an AC
compartment of a train.
When I joined work, I
joined colleagues who were
seniors by many years. I
got a mixed bag – Negative
and Positive people. I al-
ways avoided people who
would concentrate on neg-
atives and I would spend a
lot of my time with people
who wanted to make it big
in life. Those were the days
where I worked extremely
hard, mentally and physi-
cally. I worked around the
doctors‘ timing, and had a
passion to sell the brands
of my company. It was
tough, catching buses to go
from one call to another.
I had a passion for ethical
sales - sales through sci-
ence. I would ask my boss
to give me challenging in-
stitutions, doctors and out-
station visits. Pharmaceuti-
cal companies also invest a
lot on individual develop-
ment and I made good use
of the same. I would always
challenge status quo in my
job and would like to add
newer dimensions. I felt
proud that my work helped
patients live longer and
better.
It is said that opportunity
knocks only a few times in
our lives. I also got a few
and I grabbed it with both
my hands. Be it my stint in
Sales, Sales Management,
Domestic Marketing and
now Global Marketing.
This change comes with
some degree of adjustments
needed in our life and life
style and one should be pre-
pared to work around that.
I have relocated to many
cities and even this change
has added value to me.
My mantra has always
been – divide the task
into small incremental
steps, use the team ef-
fectively, lead with pas-
sion and have fun at
work. ▌ I ALWAYS
AVOIDED
PEOPLE WHO
WERE
NEGATIVE AND
I WOULD
SPEND A LOT
OF TIME WITH
PEOPLE WHO
WANTED TO
MAKE IT BIG
IN LIFE.
‖
—— Personal Growth Story ——
Manoj Kumar Marketing Manager, MNC
Manoj began his career as
an MR with Serdia Phar-
ma. He later moved to No-
vartis where he worked as
an RBM and in the PMT.
Currently he is Marketing
Manager at an MNC, re-
sponsible for Global mar-
keting support of Branded
Generics Launches .
MedicinMan
Page 2
MedicinMan
Page 3
“What is the Role, Function and Operational Difference between FLM and SLM in Pharma?”
Trending Discussion on Indian Pharma Connection*
DAVID EDGE: ―I would
suggest that a key aspect to
bear in mind here is that 1st
Line Managers manage
Sales People. Whereas 2nd
line Managers manage Sales
Managers.
So the key competencies
you are developing with
each role are different ac-
cording to the 1st or 2nd
line relationship you have.
The 1st line Manager devel-
ops the Reps performance
to be the best it can be.
The 2nd line Manager de-
velops the Managers to be
the best people managers
they can be.‖
HARIRAM KRISHNAN: ―Here is an example from Stephen Covey which could fit in with
regard to FLM and SLM. In a jungle, let us take we have a set of people who are busy
cutting and clearing the bush. If given the task to slash through the brush and clear a
path, these amazing people would wield their machetes valiantly. They would cut
through the flora no matter what problems came up to face them. The FLMs are there to
ensure that these guys cut through the bush and are kept busy, the blades are sharp-
ened, they are influenced to keep going etc. These managers don‘t care about the big
picture; they just ensure that their people accomplish the task at hand.
Meanwhile, the leaders (SLMs) are doing something quite different. Leadership is all
about making sure that the direction the solution is going in is the right one for the fu-
ture. The leaders are up high in the sky surveying the jungle. They are the ones who are
willing to say, ―This is the wrong jungle! Let‘s move on.‖ A manager (FLM) might re-
spond to the leader (SLM) by saying, ―But we‘re doing so well!‖
The manager (FLM) doesn‘t care about the bigger picture. He‘ll chop whatever jungle is
put in front of him.
Let us take India. The market is always like a jungle. So many doctors, so many generics,
so many calls, so many pharmacies etc. The SLM should always be getting on top of a
big ladder and direct the team towards the RIGHT JUNGLE.‖
PRABHAKAR SHETTY
―The hierarchy works fairly
well in MNCs where the
roles are clearly defined. In
desi companies, even the VP
is assessed on the basis of
the number Dr. Calls and
Conversions (if the Owner is
a little bit smarter). In many
companies training is con-
sidered a waste of field
working time. The trainer is
told to go to the field and
convert Doctors !! ‖
Effective Territory Sales Management Lagging Numbers or Leading Indicators?
There are reams of business insights hidden in the routine sales activity. Unfortunately,
these insights often stay there, neither discovered nor acted upon. This inaction can
affect bottom line and loss of market share for your brand.
Sales Managers should Ask the Right Questions
Do you spend your time looking at history, at lagging indicators? … Or actively
seek leading indicators of what is coming?
Do you spend your time asking, why did we lose market share in our key ac-
counts? …or Which of our top accounts are at risk and what needs to be done
to avoid losing them?
Do you ask why have we lost market share in a particular geography? …or, What
is changing in the marketplace?
Do you spend time debating whether it’s marketing tactics or sales execution that
have caused problems in a region …or identifying significant new sales oppor-
tunities?
MD SADIQUE AKHTER
Note: Click on the commenters‘ name to see Linkedin Profile
Visit Indian Pharma
Connection (IPC)
on Linkedin to view more
discussions and connect
with like-minded peers.
*Indian Pharma Connection is a leading Pharma Linkedin Group. MedicinMan encourages its readers to actively partici-
pate in the online Pharma-sphere to learn and share valuable professional insights. Join MedicinMan on Linkedin here.
Hot on
MedicinMan
―Well-educated medical representatives are valu-able contributors to the broad body of knowledge that impacts healthcare decisions.‖1
The selling environment in healthcare has become in-creasingly complex in re-cent years.
Today patients are taking a more proactive role with physicians in determining the best course of therapy. Reasons for this are: easy access to information on the Internet, looking for second opinion, becoming aware of the healthcare costs, mental blocks to vari-ous treatment methodolo-gies, less awareness about disease consequences etc.
It has been reported that 78% of the patients leave the doctor‘s consultation room without understand-ing the treatment.
Busy physicians are not always prepared to have an effective conversation with patients about managing a treatment. Doctors are comfortable with scientific aspects of drugs and treat-ment, but have difficulty translating the science into simple yet compelling com-munication for patients.
This leads to poor patient compliance - such as cut-ting pills in half, skipping doses, failing to refill a pre-scription, postponing doc-tor visits, and relying on home remedies or OTC drugs. For example, a doc-tor is unable to convince a patient to stay on insulin therapy as the patient fears
insulin dependence. The result is non-compliance with the prescribed regi-men.
Thus at present, dialogue between Medical Reps and physicians do not always translate into effective com-munication between physi-cian and patients.
A 2004 International Jour-nal of Medical Marketing article states that ―compliance could get a significant boost if doc-tors explained more often and more thor-oughly the prescribed medications, their val-ue, how best to manage side effects, and the im-portance of compli-ance.‖
Though patient education about the prescribed medi-cation can be given most effectively by the doctor, it should also be supplement-ed and reinforced by the pharma companies. They need to expand their ―service‖ to help physicians better engage patients in the appropriate therapeutic option.
The traditional mode of communication of the pharmaceutical companies with their client physicians has been to provide them with the clinical and scien-tific aspects of their prod-ucts. Now they should also prepare them to have an effective engagement with the patients.
This can be done by devel-oping tools which can help in making the patients un-derstand the basics about
the medications they are taking, the implications of the dosing schedule, com-mon medication errors, common drug interactions, do‘s and don‘ts of the pre-scription, understanding prescribing information etc. The message should be meaningful, compelling, and motivate patients to adhere to the prescribed regimen.
MRs can be a key link be-tween healthcare compa-nies, medical professionals and patients. They can be a more valuable resource for physicians if they move the conversation beyond medi-cal and clinical aspects. This can even be from latest news updates to giving tips to help them build their patient pool and practice.
Knowledge driven MRs with patient-centric ap-proach can become a trusted consultant to the physician and have positive impact on pa-tient outcomes.
Further, knowledgeable MRs will increase their val-ue to the doctors allowing them to increase their num-ber of calls and spend qual-ity time with doctors. This ‗Pull‘ approach of ensuring that the patient takes the prescribed dosage and ex-periences better outcomes will lead to an increased uptake of medicines and sustainable higher sales
growth. ▌
Patient-Centric Approach in MR Sales Strategy
1CMR Institute for Medical Representatives Education
REF: Patient compliance view-point adapted from a whitepaper
by a USA based Marketing firm.
Page 4
Dr. Shalini Ratan
Founder, Nirvan Life Sciences
5 POINTERS FOR A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH:
1. DEVELOP A SCIENTIFI-
CALLY FOCUSED FIELD FORCE.
2. TRAIN THE SALES FORCE ON PHYSICIAN & PATIENT PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR.
3. DEVELOP PATIENT EDUCATION TOOLS TO BE USED BY PHYSICIANS.
4. EDUCATE PHYSICIANS ON ―PATIENT RELATION-
SHIP WITH EASY–TO–UNDERSTAND COMMUNI-
CATION‖ THROUGH SEMI-
NARS, WORKSHOPS AND OTHER TOOLS.
5..REGULAR NEWSLET-
TER FOR FIELD FORCE KNOWLEDGE AND MOTI-
VATION CEMENT.
Contact Dr. Shalini Ratan [email protected]
5 POINTERS FOR A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH:
1. DEVELOP A SCIENTIFI-
CALLY FOCUSED FIELD FORCE.
2. TRAIN THE SALES FORCE ON PHYSICIAN & PATIENT PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR.
3. DEVELOP PATIENT EDUCATION TOOLS TO BE USED BY PHYSICIANS.
4. EDUCATE PHYSICIANS ON ―PATIENT RELATION-
SHIP WITH EASY–TO–UNDERSTAND COMMUNI-
CATION‖ THROUGH SEMI-
NARS, WORKSHOPS AND OTHER TOOLS.
5..REGULAR NEWSLET-
TER FOR FIELD FORCE KNOWLEDGE ENHANCE-
MENT AND MOTIVATION.
ENHANCING PHARMA-DOCTOR-PATIENT ENGAGEMENT
featured in:
Med
icinM
an C
reative
s
[SAMPLE]
To find out more call:
Dr. Vishal Bansal : +91 97172 18558
Rahul Mishra : +91 96118 76767
3 FACTORS IMPACT MR – DOCTOR INTERACTION IN THE CURRENT MARKET SCENARIO
EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICAL ALGORITHMS CUSTOMIZED TO YOUR SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION NEEDS
1. SCARCITY OF ATTENTION !
2. SCARCITY OF TIME !
3. SCARCITY OF INTEREST !
Medical Rep—Doctor interaction should address these 3 scarcities to be effective.
Promedik Algorithms are based on current research and simplifies diagnosis and treatment.
Promedik Algorithms are very effective in engaging the doctor‘s attention in the shortest
possible time by conveying clinically relevant scientific research. Promedik Algorithms also
make the task of a Medical Rep easier and interesting by giving him a clear picture of the
disease management sequence and where his product fits in. Promedik Algorithms enhance
the MR-Dr. interaction and takes it from the level of mere product detailing to the delivery of
actionable research based Rx information.
MedicinMan
Page 6
―An outstanding
Medical Rep does not
necessarily become a
successful First Line
Manager, while an aver-
age Medical Rep can be-
come a successful First
Line Manager (FLM).‖ This
paradox sounds ridiculous
but true because as Medical
Rep you are responsible for
your own work and success
whereas as FLM you will
have to get the job done by
your team members, that
too willingly.
Some very important skills
a Medical Rep should de-
velop to become a success-
ful FLM are:
Communication Skills:
Selling is basically a profes-
sion of communication and
as FLM your first customer
is your team member with
whom you will be com-
municating on a regular
basis. The most important
aspect of communication is
what to say, how to say
and where to say. While
speaking, your verbal com-
munication must match
your body language. People
are intelligent, and if there
is a mismatch between
your verbal communication
and body language, people
will not trust you.
Product Knowledge: As
FLM you are the FIRST
TEACHER to your Medical
Reps. While working with
you, Medical Reps will seek
value addition from you;
be it improvement of their
knowledge or in-clinic
effectiveness.
Problem Solving: Your
MRs will come to you first
whenever they have prob-
lems. As a leader and
teacher, ask them to come
up with two-three alternate
solutions. Sit and discuss
all the options and ask
them to logically select the
best one. This will give
them a sense of belonging
and will enhance their
thinking power.
Listening: As a marketing
professional you should be
a very good listener and
your colleagues will often
like to share their views
with you. A patient listen-
ing will make them feel
important. The day they
discuss even their personal
problems with you, you
have built rapport with
them and established your
leadership.
Objective: Your objectives
should be clear to you as a
FLM; accordingly you will
be able to tell and sell it to
your team members. At the
same time you must show
the path to ACHIEVE the
objective.
Man Management: This
is the prime responsibility
of any FLM. You cannot
manage people but you
must lead them so that
even in your absence, your
team members achieve what
they are expected to, that too
willingly.
Every individual is different,
you can‘t measure team
members with one parame-
ter. As a First Line Manager
you represent the company
to them, a teacher, a friend
an elder brother and much
more.
The Pharmaceutical Indus-
try is a very rewarding in-
dustry. I started my career
in 1989 as Medical Rep and
before starting my place-
ment consultancy in 2008, I
was overall in charge of sales
operations. First Line Man-
ager is the first step to di-
rectly lead a group of people
(5-7 team members) and is
an on going process. Learn-
ing happens every day. No-
body is perfect. Practice
makes man more intelligent.
Never ever be afraid of fail-
ure because failure is not
when you fall down but is
when you do not get up
again. Plan your career to
become a successful First
Line Manager and start
working on it. ▌
Hitendra began his career as
an MR and rose to the position
of Manager Sales—Overall in-
charge of Sales Operation.
He has worked at Sun Pharma,
Intas, Wallace and Organic
India. He is MD at Jag Kamal
Placements.
Write to him at:
— Career Growth Focus —
YOU CAN‘T
MANAGE
PEOPLE BUT
YOU MUST
LEAD THEM;
SO THAT EVEN
IN YOUR
ABSENCE,
YOUR TEAM
MEMBERS
ACHIEVE
WHAT THEY
ARE
EXPECTED TO.
‖
Hitendra Kansal
How to be an Effective Front-line Manager
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I wanted to become
a doctor but family
circumstances did
not allow me to;
hence I completed my
graduation in science.
Somewhere in my final
year I became aware of the
Pharma Sales Professional
and used to watch medical
reps in doctors‘ clinics and
in the market as the smart
guys wearing a necktie.‖ I
got selected with Ethnor
for Bhopal headquarters.
The company training was
very helpful to understand
the job and its require-
ments. The initial field
induction with senior
colleagues and my Area
Manager took off my
fright and gave me confi-
dence. It was good going
for a year and then I was
offered a job with Bur-
roughs Wellcome, a bigger
MNC with better salary in
the same place (Bhopal).
I joined Burroughs during
a very exciting period
when their antibacterial
SEPTRAN was launched.
Another three years
passed by in perfecting my
skills and achieving suc-
cesses. I picked up a
Featured Thought Leader MedicinMan
Shiv Bhasin: Medical Rep to Managing Director
good habit of reading
business magazines
and management
books.
By now, I had spent four
years and the feeling of
personal growth became
very prominent. I started
focusing on self devel-
opment, giving feed-
back to marketing and
participating meaning-
fully in company meet-
ings. Luckily, a change in
Area Manager and good
relations with the Zone
Manager helped me to get
proper direction.
The proud moment of my
becoming an Area Manag-
er came after 7 years. I
became the youngest per-
son in Burroughs Well-
come and the city of Bho-
pal to become an ASM.
I moved to Baroda, Ah-
medabad and Jaipur,
learning and enjoying the
job of a manager. I learnt
that people skills are
very important to
build a strong team.
The team observes you
closely to see whether
you can command,
solve their problems
and give them direc-
tion. In 1988, I was pro-
moted as Overall-In-
Charge and given the
charge of Gujarat state.
After a good performance,
the promotion as Zone
Sales Manager came at
Indore headquarters, my
hometown, with M.P. and
Maharashtra as my area.
This position exposed to
me to the nuances of man-
aging a large geographic
area and a big field team.
One learns the art of
problem-solving as a
number of difficult
situations are
referred to you. The
focus shifts to manag-
ing your Area Manag-
ers and coaching them
to produce the desired
performance.
THE PROUD
MOMENT OF
MY BECOMING
AN AREA MAN-
AGER CAME
AFTER 7 YEARS.
I BECAME THE
YOUNGEST
PERSON IN
BURROUGHS
WELLCOME
AND THE CITY
OF BHOPAL TO
BECOME AN
ASM.
‖ Page 8
Shiv Bhasin
MedicinMan
Page 9
Shiv Bhasin: Medical Rep to Managing Director It takes some time and
experience to under-
stand and practice the
art of Coaching.
Changes were again in the
offing as I was transferred
to Bombay as in-charge of
Maharashtra. This
brought me closer to head
office colleagues and sen-
ior managers. I started
taking interest in Market-
ing and would provide
feedback to
the marketing
team and of-
ten discuss
strategies
with them.
My pursuit for
growth and
development
took a new
turn when I
enrolled for a diploma in
Business Management in
Narsee Monjee Institute
( NMIMS ). I now started
getting a sense of other
management functions
like HR, Finance, Distri-
bution and Production
giving me a clear idea of
how the overall business is
run.
I was progressing well, got
noticed by senior manag-
ers and was tipped to be
one of the contenders for
Sales Manager‘s job. Then,
a bombshell came by way
of Glaxo acquiring BW.
The process of change
management started with
al Sales, looking after
India business and devel-
oping Bangladesh and
Myanmar. I took a lot of
help from Training which
helped to change mindset
of people and upgrade
their skills to meet the
new challenge. Coaching
my managers to lead their
teams to an overall suc-
cess led to a faster growth
of the company over the
years.
Finally, my
contribu-
tions were
recognized
and I was
offered the
coveted po-
sition of
General
Manager (Managing Di-
rector) at Solvay Pharma
Indonesia based at Jakar-
ta. You enjoy it more
when you are the first In-
dian to make it to the top
of the company.
I returned back after three
years, with a treasure of
experience in heading an
organization and interna-
tional exposure. ▌
our senior executives
leaving and Glaxo execu-
tives filling the positions.
A Glaxo person was ap-
pointed as ‗Sales Man-
ager‘, dashing my hopes of
immediate growth. I left,
joining IPCA as their Sales
Manager where I learnt to
handle large sales teams
and a big portfolio of
products. I worked there
for three years.
In 1999, I joined Duphar
Interferan as their General
Manager – Sales. My as-
signment was to trans-
form the company from
general selling to a spe-
cialty driven company to
promote the global prod-
ucts of Solvay. This was a
challenging assignment
wherein Solvay India was
built up from very small
beginnings to a respecta-
ble midsized company
with its key brands occu-
pying leadership positions
in their therapeutic seg-
ments. In 2005, I was pro-
moted as Vice President –
Domestic and Internation-
―I started taking interest in
Marketing and would provide
feedback to the marketing
team and often discuss
strategies with them.‖
Shiv Bhasin began his career as a Medical Rep and rose to the position of Managing Director based in Jakarta, Indone-sia.
Send Your Feedback to: [email protected]
WHAT HAS CON-
STANTLY DRIV-
EN ME ON THE
PATH OF SUC-
CESS IS:
STRONG AMBI-
TION TO GROW
ACHIEVEMENT
ORIENTATION
D E V E L O P I N G
AND UPGRAD-
ING MY SKILLS
PEOPLE MAN-
A G E M E N T
S K I L L S T O
BUILD A TEAM
C O A C H I N G
SKILLS
Shiv Bhasin
Featured Thought Leader
Page 10
The Pharma Key Account
Management Report 2011-
2012 is based on more than
50 interviews with KAM
executives.
These include 24 in-depth interviews with senior pharmaceutical executives and stakeholders as well as surveys of the pharma community involving 956 and 100 respondents re-spectively.
METRICS NEEDED
There was general consen-sus among respondents that metrics are needed to support six key perfor-mance areas in KAM pro-grams: valid direction of objectives and actions in account plans; quality of engagement with cus-tomers; sales progress; tactics that work; value delivered from a custom-er perspective; and results of mutual objectives.
Ultimately, though, a com-pany‘s ability to measure performance outcomes ac-cording to more complex KAM criteria will depend on having the right attitude and aims going in.
―It doesn‘t matter who or what you are, or what you have on your business card,‖ comments James Bailey, UK regional busi-ness manager for Astellas.
―If you have a clear sense of purpose and clear reason for being there, which you communicate, you will get further.‖
The Pharma KAM Report 2011-2012 identifies a
number of hurdles to measuring KAM value, both practical and tech-nical.
They start with instilling attitudinal change compa-ny-wide and from the top down.
That can be particularly challenging where senior management have been brought up on a culture of ‗calls per day‘.
―We are still of the belief that we need a nod and a handshake to get sales, un-til proved otherwise,‖ com-ments Lars Werner, Leo Pharma‘s BU director, der-matology, Denmark and Sweden.
As many as 71.4% of survey respondents said their companies continued to set, measure and report on call rates, while 28.6% measured call rates but generally used the data only when a sales issue arose.
FLEXIBLE TIMELINES
KAM measures also need to be flexible about time-lines for program/product uptake or return on invest-ment. This may be a func-tion of different priorities in local health economies, how mature the product is, or brand objectives, such as wanting to get a compli-ance program properly bedded in before driving sales.
―The difficulty with KAM is not predicting the out-come—for example, setting the objective—the difficulty is setting ‗when‘,‖ com-
ments Lee Gittings, com-mercial effectiveness man-ager at Pfizer in the UK.
KAM is a more nuanced approach to customers than traditional share-of-voice platforms, with their emphasis on trumping the competition through sheer weight of numbers.
A key account may be less about immediate sales gains than building a mu-tually beneficial relation-ship in which a package of products and services is used to achieve long-term health outcomes tailored to a local health economy or particular disease area.
KAM measurements must therefore be able to capture performance across a wide range of parameters, con-sistent with the multiple strategic aims involved in selecting and targeting key customers.
Among those highlighted in the report are long-term health outcomes; key mile-stones in account plans; value parameters, such as levels of patient education; patient-management ob-jectives, such as drug ad-herence; customer, insight, engagement and satisfac-tion; and comparisons among accounts.
For exclusive business in-sight into and analysis of KAM, download eyefor-pharma's Pharma Key Ac-count Management Report
2011-2012. ▌
MedicinMan
Clear Objectives & Metrics - the Key to Success in KAM INSIGHT SHARED BY
Special Thanks to Jon
Gwillim and Victoria Stin-
son of eyeforpharma
www.eyeforpharma.com
A KEY
ACCOUNT MAY
BE LESS ABOUT
IMMEDIATE
SALES GAINS
THAN BUILD-
ING A MUTUAL-
LY BENEFICIAL
RELATIONSHIP
IN WHICH A
PACKAGE OF
PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES IS
USED TO
ACHIEVE LONG
-TERM HEALTH
OUTCOMES
‖
(Cont. from P. 1)
Getting it Right with Key Accounts Richard Ilsley Clears the Air about KAM in this Executive Briefing Paper
A survey of senior
managers from man-
ufacturers, retailers and
distributors in Europe and
North America in 2009/10
considered their relation-
ships with their major sup-
pliers. Only around 15% of
suppliers and their ‗Key
Account Managers‘ seem to
be getting it right.
Yet around 65% of senior
managers from those same
or similar suppliers claim
they are in the top 25% of
best practice!
Most suppliers equate ‗Key
Account Management‘ with
selling to big customers
and a two-day training
course. Most suppliers are
getting it wrong.
How are we getting it
wrong?
The most common er-
rors observed are:
Failure to identify the
few critical success factors
– in other words what must
we get right with this Key
Account?
Failure to define specifi-
cally what ―value‖ means
for the Key Account – and
therefore incurring cost
without any return.
Failure to measure the
true profitability of the Key
Account - and consequent-
ly taking poor decisions.
Failure to adapt to the
Key Account that requires a
regional or global manage-
ment approach.
Failure to engage senior
managers from across the
business in Key Account
strategic planning by as-
suming that Key Account
M a n a g e m e n t m e a n s
―selling to big customers‖.
Failure to understand
how the Key Account takes
decisions, its strategic
plans and needs, how it
measures its suppliers and
to engage at the highest
level.
Failure to create simple
effective Key Account
growth plans that are en-
dorsed by the Key Account
itself.
Risks of getting it
wrong:
Key Accounts, by defini-
tion, are the most im-
portant customers of the
company. If you fail with
your Key Accounts – you
fail.
Companies that fail to ad-
dress their Key Account
strategy properly find that:
- they are increasingly reli-
ant upon price as the pri-
mary lever
- they incur costs that de-
liver little or no value
- they achieve a lower mar-
gin
- they struggle to imple-
ment their growth initia-
tives
What does it all come down
to?
You have to recognise that
getting it right with your
Key Accounts is fundamen-
tal to the long term success
of your company.
What do we have to
do to get it right?
The demands of effec-
tive key account man-
agement in the 21st
Century are:
1. A clear simple key ac-
count strategy driven by
the corporate strategy.
2. A clear competitive
strategy that defines
exactly where the
growth is coming from
and why; along with
clarity about how value
is added to the Key Ac-
count.
3. Serious attention from
the most senior manag-
ers across all disciplines.
4. A multi-disciplinary
team approach and not
one Key Account Man-
ager working in isola-
tion.
5. Recognition that KAM
means so much more
than selling.
FOCUS FEATURE
Page 11
Key Account Management
MedicinMan
Richard Ilsley, UK
6. Selecting very high cali-
bre individuals as Key
Account Managers.
7. A never ending drive to
add real measurable
value .
8. A ruthless focus on cost
reduction.
9. A short set of simple
common measures of
success (key perfor-
mance indicators).
10.Clearly defined roles,
responsibilities and in-
centives coupled to sim-
ple and accepted pro-
cesses, tools and skills.
11. Enhanced knowledge
and understanding (as
opposed to collecting
and storing data).
12. Short simple actionable
key account plans sup-
ported by regular formal
performance reporting.
Companies that do this
achieve better returns than
companies that do not.
▌This article is a summary. Read
the full text here.
Richard Ilsley is Partner at Sales & Market ing Consulting Group (SMCG). E: [email protected]
MedicinMan
I've seen companies use KAM as a title vs. a process. The KAMer is the one who should lead the team in the
KAM framework, but the process and roles during each stage of the buying cycle needs to be well defined.
Additionally, the process needs to be flexible enough to allow the person who has the greatest credibility and
relationship with the client to lead the selling effort. This is not saying they lead the team, but lead the con-
tact and relationship with the client. If you have someone who has the ability to develop a trusted advisor
relationship with the client, take advantage of it regardless of their role in your company.
Page 12
THOUGHT LEADERS Our Editor, Anup Soans asked Linkedin Leaders to share their insights on KAM
In today's economy the con-
cept of KAM can/must be
modernized and extended to
situations where a vendor
decides to engage in a pro-
active way with carefully
selected targets. Sticking to
the classic definition might
be adequate for some com-
panies or sectors where re-
sources can and should be
focused on a few opportuni-
ties at hand. However, us-
ing this more aggressive
definition of KAM can help
many companies define and
execute very valid growth
strategies. This of course
requires a very realistic and
controlled approach but I
believe that the future be-
longs to companies able to
use this modernized ap-
proach. ▌
I have worked extensively in the Pharma sector on KAM implementa-
tion for the last 10 years and there are some specific challenges in in-
troducing KAM within this sector. Firstly to the positives, as Olivier
has noted, the Pharma industry really do understand influencers and
complex sales environments. Also, it is an industry that invests signif-
icantly in training and seeks to take a lead. By and large the account
managers are very well educated, often with science degrees, and so have no problems
grasping the ideas and thinking.
The real challenge is that the ideas and thinking of KAM do not fit very neatly into this
sector. KAM exists around the assumption that Seller selects Buyers with whom they
have a common/shared strategic goal. The Seller will then apply the appropriate re-
sources to servicing that account such that both parties benefit. This model is easy to
understand in the world of FMCG where the 2 parties maybe Wal-Mart and Proctor
and Gamble. We saw in a recently posted example from Richard Ilsley how these com-
panies had worked together to their mutual benefit. In the Pharma sector howev-
er, it can be a real challenge to find a common strategic goal - put crudely,
Pharma companies want to make a profit from the often excellent prod-
ucts they have developed and the purchasers of healthcare want to reduce
costs. This fundamental difference in overall goal leads to a lack of open-
ness and trust and as such any replication of the FMCG model is difficult if
not impossible.
Does this mean Pharma companies should not employ KAM? Well no, not at all, but
what they must do is be realistic with what can be achieved. There are some excellent
KAM tools which can be selected for the world of Pharma - but selection is the key. We
need to take what works well and adds value and disregard what adds complication
and no value. There has been a great deal of time, money and energy expended on try-
ing to bang a square peg into a round hole! ▌
KAM is business of patience. It requires more time to understand system,
know key people, develop confidence with key people. KAM is unconven-
tional selling. Unfortunately not enough guidance is provided to these
people and in absence of results as expected within time frame fatigue
settles in fast. This business require a very mature management. ▌
Sandra Du Cross
Olivier Riviere
E: olivier.riviere @atoem-consulting.com
Nitin Nigam
David Kirsch
I was recently asked
by a company to con-
duct a "Motivational"
talk for some of their
fresher Employees. Like in most such cases,
the HR (human resource)
department was very clear
with their requirements.
I still remember the HR
guy calling me a few days
before and saying,
"Well Doc, we pride in be-
ing one of the very few
Multinational companies
that like to employ fresh-
ers. While the market
standard requires 1-2yrs of
experience, we believe in
harnessing and cultivating
talent from the beginning.
As you will understand, we
require them to be com-
pletely motivated to face
the challenges ahead and
build a long term relation-
ship with us".
To simplify what he meant
- "We hire freshers because
they come cheap. We want
them to work as much as
we demand them to.
And we don't want them
leaving our company be-
fore a year or two at least.
So please do something!!"
One amazing thing about
freshers is that they are
loaded with energy. A
fresher is the embodiment
of youth. They put every-
thing into work because
they feel they can change
the system and also have
the need to impress every-
one with their ability. A
fresher is also a great
learner. They understand
the system and when time
comes, might decide to
make a quick move
towards a higher plane. My
job was to channelize this
energy and youthfulness.
Give it a direction.
Of the 3hr workshop I had
with them, one part was to
help them find a real life
example of positive energy
channelization and success.
I couldn't think of any bet-
ter example that the Hindi
film actor Shahrukh Khan.
It's known that Shahrukh
Khan has made it to the top
the tough way. While
preparing this module, I
stumbled upon a write up
on Shahrukh Khan. There
was a quote on his struggle.
Shahrukh Khan - "I slept
on a bench for a week and
borrowed Rs.20/. everyday
from a friend to travel to
film city"
Then I thought, In that one
week he might have
thought of quitting at least
a 1,000 times...
How many times have you
quit before giving it a 1000
thoughts???
Then again I analyzed the
statement and I realized: in
that moment, when he was
sleeping on a bench, what
must be going through is
mind? Only if you have the
virtues of perseverance,
patience and positivity that
you can fight those mo-
ments of despair.
It's so important to under-
stand only 2% of people are
happy with their jobs... the
rest fight stress, sadness
and worries about the fu-
ture every single day.
In such a scenario its im-
portant to understand you
cannot be positive all the
time and every single
ounce of negativity is tak-
ing you closer to your goal..
Remember:
Every successful man has
thought of quitting at least
once.
Every successful man has
lost his patience more than
once.
Every successful man has
failed more than once.
Every successful man has
encountered more negative
thoughts than positive ones
If there is so much nega-
tives, how could they suc-
ceed? Because they perse-
vered with a goal in mind,
saw every failure as an op-
portunity to fight back and
focused on achieving their
goals at all costs. ▌
Page 13
MedicinMan Dr. Hemant ki Ek Soch
The Shahrukh Khan Mantra
Dr. Hemant Mittal MBBS, PG.DPM, MD
Dr. Hemant is a well-known Behavioral, Emotional and Sexual Health Consultant. He is the Owner of Mind Mantra Wellness Concepts and a Leading Blogger at:
www.themindpath.blogspot.com
―IT IS KNOWN THAT
SHAHRUKH KHAN HAS
MADE IT TO THE TOP THE HARD
WAY… SLEEPING ON A BENCH FOR A
WEEK AND BOR-
ROWING RS. 20 FROM A FRIEND TO TRAVEL TO
FILM CITY‖
Page 14
Music, Metrics and Management How Managers Must Make Sense of Data and Transform it to Actionable Knowledge
Not only in music is
the harmony of tri-
ads an important ele-
ment of style, it is im-
portant in improving our
well-being and good feel-
ings as well.
We find such triads in
management studies and in
our daily lives. One of these
triads is related to figures
that are regularly used to
measure results or dedica-
tion.
William Hewlett
once said: ―You only
can manage what you
measure, and what you
measure gets done!‖
Many of the KPIs used in
our companies follow this
sentence, at least the first
half of it.
An absolute prerequisite
for measuring and there-
fore management, are
numbers.
If many of them are collect-
ed in a table or spread-
sheet, Microsoft has told us
that these are called data.
To alter data into infor-
MedicinMan
mation, data need to be
displayed graphically. For
the mostly optical people it
appears to be easy to ex-
tract or make them under-
stand a specific and clear
informational message
derived from these data.
A company‘s product strat-
egy can easily be displayed
and supported with such
information. Acknowledg-
ing that the details of a
growth strategy vary signif-
icantly from others, the
creation of information
from data can well be a
challenge.
Questions like:
―Does this information
mirror our strategic objec-
tives?‖ or ―Will this infor-
mation point to the right
strategic direction?‖ should
be a mandatory part if you
want to achieve and sup-
port a coherent and con-
sistent strategy.
The third tone of the triad
becoming ever more im-
portant reflects the ques-
tion ―How can I create
knowledge out of this
information for me or my
company?‖
They say we are living in
the era of knowledge today.
But where is the knowledge
of my company?
Does it make sense if
knowledge is stored in the
heads of a few or should it
be made available for
many? How can knowledge
being in the heads of a few
be made accessible to oth-
ers in the same organiza-
tion? At the end the ques-
tion is left how we handle
our individual knowledge
or how we can transfer all
this information into
knowledge accessible by all
concerned.
The necessary pre -
conditions, some call that
IT-systems, are available,
allowing us to intone the
valuable and value adding
triad of transforming data
into information and at
the end create accessible
knowledge.
Pitifully this triad only can
rarely be enjoyed. ▌
Question: Being a medical representative, which of the 5 territories below
would you chose to work in and why?
Lots of Data
Information
Knowledge
Action !
Hanno Wolfram, Germany
Hanno Wolfram is Managing
Director at Innov8 GmbH and
Co-Founder at Pharmainstitut
with over 30 years of experi-
ence in the German and Inter-
national Health Markets.
Contact him at :
QUESTIONS LIKE ―DOES THIS INFOR-
MATION MIRROR OUR STRATEGIC OBJEC-
TIVES?‖ OR ―WILL THIS INFORMATION
POINT TO THE RIGHT STRATEGIC DIREC-
TION?‖ SHOULD BE A MANDATORY PART IF
YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE AND SUP-
PORT A COHERENT AND CONSISTENT
STRATEGY.
Music, Metrics and Management
ACADEMY
Based on MedicinMan‘s extensive interaction with senior industry professionals to understand
issues relating to the Healthcare Field Force, the following workshops are planned to address the
Learning and Development needs of healthcare industry professionals.
1. A Workshop on Creative and Strategic Excellence in Product Management
2. A Workshop on the Role of Front-line Managers in Sales Force Effectiveness
3. A Workshop on Key Account Management in Pharma
4. A Train the Trainer Workshop – Reframing Pharmaceutical Field Sales Training
5. A 3 month Certificate Program in Healthcare Communications (part-time, weekends) for
Medical Reps and Front-line Managers
These programs are targeted at enhancing the career prospects of Field Sales People as well as
producing better Product Managers, Training Managers and overall excellence among professionals
connected with Pharma Sales and Marketing.
For more information on attending the workshops, sponsoring participants or partnering with
MedicinMan Academy, contact:
Arvind Nair: E: [email protected] M: +91 987 0201 422
Anup Soans: E: [email protected] M: +91 934 2232 949
Professionals as Faculty
ANNOUNCING
Professional Development Workshops for Pharma Professionals by Top Industry
www.medicinman.net
MedicinMan
A D V I S O R S EXECUTIVE TEAM
EDITOR
Anup Soans
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Joshua Soans
COO
Arvind Nair
ADVISORY BOARD
Prof. Vivek Hattangadi
Jolly Mathews
EDITORIAL BOARD
Shashin Bodawala
Salil Kallianpur
Dr. Shalini Ratan
Prabhakar Shetty
MEDICINMAN INDUCTS VETERANS AND YOUNG BLOOD
Prof. Vivek
Hattangadi
began as a
M e d i c a l
Rep. He
has the
rare dis-
tinction of working at all lev-
els in sales and brand man-
agement – from Medical Rep
to Head of Sales and Market-
ing in leading companies. He
has developed the curricu-
lum for MBA in pharma sales
& brand management of
Vidyasagar University.
Prof. Hattangadi joins
our Board of Advisors
J o l l y
Mathews is a
Learning and
Development
veteran in the
true sense of
the word.
Till recently Senior Manager,
Training at Novartis India
Limited, He has a total work
experience of 38 years in
Frontline Sales, Field Force
Management and HR.
As a Leadership Trainer in
Novartis, he has trained
managers in various parts of
the world.
Jolly Mathews joins our
Board of Advisors
Amit Shekhar
is a passion-
ate and high-
ly committed
learning and
development
professional.
Amit has risen from ranks
from Business officer (MR)
to Area Business Manager to
Manager Training in the 5th
largest Pharma Company of
India, Cadila Healthcare
Ltd.
Amit is founder of
LinkedIn‘s influential Phar-
ma Trainer's Forum.
Amit Shekhar joins
MedicinMan as Training
Consultant
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Send your queries, com-
ments and feedback to:
M: +91 934 2232 949
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WHAT THE PHARMA CEO WANTS FROM THE BRAND MANAGER
A New Book by Prof. Vivek Hattangadi Brand management gurus say the role of the CEO is tied inex-tricably to the brand. They further opine that the most powerful person in the organization i.e. the CEO should be the brand cus-todian. However this is easier said than done. Therefore, in this milieu, the brand manager in the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) has a key role to play. Although the brand managers have been given various nomenclatures – ‗Product Manager‘, ‗Therapy Manager‘, ‗Product Sales Manager‘ and a few years back they were also called as ‗Sales Promotion Manager‘, the most appropriate one is Brand Manager.
What exactly is the role of a brand manager? How does he build a brand? What are the characteristics of an effective brand manager in the pharma industry? And most importantly, what does the custodian of the brand - the CEO - want from the brand manager? How can the brand manager fulfill the CEO‘s expectations? What are his worries?
'WHAT THE PHARMA CEO WANTS FROM THE BRAND MANAGER' answers all your questions on this important topic.
Although the book is intended for those who have been recently initiated into pharma brand management, many pharma industry leaders recommend this book even for the practicing brand managers who desire to revisit the basics.
"What the Pharma CEO Wants from the Brand Manager’ is a must read for new entrants in product management and even useful for all those who wish to revisit the basics of pharmaceutical marketing. Chapters/Sections on self analysis, forecasting and brand plan are good. These can make every brand manager introspect/revisit on his current work." – Satish Dandekar, Sr. Vice President, Ipca Laboratories Ltd.
Send enquiries to:
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