Our friends over at the PharmaLot blog recently wrote an article on how last year, the number of docs willing to see sales reps fell a whopping 20 percent. The article quotes a study by ZS Associates which has been monitoring sales rep-physician interactions and concludes docs ‘busier schedules and the pharmaceutical industries lack of new blockbuster drugs, physicians as a whole were loath to see any but the most valuable pharmaceutical sales reps.”
While the number of sales reps has fallen from over 100,000 in 2005 to 81,000 in 2009, ZS Associates noted, “…certain prescribers won’t see any representatives –– and they won’t do it under any circumstances… Managers must modify the call plan to connect best with each individual physician.”
The article contains several interesting stats, but the conclusion is: Fewer doctors are seeing sales reps. That means you’d better have an alternative strategy to reach this most important target market.
One important strategy, electronic and mobile detailing. One Eleven’s SampleServer® is a full program that will help get your drug in front of docs and get them asking for samples. Call us for more information.
I read an article in the NY Times over coffee this morning (I still like the paper version!) entitled “No More Easy Money” and was a bit surprised by the reaction to the bad economy by the executives who were “born from a place where they knew no failure…” Wow, I don’t know an entrepreneur (and I know a LOT) who can say they have sailed through the last two decades – where have these people been?
From my experience, I started earning my chops after 9/11, as did many of my entrepreneurial friends. We sat down, blew up our company as we knew it and started over, in a new direction. New, unproven paths are never easy – but innovating in pharma is brutal – but if you can actually pull it off – well, the world is (potentially) your oyster. Patience is also required to “make” success happen – that for me is the hardest part.
Truthfully, I didn’t really know if the brass ring would be ours – we had come so close so many times, but hadn’t quite grabbed it – but now I feel we have an iron grip. I wish those movie execs strength – they are kind of like trust fund kids, except now the funds have run out – they will have to learn how to stand on their own feet – and start learning how to really be leaders.
And we are drinking triple lattes around here! Just landed two of the largest pharma companies as clients, so needless to say, we are feeling really excited! It’s really something to compete against big players for huge stakes and even better to win.
*Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
