Pharmaceutical Sales Teams Adopt Customer-Centric Approaches to Respond to Limited Face Time With Physicians

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - December 30, 2014) - As medical practices and institutions limit physician contact with pharmaceutical representatives, sales forces must look beyond traditional product-centric selling strategies. According to pharmaceutical intelligence provider Cutting Edge Information, sales teams must make the most of limited face time by adopting customer-centric approaches to target patient and physician needs. 

Customer-centric commercial models move away from conversations that are purely product-driven to focus on and meet physician and patient needs while educating on key products. Customer-centric sales representatives must work to bring value to their target physicians and patient populations. Many teams focus on finding best-fit product solutions for specific practices. Teams also seek out opportunities to package these products with value-adding materials such as education- and support-based websites or applications.

"The Physician Payments Sunshine Act has made it more difficult for sales reps to gain access to physicians, which means less opportunity to sell products," said Jason Richardson, President and CEO at Cutting Edge Information. "It is also no longer enough to focus exclusively on a drug's clinical benefit. Reps must also use the limited time they have to convey how a drug meets physician and patient needs."

According to Looking Ahead to 2015: The Life Science Executive Guide from Cutting Edge Information, 58% of surveyed US teams have already implemented a customer-centric sales strategy. Among EU teams, 40% have implemented customer-centric strategies. Another 40% of EU teams plan to implement these strategies in the near future. These strategies may vary, however, from company to company. While some organizations embrace a patient-centric approach, others implement strategies that focus on physician benefits. 

Looking Ahead to 2015, available free at http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/reports/white-papers/ also provides key learnings from 2014 and forward-looking practices suggested by industry executives, which include:

• Leverage health outcomes, patient-reported outcomes and real-world data to drive a broad range of prospective data strategies.
• Educate internal groups about regulatory requirements and strategy to boost regulatory teams' impact.
• Implement customer-centric strategies to address physician needs and overcome access challenges.

To learn more about Cutting Edge Information's research, please visit http://cuttingedgeinfo.com/.