Pharma is among the toughest sectors to be a salesperson in. The customer base is diverse – from individual doctors to nursing homes to large hospital chains with dedicated procurement departments. The former often want more clinical depth and safety information, while the latter have questions around returns on investment. The database of products to be sold is equally diverse – drugs and drug combinations, delivered in pills, syrups and injectables, with a bewildering range of indications, side-effects and counter - indications that a salesperson needs to have at the tips of their fingers. Finally, the salesperson also needs to keep up with research and developments in the industry, as old products are phased out for new ones, new uses are found for old products and new laws and regulations change the scenario.
Pre-pandemic, sales reps spent much of their time in physical meetings, with product literature. This often left them and their managers with little to no time for product training, especially for those operating far from head offices. This resulted in obvious cracks which were exposed while handling the objections and answering questions put forth by HCPs.
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