pLOG

2024-04-01

In the post-pandemic era, how can pharmaceutical companies maximize their business momentum?

As early as 2000, Courtney Ness was one of the 3,000 sales representatives responsible for promoting Lexapro, an antidepressant manufactured by Forest Pharmaceuticals.

Continuously delivering product messages:

She and her colleagues sold Lexapro by making calls to the same group of doctors. For example, Courtney would call the doctors in the first week of the month, and her colleagues would follow up in the second week. The cycle continued with subsequent groups of representatives, ensuring that doctors heard about Lexapro's product messages every week.

Traditional visiting patterns by pharmaceutical companies:

For decades, pharmaceutical companies have used traditional visitation methods to reach out to physicians. However, the pandemic has compelled pharmaceutical firms to develop digital strategies and tools, including artificial intelligence, to interact with physicians in ways beyond traditional phone calls.

Two ongoing initiatives:

The reduction in the number of sales representatives and the increasing reliance on digital resources will continue. The pandemic has forced pharmaceutical representatives to resort to virtual software for doctor interactions, while machine learning and artificial intelligence assist representatives in utilizing data more effectively.

Pharmaceutical companies are recruiting fewer sales representatives:

Returning to Courtney Ness mentioned earlier, she is no longer a pharmaceutical representative. She has established and manages Field Factor Training Company, which trains sales representatives for biotech and medical companies. She mentioned that pharmaceutical companies are attempting to recruit the minimum number of representatives necessary to support physicians and patients.

New value proposition for pharmaceutical representatives:

Chris Cullmann, Chief Innovation Officer at RevHealth, suggests that the role of pharmaceutical representatives is evolving beyond merely delivering samples to physicians' offices or clinics; it now involves assisting physicians in managing their treatments effectively.

"The virtual representative":

Another successful strategy involves reducing the number of representatives promoting a product upon its launch and introducing more "virtual representatives." For instance, Cullmann collaborated with a biopharmaceutical company on a new product launch without physical sales representatives. Instead, they worked with two customer experience managers to launch the product. These "future sales representatives" rapidly assess and predict physician needs using real-time data and establish personal relationships with physicians through text messages.

Recovery in willingness for physical interactions:

Although data from ZS indicates that in 2023, 52% of physicians were willing to have physical interactions with representatives, nearly matching the pre-pandemic level of 53% in 2019, it remains significantly lower than the 80% reported in 2008.

Reference: https://endpts.com/pharma-considers-alternatives-to-large-sales-forces/