1. The Pursuit of Value
Is there room (and a role) left for the sales force?
Eyeforpharma’s Specialty Pharma Excellence Conference
Boston, MA
Frank F. Dolan
Principal Consultant
Twitter: @pharma411
1

2. Our Panelists
 Michael Bailey
◦ Chief Commercial Officer, AVEO Pharmaceuticals
 Jeremy Lutz
◦ Senior Director- Decision Support, Cubist
Pharmaceuticals
 Brian Irwin
◦ Managing Director, Informa Training Partners

3. The data is in…
Courtesy 20th Century Fox

4. Our Forefathers Algorithm
Right Right Right
Message People Frequency
•Key Performance Indicators
•Calls Per Day
•Reach M M
•Frequency G
D o o
•Segmentation
•Promotional Sensitivity o r
e
r Sales
•Awareness t
e e
•Trial
•Utilization

6. Aligned to the Customer
High Potential for Developing Perceived Value
of Sales Representatives
◦ While sales representatives impact their treatment decisions,
MD’s perceive 70% of them to be of only low or medium value to
their practice

7. Gaining Competitive Advantage through Value
How do MD’s define quality and value?
 Product knowledge
 Disease state knowledge
 Understanding my needs as a physician
 Managed care status knowledge
 Ability to conduct useful face-to-face
interactions
 Presents relevant product support material
and/or solutions
 Credibility
 Appropriate frequency of sales calls

8. Meeting Expectations
What percentage of sales representatives meet
your expectations regarding all of the following
attributes?
 Product knowledge
 Disease state knowledge
 Understanding my needs as a physician
 Managed care status knowledge
 Ability to conduct useful face-to-face
interactions
 Presents relevant product support material
and/or solutions
 Credibility
 Appropriate frequency of sales calls

9. Rep Essentials
Gold Standard Representative Has:
-Strong Product Knowledge
-Credibility
◦ The vast majority of MD’s see these two attributes as
essential for all sales representatives

10. Panel Question
 As a company approaches
commercialization with a sales force, what
are some approaches to measuring
promotional quality?

11. Conflicting Goals
The Reality of the Sales Call
◦ MD’s want: #1 gain product knowledge, #2 added value
◦ MD’s say that get a message monolog- NOT product knowledge
or value

12. Key Findings
Sales Representatives Impact Brand
Loyalty
◦ One-third of physicians indicate their prescribing behavior
changes when a sales representative changes companies

13. Panel Question
 In a hospital/institutional selling
environment, how do you interpret
activity to sales levels?

14. Sales Rep as a Critical Success Factor
Sales Representative Often the Determining Factor
in Visits
◦ In 39% of visits, the sales representative, not just the company
or products detailed, will determine the institution’s willingness to
see a sales representative

15. Key to Access
Improvements to Perceived Value Opens
Doors
◦ Nearly one-third of MD’s give special privileges to sales
representatives who meet their expectations on knowledge,
interaction frequency, and credibility
0
61 61% of sales representatives currently
do not meet all these needs, presenting
a major opportunity for growth in
physician access

16. Access is Personal
MD’s Have Control Over Sales Representative
Visits
◦ Approximately half of MD’s work in institutions that decide on
which sales representatives they engage with on a case-by-
case basis
◦ 14% indicate that rep access is determined by formal protocol

17. Panel Question
 What investments are companies making
to fulfill their pursuit of being more
“customer-centric”?

18. The Payoff for High value Reps
75% of MD’s give
high value
representatives
more interaction
time, more frequent
interactions, or both

19. Where do we go from here
 Beware activity-to-sales formulas –
Quantity centric
 Measure promotional quality and value –
Customer is scoring you anyway
 Customer Listening Metrics is the new
Closed Loop Marketing