Blog Network Association Review

The secret behind the establishment of solid, long-lasting and productive relationships in the business world is the ability to exert influence without appearing to be trying to exert authority. Not surprisingly, key account management training should help to show you how you can exert influence in any relationship, but should definitely focus on the amount of time and effort that you need to put into preparing, before you set out to engage with the prospect. The field of pharmaceutical sales can be more like a minefield, as the sales representative tries to bring a particular product to the attention of the end-user. Powerful forces can be at play and often a diverse set of emotions come to bear on any decision, so that the sales representative has to be armed with a lot of preparatory work before he or she can expect to attain success.

Due to poor marketing and sales techniques in the past, a bad approach or incessant pandering, practitioners, pharmacists and other health care professionals have learned to look the other way. The average professional comes across many different pharmaceutical reps during any given week and may not anticipate these meetings very well. This makes the pharmaceutical sales rep’s job a lot more difficult, as influence must be exerted without any posturing or undue articulation.

Consultants who provide pharma training to sales representatives must focus on building confidence and must ensure that the rep understands the importance of preparation. You have to have a very clear picture of the endgame and know what you want to get out of it. This will vary from client to client, but the rep must master the ability to differentiate, even if he or she is always trying to sell an identical product. The professional may have many different ways of saying “no,” but the rep has to be prepared and be ready to assert the position without appearing to be dominant.

Building a foundation of influence requires some subtle and often behind the scenes activity. It might well be necessary to engage with others, often gatekeepers, who work within the target organisation. It is very important to be proactive and to show that you understand the challenges that face the client. You will need to look vertically and horizontally and take into account factors which may not necessarily have any direct association with the ultimate goal, but may nevertheless impact in one way or another. By doing all this groundwork, you are establishing a key position of trust, an essential attribute taught during key account management training.

If you have a good idea what your prospects will say to you when you meet with them, you can have your position prepared in advance and can field their questions and any possible objections. You should be able to predict and provide them with a clear solution, one that meets their needs and wants and satisfies your ultimate objective, as well. It’s important to build flexibility into your stance, so that you can be seen to “give” somewhat, if necessary, helping to achieve a powerful feeling of collaboration between all parties, creating good relationships going forward.

Alan Gillies is the Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.

A typical pharmaceutical company is very complex. Its primary job is to produce cutting edge products, to make a fundamental difference to the livelihood and well-being of the patients. From research to product development, many individuals are involved. Once a product is sanctioned and made available to market, an army of sales representatives must be deployed, together with their support network. At the head of this operation is the senior executive team, all of whom have a certain number of dedicated tasks to perform themselves, on a daily basis. At the other end of the spectrum, a healthcare professional needs to understand and have access to the products that the pharmaceutical company produces. Healthcare professionals have a distinct organisational structure of their own and need to focus on the issues of their own clients, their patients. Many different distractions and problems exist within these organisations as well, setting complex parameters for consideration.

With all this abject complexity, it’s a minor miracle that the actual product makes its way from drawing board into the patient’s hands, especially considering the amount of regulation and red tape that is inherent in the industry. Fundamentally, the pharmaceutical company has to make sales or they will not survive, but if you analyse the situation it is amazing to see that the actual process of selling can be determined by a relatively simple interaction, often taking just a few moments, when a junior member of the sales team engages, one on one, with the healthcare professional’s decision-maker. This surely represents a pressure packed moment, if you look at it this way, with much riding on the outcome and it is true to say that many organisations do not pay enough attention to these critical moments; they need to field a team that is ultimately prepared to get involved with the job through comprehensive pharma training.

The professional is looking for a relationship and not an individual transaction. This is why some resistance is often evident, as the professional may feel that the sales rep is interested in a numbers game alone, not particularly vested in the client’s outcome. Generally, key account management training emphasises again and again how a concerted and considered approach must be taken and how the company’s team must be trained to work cohesively as a force for action. This is so critical, as any organisation that does not understand this and leaves the job of building relationships to some junior member on the team cannot hope to succeed. Much more is demanded of the relationship, yet often a more junior person knows more about the particular wants and needs of the professional than the more senior executives within the organisation.

The sales representative must be taught, through comprehensive key account management training, what the difference is between representing the interests of the client and the interests of the company. By standing on the client side and looking back to the organisation, the client needs and interests can be addressed more effectively, and the many individual team members within the company engaged to address them. The establishment of a relationship is fundamental. Once this position is enhanced and less emphasis is placed on the generation of more income from the client, the client will become readily aware of this change in position and is likely to promote a much more fruitful association.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.