Which pharma company earned the coveted spot for having the most effective sales force this year? How do current rankings compare with last year? These questions are answered as part of the cover story on pharmaceutical sales forces in Medical Marketing & Media’s November issue, where GfK Market Measures reveals the results of its industry benchmark 2008 sales force effectiveness study.
According to GfK Market Measures’ study, because of its ability to adapt to customer needs and preferences, Pfizer once again leads the pack as the most effective sales force, according to physicians. Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly follow close behind, maintaining their spot as top-tier companies with effective sales forces. While this reflects little change in the top rankings from the previous year, the current data does reflect big drops (percentage changes) within each company’s respective figures, most notably within specific physician specialties. These drops may be due to the fact that in 2008, more than any other year GfK Market Measures has conducted the study, there was a shift toward “Don’t Know” responses submitted by specialists. GfK feels this may be attributed to the challenging environment of less differentiation, fewer new products and sales force layoffs.
While the “most effective” sales force ranking is a highlight, GfK Market Measures’ annual SFE study goes beyond this data to provide valuable insights into the physician/sales rep relationship. The December issue of Topline will include an in-depth article covering details of the study that were recently shared in an educational teleconference. In particular, the article will:
- Identify the selling attributes physicians find most important among sales reps and how they prioritize them
- Evaluate how those requirements differ by attitudinal segment
- Understand and identify the differences in perceptions of rep effectiveness between segments
- Examine what pharmaceutical sales forces could do to be more effective when interacting with physicians
- Determine when and how the various segments utilize the Internet professionally
To download the article, Sales Force Report: Loop of Faith, please click here. (Note: download may take approx. one minute)
