Pharmaceutical Sales Force Effectiveness Metrics

With the ever increasing pressure to ensure maximum return on investment, sales force effectiveness is becoming a high priority area in the global pharmaceutical industry. Sales force represents the largest spend in sales and marketing and yet, study after study show that the returns gained from this spend is not particularly strong and one recent IMS report found that pharma sales force effectiveness declined by 23% in the recent period of 2004 to 2005. Better metrics must be used to measure both the effectiveness and financial impact of SFE for this very significant budget.

The startling discovery that this comprehensive report uncovers is that the very metrics currently being used to assess sales force effectiveness are in fact the ones aiding the decline of the sales force effectiveness. Traditional pharmaceutical organizations are rigorously tracking and managing sales activity, but still falling short. Data emerging from the research concludes that current metrics are more focused on efficiencies rather than effectiveness - and do so to their own detriment.

This report dissects current SFE metrics and their limitations, for the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, Europe and Japan. The report then discusses appropriate metrics to solve these problems, and demonstrates implementation methods and issues.

Sales force effectiveness is a difficult concept to measure, but doing so can push pharmaceutical companies past today's hurdles and into increased productivity and sales.

The report also identifies core issues at play in SFE, such as:

• Why sales call frequency metrics are deeply flawed
• What impact the marketing message has on the customer during the detail
• Which SFE issues vary by region
• How to target the right audiences
• How to incorporate appropriate influencing behaviors into SFE programs

The report discusses appropriate metrics to solve these problems, and demonstrates implementation methods and issues.

Sales force effectiveness is a difficult concept to measure, but doing so can push pharmaceutical companies past today's hurdles and into increased productivity and sales.

About the author

Dr Andre Bates is the Managing Director of i>Eularis, a company that applies sophisticated analytical processes to quantify the sales impact of specific marketing programmes for pharmaceutical brands.