In these days of budget shifts to on-line media & digital touch-points, an outside observer might be surprised to realise that the largest marketing spend in some sectors actually relates to a direct sales force and its sales aids and materials. For example, Shire Pharmaceuticals doubled its active sales force in the US this month via a new arrangement with GlaxoSmithKline.

1. Research your sales target(s). We learn a lot from interviews/discussions with your sales targets (e.g. physicians) about the specifics of sales representative behaviour and sales aids that are well and poorly received. In digging underneath these perceptions, tangible specific (e.g. therapy area) and corporate-level themes are revealed that can then be addressed, actioned and measured in competitive context.

2. Research your high & low performers. By contrast, we also learn a lot from observing sales representatives in-situ, and from talking to both them & area managers to understand critical behavioural differences.  Good performers often work to a set of best practice principles that go above and beyond the sales aid training to build relationships and communicate clear messages and benefits over competitors.

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Combining tips 1 and 2 to deliver a 360o perspective on how sales force activity is both delivered and received presents possibilities for both short and long term wins. As well as providing an understanding of current training and support needs to turn low performers into high performers, it also enables a clear course for future recruitment, training and measurement to be set.

 

3. Review recent ‘account’ wins and losses (e.g. hospital formularies) Bringing key people together to understand why you have won and why you have lost certain key accounts can be revealing – sometimes it is to the same competitor but rarely is it just a pure price argument or product deficit. Do you have legacy mis-perceptions or poor infrastructure back up & delivery?

 4. Are your key sales messages generalised or specific?  As sales aids are expensive, it can take some time to update & refresh them – and during this time, nimble competitors are finding strong benefits to use against you on their more recent & modern product introductions. Sometimes, in un-branded markets, the differentiation can be achieved in unique ways – for example, who’d have thought we would be seeing blue sterile drapes and gowns nowadays in hospital operating theatres? Do your sales aids answer the current themes and issues in your market?

5. A good picture paints a story of a 1,000 words It is not uncommon for us to be working with the innovation, marketing and sales team to select the strongest headline entry (problem) and respective key selling messages & supporting data  (your solutions) to go with an established or new slogan/tagline. This is often quite straightforward to research and summarise.  However, also then selecting and aligning arresting visuals can ensure truly impactful sales materials, linked to your brand and differentiating from your competitors.