July 11, 2010

Inspiring Tips On How To Hear Yes, Rather Than No

In the end, it all comes down to the issue of noise. Noise, quite simply, is a constant bombardment in all our lives. When we move from the personal to the professional environment, noise tends to increase and we are attuned to blocking most of this out, with a very jaded outlook an unfortunate by-product of daily life. Noise tends to take the shape of relentless marketing, some of it strategic, some of it “in-your-face,” some of it subtle. This is just part of the make-up of our society and we are all accustomed to it.

This makes the job of the pharmaceutical sales rep very difficult. There’s a lot of apparent competition and many emotions are at play as products in this industry can have very far-reaching consequences for both the professional practitioner and the client in question. It is unfortunate that many practitioners and professionals have developed a certain amount of bad feeling toward pharmaceutical sales representatives, due to poor dissemination of information in the past and often inferior sales practices, as well.

In our evolving market, key account management training is very important in helping the sales representative to make him or herself heard through all the noise and to specifically speak to what the client is interested in hearing. They need to get past the interpretation that they are only in it for themselves, do not really understand what the practitioner has to deal with, what is needed and what may help and understand that there is a certain tendency to believe that the relationship is taken for granted. Over time, poor relationships are built up between the professional and the rep and this is likely to lead to even more resistance. In this scenario, it can be very difficult to get to the “yes,” and pharma training must concentrate on how to prepare for the meeting, how to re-create relationships and how to clear away the damage caused by bad historical practices.

There is a lot of strategic and subtle content within key account management training. A relationship has been classified as key for certain reasons, but it cannot be taken for granted in any shape or form. Indeed, the organisation may require much more, as a consequence of the relationship, than an account that is not classified as key.

Objectives must be clearly defined, so that employees who are on the front line when dealing with the key account are ready. These must be laid out in a detailed form by the trainers and must be adopted by the employees. When a particular position is required, the end goal must be readily apparent. This is very important. The employee must understand the structure of influence within the client organisation, which could include other professionals, peers, subordinates, secretaries or receptionists. Overlook a particular individual at your peril, as you will not get past the rebuttal.

Every single client and prospect differs and there are so many external influences at play, with various levels of “noise reduction,” so that a novel approach is required by the sales team, in each case. Understanding how each client is different, to a finite degree, is essential and this will allow the sales company’s point people to create a valuable exchange of some kind, drastically increasing the prospects that the client will come on board.

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.