the future of pharma learning is mobile, fun and social

MEDICINMANField Force excellence

TM

December 2014 | www.medicinman.net

THE FUTURE OF LEARNING @ WORKPLACE IS MOBILE, FUN & SOCIAL.

Since 2011

The social aspect of learning was stated by Albert Bandura as early as in 1977 in his Social Learning Theory, according to which

behavior is learned by observing the actions of others.

The ‘always on’ virtual behaviour revolution brought about by the prolific adoption of mobile digital devices, gaming and social media is a big opportunity for organizations and individuals to engage in social learning in ways that Albert Bandura could have hardly imagined.

My own experiment in using Social Media informally to stimulate self-directed learning

among pharma professionals has been very rewarding. The combination of mobile, content sharing and social media has provided pharma field sales people a virtual learning opportunity that is interesting and relevant to their workplace challenges. The opportunity to connect with thousands of pharma professionals and engage them on a daily basis has given me an insight into what makes field sales people unresponsive to conventional pharma training – it is the lack of relevance between the training imparted and challenges faced at the workplace. It is also missing the ‘fun’ element, which brings about engagement and application.

EDITORIAL

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Connect with Anup Soans on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Anup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the Editor of MedicinMan.

Write in to him: [email protected]

Meet the editor

Social media is considered as a waste of time by most Gen X professionals and has not been explored to facilitate ‘always on’, self-directed learning. But the advantage of social media and social learning are far too many to be ignored. The interactive and peer-encouraged nature of social learning bring in high degree of involvement and make it a rewarding learning experience. Albert Bandura would approve of its efficacy! Pharma companies in India would do well to understand and initiate a learning journey that would benefit learners, customers and companies.

Pharma sales people spend much of their time travelling and in the Doctor’s waiting room, and the ubiquitous smartphone and social media have become their default ‘always on’ companion. Unfortunately most of the time is spent aimlessly wandering about in cyberspace when they could be pursuing learning and development goals.

Just as the Internet, smartphones and social media enable eMarketers like Flipkart to reach a vast segment of customers with personalized promotions, pharma companies can track, map, understand and engage their field force people by making learning at the workplace mobile, fun, social, and most importantly, relevant.

Bringing marketing, medical affairs, supply chain and other stakeholders into the ‘always on’ social learning loop can have a huge impact on customer engagement and satisfaction.

The biggest advantage of social learning is that learners can choose to prioritize and participate at their convenience and access their choice of learning menu. This will also give companies an insight into their learning preferences and needs and measure the outcomes through impact on various behavior parameters that impact business results.

Social learning can positively impact the adoption and monitoring of new initiatives like Key Account Management.

Here are seven pointers from Tony Bingham, President and CEO of ATD (formerly ASTD) to get started on Social Learning:

1. Start slowly but start.

2. Identify a targeted pilot program – experiment.

3. Be mindful of the platform and impact on design.

4. Build capability.

5. Engage IT

6. Set targets, evaluate against those to demonstrate success.

7. Have Fun.

-AS

”

Pharma sales people spend much

of their time travelling and in

the Doctor’s waiting room, and

the ubiquitous smartphone and

social media have become their

default ‘always on’ companion.

Unfortunately most of the time is

spent aimlessly wandering about

in cyberspace when they could be

pursuing learning and development

goals.

MedicinMan Volume 4 Issue 12 | December 2014

Editor and Publisher

Anup Soans

CEO

Chhaya Sankath

COO

Arvind Nair

Chief Mentor

K. Hariram

Advisory Board

Prof. Vivek v; Jolly Mathews

Editorial Board

Salil Kallianpur; Dr. Shalini Ratan; Shashin Bodawala; Prabhakar Shetty; Vardarajan S; Dr. Mandar Kubal; Dr. Surinder Kumar

International Editorial Board

Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay

Executive Editor

Joshua Soans

MedicinMan Academy:

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi, Dean, Professional Skills

Development

Letters to the Editor: [email protected]

1. Trust – The key to retail call effectiveness.......5

How to make the retailer your ally in marketing and selling your product

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi

2. Traditional Vs. Experential Learning.................8

Experential learning programs have a high RoI

as compared to tradtional classroom learning as

it is practice-based, enaging, measureable and

personalised.

Gopal Kishore

3. Control Vs. Monitor...........................................13

The advantages of a proactive approach to

managing people over a reactive one

K. Hariram

4. Indian Pharma in 2014: A Stock Taking..........15

Moving from the traditional sales-person driven strategy to one that incorporates digital multimedia

Salil Kallianpur

5. Where the Future Lies .....................................21

The future of pharma lies in creating “intangible assets” by “treating patients” rather than simply pushing drug sales

Hanno Wolfram

(Click to navigate)

CONTENTS

5

13

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HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is a specially crafted training manual to enable Medical Representatives to gain the Knowledge, Skills and Attitude needed to succeed in the competitive arena of pharma field sales. Medical Representatives joining the field are often not aware about the key success factors of their job and as a result they get discouraged when things don’t go as planned. HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is a powerful learning and motivational tool for field sales managersto build their sales teams.

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TRUST – THE KEY TO RETAIL CALL EFFECTIVENESS

5 | MedicinMan December 2014

Remove the T from TRUST and what remains is RUST!

Rusty relations between the pharma sales force and the trade is galore in Pharma India, making an effective retailer call, more difficult than a doctor call. All this is because of trust defi-cit. Pharma India is brimming with the millennials who have scant respect for the trade and vice versa.

In the December 2012 Issue of MedicinMan, in the article ‘Retail Sales Management: A neglected skill area in pharma’ Anthony Lobo writes: “To es-tablish relationships with retailers, giving quality time, every time is important! – Retail chemist is not a toilet! Don’t dash in and dash out!” And if this has to happen, relationship is the key factor. And relationship can never be developed without mutual trust. Trust is crucial for a sustained and healthy business relationship. Trust and relation-ship go hand-in-hand.

Relationships are all about connecting with oth-ers. However, very few pharma sales personnel consciously think about how relationships are formed. Regular and frequent visits will establish your credentials as a trust-worthy person.

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi is a Consultant in Pharma Brand Management and Sales Training at The

Enablers. He is also visiting faculty at CIPM Calcutta (Vidyasagar University) for their MBA course in

Pharmaceutical Management.

[email protected]

How to make the retailer your ally in marketing and selling your product.

E


Prof. Vivek Hattangadi | Trust: The Key to Retail Call Effectiveness

Spend adequate quality time with the retailer to establish trust.

Another great driver of trust is empathy. Empathy will thoughtfully convey your feelings to the retail chemist – along with other factors – in the process of building mutual trust. Empathy is actively listen-ing to the retail chemist, not interrupting while he is speaking, and tuning into non-verbal communi-cation. Remember the Mehrabian Principle? 93% of effectiveness in communication comes through your tone of voice and non-verbal communication. Trust and empathy are the pillars of relationship building.

Says Marshall Goldsmith: “‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ are instruments of a life filled with gratitude. Part of a high trust environment is being polite. There is nothing deserving in creating an atmosphere of anarchy where one word rule. Trust is the fabric that engages people.”1Use these two golden words often during your interactions, but make sure you mean it – do not be superficial.

Dale Carnegie says: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other peo-ple than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”2 This was very strongly embedded in my mind while calling on retailers, when I was a medical representative in Carter-Wal-lace. In every visit, the first question I would ask is about the slow-moving products of Carter-Wallace (the retailer has invested and a dead investment is the start point of hostility towards a medical repre-sentative) and his suggestions to liquidate them. At times I even offered to take back the slow-moving products and replace with the fast-moving ones. My approach displayed that I am genuinely inter-ested in the retailer’s issues, not mine. I could thus establish the important step in relation building - establishing trust.

Have you heard about mirror-neurons? They are a special class of brain cells that fire not only when an individual performs an action, but also when the individual observes someone else make the same movement—has radically altered the way we think about our brains and ourselves, particularly our social selves.3

You just need to remember one thing. When peo-ple see someone perform an action on video, they will think they just performed the action them-selves. And if people think they just performed an action, they’ll be more likely to actually perform the action. Why? Because they’re already thinking about doing it!4

Another great driver of

trust is empathy. Empathy is

actively listening to the retail

chemist, not interrupting

while he is speaking, and

tuning into non-verbal

communication.

”References1. Goldsmith M. (2007). What Got You here Won’t take You There: How Successful People become Even More Successful. New York: Profile Books. 2. Carnegie D. (1936). How To Win Friends And Influence People. New York: Simon and Schuster. 3. Mirror Neurons (from Society of Neuroscience). Retrieved 3 November, 2014 from http://www.brainfacts.org/brain-basics/neuroanatomy/articles/2008/mirror-neurons/4. Social Media Marketers’ Best Kept Secret: Mirror Neurons. Retrieved 5 November, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelsimmons/2013/11/14/the-relationship-building-principle-that-dale-carnegie-got-wrong/


In very simple words, if you smile at someone, you are activating his mirror neurons and he smiles back at you. If you show indifference, you will be ‘rewarded’ with the same action with compound interest. If you lack in enthusiasm, so will the retail-er! Pick the right words and body language to get retail chemist into the right mindset and you are moving closer towards building trust. Mirror Neu-rons can thus be used to your advantage to build trust and relations. This is the next step in building mutual trust.

Be transparent and honest with retailers. Do not make false promises to push your product. Always give the whole truth. If you cannot replace a date-expired product, or a broken bottle, let the retailer know about it. Let him know the clearly stated and established trade policies. To sustain robust business relationships you have to deliver what you promise each and every time. This re-quires a lot of effort, but in the end the hard work will continue to pay off when the retailer knows that he can trust you.

Understanding your retailer friend is a key part of pharma business success. Take time to listen to what they want and need. With trust, you’ll have customers for life. Building this level of trust takes a lot of hard work and time. -VH

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi | Trust: The Key to Retail Call Effectiveness

Be transparent and honest

with retailers. Do not make

false promises to push your

product. Always give the

whole truth. If you cannot

replace a date-expired

product, or a broken bottle,

let the retailer know about it.

”


More than a hundred years ago, Hermann Ebbinghaus formulated the learning curve, which describes the relationship between memory and time. In a nutshell, it says that, during a lecture, if your absorption rate is at 100 percent on day one, there is a 50-80 percent loss of learning from the second day onward, which is reduced to a retention rate of just 2-3 percent at the end of thirty days.

This theory is even more relevant in today’s world where attention spans have come down and learning some-times is reduced to 140 characters! How then can ‘Expe-riential Learning’ help overcome this situation?

Experiential learning, at its core, is the philosophy that individuals learn material, techniques and core skills while doing a task. We believe there are eight reasons why experiential learning is the future of learning.

Experiential Learning Accelerates Learning

Repetitive Learning or learning by rote has long been replaced by ‘Learning by Doing.’ Experiential Learning methodology uses critical thinking, problem solving and decision making to deliver a training module. This has become an established method to accelerate learning.

On the other hand, traditional learning methods can slow down the absorption rate, create a lack of interest in the subject and have little impact on the individual.

E

Traditional Vs.

Gopal Kishore

Experential learning programs have a high RoI as compared to tradtional classroom learning as it is practice-based, enaging, measureable and personalised.

experential learning


Provides a Safe Learning Environment

Simulations use real life scenarios that depict several challenges, which a participant will eventually face after the course completion. It is only natural that mistakes happen during the course of learning, and using simulations is like taking kids to a playground, and getting them to have fun, try new things and learn, in a safe controlled environment.

There is no such safe learning for participants in a traditional learning environment. This can be danger-ous, as this is no longer a test bed, and all decisions that are made can impact the business in real time.

Bridges the Gap between theory and practice

By moving beyond theory to the realm of “learning by doing,’ the trainee gets a first hand experience

of practicing what has been taught. This plays a crucial role in retaining concepts

and ideas.

In a traditional learning environ-ment, participants are taught concepts that they don’t know how they can relate to, through a PowerPoint presentation in a class-room. They are expected to apply

these concepts on the job once out of the classroom. However, there is

no established method to track if the participants are ready to apply the concepts

and theory to practice.

Experiential Leaning Produces Demonstrable Mindset Changes

There are very few learning methods that can have a dramatic impact on the participant’s mindset. Expe-riential Learning is one of them. Management guru Henry Mintzberg pointed out long ago that, “Lead-ership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it”.

If swimming or for that matter, cycling or any other skill were to be taught in a classroom in a traditional manner, not only would it be a waste of time and ef-fort for the participant, but they may not relate to the theory and may never understand the importance of that skill.

Increases Engagement Levels

The high focus on collaboration and peer learning, benefits the participant as it increases engagement.

Gopal Kishore | Traditional Vs. Experential Learning

”

There are very few learning methods that can have a dramatic impact on the participant’s mindset. Experiential Learning is one of them.


On the other hand, since the participant is imme-diately involved in the problem solving activity or event, the level of ownership of the outcome is high.

On the other hand, most traditional classroom learn-ing environments witness bored and disinterested participants. They are there because they have been asked to be there, and it requires high levels of moti-vation to get them involved in the classroom activity.

Provides Accurate Assessment Results

Assessing the effectiveness of the training program in terms of the benefits to the trainees and the compa-ny is a crucial element of any learning program. Most assessments are data driven and traditional tools use tests to measure effectiveness.

When it comes to experiential learning programs, it is extremely difficult to gather data, which can be used for assessments. This is where analytics come

in. When combined with simulations and gamification, experien-tial training products become a powerhouse of data, which can be used to deliver assess-ments results accu-rately across cognitive learning, skills affect and objective results. The analytics engines records, analyzes and provides a detailed re-port on the participants’ interaction throughout

the simulation.

There is no such analytics possible in traditional learning methods. While the learning itself is based and delivered in a non-data driven approach, the assessments rarely provide any kind of insight into the impact of the training program.

Enables Personalized Learning

Traditional learning methods are extremely im-personal and do not take into account the specific needs of the individual, focusing more on the mass approach.

In order to enable personalized learning, every pro-gram needs to create a journey through the following phases: Assessment, teaching and learning strategy,


”

When combined with simulations and gamification, experiential training products become a powerhouse of data, which can be used to deliver assessments results accurately across cognitive learning, skills affect and objective results.


and curriculum choice. Experiential learning meth-odology is highly effective in meeting these require-ments to enable personalized learning. It is a radical departure from traditional learning methods and takes the learning beyond the classroom.

The participants set their own learning pace. By combining technology and simulations with experi-ential learning, companies are making this concept available anytime and anywhere, across multiple devices. This has introduced the concepts of flipped classroom, where the learning goes to the students and not the other way.

Delivers Exceptional Return on Learning Invest-ment (RoLI)

Experiential learning is personal and effective in na-ture, influencing both feelings and emotions as well as enhancing knowledge and skills. It goes beyond classroom learning and ensures that there is high level of retention, thereby delivering exceptional RoLI over a traditional learning program.

It is not possible to apprehend the RoLI on a tradi-tional learning program, as these are non-data driven and impersonal. The retention of learning cannot be gauged either.

So, be prepared to revolutionize your training pro-gram. -GK


”

Experiential learning... goes beyond classroom learning and ensures that there is high level of retention, thereby delivering exceptional RoLI over a traditional learning program.

Gopal Kishore is an Experiential Learning Evangelist @KNOLSKAPE

A new book by Renie McClay published by ASTD Press is apt for the global executive with a local vision. “The Art of Modern Sales Management” has 12 chapters, each written by a leader in the field from around the world.

Renie McClay, MA, CPLP, has been a dynamic performance improvement professional for 20 years. She has been successful in sales, management, and learning and performance roles at several Fortune 500 companies (Kraft, Pactiv, and Novartis). Founder of Inspired Learning LLC, she continues to bring her passion and practical approach to all project work. Inspired Learning LLC does design and delivery of energetic programs and projects around the world.

Now available for readers in India on Kindle and print on Amazon. Download a free chapter of the book here.

The Art of Modern Sales Management is a must read for any global sales leader. It's practical, relevant, and grounded in the experience of seasoned sales professionals who make a significant difference in the organizations that they serve. This book includes many useful tips and actionable ideas that any sales leader can use. --Kimo Kippen, Chief Learning Officer, Hilton Worldwide

Renie has done a great job of selecting thought leaders that speak to the challenges of selling in our new, connected world. I absolutely love the framework of the book and found myself skipping from one chapter to another based on what I thought was most relevant to the problems I am most interested in solving today. This book is a must for anyone that understands that front-sales management is tomorrow’s competitive advantage. --Pat Martin, VP of Sales, Estes Express

With a chapter on “Managing Across Cultures” contributed by Anup Soans

Renie is on top of her game again and brings the A Team to the world of Modern Sales Management. With the explosion of social media and the immediacy of shared experience for buyers and sellers, The Art of Modern Sales Management is a practical guide to navigating these changing realities, and the action plans offered provide tools to ensure the best opportunity for success. If you have a leadership role within the sales organization, you need this book as a guide and resource. --Gary Summy, Director of Business Development Global Accounts Operations, Xerox Corporation

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Modern-Sales-Management/dp/1562868977

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Look at any traffic signal junction. A few metres in a corner will be our uniformed traffic cops wait-ing to catch those who jump red signal or for

any traffic violation. If the traffic cop was visible, the behaviour of motorists and two wheeler riders would be obedience to the rules and if no cop is visible, then they are ever ready to break rules. This goes on again and again. There are no lessons learnt and equally there are no preventive measures.

What has this got to do with pharma selling? More often than not, there would be a couple of slides in al-most all the sales meetings showing the call average, coverage of doctors, frequency of visits, etc. Those who have done well would be appreciated and those who lag behind would be told that it is unacceptable or reprimanded for the gaps. If the gaps are combined with low sales performance, then it would be conclud-ed that non-performance is due to low calls coverage.

Both are performing their duties well. Is there a differ-ence between the cop and the Manager?

K. Hariram

E

CONTROL VERSUS MONITOR

The advantages of a proactive approach to managing people over a reactive one


Yes, they are more into CONTROLLING. Their actions mostly are ‘after the effect’ response.

We will look at the Manager’s responsibility more in detail.

When sales objectives are planned, the Manager along with his Sales Person /s is supposed to help in drawing a road map of various sales strategies. The predominant part is supposed to be call rate, frequen-cy, total calls, etc. Selling as such is a ‘game of chances’ and therefore all the efforts are to be directed towards ‘maximizing’ the ‘chances of success’.

Once the road map is laid out and the actual day to day execution starts, should there not be a MONITOR-ING mechanism by the concerned Manager?

MONITORING is a ‘before the effect’ response. Mon-itoring at regular and close intervals helps in timely intervention. Before things go out of control there is a realignment of goals/plans and execution. The damage is contained. The sales person gets the confi-dence that he is being helped by his manager. It aids in better performance.

In today’s context, there are efficient ENABLERS in the form of SFE technology tools and at the click of the button, the manager can access variety of data and that too, close to the event.

If this is so, then why the post-mortem by the end of every quarter? Why allow someone to falter and then catch them doing things wrong?

So, MONITORING a before the event mechanism is more a proactive managerial approach. It build perfor-mance orientation and helps in better professional re-lationship between the manager and his sales people. Avoids unpleasantness (remember the feeling when the cop catches you) and fosters positive work climate.

“MONITOR periodically and CONTROL rarely”. -KH

K. Hariram | Control Versus Monitor

K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at Galderma India.

He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a regular contributor. [email protected]

To be an effective field sales manager you need tools like POEM - Planning, Organizing, Executing and Monitoring.

Read SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager for POEM and other management tools

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15 | MedicinMan December

1What were the most significant happenings in the Indian Pharma world in 2014?

2014 was quite an eventful year for the pharma-ceutical industry as it was for India. A new govern-ment took the reins of government in Delhi and a sense of optimism has swept over the sector since then. Some of the significant happenings in the pharma world in India are:

a) Recovery from DPCO 2013 – the industry overall seems to have recovered well from the impact of the mandated price reductions that shook its performance in 2013. Over the last few months, it has started registering growth and the way forward looks optimistic again as companies impacted by mandatory price cuts have begun to see strong volume sales.

b) Importance of the US for the IPM – As compa-nies declare their quarterly results, the importance of sales in the US as a percentage of total revenue is emerging as perhaps the most important factor of overall profitability. This is derived, of course, from the ability of companies to price their prod-ucts differently for the first-world which is often at a significant premium over prices in India.

Moving from the traditional sales-person driven strategy to one that incorporates digital multimedia

E

Indian Pharmain 2014 A Stock-taking

Salil Kallianpur is Brand Director, Classic Brands Europe, GSK. He is a well-known

pharma blogger and social media enthusiast.

salilkallianpur.wordpress.com

5 QUESTIONS FOR SALIL K.

Salil Kallianpur | Indian Pharma in 2014: A Stock-taking


This has resulted in companies building lucrative businesses there, so much so that 40% of the ge-nerics consumed in the US are supplied by Indian companies. Of course, this dependence has brought the Indian way of doing business under much higher scrutiny than ever before. The US-FDA announced an increase in its staff at the Indian office in a bid to do justice to the vast number of companies that seek to serve the US market. Their audits led to much-hyped issuances of warning letters at times causing the domestic industry to play the victim card. There have been attempts to highlight the poor quality of med-icines produced in India by scholars from libertarian institutions such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Sadly, the Indian government reacted with bluster, threatening to shoot the messenger by suing the institution rather than ordering an enquiry back home to fix the problem.

c) Globally, pharmaceutical sales crossed $ 1 trillion – This is the highest ever sales of prescription drugs and a definite indicator of the global economy looking up.

d) Pipeline fertility has moved to biotechs – Pharma’s bet on biologics has paid off. The most fertile pipe-lines today exist in biotech startups that do not fea-ture on the “Big Pharma” list, but produce medicines that can significantly improve patient outcomes even as R&D pipelines in large pharma companies continue to remain dry.

e) Blockbuster paradigm busted – Gilead Life-sciences’ drug for Hepatitis – C, Sovaldi (Sofosbu-vir) busted the popular blockbuster paradigm by registering $ 5.75 billion in the first half year of sales. It was approved for launch in Dec 2013 and is expected to clock a whopping $11 billion by the end of 2014 – its first year on the market. Pfizer’s Lipitor was the only other product to achieve that quantum of sales after almost 6 years on the market! Gilead also got its act right by voluntarily licensing Sovaldi to a consortium of 6 generic companies for manufac-ture, supply and sales in emerging markets where it has priced the products at almost 1% of its US price ($900 in EMs vs. $84,000 in the US).

f) Indian government promotes alternative medi-cine – India’s Prime Minister has, in his recent cabinet expansion, created a separate AAYUSH portfolio, whose minister will be charged with promoting tra-ditional medicines and practices of Ayurveda, yoga,

”

Gilead Lifesciences’ drug for Hepatitis – C, Sovaldi (Sofosbuvir) busted the popular blockbuster paradigm by registering

$ 5.75 billion in the first half year of sales.



naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy. While this is not likely to go down well with allopathy practitioners, it can be certainly expected to impact the pharmaceutical industry that focuses almost exclusively on “western medicine”, as allopathy is popularly known in India.

g) Little progress on UHC or UHAM – Despite some announcements by the erstwhile Health Minister on the party’s key electoral promise of National Health Assurance — setting up an AIIMS-like institution in every state, affordable preventive checkups, free drugs & insurance for all — diagnostic check-ups, there is little progress seen on this front. Even mandates asking doctors to prescribe only generic names are limited to a few states and institutions. Primary Health Centres and Government hospitals continue to be in bad shape and there is no percep-tible difference felt by patients. Free generic medi-cines through the Jan Aushadi scheme has also not taken off. Of course, all this takes time, but indicators of progress such as policy papers put out for public discussion etc have still not been seen. It is hoped that the government acts fast in a social sector of such high importance.

2Provide 5 directional pointers for the pharma industry in India for 2015 and beyond?

(i) Look beyond HCPs – Globally decision power has moved away from HCPs to other stakeholder such as pharmacists, caregivers and patients. Marketers in India have yet to consider this

(ii) Develop KAM skills – With the govt making more announcements about increasing its role as a health provider by rolling out the UHC/UHAM pro-gram, it will also increase its role in purchasing and providing medicines free of cost to its citizens. With mandates like prescribing only INN names, distrib-uting free medicines through the public healthcare facilities, consolidation of the retail sector etc., the in-dustry must reorient around working to service Key Accounts alongside Key Opinion Leaders.

(iii) Adopt technology more openly – Getting com-fortable with leveraging multiple channels to service customers, develop stronger relationships and offer services is the need of the hour. The use of mobile apps, video on demand and similar tools can provide customers with customized content and a personal-ized experience.

”

Despite some announcements by the erstwhile Health Minister on the party’s key electoral promise of National Health Assurance — setting up an AIIMS-like institution in every state, affordable preventive checkups, free drugs & insurance for all — diagnostic checkups, there is little progress seen on this front.



(iv) Build trust through brand equity – As infor-mation becomes more easily available over the internet, customers will become more discerning and empowered. In parallel, retailers wield dispro-portionate power to influence customer choice. Currently pharma companies have little or no wield at this confluence of decision power that has moved away from HCPs. Through strong and sustained corporate brand building (since Rx drugs cannot be advertised), customers can be influenced to trust a well-known company, thus negating the influence of retailers. Similar campaigns/services rolled out to partner with retailers can have a multiplier effect on the idea.

(v) Develop consultative selling skills – The role of sales reps will evolve into one which has lesser phys-ical contact with HCPs than it currently does. Merely being in the clinic and saying the brand name will probably not have the same kind of impact as it did in the past. Reducing rep productivity aggravated by declining access to HCPs prove that this model is faulty. While today HCPs expect “CRM”, the tide is quickly moving against that approach through a combination of regulation and revulsion. Reps will learn to service HCPs through multiple chan-nels, analyze the effectiveness of each channel and course-correct in real time. While this may sound hi-tech, it is happening across many sectors such as banking, consultancy firms etc. Pharma will not be too slow to adapt. So, if the rep can use his skills complemented with technology to profile custom-ers, personalize messages and experiences, use mul-tiple channels to communicate and engage, gauge and course correct in real-time, far from the sales rep becoming redundant, there is more probability of the marketing team going kaput.

3What are some key expectations of the pharma industry from the new government?

The new government has been voted to power on a mandate to improve the economic situation for India and bring it back on a path of prosperity and growth where it was perceived to have diverted from under the left-leaning incumbent government. Some of the policy decisions of the past that did not curry favor with the industry were:

1. Ambiguity around FDI allowed into pharma brownfield projects – Here the new govt allayed fears by not capping the FDI limit to 49% as was

”

The role of sales reps will evolve into one which has lesser physical contact with HCPs than it currently does. Merely being in the clinic and saying the brand name will probably not have the same kind of impact as it did in the past.



suggested by some parliamentarians. While it did not approve of an automatic route of investment to 100% - a decision more protectionist than pragmat-ic – it did rule to allow 100% FDI after review by the DIPP and the DoP.

2. Mandatory price capping for medicines – After the fiasco of the DIPP first attempting to control non-essential medicines and then backing out, the logical step would be to adopt the legal way and expand the NLEM to include many of the non-essen-tial drugs. While price capping may appear to be a morally strong ground to hold, it seems anachronis-tic and makes little pragmatic sense when health de-livery in the public sector is in such shambles. There are no hospitals to treat or no doctors to diagnose and PSUs which could have made these medicines at inexpensive prices for consumption through public health services, are all but shut down.

3. Propensity to invoke compulsory licensing – There has been a feeling that PM Modi “sold out” to the US govt and its companies during his recent visit to the US. While that does not appear to be the case, setting up an IPR think tank to review or recreate India’s IPR policy seems a strange thing to do consid-ering that the country’s stand is well embroiled into many treaties via the WIPO and the WTO. The bone in the side of the US is Section 3(d) which does not allow patent protection to incremental innovation. That is a section which should not be compromised upon at all.

4. With Indian pharma‘s increasing dependency on the US and overseas markets for its sales, cre-ating an enabling ecosystem for pharma exports will be key for the government to consider.

Although the government has not really moved on any of these, it will be crucial for the industry to negotiate through these rough waters as 2014 draws to a close.

4What are some key skills that Indi-an Pharma professionals need to enhance their career prospects?

The usual skill sets of empathy, leadership, analytical skills etc. are more pre-requisites and so I will not bother to elaborate. These have often been done to death by mentors, coaches, motivating bosses and peers. Interestingly, while reading and writing can-not be classified as skills, I notice an acute shortage of interest in these two basic traits that define a pro-

”

While price capping may appear to be a morally strong ground to hold, it seems anachronistic and makes little pragmatic sense when health delivery in the public sector is in such shambles.



fessional. Written and spoken skills are paramount to creating interest in and building a strong and profes-sional image – both within and outside the compa-ny. We work with highly educated customers and an inability to hold your own in a conversation with them does not encourage relationships of mutual respect to develop. While one need not necessarily wax eloquent on philosophy, sculpture or astrono-my, it is important to be decently aware of current affairs, the latest goings-on in the medical field and other areas of mutual interest such as politics and probably cinema. It builds a persona of being well-read and intelligence which commands respect not just from customers but also from team-mates and senior colleagues. Being well aware coupled with an above average ability to articulate effectively often separates the men from the boys. Buy books, enroll into MOOCs that interest you, watch information-al programs and take interest in diverse things to broaden your horizon. Invest time in yourself. You are your greatest asset.

5What do you think are the career prospects in International Market-ing for Indian Pharma people and

what are the skill areas needed to suc-ceed in international marketing?International marketing is a lot more complex than domestic marketing since the variables are multifold. I recently began to teach a course on the subject at a leading B-school in Mumbai. As it often happens, when one teaches, one gains more than one gives. During interesting discussions with some very bright young men and women, we decided that to be successful in international marketing assignments amongst other things, understanding the history and culture of the country, its political economy and legal and regulatory framework can actually create a competitive advantage for a company. While it is impossible for a single person to master all this, knowing what to ask on the topic and who to tap in your company’s vast workforce for that information is crucial. As the pharma sector in India develops its export potential and increases its international trade in a globalized economy, it is never too late to build your knowledge base and skill areas for the sector. -SK

”

Written and spoken skills are paramount to creating interest in and building a strong and professional image – both within and outside the company. We work with highly educated customers and an inability to hold your own in a conversation with them does not encourage relationships of mutual respect to develop.


We should not forget the privilege we have, living in the current time, the 21st century. At no time in mankind’s history

have human beings lived as long and reached old age in such good health. The contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to a prolonged and healthier life, and the reduction of infant mortality across the world is remarkable. Pharma positively impacts people around the globe. In spite of this many people, politicians and payers distrust this industry.

Drug Pricing: a race to the bottom

In the last months some pharma companies have ended unviable research programs. The reasons to end expensive research programs are very different. It can be poor results in phase II and III in clinical trials.

But stepping out of a market may have its reason in understanding that the new product will not have a commercial chance in the market. Since competi-

E

Where the future lies

Hanno Wolfram, is the founder and owner of www.Innov8.de, a Germany based

company offering consulting projects for pharmaceutical companies.

Hanno Wolfram

The future of pharma lies in creating “intangible assets” by “treating patients” rather than simply pushing drug sales.

Hanno Wolfram | Where the Future Lies


tors are there already, being just “a me-too” product will not pay-off commercially. When clinical differences are little or non-existent, experience in the post-blockbust-er era shows that viable revenues cannot be achieved. This applies to variations in biotechnological agents as well.

There is yet another reason for terminating engage-ments, which constitutes a second issue of pricing. You can see and read about withdrawals from markets when the suggested price is beaten down by payers and assessed to being commercially insufficient. This assessment often is connected with pricing issues reaching beyond a single healthcare system.

In today’s globalized world pricing is something with global effects. In Europe for example, the idea what a healthcare system will pay for a drug, depends on com-parisons of prices in other countries. If a drug costs 10 Euro in one country, the neighbour could say, we will only pay 10 Euro minus 20%. The other most common way is price basketing: the prices of a drug in a set of countries is put in a basket, the average calculated and “The price granted and paid by the tax-funded health system in our country is 50% below the amount of the calculated price-basket.” This means that the (granted) price in one country would harm the pricing in many other countries.

Financial toxicity is the threat

There are drugs which do not have a replacement - yet. There are great examples showing that these treat-ment options coming from biotech companies, really add value to a patient’s days.

But there is also a new trend gaining prominence. It is the trend of “Financial Toxicity”. Drugs adding a few weeks of survival for an “otherwise untreatable” condition, costing 10,000 US$ a month are not really the problem. Except in cases and countries where patients have to co-pay and in case treated with such a medicine, will lose all they have. If at all they can afford this therapy. This situation is leading to a commercial tipping point: the definition of value a medicine might add and the cost of treatment. Financial burden in these cases are toxic.

This applies to a number of treatments of final diseases and treatments in the area of orphan diseases. A treat-ment granting a six year old a normal life expectancy is fascinating and huge success. The other side of the coin is life-time treatment at 100,000 US$ or more per year. It needs to be financed, and it does not really make a

”

But there is also a new trend gaining prominence. It is the trend of “Financial Toxicity”. Drugs adding a few weeks of survival for an “otherwise untreatable” condition, costing 10,000 US$ a month are not really the problem. Except in cases and countries where patients have to co-pay and in case treated with such a medicine, will lose all they have. If at all they can afford this therapy.



difference, if an individual pays or a state. The current disconnect between biopharma and payers becomes evident and virulent. The first discussions on these “toxic treatments” have already started, when people find that the “cost of goods” are around 100 US$ and the cost of treatment about a thousand times higher.

Balance sheets show deficits

In financial reports there is a line indicating “intangi-ble assets”. These are defined as non-monetary assets without physical presence. You may take the value of a brand as an intangible asset. You might remember Forbes’ list of the “Top brands of the world” mention-ing the skyrocketing values of Apple®, Google® etc. Interestingly enough there is not one pharma company listed. The relation of tangible vs intangible assets has turned upside down in the last 30 years. Today more than 80% of the assets are are “intangible” in the S&P 500 companies. (Source: oceantomo.com)

Pharma is missing from the list despite having a large number of brand managers. Something must be miss-ing.

Symptom of fatal industry disease

Have the huge PR-machine started around annual press conferences ever communicate the number of patients successfully treated with a drug?

Have you ever hear in an annual press conference the “burden of disease” reduced in suffering patients?

Have you ever read about the improvement of “quality of life” next to the financial statement?

Where is the value delivered by pharma and who deliv-ers? As long as this industry is seen as fully commercial and a money-making machine this industry will fail to deliver anything close to “patient-centricity”.

Instead, the only thing visible, is a symptom of “com-mercial greed” in the form of targets to achieved given to every medical representative. They have to achieve a specific revenue for a named product. They are still called sales-people, fully ignoring the fact that they do not sell: because a doctor does not buy! Their task still is called “selling” and they are not even expected to “serve” doctors or patients.

Sell or Serve

A pharma industry “selling” their products to prescrib-ers, creates many questions. The key ones are those around delivering value. Pharma supposedly is the last industry, sending myriads or “sales people” to make unsolicited and unannounced calls to doctors, phar-

”

The current disconnect between biopharma and payers becomes evident and virulent. The first discussions on these “toxic treatments” have already started, when people find that the “cost of goods” are around 100 US$ and the cost of treatment about a thousand times higher.



macists and other healthcare providers. Often the reps are asked and trained to simply hammer a promotional message and at the end ask the doctor to prescribe their product.

Doctors by profession are philanthropists and usually educated well enough to endure such calls and suffer in silence. However their mental doors are closed, and slowly the physical ones are closing as well. PharmReps with enough experience have stopped have stopped “doing what they are paid to do” and are instead having much better discussions with their doctors - but only as long as their manager is not around.

The problem lies in pharma’s omnipresent commercial mentality, old fashioned concepts and the evident inability to change. The fact that pharma is highly regulated and incestuous when it comes to their em-ployees, only adds to the tragedy. Pharma is still in the selling drugs mode: tangible assets – you remember?

The vast majority of drugs today are generic and many countries already have started to request or only allow INN-prescriptions. For a drug that is around 10 to 15 years old, drug-related information is not really needed by the doctor. If information about half-life and evasion time etc. is not really needed, what could then be the option for pharma?

In any case it was and will never be “selling” drugs and be very clear that “customer” definitely is a commer-cially wrong and professionally inappropriate word for a physician. Prescribing physicians are not pharma’s customers.

The changing role of pharma

Medical and treatment expertise

There is no other place where so much knowledge and expertise about a specific disease and its treatment lies as in a pharmaceutical company. Pitifully, all this trea-sure is hidden in medical and research, archives and literature databases and the reports of clinical trials.

Problem solving instead of pills-pushing

No one has better insight into clinics and doctor’s offic-es than PharmReps who intimately know around 200 to 300 surgeries. They could, and many do, know about the time constraints of a doctor and they could assist to improve this problem, since they know the differences between 200 to 300 doctors.

PharmReps will know how to attract patients to an office and they could have ideas how to keep them related and referred to this doctor’s office.

”

There is no other place where so much knowledge and expertise about a specific disease and its treatment lies as in a pharmaceutical company. Pitifully, all this treasure is hidden in medical and research, archives and literature databases and the reports of clinical trials.



We all are in the middle of the digital revolution and many HCPs do or cannot take the time which is needed to save them time. Why could PharmReps not be trained to assist?

Of course we must not forget the patients. They suffer and some keep telling the world, they stand in the middle. Not really!

Imagine there are 10 companies offering the same Tel-misartan or Meloxicam. This is normal. Which generic would be used more often: the one from a company “selling drugs to doctors” or the competitor who offers a complex approach ensuring better patient outcome by improving drug adherence?

The second provider would be most welcome and of course deliver better value to every single doctor, the payer, patients, the patient’s relatives and next of kin and anyone else affected and concerned. The commer-cial success will follow the value delivered. It never is the other way round!

Delivering value is where the future lies. -HW”

Imagine there are 10 companies offering the same Telmisartan or Meloxicam. This is normal. Which generic would be used more often: the one from a company “selling drugs to doctors” or the competitor who offers a complex approach ensuring better patient outcome by improving drug adherence?

Key Account Management is a major issue in the pharmaceutical industry. This topic is driving pharma companies and their professionals since it is an essential approach when it comes to renovating and updating the sales model of the past. The contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to prolonged, healthier life and the reduction of infant mortality undoubtedly remarkable. It positively affects people around the globe. It might be a good point in time and a valuable idea to alter the business model from “simply selling drugs” to actively participate and contribute to healthcare. There evidently is no other instance, storing more knowledge and expertise around specific disease than the pharmaceutical industry. However, this treasure often slumbers in research and medical departments. Key Account Management needs cross-functional collaboration. More value, something beyond the pill, is needed, expected, and demanded from healthcare providers. In a globalized world, with universal access to information, the variations of markets, determined by political will, the design of healthcare and regulatory interventions are getting less important. One of the smallest common denominators is that many HCPs and other players are readily waiting for pharma to play a more active role in the provision of healthcare, share their wealth of expertise and provide appropriate medication. This first edition of the probably first ever textbook on Pharma Key Account Management is meant to provide a basis for discussion between professionals.

Book Review:

KAM in Pharma 3.0 by Hanno Wolfram

the future of pharma learning is mobile, fun and social

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