Pharma Field Force - How To Bring About Engagement

MEDICINMANField Force excellence

TM

May 2013 | www.medicinman.net

Graduates as Medical Reps.

- Editorial

Science Vs.

Non-Science

http://medicinman.net

2 | MedicinMan May 2013

EDITORIAL | Science Vs. Non-Science Graduates as Medical Reps

The top management of each company must have

a clear understanding and ask - are we a ‘science’

company or are we a ‘sales organization’?

Here’s the question: Do all the thousands of companies promoting the 100th generic

molecule need to talk science? Even if they want to, is the doctor interested in listening to a ‘detailing talk’ by a poorly motivated field force that changes their company every year?

Sure, companies promoting IP prod-ucts and even Indian companies focusing on a particular therapy area or niche market segment may need B. Pharma or B.Sc candidates.

You need B. Pharma and B. Sc candi-dates as MRs when the job role is to generate prescriptions by giving highly scientific information. Do you need them when the job is largely a sales job?

We have over 60,000 brands in Indian Pharma Market - how many of them are novel IP products?

Today the role of an MR/FLM in most Indian Pharma companies is ‘science’ by title and ‘sales’ by necessity. Why then this emphasis on science can-didates? Will they really enjoy doing an ultra high pressure sales job? Are they cut-out for the role where 80% of the time is spent waiting and only 20% in actually talking and listening to doctors? How much science can an MR talk in 180 seconds? The attrition rate is clearly an indicator of dissatisfaction brought about by mismatch.

Pharma is busy fitting square pegs in round holes and as a result neither the candidates are happy nor are the companies getting enough productivity from the field force.

Time to re-think?

I think the top management of each company must have a clear under-standing and ask - “are we a ‘science’ company or are we a sales organiza-tion?”

Once this is clear, it becomes easier to adopt the right strategy, hire the right people and give the right training. So far only a few Indian companies like Mankind Pharma have dared to address this issue head-on and their splendid field force productivity and low attrition is a proof that it works.

Even when it comes to product management in most Indian Pharma companies, the PMs are busy designing sales schemes and not product man-agement or brand building.

A strong, sales oriented field force led by FLMs with good leadership and managerial skills and supported by field force friendly, physician-fo-cused and patient centric, on-call medico-marketing team might be a better option.

What do you think? - MM

For further reading:

1. Report by the iOpener Institute for People and Performance: “Job Fulfillment, Not Money,

Retains Gen-Y Talent”. Full report is available at - http://medicinman.net/2013/04/job-fulfillment-not-pay-retains-gen-y-talent/

2. What Do MRs Need to Make Their Work Enjoyable? A MedicinMan Survey. For full article

please download MedicinMan December 2011 issue -http://medicinman.net/archives/

3. How to Attract Freshers to Opt for Pharma/Healthcare Career? LinkedIn Discussion - http://

lnkd.in/D7WAEj

Connect with Anup Soans on LinkedIn | Facebook | TwitterVisit anupsoans.com.

Meet the EditorAnup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the Editor of MedicinMan.Write in to him: [email protected]

EditoRial

“You need B. Pharma and B. Sc candidates as MRs when the job role is to generate prescriptions by giving highly scientific infor-

mation. do you need them when the job is largely a sales job?”

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FiEld FoRCE ExCEllENCE toolS FoR iNdiVidualS aNd CoRPoRatES

Field Force excellence

1. Employee Engagement for Field Force Excellence - Part I..................................................6

Who is an “engaged employee”? Why are engaged employees so critical to a company’s success? How can we bring about enployee engagement?

Joshua Soans

2. So, You’re the Boss Now................................10

How to make the transition from ‘sales’ to ‘people management’ (without intimidating team members, micro-managing or losing your cool).

K. Hariram

3. Stakeholders in Field Force Excellence .......13

Many people in an organization are repsonsible for FFE. A brief look at some of their roles and responsibilities.

Vishal V. Bhaiyya

Marketing For the Mr

4. Segmentation for the Medical Rep................16

Segmentation of customers is a critical skill and tool for Medical Reps to increase the ROI of their sales call.

Anup Soans from “HardKnocks for the GreenHorn”

in MeMoriaM

5. ‘Crocin Man’ Passes Away..............................19

Gurudas Masurkar was an industry veteran who launched landmark brands like Crocin and Lacto Calamine. He was Chairman Emeritus at Entod Pharmaceuticals.

Vivek Hattangadi

Contents (click to navigate)

Emerging Areas in Healthcare

6. What is Pharmacoeconomics? .....................20

Pharmacoeconomics exposes the true cost to society of a particular drug therapy in treating a condition.

Richa Goyal and Mahendra Rai

7. Pharmacoeconomic Analysis........................22 An in-depth look at pharmacoeconomics - the types of cost calculation, how they are calculated and what they mean for different stakeholders.

Javed Shailk and Shafaq Shaikh

Coaching

8. Ten Coaching Nuggets for FLMs ..................27

Ten tips on how to get the best out of your team by Coaching them.

K. Hariram

Contents (click to navigate)MedicinMan Volume 3 Issue 5 | May 2013

Editor and Publisher

Anup Soans

CEO

Chhaya Sankath

COO

Arvind Nair

Chief Mentor

K. Hariram

Advisory Board

Vivek Hattangadi; Jolly Mathews

Editorial Board

Salil Kallianpur; Dr. Shalini Ratan; Shashin Bodawala; Prabhakar Shetty; Vardarajan S; Dr. Mandar Kubal; Dr. Surinder Kumar

International Editorial Board

Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay

Executive Editor

Joshua Soans

MedicinMan Academy:

Prof. Vivek Hattangaadi, Dean, Professional

Skills Development

MedicinMan ChangeMakersSaurabh Kumar

Make a difference in Pharma. Join MedicinMan ChangeMakers. Write in to our editor to find out more: [email protected]

Letters to the Editor: [email protected]

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Employee Engagement for Field Force Excellence | Joshua Soans

employee engagement for field force excellence.

Studies involving hundreds of thousands of employees across the globe have shown that engaged employees invest more “discretionary effort”, have a better understanding of their work, are far less likely to leave the organization, positively recommend the organization to others and take fewer days off from work. this article is the 1st in a series on Employee Engagement.

Employee Engagement is a serious commitment to aligning employee aspirations with organizational goals. For engaged employees, the line between “work” and “life” is blurred or non-existant - like this woman reporter in the Sichuan Province of China who was on her way to her wedding when a massive earthquake struck on april 20th, 2013. She immediately got to work interviewing bystanders and reporting on the quake (see video: http://youtu.be/blsts4dRv18)

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iNtRoduCtioN.

Every manager in charge of achieving company goals through a team of employees

would like to know how to motivate them to put in 100 per cent effort and some more. A pharma sales manager would like to know how to get his team to generate more sales, increase customer satisfaction, take lesser time off from work, make fewer mistakes on the job, recommend the company to others and motivate his colleagues to do all of the above as well.

A number of authoritative studies in recent years show that employees who are “fully” or “highly” engaged are much more likely to do all of the above compared to their counterparts with low engagement levels or who are “actively disengaged”. The results from these studies – involving up to 6.5 lakh employees globally1 – even show a direct and stunningly large correlation between increased profits and employee engagement.

CoNSidER tHESE FiGuRES.Research from organisations representing more than five million employees worldwide in the Aon Hewitt database showed that in 2010 organisations with engagement levels of 65% or greater posted total shareholder returns that were 22% higher than average; companies with engagement levels of 45% or less had a total shareholder return that was 28% lower than the average return in 20102.

A Gallup study (2006) looking at data from over 23 thousand business units demonstrated that those with the highest engagement scores (top 25%) averaged 18% higher productivity and 12% higher profitability than those with the lowest engagement scores (bottom 25%)3.

70% of the more engaged have a good understanding of customer needs against only 17% of the

disengaged (PwC). 67% of engaged employees were happy to advocate their organisations compared to only 3% of the disengaged4.

Companies with highly engaged staff report employees taking an average of 7 absence days per year, approximately half the 14 days per year reported in low engagement companies (bottom 25%). Those employees in high engagement companies also report significantly less workplace stress, 28% versus 39% (Aon Hewitt 2012)5.

The CLC reports that highly engaged organisations have the potential to reduce staff turnover by 87%; the disengaged are four times more likely to leave the organisation than the average employee (CLC 2008)6.

WHat iS EMPloYEE ENGaGEMENt? As a manager, imagine if every member of your team acted as though he or she were the owner/CEO of the company – taking direct responsibility for increased sales, lower expenses, better customer engagement, increased territory coverage, motivation of fellow team members etc. Imagine all of this happening without you having to constantly run behind these individuals with a carrot or a stick to prod them along.

Such employees can be said to be at the highest levels of engagement with the company and their jobs. They are not working to win the “Salesman of the Year” award. They are not working for fear of losing their jobs. They do what they do because they believe that their work is meaningful, in tune with their self-image and career goals and makes a difference to the company they work for and perhaps even to the society they live in.

It is true that not everyone on your team will reach such a state of “flow” with their work – i.e. work for work’s sake. Many will be working to get

References1. towers Perrin-iSR (2006) “the iSR Employee

Engagement Report” as cited in Macleod and Clarke “Engaging for Success: Enhancing performance

through employee engagement.”

2. “trends in Employee Engagement”. aon Hewitt (2011).

3. Harter, James K., Schmidt, F. l., Killham, E. a. and agrawal, S. (2012). “Q12® Meta-analysis:

the Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes.” (Gallup Organization.)

4. Fleming, J., Coffman, C. and Harter, J. (2005), “Manage Your Human Sigma.” Harvard Business

Review 83(7): 106-114.

5. “2012 trends in Employee Engagement (aon Hewitt 2012)

6. Corporate leadership Council (2004). “driving Performance and Retention Through Employee

Engagement” Corporate Executive Board.

“employees... at the highest levels of engagement with the

company and their jobs... are not working to win the “Salesman

of the Year” award. They are not working for fear of losing

their jobs. they do what they do because they believe that their

work is meaningful, in tune with their self-image and career goals and makes a difference to the company they work for and

perhaps even to the society they live in.



that “Salesman of the Year award”, that promised foreign trip or merely to avoid getting reprimanded. But the closer you move your team to full engagement, the better for you, your company and your employees themselves.

WHat ENGaGEMENt iS Not.It is important to reiterate here that employee engagement is not a loose concept of getting employees to participate in the company cricket

tournament, write poetry for the company newsletter or take part in potluck lunches – although these might make an important contribution to overall engagement.

HR professionals are often in the dark about what engagement really means (perhaps many are themselves disengaged?) Take this poll on a large HR forum on Linkedin, for example. The question was to do with “employee engagement activities” that could be taken up presumably by the HRM of the company7. While the

responses in themselves were quite colorful (“best looser award - weight”, “dance competition”) they essentially seemed to be lists of how to distract employees from work. What they seemed to convey was “we know your works sucks, so here’s something to keep your spirits up.” Imagine the Indian cricket team going for a match because they later got to play antakshari in the dressing room.

Again this is not to undermine the importance of these activities. As part of a broader strategy they can, for example, increase social capital at the workplace – a critical aspect of engagement. But in isolation, they might actually reduce employee engagement. In any case most employees today are smart enough to figure out when their time is being taken simply because HR is required to use its budgets – they may prefer to spend this time at their own discretion.

a tESt FoR ENGaGEMENt.Fundamentally, employee engagement has 2 aspects to it – the employee’s satisfaction with his work/company and the company’s satisfaction with the employee’s contribution. If either of this is missing, one can say that the employee is not fully engaged.

BessingWhite, a Training and Human Resources firm based out of Princeton, USA defines full engagement of an employee as the alignment of “maximum job satisfaction” with “maximum job contribution” (see Fig. 1). Employees are not just “passionate and proud” of their work. They are not just “committed” to the organization. They have an eye on their own career goals and the business goals of the organization. They are convinced that to achieve the former, they must embrace the latter8.

The BlessingWhite model of engagement is particularly interesting because it shows how employees can be extremely happy with their organization (maybe they love the recognition they get because of the comapany’s reputation) and yet not be fully engaged – the “honeymooners and hamsters”. Or they can be highly productive but burnt out, and thus not fully engaged – the “crash and burn” folks.

Then there are the “almost engaged” – highly productive employees who love their jobs, but are still a little unconvinced that another company where perhaps they are appreciated a little more, might not in fact be a better fit for them. These people are the easiest to move into full engagement.

Finally we have the disengaged – people who actively dislike their jobs and are liable to spread their negative feelings to coworkers. These are often employees with poor job fit, poor attitudes to work or those whose attention is entirely caught

References7. http://www.citehr.com/237126-summary-

discussion-employee-engagement-activities.html

8. BlessingWhite 2008. “the Employee Engagement Equation in india.”

Fig. 1: the BlessingWhite Engagement Model. © BlessingWhite

http://www.citehr.com/237126-summary-discussion-employee-engagement-activities.html%20

http://www.citehr.com/237126-summary-discussion-employee-engagement-activities.html%20



up elsewhere. Unless brought into engagement or politely asked to leave, these employees are often a drag on the company.

HoW to BRiNG aBout ENGaGEMENt The HayGroup, in its report on Employee Engagement titled: “Engage Employees and Boost Performance”, tells the following story:

Patrick, a call center team manager, was a “good” employee. He was prompt, did what he was asked and was liked by his subordinates. Ask Patrick how his job was going and he’d say, “Fine, they pay me pretty well.”

Suddenly he resigned, citing no complaints and saying only that a competitor offered him slightly more money.

But Patrick quit because he was disengaged. He, like millions of other employees, needed to believe his job was important, that he was contributing daily to the company. That his work had meaning.

Former colleagues who talked to him six months later said he was a different person. His work was no different, but he clearly had passion for his job. His explanation? “My team’s hourly sales are 40 percent higher than before. But it's more than that. My first day I got ‘induction training,’where they explained the company vision and values. My first week my boss, Stephanie, explained what I needed to do to meet the company’s goals and act in sync with its values. She spent time coaching me on my managerial skills, something I needed badly.”

Soon, Patrick received a “most promising newcomer” award. At the company picnic, Stephanie’s boss asked him how he was doing. After six months Patrick had an in-depth performance review where he and Stephanie candidly discussed his

performance and outlined training and career growth options for him.

“I work extra hard when it’s needed because they really care about me,”

Patrick told his ex-colleagues. “They even let me leave early twice a week to pick up my kids, which means a lot. But in the end it really comes down to leadership. My new company doesn’t just have a business model; it has a people model.”9

The HayGroup defines employee engagement as: “a result that is achieved by stimulating employees’ enthusiasm for their work and directing it toward organizational success.”10

An employee spends a significant portion of his/her life at work. It is important that they feel their work is meaningful and that it matters to the organization. This is what lies at the heart of engagement. One cannot simply trick or coerce employees into feeling engaged with their jobs – it is a mental and emotional connect that is generated through a well thought out process that enables the employee to flourish by doing well what he/she does best.

Think of what might enable an employee to become attached to his work and company. At the top of mind are clearly defined roles and KPIs, a belief in the vision and mission of the organization, trust in his immediate manager and senior management (that they too believe in the goals of the organization and are willing to walk the talk), the right tools to do his job well (including training and skills), open and free communication and voice in the decisions of the company etc.

These are all serious points which need further elaboration. And there are many more. More on how to bring about Employee Engagement in the next issue. -MM

References9. HayGroup 2001. “Engage Employees and Boost

Performance.

10.ibid.

“an employee spends a significant portion of

his/her life at work. It is important that they feel

their work is meaningful and that it matters to

the organization. This is what lies at the heart of

engagement.”

Joshua Soans is the Executive Editor of MedicinMan

[email protected]


When I was promoted from a MR to DM (FLM) and that too at

a young age of 24 years, besides the fear of unknown and the trepidation of bigger responsibilities, the first thought that came to my mind was ‘ I made it’. I felt that all my hard work and consistent performance has finally been rewarded. So it was all celebrations at a reasonably good restaurant with close friends apart from my family members. More than all these, I strongly believed that I was more than ready to take on the managerial role.

If I now sit and reflect on this part of my transition, I have some interest-ing perspectives to share which may help many young managers and ‘to be’ promoted managers.

The reality is, to be successful as a first-time manager one needs to go through a major transition for which many people are not adequately prepared.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this transition is that first-time managers are responsible for getting work done through others rather than on their own.

While a new manager may recognize this transition theoretically, they often refuse to accept it psychologi-cally, as reflected by their on the job behaviors.

Most often, they intimidate their team members with their experience and expertise. For example, a newly promoted manager might start doing

So, YOU’RE THE BoSS NoW.

K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at Galderma India. He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a regular contributor.

[email protected]

How to make the transition from SalES to PEoPlE MaNaGEMENt (without intimidating team members, micro managing or losing your cool).

“Perhaps the most challenging aspect of this transition is that first-time

managers are responsible for getting work done through others rather than

on their own. While a new manager may recognize

this transition theoretically, they often refuse to accept it psychologically, as

reflected by their on the job behaviors.”

E


So, Your the Boss Now | K. Hariram

everything from talking to doctors/re-tailers to taking orders etc, himself rather than helping his team member to do it; this is all the more if he is well versed with the customers and the market, enjoying the thrill of exhibiting to every-one his established skill in this area. In other situations, the new manager may end up challenging/competing with his team members on assignments and lose patience when the team member is slow or shoddy in his approach.

Letting go of the tasks and responsibil-ities that earned them a promotion in the first place is a tremendously difficult aspect of this transition.

Since these behaviors may impact the overall development, morale and therefore the productivity of the team members, organizations must do more than the normal induction to help the newly promoted go through this import-ant transition. The ‘transition training’ should include specific shift in skills, time frame applications, and work values in terms of ‘what’ and ‘how’. The new manager should also understand how the team members have progressed in their performance, their skill areas, events that have shaped them and their value systems.

In today’s times the era of ‘command and control’ type of managers do not help or sustain the performance or for that matter, the team members, too. Infor-mation is accessible at all level and the Generation-Y looks for more latitude in handling their assignments. Unlike in the past, they demand career opportunities and loyalty is the thing of past.

First-line managers and the first time managers need to wake up to these new realities and not to the old ones. Not always easy, because many of the people who are promoted to this first manageri-al level are/were good sales people; they have spent their time developing great skills at reaching their targets by manag-ing themself rather than being in touch with the expectations of their colleagues.

So, let us look at what could help first time Manager to help through this tran-

sition to meet the needs and maximize the performance of their team members:

Managers must cease thinking only about themselves and start thinking about their team members, their report-ing managers, other supporting func-tions, etc. Of course, saying this is easy, but practicing and orienting takes time.

Clearly defining and assigning work to be done, including

communicating with the boss and others about needs or expectations, planning, organizing, choosing people, and dele-gating.

Enabling the team members to do the work by monitoring, coach-

ing, providing feedback, helping with resources, problem solving, and commu-nicating.

Establishing relationships with direct reports, bosses, and sup-

port functions that facilitate two-way communication including building trust.

Bringing in the necessary ATTITUDINAL shift from ‘self

to others’.

Investing the necessary time with the team members. Joint working

with all the team members covering all the important markets irrespective of the discomforts of travel, weather, long working hours and other hardships.

Of course, there are many other aspects of this management function - and many other techniques, skills and tools for per-forming them - than what is mentioned here.

I have attempted to bring these points to help people who have transited or going through the transition to have a basic understanding of the requirements. I am sure as one gets deeper into their job they will be looking for new ideas, new tools and new techniques.

The conventional definition of a manager is ‘getting things done through the efforts of people’.

The new version in the context of knowledge era is “also helping people to develop and evolve through work”. -MM

1.

2.

3.

4.5.

“Letting go of the tasks and responsibilities that earned

them (managers) a promotion in the first place is a tremen-dously difficult aspect of this

transition.”

“In today’s times the era of ‘command and control’ type of managers do not help or

sustain the performance or for that matter, the team mem-

bers, too. Information is accessible at

all level and the Generation-Y looks for more latitude in

handling their assignments. unlike in the past, they de-

mand career opportunities and loyalty is the thing of past.”

12 | MedicinMan April 2013

Speakers at FFE 2012

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One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a

team.” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The famous quote by former NBA player can be applied in Field Force Effectiveness (FFE).

Here, if we consider FFE is team-work, then it cannot be achieved by Medical Reps or line managers alone. There must be active involvement of all other team players in the organi-zation.

In regular industry practice, sales persons are held responsible for FFE. Whereas there are various depart-ments which are directly or indirect-ly working towards FFE and there-fore should made accountable for it.

Consider the following scenarios:

Scenario 1 – Company whose Medical Reps visit Doctors regularly, delivering the same message which marketing team wants to convey, able to attract good number of customers under company’s umbrella and have good hold in territory .

Even after this, if they fail to fetch the sales numbers it is considered as their ineffectiveness.

Scenario 2 – Medical Reps of another company not at all working efficiently in terms of number of visits, brand communication and other activities, even then company is making satisfactory sales from heritage brand. This is considered as effectiveness of sales force.

However both the above cases show that companies have to look beyond field force to achieve FFE.

StaKEHoldERS oFFieldForceexcellence

MEdiCal REPRESENtatiVE

SENioR MaNaGEMENt

liNE MaNaGERS

HR

MaRKEtiNG

tRaiNiNG

Field Force Excellence is the responsibility of a group of

individuals and not just the Medical Rep. Each stakeholder in selling

process has a precise and important role to play.

Vishal V. Bhaiyya is a Consultant - Pharma and Healthcare Projects, Strategic Analysis Inc.

Follow Vishal Bhaiyya on Twitter: @bhaiya_vishalvishalbhaiyyapharma.blogspot.in

E


Stakeholders of Field Force Excellence | Vishal Bhaiyya

Therefore, there is definite need of map-ping the accountability of other stake-holders by their contribution such as brand strategy, medical communication, innovation in the molecule, company reputation in the market and others.

All these stakeholders can impact FFE beyond their respective tasks.

Roles & Responsibilities for FFE

1) HR and administration • Recruitment of members in the team with good communication skills, clarity of thoughts and learning ability, and overall charming personality.

• Transparency in appraisal and other admin related activities.

2) training • Product And Product Related Techni-cal Knowledge - Trainers can ignite the minds of sales people with knowledge required to sell the products in the high-ly competitive market.

• Calling Skills - Medical Reps who are the face of company should be well versed with the skills required to impress the customers during the call.

3) Marketing and Medical Communication • Product Brand Equity - Marketing team can con-tribute to FFE in terms of continuously improving the brand equity of its products in the minds of clinicians.

• Brand Communication - Leveraging USP of prod-uct to differentiate from competitors and be able to force customers to think twice before switching over to competitor’s product.

• Medical Communication - Medical communication

must be so convincing, that KOLs and influential customers must be convinced about product before the field force visit.

• CME - This is the best way for a com-pany to get close to customers so that field force can nurture the opportunity.

4) Senior Management • Product Innovation and Introduction – Pioneers always have an advantage. Therefore company management should focus on launching innovative prod-ucts so that field force can leverage the advantage.

• Relationship Through CSR – By CSR activities company can build corporate image in the society and influence cus-tomers positively.

5) line Managers • Motivation – This is the most import-ant factor that enabeles line managers to keep the field force engaged.

• Day To Day Follow-Ups

6) Medical Representative • Effective Implementation – This should be the motto of Medical Reps. Whether it is brand message, medical commu-nication or any campaign - all must be implemented as per plan.

• Visit Frequency and Consistency – There must be continuous and fruitful visit to customers according to their category.

• Efficiency in Reaping Benefits – CSR activities, CMEs, patient education programs and other activities make the Medical Reps and Doctors come closer

ConclusionBy this multidimensional and approach, the company can allocate responsibilities and make the strategy more and more focused, leading to FFE -MM

Fig. 1 – Responsibilities of Stakeholders in FFE

) +91-93422-32949* [email protected] North Road, Cooke town, Bangalore - 575084

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Session 1: Keynote Address: Shakti Chakraborty, President, Lupin

Session 4: Panel Discussion: “Employee Engagement: The New Paradigm for Enhanc-ing Field Force Productivity.” Moderator: Anup Soans - Editor, MedicinMan Panelists: Deep Bhandari - Director, Marketing and Sales Excellence, UCB -Confirmationawaitedfromotherpanelists

Networking Breakfast

Lunch

Session 2: CEO Roundtable: “Field Force Productivity: Opportunities and Challenges”Moderator: Sujay Shetty,PartnerandLead,PharmaandLifeSciences,PwCRoundtable Members: Shakti Chakraborty, President, LupinBhaskar Iyer,Divisionalvicepresident,IndiaCommercialOperations,Abbott -Confirmationawaitedfromotherpanelists-

Session 5: Amlesh Ranjan, Associate Director, Sanofi: “New Pharma Sales Model for Healthcare Opportunity”

Session 3: Panel Discussion: “Business Intelligence for Field Force Productivity.”Moderator: Vikas Dandekar, India Bureau Chief, Elsevier Business IntelligencePanelists: Salil Kallianpur, Commercial Head - Classic Brands Center of Excellence, GSK -Confirmationawaitedfromotherpanelists-

Session 6: K. Hariram, Chief Mentor at MedicinMan, Former (Retd) Managing Director at Galderma India: “Role Clarity for Field Sales Managers to enhance Field Force Productivity.”

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Segmentation for the medical Rep.


This Article is extacted from the book “HardKnocks for the

GreenHorn” by anup Soans.

“HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is available at a special 1+1 FREE

offer. For Details see page 18.

Segmentation for the Medical Rep | Anup Soans

Segmentation refers to the grouping of prospective customers into segments that

have common needs and will respond in an identical manner to a marketing input. Segmentation begins with understanding customers and allowing marketers to build relationships with them. It is the first step in a marketing strategy. Once marketers divide the market into various groups, they can then select their 'targeted segments' and design products and the marketing strategy to match their needs.

Pharmaceutical marketing managers are well-versed in the traditional aspects of segmenting according to the speciality of the doctor, the

prescription potential of the doctor, and the location of his practice, private practices, institutional businesses, and the like. These are processes of demographic and geographic segmentation, which tell you who the doctor is and where he practises. It focuses on the features and benefits of the product and its price.

It does not, however, take into account what motivates him, what are his aspirations, what intangibles move him, and his personal preferences, including the aesthetics of the product, its presentation, the persons who promote it, and the way it is promoted. Nonetheless, this type of segmentation, while difficult, is more personalised

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Segmentation for the Medical Rep | Anup Soans

and, therefore, more effective. For example, in order to be effective while promoting a product to a lady doctor, one needs to be more sensitive to the nature of her personality. Similarly, in order to be effective while promoting a product to a senior doctor, one needs to take into account his emotional need for recognition. In short, one size does not fit all, and the imaginative and informed MR will strive to be more empathetic while promoting products to various segments of doctors. This will make his job more interesting and will increase his productivity.

The psychographic profile of the doctor can make product-promotion more specific and effective. The prescription pattern of a doctor or group of doctors when analysed can reveal the individual preferences, which are called specific graphics. They can be used to tailor-make the promotion so as to influence the doctor favourably towards the product, the MR, and his company. The MR with knowledge, understanding and an appreciation of the processes of segmentation, differentiation, positioning, branding, and pricing can study individual doctors and groups of them, and may be in a position to get a higher return on efforts by adapting the presentation to suit the doctor's profile.

There are at least six categories of customer characteristics that form the basis for segmentation:

Geographic segmentation: The market is divided according to location. It is based on the assumption that people living in the same area share similar habits and wants.

Demographic segmentation: It is based on characteristics such as age, sex, marital status, income, education, and specialisation of the doctor.

Psychographic segmentation: Psychological characteristics refer to the traits of a person. Doctors are divided on the basis of their needs, personality, perceptions, knowledge, and level of engagement, motivations and attitudes.

Specific-graphics segmentation: Doctors are divided depending on the product or brand usage characteristics, such as the rate of usage (doctors are divided depending on the number of times they prescribe a product); awareness status (doctors are divided based on their knowledge of a product; for instance, if a doctor instantly recalls all of the product’s features, his awareness-level is high and so is his brand loyalty).

Benefit-segmentation: The market is divided into segments depending on the benefits of the products. This method is used to communicate the product’s features to consumers. For instance, OD dosage can be marketed as a form of convenience and for better compliance.

Hybrid segmentation: Instead of sticking to one particular segmentation style, marketers combine one or two segmentation variables and arrive at another segmentation. This style is referred to as Hybrid segmentation.

What are the benefits of Segmentation?

1. You are able to lend focus to your marketing strategy:

You need to deliver your marketing message to a relevant doctor group. If the target market is too broad, there is a strong risk that the key customers will be missed. By segmenting markets, the target doctor can be reached more often and at a lower cost.

2. You can gain a share of the market segment:

Unless your products have a strong or leading market share, they will be unlikely to get you much profit. Minor brands suffer from pressures from distributors and less space on the chemists’ shelves. Proper segmentation and targeting will allow you to achieve a competitive position and become the preferred choice of doctors and chemists. Segmentation enables smaller firms to compete with bigger ones. -MM

Anup Soans is the author of “HardKnocks for the GreenHorn”,

SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager” and “Repeat Rx”.

He is a facilitator of Learning and Development Programs for Managers

and Medical Reps at India’s top Pharma Company’s

Contact:

[email protected] +91-93422-32949

“In order to be effective while promoting a product to a senior

doctor, one needs to take into account his emotional need

for recognition. In short, one size does not fit all, and the

imaginative and informed MR will strive to be more

empathetic while promoting products to various segments of doctors. This will make his job more interesting and will

increase his productivity.”

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Please pay through bank transfer to SB account no. *07141000006761* of “Anup Soans” HDFC Bank, Mosque Road, Frazer Town Branch, Bangalore – 560005. RTGS/NEFT IFSC: HDFC0000714 and inform by email and SMS - [email protected] | +91-93422-32949.

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FiEld FoRCE ExCEllENCE toolS FoR iNdiVidualS aNd CoRPoRatES


Just the day before ‘Brand-Drift 2013’,

when I called on Gurudas Masurkar at his office, to present him my book, ‘PHARMA FIRST-LINE LEADER TO CEO: THE ROAD-MAP TO SUCCESS’, I never thought that this would be my last meeting. Just imagine, at 91, attending office, albeit on a wheelchair! Late Gurudas Masurkar was the Chairman Emeritus of Entod Pharmaceuticals, a company he founded after he retired from an illustrious 29 year career with Duphar Interfran. Late Gurudas Masurkar was better known as the ‘Crocin Man’.

Gurudas’s journey from a farming family in Masur village of North Kanara District (Karnataka) to a successful entrepre-neur is fascinating. After BA he did D.Pharma. He literally gate-crashed into Crookes Laboratories as a medical represen-tative (the company later became Duphar Interfran and then Solvay)! He began his career as a clerk in Popular Pharmacy, Gurgaon, Mumbai. He was impressed by the well dressed gen-tlemen, with polished manners, speaking fluent English often calling on him at Popular Pharmacy. They were the medical representatives. He decided to pursue his career in pharma-ceutical selling.

One fine afternoon he went to the office of Crookes Labora-tories and submitted his application, but was told that there was no vacancy. He left the office but waited outside for the managing director. As soon as he saw him, he approached him and told him of his desire. The MD seeing his bold and courageous approach recruited him. He eventually rose to become the head of sales and marketing at Crookes.

Late Gurudas Masurkar launched two successful brands viz. Crocin and Lacto Calamine. In India, the history of Cro-cin was more than 50 years when it was first introduced by

Crookes. Competition to Crocin was tough - from Metacin (by Themis), Malidens (by British Schering, now with Abbott via the Nicholas Piramal route) and Calpol (by Burroughs Wellcome, now GSK). Although the brand management con-cept did not exist in India those days, he once told me, there used to be healthy marketing battles for brand leadership. It was a brutal battle which Crocin won. He gives the entire credit of the success of Crocin to the medical representatives and field managers. Who would do this in today’s age? My close friend Shirish Gore who was a Field Manager in Duphar once said “Masurkar Sir cares a lot for the people and our development. We will do anything for him. His best trait is giving honest feedback without offending anyone. Feedback from him is always a positive experience.” A great lesson to be learnt by the sales and brand managers!

I asked him about the genesis of the name Crocin. Very simple he answered. “‘cin’ was a popular suffix for pain killers in those days. The pain killer from Crookes became Crocin”!

Apart from a brilliant marketing strategist, he was a great philanthropist and cared even for people he did not know. When he went on Board of Directors of the second largest cooperative bank in India, viz. SVC Bank, he remembered the days when he had to struggle for finances when he floated Entod Pharmaceuticals. He cut off the red tape so that young entrepreneurs did not have to wait long for finances. He made the entire process very smooth and swift.

He has helped in the shaping the careers of many young peo-ple; and I am one of the beneficiaries.

A great era has come to end. May his soul be in peace! - MM

P.S. Those who have read my book ‘PHARMA FIRST-LINE LEADER TO CEO: THE ROADMAP TO SUCCESS’ may remember the two central characters in this book: ‘The Mentor’ and ‘Vinod Kamat‘. ‘The Mentor’ in this book is Late Gurudas Masurkar while ‘Vinod Kamat’ represents the author.

‘CroCin Man’ passes away.Gurudas Masurkar was an industry veteran who launched landmark brands like Crocin and lacto Calamine. He was Chairman Emeritus at Entod Pharmaceuticals.

A tribute to a Mentor by one of his Mentee.

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi is a Consultant in Pharma Brand Management and Sales Training at The Enablers. He is also visiting faculty at CIPM Calcutta (Vidyasagar

University) for their MBA course in Pharmaceutical Management.

[email protected]

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What is pharmaco-economics?

Pharmacoeconomics can be defined as the description and analysis of the cost

of drug therapy to the healthcare systems and the society1. It is the process of identifying, measuring and comparing the costs, risks and benefits of programs, services or therapies and determining the best alternative for health outcomes for the resource invested. Applied Pharmacoeconomics can be defined as combining Pharmacoeconomic principles, methods and theories into practice to quantify the value of pharmacy products and pharmaceutical care services used in the real world environments.

Pharamcoeconomics, outcomes research and pharmaceutical care can be related to each other. Pharmacoeconomics is a division of outcomes research that can be used to quantify the value of pharmaceutical care products and services. Outcomes research can be defined as the studies that identify, measure and evaluate the results of

healthcare services. Pharmaceutical care has been defined as the provision of drug therapy for achieving definite outcomes2.

PERSPECTIVESThe perspective of the analysis determines from whose point of view the decision is being made. Defining the perspective of the analysis is especially important in pharmacoeconomic analyses because the costs that are incurred depend heavily on the perspective. Assessment of costs and consequences and the value of pharmaceutical product or service depend on the perspective evaluation. Common perspectives include patient, provider, payer, and society.

1. PATIENT PERSPECTIVEIt is of utmost importance as the patients are the ultimate consumers of healthcare services. These costs are essentially paid by the patients

Mahendra Rai is a Senior Consultant (HEOR, Pricing and Market Access) at Capita India.

He is an expert in HEOR, Market Access, and Outcomes Research.

[email protected]

Richa Goyal is a Consultant (HEOR, Pricing and Market Access) at Capita India, Mumbai. She is an expert in

HEOR, Market Access, Outcomes Research and medical communications services.

[email protected]

References

1. townsend RJ. Post-marketing drug research and

development. ann Pharmacother 1987;21:134-136.

2. drummond M, Smith Gt, Wells N. Economic evaluation in the

development of medicines. London: Office of Health Economics,

1988:33.

3. http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_

improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_

tools/patient_perspectives.html. accessed on 28th april 2013

Pharmacoeconomics can be defined as the description and analysis of the cost of drug therapy to the healthcare systems and the society.

- EMERGiNGiNG aREaS iN HEaltHCaRE -

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http://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/patient_perspectives.html.




Pharmacoeconomics: Perspectives in Cost Evaluation | Richa Goyal & Mahendra Rai

for a product or service and are not covered by the insurance companies. This perspective should be considered when assessing the impact of drug therapy on quality of life or if a patient pays out of pocket expense for a healthcare service3.

2. PRoVIDER PERSPECTIVEThese are the actual expense of providing a product or service, regardless of what is charged by the provider. Providers can be hospitals, managed care organizations, or private practice physicians. From this perspective, direct costs like drugs, hospitalization, laboratory tests, supplies and salaries of healthcare professionals can be identified, measured and compared4.

3. PAYER PERSPECTIVEPayers comprise of insurance companies, employers or the government. The costs from this perspective represent the charges for healthcare products and services allowed or reimbursed

by the payer. The primary cost

of the payer comes under the

direct costs. Indirect costs such

as lost work days (absenteeism),

low productivity (presenteeism)

also contribute to the total cost of

healthcare to the payer5.

4. SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVEThis is the broadest of all

perspectives, as it is the only

one that considers the benefit to

society. All direct and indirect

costs are included in the economic

evaluation performed by the

societal perspective. Costs from

this perspective include patient

morbidity and mortality and the

overall costs of giving and receiving

medical care6.

CONCLUSIONAnalyses can be done from one

or several perspectives, which

will help in determining the

distribution of disease costs across

multiple stakeholders. To conclude,

pharmacoeconomic data can be a

powerful tool to support various

clinical decisions, ranging from

the level of patient to the entire

healthcare system. - MM

References

4. Gail R. Wilensky. Reforming Medicare’s Physician Payment

System. N Engl J Med 2009; 360:653-655.

5. Lancry PJ, Oconnor R, Stempel D, Raz M. Using health

outcomes data to inform decision-making: healthcare payer

perspective. Pharmacoeconomics. 2001;19 Suppl 2:39-47.

6. Russell lB, Fryback dG, Sonnenberg Fa. is the societal

perspective in cost-effectiveness analysis useful for decision

makers? Jt Comm J Qual improv. 1999 Sep;25(9):447-54.

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pharmacoeconomic analysis

iNtRoduCtioN

The rising healthcare cost is a major concern to patients, healthcare

professionals, and various stakeholders involved in the decision-making. As the affordability of new medical technologies continues to be the subject of heated debate, attention is increasingly focused on providing quality, cost-effective healthcare to patients. In this era of cost-conscious healthcare delivery, pharmacoeconomic research has evolved as a significant and important field of research.

Pharmacoeconomic evaluation identifies, measures and compares the costs and consequences of pharmaceutical products and services. The numerous stakeholders in the healthcare landscape must understand the basics of pharmacoeconomic principles and how these may be applied to make rational therapeutic choices.

tYPES oF PHaRMaCoECoNoMiC aNalYSiSThere are four main types of pharmacoeconomic evaluations:

1. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA)

2. Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA)

3. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

4. Cost-Minimisation Analysis (CMA)

1. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA): Compares the relative difference of costs and consequences of different treatment alternatives. In CEA, costs are measured in monetary terms and health consequences are measured in natural or physical units.

2. Cost-Utility Analysis (CUA): CUA has the same principle as a CEA, but includes measures of the impact on the quality of life. CUA is often used when quantity and quality of life are both important.

3. Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA): Compares treatment alternatives where both costs and benefits are expressed in monetary terms.

4. Cost-Minimisation Analysis (CMA): Compares treatment alternatives that yield similar health consequences. Once the health consequences are established to be the same, a CMA would compare all cost between treatments to determine the option with the least cost.

Pharmacoeconomic evaluation identifies, measures and compares

the costs and consequences of pharmaceutical products and services. the numerous

stakeholders in the healthcare landscape must understand the

basics of pharmacoeconomic principles and how these may

be applied to make rational therapeutic choices.

Javed Shaikh is a Consultant (HEOR, Pricing, Reimbursement and Market Access) at Capita

India, [email protected]

Shafaq Shaikh is an Associate (HEOR, Pricing, Reimbursement and Market Access) at Capita

India, Mumbai. [email protected]

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Pharmacoeconomic Analysis: Javed Shaikh and Shafaq Shaikh

tYPES oF CoStS iN PHaRMaCoECoNoMiC aNalYSiSCosts in health economic analyses are divided into three main groups (see Table):

1. Direct cost

2. Indirect cost

3. Intangible cost

direct Costs indirect Costs intangible CostsCost of resources used related to the illness: medical cost and non-medical cost

Refers to resources lost as a result of the treatment and illness that involve morbidity and mortality

Represents costs as a consequence of the treatment not measurable in monetary terms

Direct medical cost: Cost of medication, diagnostic, treatment, follow-up, rehabilitation, and hospital admission

Includes both paid and unpaid productivity loss such as temporary sickness absenteeism, permanent functional impairment, premature death, etc.

These costs can be pain, grief, and suffering

Direct non-medical cost: Costs for personal facilities, travel, food, lodging, paid personal care, etc.

Indirect cost can be measured by approaches such as the Human Capital or Frictional Methods

Can be quantified using approved outcome-measurement techniques

MEaSuREMENtS oF outCoMES iN PHaRMaCoECoNoMiC aNalYSiSHealth outcomes are consequences of a treatment/intervention or programme which results in changes of quantity and quality of life. Health consequences can be final, intermediate or surrogate

outcomes. Final outcomes are usually measured as life years or quality adjusted life years (QALYs). Intermediate outcomes are usually measured by clinical parameters that have evidence-based correlation with the final outcome. A surrogate outcome is an end point that substitutes and can be predictive of a final

outcome. Final outcomes are measured over a natural course of the disease whilst intermediate outcomes are measured over a short time horizon. Changes in quality of life can be valued directly by several methods such as rating scale or time trade-off. It can also be valued indirectly by employing instruments such as EQ-5D, HUI3, or SF-6D.



dECiSioN aNalYtiC ModElModelling is necessary in health economic analysis in order to inform decision-making. It consists of a series of health states, representing the expected health consequences of different treatments. Modelling provides an important framework for synthesizing available evidence and generating estimates of clinical and cost-effectiveness. Modelling can be used to extrapolate short-term outcome data or surrogate measures to long-term outcomes using modelling techniques. It may also be used to generate data from clinical trial settings to routine practice and to estimate the relative effectiveness of the technologies where these have not been directly compared.

diSCouNtiNGThe reason for the need to discount in an economic evaluation is ‘time preference’ which refers to the desire to enjoy benefits in the present while deferring any negative effects of doing so. Future costs are discounted to account for the time value of money, and future health benefits are discounted to account for the delay in satisfaction from these outcomes. The effect of discounting is to give future costs and health benefits less weight in an economic analysis.

SENSitiVitY aNalYSiSUncertainty could arise in pharmacoeconomic studies from the natural variation in populations and also the

heterogeneous external data sources used. Sensitivity analysis is performed for all key parameters in an analysis, in order to test the validity and robustness of the conclusion.

iNCREMENtal CoSt-EFFECtiVENESS Ratio (iCER) aNd aVERaGE CoSt-EFFECtiVENESS Ratio (aCER)ICER compares the difference between the costs and health consequences of two alternative interventions that compete for the same resources. It is generally described as the additional cost per additional health consequence.

ACER is the ratio of the cost to benefit of an intervention without reference to a comparator. It deals with a single intervention and evaluates that intervention. ACER is calculated by dividing the net cost of the intervention by the total number of health consequences prevented by the intervention. It is generally described as cost per unit of outcome.

BudGEt iMPaCt aNalYSiS (Bia)BIA estimates the financial consequences of adopting a new health technology in a clearly specified setting. BIA complements the pharmacoeconomic evaluations by providing additional information for decision making as it addresses the issue of affordability and sustainability. BIA provides information on the overall impact of a new health technology to a budget.



SuMMaRYIn order to achieve the goal of the least expensive treatment with the best possible outcome, pharmacoeconomics should be implemented into the healthcare decision-making process. Healthcare resources are not easily accessible and affordable to many patients, therefore pharmacoeconomic evaluations play an important role in the allocation of these resources. Pharmacoeconomics is also important to drug manufacturers

in terms of communicating to external decision-makers (payers, physicians, patients) the value of their products, achieving regulatory and reimbursement approval, and contributing to commercial success. The use of pharmacoeconomics in early drug development phases is likely to enhance the efficiency of R&D resource use and also provide a solid foundation for communicating product value to external decision-makers.- MM

References

1. Pharmacoeconomics: From theory to Practice, Renee J. G.

arnold (Editor), Boca Raton, Fl: CRC Press. 2009. 264. iSBN-

13: 978-1420084221.

2. Pharmacoeconomics. Sule NS, Nerurkar RP, Kamath Sa. J

assoc Physicians india. 2002 aug;50:1057-62.

3. Principles of Good Practice for Decision Analytic Modeling

in Health-Care Evaluation: Report of the ISPOR Task Force

on Good Research Practices—Modeling Studies. available

from: http://www.ispor.org/workpaper/research_practices/

PrinciplesofGoodPracticeforDecisionAnalyticModeling-

ModelingStudies.pdf

4. Pharmacoeconomics: basic concepts and terminology: t.

Walley & a. Haycox, Br J Clin Pharmacol 1997; 43: 343–348.

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10 CoaChing nuggets for fLMs

Have you (FLM) ever thought of building a sales team that is a

great DIFFERENTIATOR in the crowded market place? Here are 10 nuggets to help you do this:

1. As an FLM and as a coach, you have to be accessible when the team member has a problem or a need.

2. To be effective as an FLM, you must have developed something through experience that you can demonstrate and that will be respected by your sales people. Merely demanding results may

not be accepted by your team members.

3. As an effective sales coach, you need to ‘walk the talk’ by modeling those behaviors that you tell your sales people to exhibit.

4. TELLING is not COACHING. Your ability to INFLUENCE with proper INTERPERSONAL skills become very vital as part of your coaching efforts.

5. In coaching activities, as an FLM and as a coach you are looking for those behaviors that influence your sales person’s

selling capabilities. They are (a) knowledge of the products and services offered, (b) clear understanding of sales strategies and the communication skills, and (c) knowledge of the market, including customers.

6. As a coach, you must be committed and involved in making each of your team members...Successful.

7. Sales coaching is a two-way, one-on-one process that enables improvement of sales person’s performance.

8. As an effective coach, you need to develop the skill of listening, observing and objectively putting across the truth.

9. As a coach you should promote openness and trust.

10. You need to have a clear understanding of sales productivity and more importantly, the skills in developing your sales people to successfully handle the competitive environment. - MM

This article is 7th in a series on “Coaching” by the author.

K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at Galderma India. He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a regular

contributor. [email protected]

As an effective coach, you need to develop the skill of listening,

observing and objectively putting across the truth.

To be effective as FLM, you must have developed something through experience that you can

demonstrate and that will be respected by your sales people. Merely demanding results may

not be accepted by your team members.

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