Developing the Skill of “Gaining Customer Commitment” within the Pharmaceutical Industry

Background and Need

In the pharmaceutical industry it is tricky to close a sale as there is “no immediate sale” –there is no tangible product that is exchanged and no money that passes hands so a close and commitment becomes tougher for the role of the Pharmaceutical Representative

We also know that Doctors do not like being pushed into a corner and asked to make decisions to change prescribing AND over the years have learnt to just say “yes” or “I’ll bear it in mind” so the representative leaves quietly and no one is upset. This has been likened to “groundhog day” as the Doctor often says “I’ll bear it in mind” and the Representative often accepts this as the norm and walks away not knowing how to move things forward

The overall aim therefore is to get commitment to action from the Doctor which is appropriate, realistic and owned by them so they are more likely to take action rather than an obliging “yes” that never materialises into any change. This is critical to the success of any product or project and is probably the one skill that when developed can make the biggest difference to success

We know from well researched facts (the rule of consistency and commitment by Prof R Cialdini) as well as anecdotal evidence that if we volunteer and own a commitment we are much more likely to take action than an agreeable “yes” that is easy to say and not do…

What did we do?

• We looked at what a large sample of Pharmaceutical Representatives were doing currently and found that less than 50% were closing a call or gaining any commitment from their customers. This is quite typical of the norm from anecdotal evidence across the industry
• Breaking the habit – We rolled out a series of creative workshops and National interventions looking at “why” it’s tough to get a commitment and how to change the habit of shying away from a close
• We developed National incentives and regional competitions to reward the change in behaviour and identify quick successes from Representatives and Managers
• Calls were transcribed and  recorded over a 12 month period to monitor the change in this skill area

Results

ü  Collected over 70 examples of success of where Representatives had gained a commitment from a customer as a result of their interaction

ü  An increase in engagement of Representatives in calls – measured by feedback

ü  An increase of 30% in the skill of gaining closing and gaining commitment over a 12 month period

ü  Sales results exceeded 120% of a stretch target as this strategy started to demonstrate results

Learning’s

• We know that the skill of closing is uncomfortable for some Representatives and we need to find a way of doing this that is comfortable, realistic and adds value to our customers and us
• Customer feedback states that they like to be asked for commitment
• Managers have to be on board with this as their coaching in the field is critical to the success of the skill development
• We know a habit takes 21 days to change and it requires engagement, desire and will to want to change – what needs to happen to engage Representatives to want to start closing and gaining commitment? – this needs consideration and thought in line with your company culture
• This is a simple yet extremely effective  skill and behaviour change strategy that needs keeping simple yet engaging – it also needs to be implemented over time to gain the full effect – A 2 year period for embedding as a minimum to gain significant results