Sales force effectiveness in the global pharmaceutical industry is the subject of Eularis’s new report, titled “Pharmaceutical Sales Force Effectiveness Metrics: Are You Measuring the Wrong Things?”

 

The report finds that while sales forces represent the largest spend in pharma sales and marketing, “return on this investment has declined sharply in recent years.”

 

Written for chief executive officers and marketing and sales executives, this research project examines market data and case studies and reports that “the very metrics currently being used to assess sales force effectiveness are in fact the ones causing its decline.”

 

Focusing on the pharmaceutical industries in the United States, Europe and Japan, the report dissects these current metrics and their limitations, and then offers updated metrics which, according to the report’s authors, “can help solve the declining effectiveness crisis.”A pharmaceutical organization’s spending on sales force is second only to research and development, said the author of the report, Andree K. Bates, president of Eularis: “Better metrics must be used to measure both the effectiveness and financial impact of this very significant budget element because the current measurements used by most top pharma today actually contribute to the decline in effectiveness of the field force.”

 

Data emerging from the research concludes that current metrics are more focused on efficiencies than effectiveness, “and do so to their own detriment.” The report also addresses such topics as why sales call frequency metrics are deeply flawed, what impact the marketing message has on the customer during the detail, which SFE issues vary by region, how to target the right audiences and how to incorporate appropriate influencing behaviors into SFE programs.

 

“Implementing new sales force effectiveness metrics that actually improve effectiveness, and navigating the tricky paths of assessment, changing behaviors, and incorporating eDetailing and CRM systems can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be if you’re measuring the right things,” Bates said.

 

In December, Datamonitor, which sells online data, analytic and forecasting platforms for key vertical sectors, asked 300 users of customer relationship management technology in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across North America and Western Europe to rate CRM vendors in five areas: product quality, customer support, service capabilities, vertical specialization, portfolio depth, and service levels.

 

Putting the survey responses with its own market research, Datamonitor pointed to an industry trend towards the on-demand delivery model. “Namely,” the Datamonitorians say, “end users of such products are more satisfied with customer support and services provided by SaaS (News - Alert) vendors rather than by traditional vendors.”

 

The report says that “on-demand CRM vendors are making a lasting impact on the pharmaceutical CRM market. As such, Verticals onDemand is likely to play an important role in the new competitive landscape, offering an innovative product that seems to meet the industry’s need like a glove.”