Helpful Pointers On How E-Detailing Is Catching On
As the industry changes in shape and size, the pharmaceutical consultant is developing a new role. Recessionary forces have caused some significant developments in almost every major industry and the healthcare business was certainly not immune. Indeed, the recession has forced pharmaceutical sales companies to change the way that they approach their clients. Budgets were coming under increasing scrutiny and this meant that there was a trend away from hiring sales representatives. As such, a pharmaceutical consultancy should recognise that this is the time for innovation, especially as healthcare professionals were starting to look at other ways to educate themselves as they processed their pharmaceutical needs. The major companies needed to understand the social media revolution, at the same time as they found less expensive ways to pitch their products.
According to Cutting Edge Information, a market research firm, more than 25% of all healthcare professionals interviewed expressed an interest in exploring the concept of e-detailing. This result has increased dramatically from just four years ago. We need to consider if doctors will be more accessible through this approach and if they will exhibit less resistance to communication as a consequence.
Pharmaceutical marketing training must evolve to counter the effects of the great recession and welcome the effects of the media revolution at the same time. Many companies may begin to put less emphasis on the hiring and training of sales representatives and more emphasis on Internet skills and social media communication.
The days of old are starting to catch up, as the typical doctor has had enough of constant communications from sales reps, especially when they are all working for the same company. As these reps may have had different levels of training and come with a variety of diluted messages, it's easy to understand why the average doctor would become frustrated. This was very counterproductive and caused negative backlash from the end-user community. Doctors became less and less accessible, even as sales representatives became too numerous. If you add into the mix the slowdown in the number of products on the market, it's quite easy to see why we are now seeing a reduction in the number of sales representatives. Indeed, it is estimated that in the last three years, the total number of pharmaceutical sales representatives in the United States has shrunk by 20% or more.
When it comes to attracting new sales representatives, a pharmaceutical marketing training approach must evolve to take into consideration the enhanced styles of communication, exhibited by the newer generations. They are likely to feel far more at ease with modern Internet-based communications technology. As more and more of these new representatives join the company, the pharmaceutical consultancy should help company executives change their approach to marketing in general and accept this trend.
We're yet to see the scale of the challenge facing the industry ahead, especially the effect of the new US federal health-care regime. It's almost certain that there will be additional pressure on companies to cut back on their overheads and the pharmaceutical consultant needs to focus even more time on e-detailing, the wave of the future and the new path ahead for pharmaceutical sales.
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.
