Proper incentivisation is critical to the effectiveness of an organisation’s sales force. However, the methods of incentivisation are often misinterpreted, poorly devised or glossed over, ultimately leading to low levels of efficiency and morale, poorly motivated individuals and lacklustre results. The pharmaceutical company may be a leader in its field, be very creative and with cutting-edge solutions, but the organisation will only be truly effective if its sales and marketing team is well prepared and trained. Such a team must be comprehensive, well balanced, able to employ different strategies and techniques and perform to a high-level of efficiency within a tough commercial field. The sales team must be well established and managed and pharmaceutical consultants have the experience, knowledge and background to enable this objective.
Far too often the act of a sale is construed as a perfect result. It is true to say that without sales nothing happens, but many different factors must be used to judge the absolute value of a sale. However efficient the executive, without the creation of a good relationship between both parties, the long-term baseline value of the transaction is questionable. As such, it is important that the company applies incentives very carefully and selectively, so that a “win-win” situation is always achieved.
It is human nature for an individual to likely be more productive if he or she is incentivised. This will require the creation of sensible goals related to existing benchmarks. If this is handled correctly it will create a volatile and effective environment, but it can also be detrimental if handled poorly. Rather than setting a goal, the incentive path should be a journey with multiple tiers and an endpoint that is always just out of reach. In this way, the sales executive will be always focused.
Feedback from pharmaceutical consulting firms will tell us that sales executives are often engaged with mundane and administrative work and spend only a small amount of their time directly communicating with productive targets. This is why time management should be considered as a top priority and company executives should never put onerous administrative and accounting burdens in front of their productive sales team. Creativity and enthusiasm can be stifled within certain outgoing personality types, through the imposition of onerous or even boring demands.
If a comprehensive training program is practised by the organisation, each team member will get the feeling that he or she is dynamically engaged with the overall goal. Do not confuse administration with training – training is a priority, while administrative burdens should be minimised. Generally, pharma consulting firms can help to roll out the latest in procedures, educate in technical issues and methodology and focus on product awareness. These companies can bring a lot to the corporate table, using an extensive industry background, a variety of different perspectives, pep talks and rallies at just the right time to eliminate even the traces of negative emotions.
Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of L2L Consulting, specialising in enabling pharmaceutical companies to achieve new heights of productivity and performance, throughout all levels of management and revenue generating activities.
Related Articles:
- Systems For Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness With Skilled Pharmaceutical Consultants
- Professional Consulting, And Why It Is A Fundamental Business Element
- The Undeniable Importance Of Effective Implementation For A Sales Group
- Several Crucial Principals Of Profitable Key Account Management
- Suggestions For Mastering Effective Implementation With Strategic Pharmaceutical Consulting
