Click to Visit Pharmapproach Marketplace Click to Visit Pharmapproach Marketplace Click to Visit Pharmapproach Marketplace
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Pharmapproach.com
  • Home
  • Post Categories
    • Pharmaceutical Technology
    • Clinical Pharmacy
    • Pharmaceutical Microbiology
    • Pharmacology
    • Pharmaceutics
    • Pharmacy Management
    • Pharma Companies
    • Articles
    • Pharmatips
    • Pharmaceutical Machines
  • Pharma MarketplaceNew!
Post Ads For Free
Pharmapproach.com
  • Home
  • Post Categories
    • Pharmaceutical Technology
    • Clinical Pharmacy
    • Pharmaceutical Microbiology
    • Pharmacology
    • Pharmaceutics
    • Pharmacy Management
    • Pharma Companies
    • Articles
    • Pharmatips
    • Pharmaceutical Machines
  • Pharma MarketplaceNew!
Post Ads For Free
Pharmapproach.com
No Result
View All Result

Pharmaceutical Marketing: 3 Ways to Boost Sales Team Performance

by Pharmapproach
February 29, 2020
in Pharmacy Practice and Management
2
0
SHARES
3.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Many a time I have seen young salespersons get frustrated on the job due to the increasing gap between the expected and reality in relation to job satisfaction in pharmaceutical sales.

The Nigerian pharmaceutical sector is a high-risk environment that needs proper assessment and understanding to navigate if one must succeed. Despite its peculiar challenges, many local and some multinational companies have fallen victim to the high turnover rate of their sales team and its resultant high cost of recruitment exercise, loss of sales revenue and in worst cases product expiration. These resultant effects give the brand a bad look and over time, players (prescribers and buyers) get disenchanted with the brand and the company in general. These experiences are very real in the high entrants generic section of the industry.

Read Also: Customer Loyalty: How To Build Trust With Your Customers

Pharmaceutical sales embody ethical (prescription only) and over-the-counter (OTC) categories. My emphasis will be more on the ethical lines but can be extended to OTC ranges. Pharmaceutical sales usually start with product presentation to an individual or group of medical practitioners with subsequent follow up to ensure brand prescription and dispensing. This aspect of the job is often times frustrating. Success at this level is propelled by lots of interwoven factors which include sound product and industry knowledge, physical presentation, communication abilities, negotiation skills, interpersonal relationship building skills and of course persistence. With all these aforementioned qualities, a salesperson will mostly likely perform courageously in the field.

What can organizations do to achieve a win-win balance with their workforce? Field experience have taught me three basic lessons that are worth sharing.

1. Product knowledge

Pharmaceutical products are highly technical and require full dose of information to market. I am a strong believer in benefits and information sales instead of focusing on price sales. Price is relative and variable. Positioning sales strategies on low price is a shortcut approach and is mostly not sustainable in pharmaceuticals. It affects organizations bottom line and may present the product(s) as substandard. Organizations must have a working product or brand department that must ensure staff training and retraining. This unit must work with avalanche of industry data to ensure that the sales team have the relevant information at all times. It is a sin to send a salesperson to the field without proper and current product knowledge training. One can only liken it to sending a soldier to the battleground without a gun.

Read Also: Why You Should Give Your Product a Perfect Finish

2. Sales commission

This is a dicey terrain that requires diplomacy. However, most companies do not like discussing it. Even when discussed, many do not implement it. There are various methods of calculating sales commissions. Adopting an accounting software that is very transparent to all stakeholders is the best choice. I prefer commission based on per pack sales that is tagged to timely payment. Sales commissions must be paid as at when due to encourage the sales team and reduce the propensity of theft. Sales mark up by the salesperson must be discouraged. Sales commission is what drives a salesperson not salary, however, a combination of the two is surely a jackpot.

3. Field support

How often do you allow your sales person access to the existing accounts before hammering on new leads? Imagine a situation where no existing client was transferred to salesperson on resumption. Imagine where his/her newly established big buyers are confiscated by the head office in the name of proper handling when there is no case of poor channel management. Imagine lack of field coaching and clinical presentation by the management team. In all these scenarios, the sales person is bound to be discouraged and in most cases will be on the lookout for new opportunities in a competing company or eventually leave the sector.

I believe career in pharmaceutical sales is a lifelong opportunity and must be treated as such by all stakeholders. Encourage your team today by doing the needful. Remember, a happy sales team yields great financial records.

About the Author
Anthony Chidozie Okoye is a senior partner at Chaperone Kinetics Limited.

This article titled ‘3 Ways to Boost Sales Team Performance’ copntains these keywords: how to improve sales performance ppt, strategies to improve sales productivity, how can I improve my sales skills, how to get your sales team performing, sales improvement plan, what is sales performance, how to improve sales quality how to increase sales volume, strategies to improve sales productivity, ways to improve sales, how to improve sales performance ppt, how to improve sales productivity, how can i improve my sales skills?, how to increase sales volume, how to increase sales in business, sales improvement plan, how to increase sales in retail, how to improve car sales performance.

Previous Post

10 Practical Tips That Will Help You Source the Right Pharmaceutical Machine Supplier in China

Next Post

History of Pharmacy

Related Posts

Ways to Create More Consistent Performers
Pharmacy Practice and Management

Ways to Create More And More Consistent Performers

April 7, 2020
Featured image for the article Elixir for sourcing of candidates and retaining them
Pharmacy Practice and Management

Elixir for Sourcing of Candidates and Retaining Them

October 3, 2020
Advertising Plan: 5 Things to consider when drawing up an advertising schedule
Pharmacy Practice and Management

5 Things to Consider When Drawing Up an Advertising Plan

July 22, 2020
Estimating the Financial Needs of a Business
Pharmacy Practice and Management

Estimating the Financial Needs of a Business

April 7, 2020
How To Build Trust With Your Customers
Pharmacy Practice and Management

Customer Loyalty: How To Build Trust With Your Customers

April 7, 2020
Reasons why customers choose your competitor
Pharmacy Practice and Management

9 Reasons Why Customers Choose Your Competitor’s Products Over Yours

April 7, 2020

Comments 2

  1. M usman says:
    5 months ago

    I cannot increase my sale please guide me how we manage our stock

    Reply
    • Pharmapproach says:
      5 months ago

      Can you chat me up on WhatsApp or send an email using our contact us form?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Flash

Film Coating Process: Polymers Used in Immediate-Release Film Coating

Capsule Filling Machines (Encapsulators)

List of Medical Device Companies in the United State of America

WHO Americas Region Country Offices

Direct Compression Excipients: Properties and Uses

Buccal and Sublingual Routes of Drug Administration: Advantages and Disadvantages

Nasal Route of Drug Administration: Advantages and Disadvantages

Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) State Offices and Contact Details

Regulations, Guidelines and Clinical Trials

Drugs, Chemical and Herbal Regulations
Drugs, Herbal, and Chemical Guidelines
Clinical Trials

Important Links

Drug Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria
National Agency for Food & Drugs Admin & Control
Pharmacists Council of Nigeria
Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria
Journal of Pharmaceutical Development and Industrial Pharmacy
Job Opportunities for Pharmacists

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 811 other subscribers

Submit Articles

Click to Submit Your Article

Archives

  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Pharmapproach Limited. All Rights Reserved .

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Post Categories
    • Pharmaceutical Technology
    • Clinical Pharmacy
    • Pharmaceutical Microbiology
    • Pharmacology
    • Pharmaceutics
    • Pharmacy Management
    • Pharma Companies
    • Articles
    • Pharmatips
    • Pharmaceutical Machines
  • Pharma Marketplace

© 2021 Pharmapproach Limited. All Rights Reserved .

x
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.