While you're paid for waiting ........
When I started my career in pharmaceutical sales all those years ago, I remember a statement that my Area Sales Manager made in one of our initial discussions - "I hope you realize you have taken up a job in which you're essentially paid to wait". The statement hit home the point he was making - while I was expected to make 10 calls to HCPs a day, the cumulative face time would be approximately 20-30 minutes, the rest of the time would be either travelling to or waiting at the Physician's waiting room.
We are aware that there are significant demands placed on a pharmaceutical sales representative today (to name a few) - to have a good core understanding of ones products, compliance to industry guidelines, understanding competition, generate intent to prescribe one's brands and managing back-end administration requirements
Keeping in mind these demands, optimization of the wait time between sales calls presents a significant opportunity to increase the sales representative's competencies and productivity.
We can look at a number of ways in which IT solutions can make the sales representative's waiting time more productive - which can be achieved by adopting a wide range of technologies ranging from laptop computers to Tablet PCs to consumer-grade personal digital assistants for :
· Field activity tracking - to enable a sales representative to submit daily activity information using handheld devices. His first line manager can also be enabled to view these activity reports using his / her mobile device
· Management of customer interactions and calendar/scheduling - Every part of the customer interaction - from pricing to purchase history - can be made readily available online for analysis. Appointment scheduling and real-time alerts for notification of critical business events can also be provided.
· Order entry and management - Data entry is performed to ensure more timely and accurate orders. Sales history could also be accessed in real-time, so customer questions are also handled immediately.
· Inventory, order and delivery commitment - Ability to view current status of inventory. Mobility facilitates immediate reporting of product consumption (especially for high value critical case products ) leading to effective replenishment & revenue cycle closure ( stocking-consumption-billing)
· Account management - Sales reps can indicate the progress on specific accounts to enable targeted marketing. Opportunities can be tracked more aggressively, leading to increased incremental sales opportunities
· Workflow approval - Sales representatives can submit various contracts such as pricing contracts through handheld devices for approval, which the first line managers can approve / reject again through a mobile device
· Knowledge Management - through upto date medical articles, sales enablers, presentations, FAQs, protocols, competitive and business intelligence
In conclusion, with the appropriate IT solution, sales reps can utilize the wait time more effectively - enabling them to complete back-end admin requirements, be upto date with market and product knowledge, provide the best service and keep building stronger relationships with HCPs.
