Crucial Considerations On How E-Detailing Is Catching On
As the industry changes in shape and size, the is developing a new role. The effects of the recession have caused a variety of different developments in every single industry and the healthcare business has been affected significantly. Indeed, the recession has forced pharmaceutical sales companies to change the way that they approach their clients. Budgets were coming under increasing scrutiny and this meant that there was a trend away from hiring sales representatives. The business recognised that innovation was necessary and that healthcare professionals were beginning to turn to other ways of educating themselves and reaching out for their pharmaceutical needs. The major companies needed to understand the social media revolution, at the same time as they found less expensive ways to pitch their products.
The market research firm Cutting Edge Information tells us that a quarter of all healthcare professionals are really interested in pursuing the concept of e-detailing. This result has increased dramatically from just four years ago. It’s possible that doctors could be far more accessible this way, and that they could be less resistant to communication, consequently.
Pharmaceutical marketing training needs to change in line with the media revolution and the outgoing effects of the great recession. Many companies may begin to put less emphasis on the hiring and training of sales representatives and more emphasis on Internet skills and social media communication.
In the past, it was not uncommon for a typical doctor to be inundated with communications from sales reps, often from the same company. When you think how different reps may have different levels of training and may not all be able to communicate as effectively, it’s easy to understand why the average doctor would become overloaded. This approach to communication was, after all, far from efficient and we can now see why there has been so much backlash. Doctors became less and less accessible, even as sales representatives became too numerous. If you add into the mix the slowdown in the number of products on the market, it’s quite easy to see why we are now seeing a reduction in the number of sales representatives. Indeed, it is estimated that in the last three years, the total number of pharmaceutical sales representatives in the United States has shrunk by 20% or more.
When it comes to attracting new sales representatives, a approach must evolve to take into consideration the enhanced styles of communication, exhibited by the newer generations. They are likely to feel far more at ease with modern Internet-based communications technology. As more and more of these new representatives join the company, the pharmaceutical consultancy should help company executives change their approach to marketing in general and accept this trend.
We’re yet to see the scale of the challenge facing the industry ahead, especially the effect of the new US federal health-care regime. It’s almost certain that there will be additional pressure on companies to cut back on their overheads and the pharmaceutical consultant needs to focus even more time on e-detailing, the wave of the future and the new path ahead for pharmaceutical sales.
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.
