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February 08, 2008
Canadian Pharmaceutical Sales Groups Not Yet Following US Reductions in Mirroring
When facing tremendous access issues in the US market, many of the industry's most respected sales forces made the move to decrease mirroring of reps and create more personalized relationships with their doctors. Some companies even cut the number of different reps responsible for calling on each target from four or five to one or two.
While there is a hint of movement by companies in the Canadian market to decrease mirroring and create more personalized relationships with doctors, there is not the industry-wide momentum that is starting to show in the US market.
In a Cutting Edge Information report based on the Canadian market, participating companies revealed that doctors in their top three primary care tiers will generally have more than one rep assigned to call on them. Two top 10 pharmaceutical companies that participated assign as many as five or six different reps to their top-level general practitioners.
In a similar study performed by Cutting Edge Information on the US market, sales force powerhouses reported that they have found tremendous success at gaining access to their targets by reducing the mirroring of forces. In fact, many of the larger US companies have taken a two-rep per-doctor approach. Pfizer reduced the number of reps calling on each of its targets to two. Eli Lilly and Wyeth reportedly shrank the number of reps responsible for each doctor in their forces as well.
According to interviewees, rather than seeing reductions in the percentage of US doctors that reps get to detail, these companies are seeing increases. Likewise, they are seeing increases in the amount of time reps get with doctors once they get face-to-face.
According to one participant in the US study, recent internal figures show that his company's realignment program is yielding more time with physicians and reports of increasing accessibility to doctors from reps in the 5% to 10% range. The company is also receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from targets. With fewer reps coming to visit, the doctors actually remember their reps' names. It is also easier for doctors to know who to call for samples or information when it is needed for patients or their own education.
The program pays other dividends as well. First it vastly reduces costs. Companies can "trim the fat" and become more efficient with their calls. Additionally, it builds accountability back into sales.
When "pods" of reps call on physicians, it is difficult to discern who is making an impact and who is perhaps not pulling their weight. With only one or two reps responsible for each physician, success or failure is easy to assign.
When reps have ownership and accountability over their accounts, they are also more likely to spend time finding ways to get to doctors than they would in a pod setting. They take the time to actually work at it rather than just dropping off samples and moving on.
Again, not all the major players in the Canadian market have indicated that they intend to reduce mirrored forces as of yet. However, the reported success of many US giants might suggest that it is worth examining more closely.
Posted by David Richardson at February 8, 2008 07:33 AM