Useful Tips On The Value Of Team Work In Sales

The pharmaceutical company is 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. Following this lengthy process, a product is registered and made available to market, prior to the deployment of an army of sales reps, bolstered by their support team. Overseeing this entire operation is the company's managerial team and senior executives, all of whom have a number of dedicated tasks to complete on any given day. 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. The pharmaceutical company will not survive unless sales are made, but it is amazing how the success of the entire process can be boiled down to a particular few moments in time, when the (often) junior member of the pharmaceutical sales team makes one-on-one contact with the client'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.

In most cases, key account management training ensures that the sales representative understands the difference between representing the company’s interests and representing the interests of the client. The rep should be taught to stand on the client side and look at the organisation from their perspective, so that their interests can be determined and consequently addressed better, while this knowledge is imparted to all members of the team who are, in one way or the other, involved in engaging with the client. 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 Director of L2L Consulting, an elite pharmaceutical consultancy firm which specialises in Strategy Development and Implementation Excellence for prestigious multi-national organisations.