Does Pharma Still Need Traditional Sales Reps?

In the last five years the number of sales reps employed by Pharma companies has decreased dramatically.

As a result, the fundamental structure of those Pharma field forces has changed. Where once multiple reps visited the same customers (on my old territory we had twelve…), now one or two are seeing the same customers on what is likely a much larger geography.

In the old model, Pharma companies employed a shotgun strategy. Multiple reps saw the same healthcare professional (HCP) for the same product. The reps were trained to repeat a specific message about that product over and over again no matter what their customer’s profile or needs.

The end result was that traditional pharma reps became the rough equivalent of walking television commercials, repeating the same message over and over to a customer and hoping that it would eventually get through.

The strategy was volume would drive results. The skill set required by the reps was an ability to faithfully repeat a message and work within a large team.

However, just like for television commercials, customers started turning off.

This change in the fundamental structure of field forces and increasing expectations from the customer in terms of the service that they want means that the role of traditional Pharma sales rep is going extinct.

I believe, as it should.

Don’t get me wrong. Now, more than ever, Pharma reps can make a positive difference for patients and healthcare professionals.

When a new treatment becomes available, there is nothing more effective than a Pharma field force for getting the word out on that treatment.

If there is a therapeutic area that is under diagnosed and treated, Pharma reps make a real difference in educating HCPs and helping patients get the treatment that they need. Think about the difference in the way that hypertension is treated now versus even ten years ago. Depression, dyslipidemia, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence. The list goes on.

If an HCP wants information on a given product, Pharma reps are one of the most informed sources on how to use that product, who can benefit from it and who it should not be used for. If the rep does not have the information, they have a wealth of other resources that they can call upon to support the HCP.

But, the new generation of Pharma reps needs to have a very different way of thinking and skill set than the traditional pharma sales rep in order to bring value in our new reality.

With fewer reps covering larger territories, every customer visit has to be a great one. Key to this is understanding your customer’s needs and adapting accordingly.

What does that look like?

It means knowing what source of information the HCP most respects and making sure that what you present to the customer reflects that. It could be sourcing approved journal publications, learning events, an educational website or the perspective of the local specialist. Whatever source of information is credible for that HCP.

It means knowing what elements of a treatment are important to the HCP in a given therapeutic area. As an example, efficacy could be speed of action for one HCP. For another, low relapse rates. If you are not speaking to what is important to them, you are wasting their time and your own.

It means earning the right to talk about what you want to talk about by first addressing what is important to the customer.

It means respecting the way that the customer likes to be communicated with. They may prefer e-reps detailing them. Maybe they like to get product information electronically. This generation of HCPs wants to get their information in a way that meets their individual needs, just like you and I do.

The new generation of Pharma reps needs to be able to recognize and support this, even if it sometimes means bringing in an e-rep or local medical liaison instead of providing the information themselves.

The world has changed. Anyone reading this is getting business information in a way that was unimaginable even ten years ago. You choose what sources of information are relevant and meet your needs.

Our customers are no different. A generic message repeated often does not cut it any more. Like us, healthcare professionals expect the information that they get to be tailored to their specific needs and the new generation of Pharma reps is ideally situated to do this.

The traditional Pharma sales rep is dead. Long live the new generation.